A Thanksgiving Sermon

The Following Sermon was written and preached by Rev. Ian Martin

As a kid, I always thought that Thanksgiving Day was a kind of Pre-Christmas celebration. It was just another excuse for a long weekend. It was another day of getting together as an extended family. It was a day to spend time in the kitchen making various things to eat for a big meal. There was a sense of anticipation and excitement that lasted the entire day.

When Thanksgiving was at my mother’s home I can still remember smelling the slow cooking of a massive bird baking in oven. It kind of crept up on you. I remember being in the basement, watching television in the afternoon, waiting for people to show up, when I was smacked in the face with the first whiff of a cooking Turkey … potatoes … carrots … turnip … peas… gravy. It was always a mission to find out what was for dessert that day, because my mother wouldn’t let me near the fridge or even in the kitchen to help out. Apparently all I did was make a mess and get in the way.

At some point early in the afternoon, my mother would haul my sister and I, up the stairs to help set the table and make room for all the guests. She was always a little grumpy during Thanksgiving Day. My sister and I would tear throughout the house working as fast as we could. After all, we had important things to do. The Thanksgiving movie marathon only comes around once a year you know!

Then the family began to arrive. This is when the fun began. My mother has two sisters who were married. My mum is the oldest. When my first aunt and uncle showed up the tension levels in the house began to rise. My mum and aunt’s get along fine, but not on Thanksgiving Day. One year there was a … disagreement … about how to mash the potatoes, and who should do it. I knew the … disagreement ... was getting heated, because I had to increase the volume on the television every couple of minutes. Then, my other aunt and uncle, the youngest, would show up. Life turned into a melodramatic party when they showed up. There was always a life and death story about ravages of the autumn leaves that piled up on the lawn. “Someone has to pick the leaves on my lawn, but who? Who! Not me. I work all day.”

It is right around here that I would say that Thanksgiving had arrived. The family had gathered. My grandmother was giving pointers on how to cook a turkey. My mum was wound up tighter than a tick. One of my aunt’s was sulking because something wasn’t right with the meal. The other was upset that no one listens to her. My grandfather and uncles were on their 3^rd beer talking quietly in the corner about who knows what. While my cousin, my sister and I, were going deaf in the basement watching television, trying to drown them out. Happy Thanksgiving! I am going to go out on a limb here, but I think that this kind of thing is more common than we care to admit.

Is this what Thanksgiving is? Is it only about gathering together to eat a meal? Is it only about enjoying the beauty of a bountiful harvest? (Pause) What is distinctive in the church. or for every Christian, at Thanksgiving? (Pause) The best place figuring this out is at the beginning

The roots of thanksgiving for us in the West can be found littered throughout the Old Testament. Harvests were incredibly important in the life of Israel. If we look at the ancient calendar of the Hebrews, we will plainly see, that the year is punctuated with grand festivals. Some events were timed with the changing of the seasons. This helped to remind the people of God’s constant provision or intimate care for them in daily life, all year long. It provided and opportunity to return to God some small token of all the various things that He had given them, and to all people. All occasions were times of whole-heated delight, and joy, and enjoyment of God’s good gifts. At the same time, they were also sober gatherings of all His people to seek forgiveness and cleansing. These grand festivals were not optional days off, or run of the mill long weekends. No, festivals in ancient Israel were a time for all people to stop what they were doing and enjoy and reflect on the great goodness of God. These festivals were never intended to be empty rituals, practiced out of tradition and repetition. In fact various prophets had sharp words for those who reduce these festivals to this level.

Gathering the crops from the fields in Ancient Israel was also a matter of life and death. If the crops were not harvested people went hungry. Hungry stomachs can lead to weakened immune systems making it easier for disease to infect and spread. There would be little to trade and barter with among themselves and other nations. People would get edgy and wonder where the God of Israel was. It is this God that is ultimately in control of all things, and especially the food for His people. It can not be understated that the hard work of hand cutting fields of barley, wheat and other good things was intimately connected to the daily life of every person in Israel. The harvest is literally gathering God’s gift of food for us to eat.

The image of the harvest for us today is an earthly, wholesome and romantic image right? When we say “Harvest” we think of piles of grain, and vegetables, and perhaps herds or flocks of animals. We reflect on the finished work of the harvest. We think about how much has been given to us. In our mind’s eye we can see the stores of food separated out and ready to be enjoyed. The funny thing is, I have never been part of a harvest or have even seen it in real life. The food that we all enjoy at thanksgiving, for the vast majority of us, is going to have been bought at a fully stocked grocery store. Can you imagine walking to the Metro or Food Basics and seeing most of the shelves empty? The fruit and vegetable stands sparse, with just a couple pieces of sub-par onions and apples available. Can you imagine Thanksgiving out of a can? The truth is, we enjoy a constant, year round harvest. The closest that most of us will come the harvest is when we notice the blueberries or strawberries are in season. Otherwise, we enjoy the fruits of a constant harvest.

