Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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There is nothing more fundamental to faith than thanksgiving. On the worst night of his life, his soul heavy with sorrow, Jesus lifted the bread and wine from that upper-room table and, before he did anything else, gave thanks. "After he had given thanks, he broke it" "After he had given thanks, he gave it to them" St. Paul, in the midst of a raging tempest, onboard a ship that seemed certain to sink, started to pray and (even at that terrible moment of fright, the Book of Acts tells us) he began by thanking God. When children learn about Thanksgiving, they are taught to be grateful for the good things in their lives: for mommy, and daddy, for home and food, and such. And that is good. And we should do that, too -- count our blessings. But for adults Thanksgiving is more difficult. It challenges us to remain grateful and positive even when things aren't so good. When our blessings are mixed with sorrows. Those Christians in Philippi, who first received Paul's letter and opened it in church and read it aloud, were adults. They had experienced the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." More for them than for others, in fact, because they had accepted Jesus, and were paying the price for that. Paul writes, "Chin up!" "Always be full of joy in the Lord.Don't worry about anything.Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

Life Without God is Life Without an Anchor

The world wants us to embrace faith in the goodness of man (an idea totally unwarranted by the facts), and faith in some humanistic future -- I suppose controlled by all those good people -- instead of faith in God. (I read this week that some school districts in America are teaching children that the first Thanksgiving was a big feast hosted by the pilgrims to thank the Indians for all their help!) And, supposedly, that kind of secular, politically correct faith, will make us happy and truly thankful. It fails every time, of course, because without God we cannot get above the here and now. In a world without God, when things are going well, we are happy, hopeful, and optimistic -- even thankful. But when things are going poorly we are discouraged, resentful, and depressed. Sort of like my dog. Nothing bridges the gap. Nothing lasts beyond the moment. There is no anchor to hold our boat. But faith adds a third dimension. And it is that third dimension (between our blessings and our curses) that enables us, like Paul, to say, "Always be full of joy in the Lord.  Don't worry about anything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." God is the key to Thanksgiving -- was at the beginning (with the pilgrims), is now and ever shall be.

Take our personal histories, for example. Every day, when we go out into the world, we carry with us a bag marked, "Things that have happened to me." If there is no God, that bag becomes very heavy. We brood hopelessly in the remembrance of things past. We are burdened down with guilt or resentment or, at very least, with a feeling of helplessness. There is nobody who "will all our burdens share."

Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down.
Sometimes I'm almost on the ground.
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,
Nobody knows my sorrow.

What can we do about yesterday? What's done is done. It's "water under the bridge." The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on. No thanksgiving in a person bound by his past. Because remembering, for a godless person, is either an opportunity for boasting about accomplishments or for crying over spilt milk. Never a time for thanks. But what if, on the other hand, we believe there is a God, and that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Then we may have a way to escape from our histories. To put down that bag. For, with God, we learn to take the past, wrap it up, and give it to Him. In the same way we give him our uncertainties in the present and our worries about the future. And he carries them for us. And, for our part, we thank him. That is the essence of forgiveness, isn't it? It cleans up the past. God forgives us our shame. We forgive others, removing the thorn of anger from our own hearts. Thank you, God. Thank you that we don't have to live forever in the same cave where we were born. We Focus on Thankfulness Even as We are Aware of Great Problems
 

Aristotle, centuries ago, noted that there is "more is in the mind than before the mind." Freud developed that idea into his elaborate theory of the subconscious. There is something wrong in the basement, he said, and that's why nothing in the house works. (Or, to change the metaphor, there's something wrong on the hard drive and that's why what's on the screen doesn't make sense.) If that is so, if there are millions of facts, a lot of data, inside us, how do we decide, or how is it decided for us, what we focus on? Because you know, dearly beloved, focus is often the question when it comes to thanksgiving. Alex Baldwin, England's Prime Minister in the early years of this century, had a close friend who traveled widely, and whose judgement he respected. He had the friend report to him each time he returned from a journey. After one trip the man came in, with a long face, full of despair: he told of rags in Poland, hunger in Austria, a war-spirit in Germany, a simmering revolt in the Balkans. Baldwin picked up a beautiful bowl of roses. "Do you like roses," he asked his friend? "Why, yes, I love them." "Than bury your face in this loveliness and thank God." He had to change the focus, or his friend would be lost in despair. It didn't change reality. The problems of the world were still real. But so were the roses. Whether we are thankful (on Thanksgiving) or full of resentment depends not so much our reality, but on what part of our reality we focus on.

Now listen to St. Paul say the same thing to those Christians at Philippi: "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things." Bring them up out of your data base, and focus on them. It's tough to be a Christian in a pagan world. I know you are tempted to become discouraged. But you can control what you think about. And we are what we think about. What gets our attention gets us. Search all that is in your mind (all your memories, all your experiences, all your learning), find what is good, and true, and honorable. And focus on these. Attend to these things, and let God have the rest. "Always be full of joy in the Lord.Don't worry about anything Tell God what you need, and thank him (By all means, thank him!)for what he has done.