Just Be Thankful. Just be thankful. The big holiday this week is fast becoming black Friday, the polar

Transcription

1 BEC Thanksgiving Service St. Matthew 6:25-33 November 26, 2013 St. George s Bolton Chris Rose Just Be Thankful So many folks display a lack of thankfulness. So many are focused on what they lack, instead of the blessings that they have. This is one season in which we have an opportunity to be thankful for our blessings. Unfortunately, it seems more about how much I can load on my plate. The big holiday this week is fast becoming black Friday, the polar

2 opposite of Good Friday. It is almost as though Black Friday were ready to swallow up Thanksgiving whole. More and more corporations are making their employees miss their own Thanksgiving Dinners and holiday, so that they can open their stores earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving Day, so they can sell more stuff and make more money. It is an orgy of greed for the corporations and let s not let consumers off the hook either, as they trample one another to gain first entry to a Walmart to get 25% off a flat screen TV. As John Lennon would say, and so this is Christmas. Where is the gratitude attitude in any of this? Greed and gluttony are among the seven deadliest sins in Christian teaching and tradition. Sometimes those words hit us like a club and bring no comfort. Just be thankful things aren t worse than they are! Little comfort here when you re thinking, how could things be any worse? Invoking gratitude begins at home with ourselves, and we ought to be very careful about exhorting anyone else to be thankful. Not everyone will feel thankful this holiday, and some with good cause as they grieve over loss in their lives or other trauma. Let our gratitude inspire us to reach out in love and kindness to those less fortunate than ourselves, touching them with sensitivity and the kindness we have known. So many are worried about being thanked, they forget to give thanks. Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate what you have got, but it is also a time to appreciate others in you life and the blessings they daily give to you. Do we even notice? Are we really feeling so entitled that we forget life is all a gift, and the things which others give us? Do we really forget to thank those who serve us daily, or show us small kindnesses at home and at work?

3 How about the things and people we have most to be thankful for, have we stopped and taken the opportunity to thank them? How often do we ever take time to thank the founder of the whole feast, the ultimate source of all our blessings? (And you can guess I hope that I am talking here about God ) We pray to God to help us and God answers our prayer. How many of us remember to thank God for God s kindness and mercy to us? Consider this story from the ministry of Jesus in Luke 17:12-19: The Ten Healed of Leprosy As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him- -and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten healed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Just say thank you. How many of us have remembered to show our gratitude when someone has done something for us? Thank you notes are almost obsolete these days, just like the holiday is becoming this week. We can breath new life in it when we give voice to those two little words: Thank you! Thank you. Those two words are among the most important and appreciated in any language. He who does a good deed is often satisfied to hear "thank you" as his only reward. It's too bad the

4 phrase is so underused. Gratitude is the mother of all virtues. That makes sense. Gratitude-a grateful attitude-inspires other good attitudes. It's hard to have a bad attitude when you are feeling grateful. It s hard to be downcast and depressed when you count your blessings. Just be thankful and adopt an attitude of gratitude in your life. You will find your glass is more than half full. Problem is, our abundance is so bountiful today, it is hard to discern the distinction between this meal of thanksgiving and the bounty we enjoy everyday! Now you can have turkey year round, and cranberries any time you desire and you can even have a pumpkin pie [a la mode no less!] in the middle of summer if you want! It blunts the specialness of the meal we will consume this Thursday. We eat a lot every day; so eating a lot on Thanksgiving just doesn t stand out anymore. Consider, if you will, the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. We spend so much energy on anxiety over what we need and want. Who is grateful? Who can say I have everything I need? Richard Nixon, of all people, said it well long ago: "This year, let us especially seek to rekindle in our respective hearts and minds the spirit of our first settlers who valued freedom above all else, and who found much for which to be thankful when material comforts were meager. We are, indeed, a most fortunate people."

5 They were so thankful to God, yet their material comforts were meager. By contrast we are swimming in a vast sea of prosperity, unimaginable to generations who have gone before us. This Thursday most of us will share in a meal, no, a feast of abundance, which should remind us of the great bounty of our blessings. And so this is a day and a time to take stock of our bounty. And as we count up the money in our bank, to give thanks for the blessings which God has showered upon us. We have those blessings in abundance: Good shelter that protects us from the elements and keeps us warm through the winter. Good food to sustain us. Good clothing to protect us and keep us warm, and so much more than that. Good friends and for many, family, who are with us both in the thick of life and in the thin places. Good health, brimming over with many daily miracles: We can walk, we can talk, we can see and we can hear. And even if these are limited, we are blessed and comforted with care and love from our families and friends. Good work which meets our need to support ourselves, and in many cases, fulfills our purpose in life. The more abundant your gratitude, the greater your wealth will become. Turn and give thanks to God for all God has done in your life. Focus always on what you have to be thankful for, and you will never be in want of anything. As Fr. Mychal Judge, the Fire Chaplain, priest hero of the 9-11 disaster, was wont to say when

6 asked what he wanted, What do I want? I already have everything I need and want. Giving thanks conquers anxiety. When you start to count your blessings, your woes fall away. Who can add one single hour to the span of their life worrying about all they lack. God already knows what we need and has supplied it and will supply it. Relax. Just be thankful! Ultimately, all thanksgiving is to be directed to the source of all our blessings. Indeed, it is a joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to our loving God and Father in heaven! Thanks be to God! Hallelujah, Hallelujah! As you prepare to eat your feast this Thursday, pause and give thanks to God for the blessings you enjoy! AMEN