Come, Thankful People

November 25, 2004 (Thanksgiving Day)

By The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

- Deuteronomy 8:1-3,6-10(17-20)
- Psalm 65 or 65:9-14
- James 1:17-18,21-27
- Matthew 6:25-33

(From The Lectionary Page)

Some years ago I was invited to preach at a community Thanksgiving Eve Service in (appropriately enough) Plymouth, Wisconsin. I was the newest clergyperson in town, having arrived the previous June. The pews of Salem Reformed United Congregational Church were mostly filled as we began the same ecumenical service that was no doubt held in many places across the land last night.

As the preacher, I had been given the lessons a week earlier, and noticed that they were strikingly different than the lessons we have just heard. Giving thanks to God was not the emphasis, rather, the lessons had to do with being faithful to the Lord in the midst of persecution, even unto death. Just before I was to preach, the host pastor offered was called a Pastoral Prayer. I cannot quote it verbatim to you, but I can paraphrase a couple of points. In the pastoral prayer, God was thanked for our Pilgrim forefathers and foremothers who braved tremendous perils to reach a new land, where, now free of a tyrannical king and corrupt church, they could worship with freedom and charity for all. The prayer went on to ask for divine assistance in carrying out their courageous witness.

As I entered the pulpit and placed my text on the reading desk, I made a choice. Call it youthful exuberance, or chalk it up to inexperience, or just say I was full of myself, but I offered a few off the cuff remarks that went something like this. “It is a pleasure to be here in Salem Reformed United Congregational Church, a congregation which owes a debt of gratitude to the Puritans. Allow me to introduce myself: I am a priest of that same corrupt church headed by the tyrannical king just alluded to. Just let me say that it is good to all be together again. And perhaps we might gather again soon to discuss the Puritans’ well-documented record of religious tolerance and acceptance of diversity.”

For our remaining years in Plymouth, I always had Thanksgiving Eve free!

Thanksgiving Day is a holy day in the Episcopal Church, classified by the Book of Common Prayer as a Major Feast, on the same level with saints’ days and many Feasts of Our Lord. To be sure, this holy day is connected to our national life, but our main purpose as expressed in the prayer for this day is to gather and thank God for the fruits of the earth and the labors of those who harvest them, and ask for wisdom and courage to be faithful stewards God’s great bounty. Of God’s great bounty. And we do this within the context of an ancient liturgy called Eucharist, which means Giving great thanks.

Before heading to the aforementioned Plymouth, Wisconsin, I was a curate in a large parish where the rector always preached a children’s sermon on Thanksgiving Day. He would gather the young ones, and together they would go through the alphabet. “Is someone grateful for something which begins with ‘A’?” The hands would shoot up: “Apples, apple pie, apple sauce” would be the answers.

There were always a few plants in the congregation who knew when the children reached the letter ‘M’ that they were to say that they were grateful for Father McClain, and at ‘W,’ for Mr. Whitt the organist and Father White. There was one year when “Q” was particularly sticky. “Queen” just didn’t sound right. Finally, 5 year-old Tripper excitedly raised his hand, waving it madly. The rector called on him and he proudly said, “Q. I am grateful for cucumbers.”

Many of us shall take part in similar exercises today, saying what we are grateful for. Several families will have an easy time with B: Baptism. But within our lessons today are additional themes.

For instance, we are not simply to give thanks for what we have received, but give thanks for what is yet to come, what we can create, a bountiful land where no one is hungry, where no one lacks anything, such as food, shelter, justice, and hope. Just as God brought the children of Israel to such a land, so he has brought us. God has fulfilled God’s promise. Now we – you and I – must be about keeping our part of the bargain: being truly thankful by working tirelessly so that all are provided for. As the Letter of James says, “Be doers of the Word…, be a doer, one that acts.”

On this day in 1884, James Huntington, priest and monk, founded the monastic Order of the Holy Cross, which united daily Eucharist and prayer (things which monks are especially known for) to social witness and social ministries. The Holy Cross Order began by ministering on New York’s lower east side among immigrants, where poverty and disease were all that was plentiful. Fr. Huntington wrote: “Holiness is the brightness of divine love, and love is never idle; it must accomplish great things.” (Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2000, p.446) That would make an outstanding Thanksgiving Day card.

A final thought. In our Gospel lesson, on this day exactly one month until Christmas Day, how timely are Jesus’ words: “Do not be anxious about your life.” My Greek is not excellent, and I know that Dean Cavanaugh’s is, so I’ll be careful here. The word for anxious is akin to consumed, as in do not live for these things, but live a life committed to righteousness, be doers, to be lovers who accomplish great things. “Seek first God’s kingdom, God’s righteousness, God’s vision and scheme of things, and everything else shall take its rightful place.”

My sisters and brothers: with great respect for all descendants of the Mayflower this morning, our national day of thanks should, in one way, be no different than every day for a person of faith. As we give thanks for the four to be baptized, and take stock of our blessings with family and friends and parish today, let us also take stock of what God is calling us to be: doers. Kansas City is the land God has brought us to, where we are to show forth God’s glory. The resources to provide for the needs of all are staggering here, the opportunities are plentiful, and we have God’s own promise to strengthen and support our work. Love is never idle; it must accomplish great things. Let this holy meal feed our deepest needs, that you and I may be true servants, middle managers of God’s great bounty.

If we were doing the alphabet today, at the letter U, in the tradition of Tripper, I would have the perfect answer and say: I am grateful for you, and thankful to be here.

Linda Sue, Tim and Rebekah join me in wishing you a blessed holy day.