"How He Has Provided"

Thanksgiving Sermon - 11/27/13
Texts for this sermon: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; John 6:25-35

How He Has Provided

We all know the story of that first Thanksgiving - a people oppressed and persecuted by their government ran to a new world, a world where they hoped to find freedom, to find a place where they could live in happiness with their families, to worship God as they felt was right, and to eventually build a nation for themselves.  The journey was hard - there was never a time when they didn’t face danger, whether from starvation or from the harshness of the elements.  The journey was perilous, over a route that was uncertain and trying to avoid their enemies along the way.  Alone, they would most certainly have died - they would never have found food, they would have died from exposure.  They might have given up, turned back to the country from which they’d run, and gone back into lives of oppression and pain.  But in this new journey and this new land, they weren’t alone - someone helped them with food, protected them from their enemies, helped them to make their new lives in a new land, and guided them every step of the way.

And so on the day of that first Thanksgiving, as these pilgrim people had finally settled into their new homes and had gathered in the yield from their first crops, they stopped from their labors for one day to give thanks to the God who had delivered them.  They gathered together the fruits of their harvest in baskets, brought them all together into one place, and then presented them to the priest as an offering to God, remembering the mighty way in which God had delivered them from their captivity into the promised land and giving joyful thanksgiving for all of the blessings which God had poured upon them.

It surprised me, too.  I've always thought about Thanksgiving as the Pilgrim story in America, the men in the fancy hats with the belt buckles and the women in their bonnets gathering with the Native Americans to celebrate the harvest and to give thanks together both for one another and for God’s blessings.  But we come from a tradition of Thanksgiving that goes back several thousands of years, rather than just nearly 400 years.  And while this holiday puts its focus and finds its heritage in the story of those intrepid pilgrims of the Plymouth colony, our scripture points to a much grander and more far-reaching story than can be contained in any one country’s history.  Here, in just these two readings, we see the amazing and glorious providence of God throughout all of human history - we see a God who keeps God’s promises, a God who promised to build a nation out of Abraham, who promised Moses that God would deliver the people of Israel from slavery and lead them into freedom and prosperity, a God who then continued to keep God’s promises by building a kingdom out of David, a temple from Solomon, and a nation that continued even in exile.  We see a God who, even in the midst of a people’s unfaithfulness, makes a promise of redemption and deliverance in the voices of the prophets, and then fulfills that promise in Jesus Christ.

As we gather together tonight, we gather in anticipation of the the Thanksgiving feast that many of us will be sharing with our friends and families tomorrow afternoon or evening.  We gather to participate in cherished family traditions together - the Macy’s day parade, time-honored football games and bowls, Charlie Brown specials, and turkey-induced comas.  And for many families, one of the traditions that never changes is to take time before the meal and list those things for which we are thankful.  It’s a time that forms often-retold family stories: most of us probably have vivid memories of being set aside as members of the “kids’ table” over in the corner or in another room while the adults enjoyed their meal together with the good plates and silverware.  Some families laugh together as they remember the year that the dog got to the turkey before the rest of the family could.  We share stories of Thanksgivings past, of the journeys we made through feet of snow to get to Grandma’s house the one year, or share fond stories of other times spent together as family.  We share our lives together in a sacred moment where once a year, this one family meal is venerated above any others we may have.

And tonight, we gather for the same thing - we gather to share a meal together, to give thanks to God for the blessings we have received, and to share our common story together as family, as brothers and sisters together, each of us members of the body of Christ.  Tonight, we share together in the body and blood of Jesus, the “true bread of heaven.”  Tonight, as we take part in what our tradition calls “The Great Thanksgiving” and prepare ourselves to take communion together, we remember the story of Christ and give thanks to God that we have been so loved, that God has been so faithful to us, that we have been given the ultimate gift of eternal life through the grace of Jesus Christ.  We remember that everything we have comes from and belongs to God, and that in our worship, we give ourselves back to God to be refreshed in God’s Spirit and sent back out into the world to spread that love to others.

But we also gather in an eager expectation of another feast that is yet to come - as we participate in the communion meal tonight and look forward to the Advent season beginning this coming Sunday, we find ourselves in a particular place of being reminded of the kingdom that is still promised for us when Christ returns.  We celebrate this meal in the joyful remembering that God is still faithful to us, that God still keeps God’s promises to us, and that Christ will come again.  So let us take joy in the promise of Christ, that “whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  May we never forget the God who is the source of every blessing in our lives.  May we always remember the promises we have been given in Christ.  And may we ever be thankful.  To God be the Glory.  Amen.