Trinity Lutheran Church

Give thanks in all circumstances . . .” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

For many people, Thanksgiving is about tradition. Your tradition might be to hunt in the morning and then get together for dinner in the evening. Maybe your tradition is going to Grandma’s house or Mom’s house. You might have the tradition of watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade or heading out late Thanksgiving night to get to Black Friday shopping early. You could have a tradition of playing cards or heading outside for a game of football. It might just be watching football and taking a nap (one of my traditions, actually). Again, for so many of you, beyond just the turkey and the trimmings, Thanksgiving traditions are paramount and super important.

But for some people, including myself, Thanksgiving this year will be different and traditions will be changed, altered, or not happening at all. I remember the first time we had Thanksgiving after my Dad died or the first time we didn’t go to Grandma Schmika’s. I remember my last Thanksgiving in IL and with my family, 2001, or the very first Thanksgiving I had without any family at all, while I was on internship in 2000. This year will be the first Thanksgiving since we were married where Amy and I won’t be spending it with any other family members, as her family is in Florida and mine is in Michigan. We will be on our own, which will be new and different and strange.

For many, things will be different this year. Often traditions will change because of death. Suddenly, a grandparent or parent isn’t there at the table or out in the hunting shack or in the car on the way to the mall. Maybe it is a child or an aunt or uncle that is missing. Maybe someone has gotten married and so Thanksgiving is spent at a different place or in a different way. Other circumstances also may be causing traditions to be different or changed. And, of course, there are people whose Thanksgiving is still another day where they struggle to feed themselves or their children or just find a warm place to stay for a night.

Having traditions is a big part of Thanksgiving, but sometimes we make those traditions into the only part of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not about the traditions, it is about giving thanks, even in circumstances that have changed and even on a day when Thanksgiving isn’t a day of happiness but sadness or struggle. We gather on Thanksgiving to give thanks to God for the gift of life and salvation through Jesus Christ. We celebrate Thanksgiving to give thanks to God for giving us strength to handle the difficult times of life and for the times of joy, peace and rest. We remember to give thanks not only for the stuff we see, but the people whom we have loved and been loved by in our life, whether they are next to us at the dinner table, a thousand miles away, or in the peace of God’s glory.

When Amy and I sit down at our table at noon (pausing the Bears game) for our first ever Thanksgiving dinner on our own, I will give thanks for her family gathered in Florida and mine in Michigan. I’ll give thanks for my parents and her mom in heaven. I’ll give thanks for our dogs and for the chance to be together, even if it is a little different this year. I’ll remember all those I know who will feel a void and sadness on Thanksgiving Day. And I’ll especially give thanks that in the ups and downs of the year, God has walked with me and kept me afloat when it felt like I might drown and laughed with me in the most joyous of moments. I will give thanks that Christ died for my sins and will one day bring me to everlasting life. And I will give thanks for Amy’s stuffing, the best I ever had. I don’t even have to share it with as many others this year!

Whether you will be celebrating Thanksgiving as you always have or you will be in a new reality with new traditions, I hope that you will pause and give thanks to God, no matter what. And, I hope you will remember that everything you see and have in this earth, including life itself, is a gift from the God who has created you, loved you, saved you, and will be with you always till the end of the age. For that we can say, every day and always, “Thanks be to God!”

As I write this, the first snow of the season is falling outside and it looks like a big storm.  Already on Facebook and in the days prior to this storm, the complaining about the snow began.  Complaining about the cold, the need to shovel, how early it is, everything.  And I can frankly see all those points.  I might even agree with all those points!  However, something interesting occurred as I was shoveling this morning (the first of many in the coming 24 hours and throughout the winter).  A thought popped into my head (I know, always dangerous).  The thought was this: it is beautiful.

   Just that thought.  It kind of surprised me, that thought.  And it bore another thought: in everything that we think is bad or awful, there just might be something good located there too.  The snow is a pain, no doubt, but there is beauty in it too.  There are kids rejoicing because they got off school today.  There is the joy that comes with making snowmen or skiing or having a snowball fight.  There are often beauty and positive things that can often be found in almost everything.

   Look at the beat down the Packers gave my Bears last night.  It might have been the worst football performance I have seen my team play in the history of my lifetime.  Yet, while that was going on, I was able to write my sermon for Sunday, put away laundry, get some reading done, AND, due to Mason Crosby, able to win my fantasy football game this week.  So even in the midst of that destruction, good things came from it.

   The world would love us to look at our own lives and our experiences in a “negative” first light.  To always see the bad instead of the good.  But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ calls us to look at the good in the world, to look at the beauty and the light in the midst of the difficult and darkness.  Because Christ has set us free from all things, we can see the blessings even in the midst of the sorrow, the hope in the midst of despair, the good in the midst of the bad; to see the beauty in the midst of the storm.

   As children of God, saved and redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can look at the world, and our own lives, with the eyes of Christ, eyes that see hope, love, beauty, and most of all, God, in all things.   It may be snowing, and that may be really annoying, but it is also beautiful.  And for that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”  Psalm 34:8

   There is no doubt that I like food.  On Sunday, I had a wonderful day of eating (despite the diet.  It is all about working out and portion control for PB).  I came home from church and Amy had a wonderful bacon sandwich ready for me on a croissant for lunch  Hmmm, bacon.  Then, for supper, she made this wonderful pork thai peanut noodle dish that is just scrumptious.  PB’s stomach was happy. Plus, in between, I took a drool inducing nap.  It was a good Sunday afternoon.

   There is nothing like tasty food, like a great meal, whether it is in a good restaurant or a family favorite cooked at home.  There is a feeling you get, a warmth that just covers your heart and soul, a feeling of satisfaction, of contentment, of happiness.  But even the greatest meal (even one with bacon) does not come close to what it feels like to know that you are loved and saved by God in Jesus Christ.

   As satisfying as a good meal is, knowing that I can take refuge in my Lord, knowing that the Lord is good, knowing that God showers me with mercy, blessing, and forgiveness, gives my soul a contentment, a warmth, a satisfaction that not even the best meal (even a meal at Famous Dave’s) can give me.  Of course, I get the opportunity to have the greatest meal of all on a regular basis, the meal of Christ’s body and blood at Holy Communion.  Through the bread and wine, we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation, things that fill our heart and soul more than a full stomach ever good.

   Sometimes we forget that the Lord is good.  Sometimes we forget that we have refuge in him, that we have a safe place to rest and strengthen when life gets hard and difficult.  Even more so, we sometimes forget that everything we have in this life, including amazing meals and morsels of delicious food, come from the God who has created us, saved us, and sustains us in this life through the Holy Spirit.

   “O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”  Taste the delicious goodness of God and know that in Him you always have refuge and hope.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”