Thanksgiving address at GMCS

Thanksgiving may conjure up many different images and emotions for each of us. Growing up my family spent Thanksgiving day at my grandparent’s house in Little Rock. I remember being excited on Wednesday night because there was no school the next day. I recall waking up late and watching the parade on TV. I can remember Grandmother’s cornbread dressing, creamy corn, mashed potatoes. I remember crazy deserts (pecan pie, raisin pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie). I also remember sitting at that smaller table off to the side, affectionately known all over the world as the “kid’s table.” I remember playing catch, whether it was baseball or football, with my cousins, and occasionally the dads would come out to play a game of wiffle ball. We all have different memories and traditions we look forward to, mainly the indulgence in a spread like no other. But today I want us to think about those people we often associate with Thanksgiving—the pilgrims.

There is great debate over whether or not the Pilgrim’s celebrated the first thanksgiving. They probably did not. I am sure many people got together to celebrate the harvest season years before the pilgrims did. But we are fairly certain that the Pilgrim’s did celebrate with a large, communal meal. However, historians tell us that this harvest celebration revolved more around a church service than a meal. Now here is what I find amazing about the pilgrims and their ability to celebrate: after being openly mocked, possibly even persecuted by their fellow Europeans for their religious zeal, after leaving their homeland, after crossing the sea, after losing many to sickness, starvation, elements, and battles, it is then that they look at what they do have and they turn to God and say “Thank You.”

If we were to encounter the same types of frustrations, setbacks, sorrows, and grief’s as the pilgrims did, I am afraid we would more likely shake our fist at God than to thank Him for what He has given us. We would be more likely to take credit ourselves for the things we do have. “Look at what we have done.” “Look at what I have accomplished.” “We deserve to have plenty to eat and warm blankets to cover up with.” But let us not forget that we do not get what we deserve and that is a good thing. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Let us not forget that we are not limited to having those things which we accomplish, for if we did, we would have nothing. “For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together.” “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”

So this Thanksgiving, admire the providence and sovereignty of God, who has created you to live in this time and not in 1620, when we may have cursed God. Praise Him for all that has happened to you and for all you do have, because every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights. Wrap your arms around your children and grandchildren and whisper prayers of thanksgiving into their ear and cherish them as gifts, on loan, from God. Bind together with your family and celebrate the season by celebrating Christ, the ultimate reason to be thankful. By having Christ, we truly reap a harvest that we did not plant, and our mission becomes to plant Christ into the hearts of others so they can reap the blessing that surpasses all.