“This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet God in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?
And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't God be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!
So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?’ These are the things the pagans are always concerned about. God in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Realm of God and with what is required of you, and you will be provided with all these other things.”
**************************************************************************
Sukkoth in the Hebrew tradition is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths Sukkoth is the Jewish autumn festival of double thanksgiving, which began this year on September 30th- five days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Sukkoth ends today, October 7th. This is one of the three Pilgrim Festivals spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Exodus 23:16 refers to “h’ag ha-asif “, the“Feast of the Ingathering,” when grains and fruits were gathered at the harvest’s end, and to “h’ag ha-sukkot” in Leviticus 23:34, recalling the days when the Israelites lived in huts during their years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. The festival is characterized by the building of huts made of branches and by the gathering of four species of branches, with prayers of thanksgiving to God for the fruitfulness of the land. As part of the celebration, a sevenfold circuit of the synagogue is made with the four plants on the seventh day of the festival, called by the special name Hoshana Rabba (“Great Hosanna”). Jesus would have celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, and joined in the Great Hosanna!
Today, we express our thanks, our gratitude to God for the harvest, for providing for us, for caring for us, for getting us through another year. We can tell the story of God’s faithfulness, of God’s love, of God’s care, and we can tell it exactly because we are here--alive and well! We who are present are evidence of the goodness of God.
Over the last year, all of us, in one way or another - have had a personal crisis. Life involves worry, and we don’t get to escape it. Some of us have gone through tremendous struggles, and you are here; others may go through difficult times right now, but all of us agree that thanking God is important on this Thanksgiving Day. We are here today to give thanks to our loving and caring God!
My Facebook clergy friends started a list the other day of the subject of our thanks. Everyone said, of course, family and friends; home; health.....but it seems to me an attitude of gratitude means thanks for life - the good and the bad. The late George Burns, on the celebration of his 100th birthday and his appearance on a television talk show, was asked if he was glad to be able to be there. He responded “At my age, you’re glad to be anywhere.” Well, despite the fact that this was classic George Burns, it occurred to me that this is the very essence of a life of gratitude - we’re glad to be anywhere.
It almost seems when we say "thank you" to God - even in the midst of the most incredibly crushing events in our lives, which threaten to extinguish the light of our soul - we can deal with those events and still be able to sing a song of thanks. "God has done great things for us, and we rejoiced." Maybe thanking God allows us to focus away from ourselves, at least a little, and to open our eyes to what is going on around us. This is what Jesus is doing when he looks about and sees a couple of birds in a nearby tree. Jesus says: don’t worry. Nothing has ever been gained by worrying. Instead, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God in heaven feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
As we soak in Jesus’s words, we start to feel safer, the voice of fear is squelched, instead a feeling of gratitude is gradually swelling in our soul. And soon we are saying: "Yes, if God takes such good care of a bird and a flower, God will take care of me too. After all, I am one of God’s creatures too!" When we talk about God taking care of us, I don’t think it means God will prevent bad things from happening, I think it means God is there, always - even in the midst of the crises of our lives.
Paul speaks of the benefits of the attitude of gratitude in the following manner: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity."
Have you ever met someone who is a truly grateful person, someone who takes nothing for granted and is thankful for anything you do for them. Well, I do know a number of those grateful folks. They are people I like to hang around. They are peaceable people, people that have many friends. That’s the kind of attitude I want to have.
Margaret Visser's most recent book, "The Gift of Thanks", addresses a social ritual we take for granted. How many times did your mother tell you to say "Please" and "Thank you"? It is part of our ritual of politeness, and we get irritated at people who don’t say thank you. She notes our 21st century experience of dismissing thanksgiving when we say "Everything I want I can buy." She says that "We often forget that it is not gratitude and giving, but advantages taken for granted, and then unshared, that are much likelier to produce and encourage differences in status and injustice."
Rev. John Henry Jowett was born in Halifax, England, and lived from 1864 to 1923; for a time was minister at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. He said "Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road." He also said “The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money.”
I wondered, as I read this scripture over the week, what Jesus really means. Does he mean throw caution to the winds? Or does he mean don’t take anything for granted in this life, but believe that every new day is a gift, every person, every possession, everything God sends our way is a blessing and a gift.
If we believe we are children of God, what should we fear? Problems? Hunger? Death? It almost seems that an attitude of gratitude is the antithesis to fear and worries. As we are released from the chains of stress and strain, as our gratitude to God grows, we will find ourselves able to reach out to others; to people that may be worry-stricken, to the poor, the needy, those of us who really don’t have enough to go around - and we can demonstrate that gratitude in how we relate to others all the time.
What does reaching out to the poor, the needy - just reaching out to others altogether, have to do with Thanksgiving? The prophet Joel notes that it is important because poverty and hunger is always a reality among people in many parts of the world, and because God is compassionate and caring, and calls us to the same. Let us not only be people who know how to celebrate Thanksgiving once a year, but let us be Thanksgiving people--people who have an attitude of gratitude.
A few quotes on gratitude, from a variety of people....
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Albert Schweitzer
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” – Cicero
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha
“One regret dear world, that I am determined not to have when I am lying on my deathbed is that I did not kiss you enough.” - Hafiz of Persia
“Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.” - Kahlil Gibran
We come to this table today for the symbols of bread and wine - the symbols of God’s openness, generosity, love - and the opportunity to make all God’s generosity available through us - from our hands to the hands of others. That is why we practice an open table - because God is open to everyone, so we are open to everyone. We cannot put boundaries on God’s love. We are called to live in gratitude for all that is. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Don't Worry--Be Happy! by Frank Schaefer Mat. 6:25-34
2. A Life of Gratitude , by Fran Ota Thanksgiving 2009
3. The Gift of Thanks, by Margaret Visser. HarperCollins, NY. 2009.
4. http://sourcesofinsight.com/gratitude-quotes/
No comments:
Post a Comment