Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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I always talk about the first Thanksgiving at this time of year, because it is such an important piece of American history, and history makes us who we are. It is an heroic story which, unfortunately, has been largely forgotten. It speaks not only of the Pilgrims' religious faith, but also of the indomitable spirit of America -- a spirit that remains positive, that overcomes difficulties, that is thankful for what it has and doesn't spend a lot of time feeling sorry for itself. The first Thanksgiving is us -- at our best.

Tonight let's talk about two kinds of thanksgiving: thanksgiving that looks back and reminds us, and thanksgiving that looks forward and leads us. We're more familiar with the first kind. Looking back and being thankful is what we usually think of when we think of Thanksgiving -- we recall the miraculous deeds of God (or recognize some blessing that is ours) and appreciate it. Not much more than common courtesy, in fact, to say "thanks" for what we have. If you've traveled in other countries know that the first word to learn in a foreign language (besides "toilet") is the word for "thank-you". It gets you a long way.

Gratitude Builds Character

Simple gratitude is a basic building block of good character: to realize that we did not get where we are by ourselves, and to appreciate others who helped us along the way. It is also good theology: that the creature should thank his creator and praise his holy name. No other attitude would be appropriate. When we are children we learn to thank God for parents, pets, friends, and so forth And, as more sophisticated adults, we thank him for grace, for freedom, for this great country. The ancient Jews looked back on the dramatic deeds of God: how he singled out Abraham and made him the father of a great nation, how he rescued his chosen people from Pharaoh, led them through the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (providing them with manna from heaven and water from a rock), and then gave them the land he had promised their ancestors. And they were thankful. As they should have been. But the focus in this kind of thankfulness is always back, thanking God (or our forefathers, our parents, our spouses) for things we already have. What would it mean to be thankful looking ahead? To let Thanksgiving lead the way?

Letting Gratitude Lead to Obligation

There is an old-fashioned expression in English for saying "thank-you". We hardly hear it any more. "Much obliged." It's good because it turns the focus of thankfulness toward the future. It says, "Because I have received something good, something wonderful, something undeserved (from you), I now feel obliged. I cannot just take and not give back. I cannot fail to appreciate, for that is sub-human. I will say "thank-you" to be sure, but (more profoundly) I will accept an obligation upon myself, because of the grace I have received. An IOU, as it were. Over the door of my seminary, where all of us who were preparing for ministry could see them every day, were carved these words from scripture: "Freely ye have been given, freely give." We cannot separate thankfulness from obligation, or it becomes an empty thanksgiving -- a thanksgiving only of turkey, and gravy and mashed potatoes.

Above All Being Grateful that God Cares

I read these beautiful words from the Sermon on the Mount, this week (which Dick just read so well), where Jesus says: "Don't worry about keeping body and soul together, what to eat, and drink and wear. Don't you know that life is more than stuff like that? God provides necessities -- even to the birds and the wild flowers. They hardly work at it, and they never worry, but they're beautiful none the less. God knows you need all these things."

Trusting God in the Future

That is what I mean by "the thankfulness that leads us forward." Such a strong sense of God's providence, such a belief that he will take care of us, enables us to face life with courage, without all our anxious strivings, free of worry, trusting God. Or, to look at it the other way, what sense does it make to turn ourselves inside out thanking God and praising him for all his wonderful works in the past, and then to wring our hands about the future? When we say "thank-you" to a loving, gracious God, we say two things: (1)"You have cared for us and our ancestors in the past, and (2), for that reason, we trust you with our futures." "Great is thy faithfulness," says the old hymn. You kept your promises to Abraham, and to Moses and to the children of Israel, and you will keep your promises unto us. You have brought us through troubles in our childhoods, seen us through difficulties in our marriages, helped us to raise our children, comforted us in times of grief and loss. Indeed, "You have been our dwelling place in all generations." "Therefore", says the Psalmist, "we will not fear."

Gratitude for God's Faithfulness

Some years ago, a mother struggling hard to raise a teen aged girl learned that her daughter had a serious problem -- but had chosen not to share it with her. She said to me, "I'm upset about the problem, of course. But I'm more up set that she didn't tell me. I've worked so hard to love her. I've given to her even when she didn't deserve it. I've found time to listen to her problems, even when I would rather have been doing something else. I've given her what she wanted and denied myself. Did she think I would hurt her? Why didn't she trust me?" And I thought about God, how he might say the same of us:

"I have done so much for my people. Denied them nothing, not even my own Son. Put them in a good land, with plenty to eat and drink and wear. They thank me, but they don't trust me. When they're stressed, they trust their own works and wisdom, and turn away from me, the living God, who has cared for them from the beginning. So their lives are full of fear and worry.

If we don't understand that God's faithfulness in the past secures our futures, that when we say, "thank-you" we oblige ourselves to trust God, if we sit at that great feast tomorrow and worry where the next meal is coming from, then we are the biggest turkeys of all on Thanksgiving.