11/26/2020
Friends of Grace,
I offer Thanksgiving greetings.
I was reading the paper yesterday and I came across a column with the following headline: "Thanksgiving has always been about grief. Pass the mashed potatoes." (Here's the link: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/11/24/jana-riess-thanksgiving/ )
As I read Jana Riess' article, I was struck again by the fact that as the Pilgrims celebrated that first Thanksgiving, they did so having buried half of their community during their first year in the New World. Further she noted that President Lincoln instituted this holiday in the midst of our most bloody Civil War. Yet in spite of all that they had suffered, our ancestors remembered that they still had something extremely precious: life. It is a gracious gift given by God. It is illuminated all the more brightly when viewed in the shadow of loss.
In 2020, none of us have had a year that reflects the fulfillment of our earthly hopes. Many of us have experienced great loss, yet loss does not diminish our Christian hope. Moreover our temporary loss pales in comparison to the present and eternal abundance that we have from God. God is good. All the time.
Those of your who heard Dr Rowe's sermon last Sunday on Psalm 95 will know that our worship of God is founded in the twin pillars of Praise and Thanksgiving. So as our country gives thanks, may we also offer praise: "For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods." (Ps 95:3)
And as we praise and give thanks, let us also remember and come to the aid of those who have lost so much more than we have. This too is worship.
In Jesus name,
Pastor Neil
We all know the story of the first Thanksgiving — or at least the version many of us acted out in second grade, when some kids dressed up as Pilgrims and some as Native Americans, and then everybody put aside their differences to sit down together and commence overeating.