Thanksgiving is more than food. It is more than simply gathering together. It is even more than saying “thank you” to God and to each other. It is a glorious rejoicing in God’s gifts to us and to all people. It is a resoundingly wonderful expression of joy and delight for all the things that God has done in all our lives. The purpose of the festivals in Ancient Israel was spiritual. It was, and still is, even for us here today, a great and glorious meeting of God and his people. We are now beginning to see what is distinctive about Thanksgiving for the church.

About an hour before dinner, with tensions running high in the house, I decided to go upstairs to see if I could help prepare something for the feast. Perhaps I could mash the potatoes or begin taking things out to the table or fill the glasses with water. I just wanted to help mum out with the meal and reduce some of the tensions. Besides, if I could help out in preparing the meal I could avoid doing the dishes.

When I got upstairs and entered the kitchen, there was a serious problem. We had no diner rolls. Apparently the entire meal would be ruined if we did not have diner rolls to eat before the Turkey. The world was slowly crashing down, and none of the stores were open to quickly run out grab them. Naively, I suggested going next door or down the street to see if one of the neighbours could spare some to save the meal. In that moment I could picture it: I would be the hero of the day and would have a great excuse not to do the dishes. “Hey, don’t ask me to do sinks full of dirty dishes, I got the rolls!” But I was promptly shot down by my two aunts and stressed out mother. The men were hiding in the corner of the living room. When I got down stairs, my sister said with a smirk, ”Where are the rolls?” Then she giggled and laughed a bit. At the time I did not think it was very funny.

Thanksgiving is not about us. Our Lord Jesus Christ states in the first verse of today’s reading, “No one can serve two masters; You cannot serve God and wealth.” In the days leading up to Thanksgiving and the harvest most of us will reflect and think about the day with a smile and a little bit of humble awe. This is the easy time. There are fewer distractions; there is time and energy to intentionally reflect on all of the gifts that God has given to us in the space leading up to the day. But, on the day when we called to be the most joyful, most gracious, or most reflective we loose sight of why we are gathered at all. We begin to forget that the purpose of the whole day is to thank God for all the blessings of this life. We are called to thank the Lord for all that He has given to us, including himself.

The master that the family was concerned with was the food on the table and having the perfect meal. We wanted to have the meal that we made. We were not concerned with being thankful for everything that had already been given and was present. In a way, we were caught up in the giving part of thanksgiving. In our eagerness to give to the meal and to each other, we were forgetting our God. We were forgetting Jesus.

My actions were different. In truth, I really did want to help and I was indeed thankful for all the food and the people that were gathered. But I wanted to give myself a pat on the back and not give my time where it was needed. I wanted to make myself the hero, even if it was only in my mind. I was thankful, but not very giving. I never once thought of giving something back to the Lord who gave me all I have to begin with. I never once thought of Jesus being the real hero of the meal or even of the whole day.

Thanksgiving is a two part thing, and neither part is about us. It is Thanks and it is Giving. Israel gathered the harvest, said thanks, and offered the choicest parts of the harvest back to God. It was never about Israel’s ability to work hard, make the perfect meal, or to give the most back. It was always about rejoicing in the abundance of God’s love in both word and deed. What is distinctive about Thanksgiving in the church is that we are called to put Christ first, before ourselves, especially on Thanksgiving. We are called to first thank the Lord and give ourselves back to him.

When we are all gathered at the table, and the feast was ready to be devoured someone said grace. With everyone standing behind our chairs the common ritual was for someone to be nominated to say grace. Sometimes it was Mum, other times it was my Grandmother, and the odd time it would be my Grandfather. This particular year was different. My mum, exhausted and standing behind her chair, bowed her head and said to a quiet room, “Some one say grace.” And without missing a beat, everyone at the table, young and old responded saying, “GRACE!” We had never laughed so much as a family as we did at that moment. My grandmother had tears running down here cheeks. When the laughter died down, we earnestly, whole-heartedly and joyously said, “Amen.”

In this single moment I believe we were all aware of Christ’s presence at that table. I believe that the laughter we enjoyed was saying thanks to the Lord. I believe in our hearts we collectively surrendered and gave ourselves back to Him, even if it was for a short moment. A peace calmed all our hearts and we began the feast. Every piece food was cooked to perfection, even if we did not have the dinner rolls. Everyone remarked on how good the Turkey tasted. We began apologizing to each other for being short with each other all day. I even found myself looking forward to doing the dishes. All of the worries of the day fell away. No one remembered why they were so uptight.

Near the beginning of this sermon I asked the question, “what is distinctive in the Church at Thanksgiving.” Jesus Christ is what is distinctive in the Church at thanksgiving. We joyously dwelling in the peace of Christ when we are gathered at a table. We are awash in the Holy Spirit. We are thankful for the Father for being steadfast with us, always.

Let me finish off this sermon with a prayer from the BCP:

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, We your unworthy servants do give you most humble and hearty thanks For all your goodness and loving-kindness, To us and to all people. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for your inestimatable love In the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; For the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we ask you, give us a sense of all your mercies, That our hearts might be unfailingly thankful, and that we show forth you praise, Not only with our lips but in our lives; By giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.