Thanksgiving is coming! (Or it has just passed…that will depend on when you receive this mailing.)
I don’t know about you, but I love Thanksgiving! I love that there is a holiday that is named after giving thanks. I love that it provides an opportunity to express gratitude. I love that it is an excuse for most people to have a day off of their normal routines and to spend time with family. I love that there is a whole boatload of special food that is prepared…just for that day. Turkey. Cranberries. Mashed Potatoes. Shrimp Rings. Dressing (or stuffing). All marvelous stuff…especially if you get to savor the homemade “secret” variety of “in-the-bird” dressing that follows my Grandma Morris’s recipe. (There’s always a large pan of common, homemade dressing, prepared separately, available to everyone. While this large pan follows Grandma’s recipe, some people know that the “good” stuff is the dressing that came out of the bird. To find this, you have to hang around the kitchen for a while and listen for the whispers that say… “that dish over there has the good stuff.” Then, you go for it. Both are good. That special dish is better.) Of course, there’s pie. I still remember the Thanksgiving where my aunt and uncle tried to buy more varieties of pie than I could sample. They failed. I tried them all. Big slices too. Delicious. Yep! I love the food.
I also love the traditions, especially the Morris traditions. (Don’t get me wrong! The Shrum’s do a great job, have nice traditions, and I love being with them on Thanksgiving too…it’s just the Morris Thanksgiving traditions hold an extra special place in my heart.) I love the way we circle up and pray before the meal. I love the way that we all eat too much and then complain about it. I love the way that at some point in the afternoon there has to be a family football game played (while there are football games being played on TV), and that the older generations pass around the Motrin bottle in order to be able to move after the game (yes…I need the Motrin at this point in my life). I love how in our football game the youngest players are guaranteed a touchdown. I love how said football game always ends in a tie. I love how my son, Silas, always wears a Penn State sweatshirt…just to egg on the rest of the family (including me) who are dressed in Ohio State gear. I love our touchdown celebrations, the dance that is always performed by each team when they score. I love the way there are always solid chocolate turkeys and sparkling juice for celebrating. I love the way the extended family gets together and laughs at old stories, how we talk about the Mud Bowl of 1985 or getting scratched by Granddad’s watch when he was all-time quarterback. I love the mix of the old memories while sharing in new adventures. I love the ping pong and dart tournaments, the conversations, the fun, the thanks.
Yep! I love a lot about Thanksgiving. It brings back a bunch of those “warm & fuzzy” feelings. Though you will have different memories of Thanksgiving holidays, my hope is that you get those warm & fuzzies too.
But this year?
This year?
2020?
When we’re being encouraged to stay home? When the typical Morris Thanksgiving has been canceled? When the previous year has seen unexpected pain and heartache? When my family has lost two valued and cherished members since last Thanksgiving? When we saw my uncle pass unexpectedly from a rare cancer that he didn’t even know he had? When we saw my Granddad pass a few months later?
This year?
This Thanksgiving?
No gathering. No football game. No chance to grieve together through our first Thanksgiving without Uncle Richard and Granddad.
Will I still give thanks?
Will I still give thanks?
When the circumstances are different? When the food is different? When the gathering is different? When the pain is different? When the future looks different?
Will I still give thanks?
There’s a directive given by Paul in his letter to the Colossians. Look at what he says:
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
~ Colossians 2:6-7
Do you know what is interesting about this passage (and many other passages about giving thanks)?
There are no qualifications about life circumstances.
It doesn’t say, “Make sure you say ‘thanks’ when someone does something nice.” (Though that is good practice.)
It doesn’t say, “Make sure you give God thanks when life is easy.”
It doesn’t say, “Make sure you give God thanks when you are celebrating in the way that you like to celebrate.”
It doesn’t say, “Make sure you give God thanks when you’re with your family, eating the food that you like to eat.”
No, look at what it does say. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Emphasis added.)
You’ve received Christ Jesus? Great! Now, remember to do these things:
- Live your lives in him.
- Be rooted and built up in him.
- Be established in the faith.
- Abound in thanksgiving.
All of these are important and merit discussion, but for today let’s focus on the last one. Abound in thanksgiving.
Abound! (Dictionary definition ~ to be present in large numbers or great quantity.)
Don’t just have a little bit of thanksgiving. Have a whole boatload full. Abound in it.
Why?
Jesus.
It’s kind of a cliché to say, but Jesus is the answer. Jesus is enough.
Jesus is enough for us to be thankful.
Jesus is enough for us to abound in thanksgiving.
Sometimes, I wonder if my relationship with Jesus is deep enough for this to be true. Can I be thankful if my circumstances are undesirable? Can I be thankful if I don’t get to do what I want to do, celebrate in the way I want to celebrate, be with the people that I want to be with? Is Jesus really enough? For me to be abounding in thanksgiving?
The “preacher” answer, the “Christian” answer, the “right” answer is “Yes! Jesus is enough!”
Sometimes, though, in reality that gets tough. Sometimes, in life, especially on holidays, I can get sidetracked. I can see the empty seats where family members used to sit. I can see the disappointments. I can see the failures. I can see the sadness. It’s good to see those things, to deal with those things, to acknowledge the hurt, the pain, the heartache. What is not good is to allow those circumstances to take away from what we have in Christ. So the question becomes, is Christ enough? Can I give thanks? Can I still abound in thanksgiving?
I haven’t always. There have been times when I have been less than thankful. There have been times when thanksgiving has not abounded in my life, even on Thanksgiving. Instead, I have focused on everything wrong, on every shattered hope, on every dream that did not come true. I have not focused on Christ. This year? I hope that is different. I long to be abounding in thanksgiving…regardless of my circumstances.
After all, I do believe that Jesus is enough.
The price that Jesus paid is enough for me.
The life that Jesus lived is enough for me.
The death that Jesus died is enough for me.
The Spirit that Jesus has given is enough for me.
The joy that Jesus offers is enough for me.
The love that Jesus demonstrates is enough for me.
The hope that Jesus extends is enough for me.
The peace that Jesus gives is enough for me.
Jesus. He is enough for me. He is enough for me to abound in thanksgiving. Even if the unthinkable happens and I don’t eat a single slice of pie on Thanksgiving.
What about you? Does Thanksgiving look different? Is Thanksgiving harder this year? Not going the way that you want? Still, can you abound in thanks?
I hope you can. I hope I can. Friend, I hope that we know deep within our heart, deep within our soul, that we are rooted and built up in Jesus so much so that no matter the circumstances we find that Jesus is enough. That Jesus is enough for us to abound in thanksgiving.
~ Pastor Chris
