Day of thanksgiving November 27, 2003.

Joel 2:21-27

Psalm 126

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Matthew 6:25-33

As I was listening to myself preach my fifth Thanksgiving sermon, calling the congregation to be thankful, to adopt an "attitude of gratitude" (a theme I stole from a friend), it occurred to me that I was "preaching to the choir." I wasn't preaching to people who dedicated Thanksgiving Day to gorging on turkey and then crashing on the couch in front of a football game. My hearers were in church! People who come to worship as part of their Thanksgiving celebration know that they have plenty to be thankful for. They know to whom they should give thanks. They know, at least on some level, that they're not thankful enough. They know that we can never be thankful enough when it comes to the gifts and the blessings of God, who gives rain so that the threshing floors will be full of grain and the vats overflow with oil and wine (Joel 2:23-24). What amazes me most of all is that, though their lives be touched by tragedy, uncertainty, and fear, still they are in church, not to complain, but to give thanks.

Perhaps, rather than spending our time on a sermon, we should heed the words of 1 Timothy 2:1: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone." Carefully crafted prayers might be the order of the day. Rather than speaking for God to the people, speak to the people for God. Be their voice. Mouth their words. Give their thanks and praise. Perhaps the entire sermon could be this kind of extended prayer, speaking for as well as to the people. The challenge in doing this is not sounding pie-in-the sky. So how would these readings preach if we interpreted them using a Thanksgiving prayer hermeneutic?

If your Thanksgiving table is full of food and the wine is overflowing, Joel's promise has come true. But if your experience of rain is either flood or drought, and Thanksgiving brings another day of hunger, for what do we give thanks? Can we thank God that shortage of food, destruction of crops, and our shame that we do not take care of one another are, according to God, temporary? Can we thank God that God is in our midst and does not leave us to our own devices? Can we give thanks that God cares for the soil and the animals of the field in the same way that God cares for us?

Turning to 1 Timothy, how do we offer thankful prayer for "rulers and all who are in high position"? Does it depend on poll, party, and public policy? How do we offer thankful prayers when our nation is not leading "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity"? Can we give thanks that God "desires everyone to be saved, to come to the knowledge of the truth"? Can we give thanks that, despite how we sometimes feel, we are not in charge of the world? I'd guess at times our leaders thank God for that! Surely we can thank God that Jesus Christ, himself human, gave himself as a ransom for all! We can thank God for "appointing heralds, and apostles, and teachers of faith and truth."

And we can listen to Matthew and thank God that we are not worried about our life, about what we will eat and drink and wear, unless we are worried about these things. Surely we can thank God that God intends life to consist of more than food and clothing. Surely we can thank God that we are worth more to God than birds and lilies, which, when we observed them, appear to be worth a lot to God.

I want to stop urging people to be thankful when by their presence in church on Thanksgiving Day they show that they are thankful and that they are striving first for the dominion and righteousness of God. Instead I want to give thanks with them that God knows our need and in Christ will bring a time when all needs are met.

Note: for treatment of texts for July 13, July 20, July 27, and August 3, please see pp. 303-305 in this issue.