Thanksgiving - Pt. 2

 

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4-5 ESV).

 

We all know the story that provides the backdrop of our uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims landed in 1620. They faced brutal conditions and were woefully unprepared. Roughly half of them died in that first year. Then they had a successful harvest of corn. In November of 1621 they decided to celebrate a feast of thanksgiving. Edward Winslow was among those who ate that first thanksgiving meal in 1621. He noted:

 

Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we gathered the fruit of our labors. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want.

 

In addition to the fowl eaten that first Thanksgiving, the American Indians also brought along five deer as their contribution to the feast. Presumably they also ate corn. Over the centuries, Americans continued to celebrate feasts of thanksgiving in the fall. Some presidents issued proclamations. Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation for a perpetual national holiday set aside for thanksgiving. In 1863, the nation torn apart by the Civil War, gave thanks. So we have a holiday of thanksgiving born in and further nurtured during times of great adversity and struggle. We might think that times of adversity and challenge would spawn ingratitude, while times of prosperity would spawn gratitude. Prosperity breeds ingratitude. Human nature trends toward ingratitude. Another culprit breeding ingratitude is our entitlement culture. Simply put, why should we be grateful for what we think we deserve and what we have a right to? A third cause of ingratitude concerns what Robert Emmons calls the “to whom” question. In his scientific study of gratitude, Emmons came to the realization that gratitude raises a singular and significant question: When we say thank you, to whom are we grateful?

 

The interesting thing here is that if we trace this “to whom” line of questioning back, like pulling on the threads of some tapestry, we find a singular answer at the end of each thread. The answer is God. He does “good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). Theologians call this common grace. God as creator cares for all His creation and provides for our needs. He gives us our very lives and our very breath. He also does good by giving His most precious gift, the gift of His Beloved Son. Theologians call this saving grace. This gift was the costliest. It cost Jesus the suffering and death of the cross. This ought to be the beginning of all our celebration and gratitude, especially at this season of the year.