South Suburban Ministerial Association
Community Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
It may surprise you to hear me say that, as a preacher, I find Thanksgiving extremely challenging. It might seem like it should be a slam dunk. As a person of faith, giving thanks… giving thanks to God is one of my primary activities. Preaching on thanksgiving should be a simple pleasure.
But I find it very challenging to preach on this particular holiday. One of the challenges is unique to me as an Episcopalian. As we celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday here in America, part of our focus is on a historical event—the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620, the safe landing of the Pilgrims, and their spirited escape from religious persecution by the government and Church of England. The Episcopal Church in America is a direct descendent of the Church of England. The pilgrims were fleeing us.
In many ways the contemporary American Episcopal Church is a very far cry from the Church of England in the 17th century, but as contemporary Episcopalians we cherish much of what we inherited from that church. I give thanks for religious freedom, but I cannot demonize those from whom the Pilgrims fled. This business of claiming history as our own story is complicated… We might all do well to be reminded of that.
It is also challenging for me, and perhaps for you, to avoid a certain spiritual smugness as we undertake the task of counting our blessings at Thanksgiving time. It is good to be mindful of our blessings and to name them as blessings. But despite our very best and sincere efforts, it seems almost impossible not to end up thanking God that we happen to be on the right side of a world in which the distributive justice that I believe God yearns for is not realized. As we express our gratitude to God for all that we have been given, we do so in the shadow of those less fortunate. And I’m not talking about the 99% or the 1% in this country. Statistics are mushy, but I’m talking about the 15% who live below the poverty level in this country or the 25% of the world’s population that lives on less than a dollar and a quarter a day. I cannot thank God for data that indicate that the inequality of private consumption is growing exponentially.
Moving on… I do try to at least limit my Thanksgiving sermon rants…. But to name one final challenge for the Thanksgiving preacher. How can I possibly say anything tonight that you don’t already know?
Actually, I think it often is the preacher’s task to tell us things we already know… to give words to things that God has spoken into our hearts… to celebrate out loud the inner truths of life as God’s beloved people.
So let me tell you something I hope you already know. Let me tell you about the joy, and the blessing—of giving. The joy and blessing that are part of the experience of giving.
And I remind you tonight to give thanks for giving. To give thanks for the opportunities and the experiences of giving. I’m not just encouraging you to give, although I certainly do that. I’m encouraging you to give thanks for the opportunities and the experiences of giving.
There are many reasons to give of ourselves. We give back as a grateful response for what we’ve been given. We also give out of a sense of moral responsibility to care for one another. Those are values that many people might share.
Or we give just because it’s a joy and a blessing to give. Not out of a sense of obligation or as a specific response of gratitude at holiday time. Those are great, but giving just because we can is a source of joy and blessing. That’s the truth that God whispers into our hearts. That’s the experience of God’s faithful people. Faithful giving. Faithful giving brings us close to God. Giving, just for the sake of giving, is a way to share in God’s own life, to “partner” with God in God’s work. That’s an indescribably exciting and joyous experience.
So give. Your ideas, your creativity. And feel God’s creative spark kindle within you. Give your time. Give within your families. Give within your neighborhoods and your faith communities. Give your labor and know the sure guidance and unflagging zeal of God working with you. Give your laughter and your hopes. Give within the broader communities of the south suburbs. Give your music and your money. Give around the world; share with God in God’s own limitless compassion and generous love.
Faithful giving is a blessing. The opportunities and the acts of giving are something to be thankful for. So this Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for giving.
