Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving!

Before sitting at table with family and friends at the festive board to give thanks, as will many across our great land, I thought I’d take a moment in rumination and reflection.

I got to thinking. 

This week we celebrate a national day of "Thanksgiving," there will be a wonderful dinner with family, possibly some friends. There will be time taken to give thanks for all sorts of things, from the food that will be eater, to the people gathered, to all sorts of "blessings." Thanks will be given for the football teams playing that day and for all sorts of things. I know some will think that some of those things mentioned that people are thankful for, are trivial. Are they? Maybe we ought to consider all the trivial things more often, and truly appreciate them as the incredible gifts they are. Think about how much detail our Creator went into to make life “very good,” and it is sinfulness which despoils it.

So I ask, is there a full appreciation that ALL we have comes from the gracious hand of God?

To give thanks to someone or something other than the one who is the giver of the gift, is to insult the one who is truly the giver of the gift. So to address thanks to other than the Creator who gives all things to us, is to insult the Creator. On this national day of Thanksgiving then, to whom do those who do not believe in the Creator (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) give thanks? I suppose one can claim to be “thankful” for things, but without directing that thanks somewhere, what is truly the point? It is also probable that people can direct thanks to other people for things, “thank you mom, for giving me life,” but even that is only partially true as the Giver of life is still the Creator, who uses parents as the “means” of His creative grace. My sons have thanked me for gifts, but even at that, those gifts are still truly from God.

I know, someone will say, so we should not thank people for what they do and how they impact us? No, that is not what I am saying at all. For example, I thank Pauline for putting up with me, but she is able to put up with me by God’s grace! Personally, I probably fail to give thanks to people as I ought. But sitting around the Thanksgiving table, without them there, is probably not the best way to thank them. I need to step out of my comfort zone and make the effort to say thanks. But even as I thank them, I need to remember that they are God’s gifts to me, and I should thank Him for them.

So, I ask again, to whom do those who deny God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit truly give thanks?

If this is indeed a national holiday for giving thanks to…???, then is it something that Christians ought to celebrate? Do not get me wrong, I believe firmly that we ought to give thanks to God at all times, in all places, and in all situations! We ought to give thanks to God for we know that truly nothing we have, nothing we are, nobody we know, is not a gracious gift from God for our life.

Pauline is God’s gracious gift to me! Thanks be to God!

Nathan and Timothy are God’s gracious gifts to me! Thanks be to God!

My parents were God’s gracious gifts to me! Thanks be to God!

Tyler, my brother, is God’s gracious gift to me! Thanks be to God!

Those whom I have been called to serve as pastor are God’s gracious gift to me! Thanks be to God!

My life is God’s gracious gift to me! Thanks be to God!

My talents and abilities are God’s gracious gifts to me! Thanks be to God!

And I could go on, and on, and on… Thanks be to God!

That is why it should not take a special a special day for Christians to give thanks, it should be a daily occurrence. And, yes, Americans all over will "give thanks," even as many of them deny the very God who provides all the "blessings' they have. I invite you to pray for them, give thanks for them, and pray that they also might come to know the truth of Him who created all, and who gave His own Son to be their salvation.

But there is even more to this “giving thanks”…

Thanksgiving is English for the Greek word Eucharist. Yes, the Lord’s Supper is a meal giving thanks to God in Christ Jesus, even as those who eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ, receive the gracious benefits of His sacrifice on the cross; forgiveness, life, and salvation.

I invite you to receive God's greatest Thanksgiving meal, the Eucharist. Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take eat; this is my body, given for you." In the same also, He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, "Drink of it, all of you, this cup is the new testament in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

The Great Thanksgiving is celebrated every time believers are gathered together in Christ's house, around the table He sets, that we might eat of His flesh and drink of His holy, precious, blood for the forgiveness of sins.

While the mundane elements of this meal, those things visible, bread and wine, may not satiate the appetite of our flesh, what is hidden that we consume, the very body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ give greater blessings to both body and soul. Yes, hidden behind the earthly forms of bread and wine are the very flesh and blood of Him who was pierced and died for our forgiveness. When we come to the table in faith, firmly believing that we are sinners, and here is the very body and blood of Him who died to redeem me, we do receive forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation in the eating of this bread and the drinking of this cup for that is what Christ has promised.  What God promises, He delivers!

This is not just a holiday celebration, but it is a celebration and feast for every holy day, every Sunday, when Christ gathers his believers around word and sacrament. Every Sunday is the Christian’s true Thanksgiving Day!

Dearly beloved friends of God in Christ Jesus, beloved saints, come celebrate Thanksgiving every Sunday as befits those who know the gracious mercy of Him who gave them life, and gave His life that they might have life, and have it to the full.