Thanksgiving
Matthew 6:25-33; Deuteronomy 28:1-12A; 2 Corinthians 9:6-12
“All our Wants and Needs supplying,” says the cover
of our Thanksgiving bulletin, the theme of our service for today. At it’s
most basic level this is a description of what life is about—dealing with
our wants and needs. To me, this title begs a very real question on this Thanksgiving
Day. What are our needs and what are our wants? Needs, of course, come first—that
which is needed to survive. Most of us don’t spend a great deal of time
in our community on this question—we pretty much assume our survival needs
will be met—although we may be concerned about the survival needs of our
company or business. Maybe we should consider for a few moments what our basic
needs are to stay alive. Air—food—water—shelter—I checked
out a couple of survival sites on the web. They were intriguing in their identification
of what is needed to survive—for that is what they were concerned about—staying
alive.
We all have basic needs—to stay alive our bodies need food and water. The survival sites all stressed first the need for water—to plan for at least one gallon a day. This, of course is far more than anyone really needs—absolutely needs—to survive. The drought stricken corners of the world—Africa comes to mind first—have taught us that human beings survive on amazingly little. Not that one’s health will not be affected—but that is true of food also. In famine conditions the body has endured with amazingly little. There is an old New England custom of placing 5 grains of corn at each plate at Thanksgiving. According to one tradition, this practice was started as “a reminder of those stern days in the early 1600’s (during one of the early winters) when the corn supply of the Pilgrims was so depleted that only five grains were rationed to each individual at a time. The pilgrims wanted their children to remember the sacrifices, the sufferings, the hardships, which made possible the settlement. They did not want their descendents to forget. The use of five grains of corn placed by each plate was a fitting reminder of a heroic past”—and a reminder that our wants are nothing compared to our needs.
The dictionary definition of a need is something that is essential or necessary—that which cannot be done without—while the definition of a want is something desired and longed for. Today’s Thanksgiving is a stark contrast to the focus on survival needs of other time. We are now into the time of year when we create our wants lists—nobody creates a needs list—but wants? —they are called Christmas wish lists—the stores would like us to believe that they are our needs lists. It is the intent of every commercial to convince us that we have needs we never realized—needs for electrical devices that do things we have never realized needed to be done—needs for bodily adornments we had never thought to adorn—needs for scents and aromas we had always associated with anything but ourselve.s Today is Thanksgiving—a day intended to be set aside to be thankful.
Thankful for all we have received to meet our needs—and maybe a few of our wants. When Jesus speaks in our Gospel for today he speaks with an awareness of the wholeness of creation—he sees the fulfillment of need in all that is around us—food—shelter—clothing—the so called essentials are part of the wholeness of God’s creation—but food became gourmet and shelter became multi-bed roomed homes. And clothing became Abercrombie—American Eagle—Gap and Nike. Thomas A. Ferguson, a descendent of the Algonquin Indians of Massachusetts remembers learning a different view of Thanksgiving “We learned from the wisdom of our elders to thank the Creator for Mother Earth ... Father Sky... Grandfather Moon... our Uncles the Four Winds... our Cousins the Stars and... our Brothers and Sisters the animals. We thank the Creator for all our relatives, for what is good in the world and for all our harvest not just one crop, but all. We give thanks for the strawberry, it is the first berry of the new spring, we give thanks to the tree spirit, for the warmth it provides in our fires and the saps that flow in the fall, we honor the animal spirit, who laid down its life in order for the people to go on. We give thanks for each harvest year round. When the Creator created the Universe, He placed his hand on the Whole thing... so everything is spiritual. He never told us to separate anything... but to look upon everything that he has made us as holy and sacred and act accordingly with respect.”
Traditionally the many indigenous cultures that inhabited North America gave thanks to the Creator, not once a year, but after every harvest, be it agriculture or game. These celebrations would last for several days. One such celebration happened at Patuxet, now known as Plymouth Rock, in August of 1621. It is this celebration that many of us were taught to picture as the "First Thanksgiving In the fall of 1621--less then a year after the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth Harbor—after hunting fowl—harvested 20 acres of corn and six acres of barley and peas all according to the manner of the Algonquin agriculturist the Pilgrims invited the Sachem Woosamaquin otherwise known as Chief Massasoyt to celebrate their harvest. Accepting—Chief Massasoyt brought five deer, and ninety of his men with him to the feast. Thus we pretty well can figure that the feast at the "First Thanksgiving” consisted of "a bird, corn, peas, roasted venison, and beer.” This feast lasted three to five days (depending on which source you check) and was celebrated as a treaty which was supposed to benefit both Algonquins and Pilgrims. In 1621 there was celebration of the essentials—all things needful—and a few extras.
Our Gospel text is a familiar one speaking of lilies of the field and birds of the air—poetically touching on all the things that we feel are needs and some wants—Jesus cautions that God knows our needs—God also knows our wants almost as well as those around us. The standard litany at our house like most these days is “What do you want for Christmas?” The relatives in Minnesota and Virginia have already begun to ask—demanding our list of wants—and to be sure the sizes are right—and colors—and any other limiting factors that might make our want into a white elephant. I think each year at this time of the many things that I wanted and yet have never used—so why did I want them? I must have thought they were somehow needed by my life. What I needed—As the years pass my needs list—even my wants list—changes. We see it in our children too—There used to hardly be a commercial on television that did not contain an item they needed. Now in their later high school and college years—they have become less interested in “stuff” (unless it is really “cool”). The college student sons basic don’t want anything more that will fill the limited space of their college rooms. They have begun to ask not what do I want but what do I need.
A good question for us this day. Our Gospel text is a needs list—an essentials lis—survival—eating, drinking, clothing. The pictures of refugees in various parts of the world haunt me. I see pictures in the paper and news magazines of individuals and crowds. I find myself studying the pictures to see what essentials they carry with them. A few years ago the students at one of the local junior highs were given the assignment of describing what picture they would want to take with them if they were homeless and could carry only one picture. Their writings were fascinating as the young people reflected on what was most important to them. Pictures of a house—a pet—a family member in a particularly happy time—they named the blessings of life—those things that give meaning and value to life—maybe not essential to survival but of great value to living a meaningful life.
For most of us we have little real concern about needs—the basics of life are not an issue which makes our Gospel text all the more poetic—beautiful words reflecting a beautiful thought. God cares about us—God provides for us—God blesses us—God gives meaning to our lives. What do we need most in life?—water?—food?—There are those who have found that what they needed most to live was hope—faith—God! Surviving disasters—imprisonment—tortures—illness. The common threat to the stories of the survivors is their faith in tomorrow. There come those moments—of crisis or disaster when wants fade from heart and mind—when all we really feel is the need—the need to be touched—to know love—to be known by another. These too are needs—needs that are not just of the body but of the spirit—our holy and divine side.
God provides for our needs—even those needs that transcend the body—those parts of us that touch the eternal—that know love enduring beyond the grave—the promise of the eternal—the hope of the life to come—a need beyond all needs—a need for God’s grace. So we give thanks this day—not that our every want is fulfilled. But we give thanks for a God who knows our needs more fully than we do and provides once again a gift of grace and hope beyond the bodily needs—the gift of a grace that carries us beyond a day of Turkey and football into God’s tomorrow—God’s kingdom.
Amen.