My wife Jacque and I have been amazed at how easily our culture moves from Halloween, actually based on an occult observance of pagan cultures, to Christmas, the celebration of the incarnation of the Son of God. Two things are noteworthy here. First, moving so seamlessly from Halloween to Christmas is only possible because in our culture, Christmas means little more than Halloween. Both are about the Gross National Product – delivering what sells. Thanksgiving, by contrast, does not move dolls, or games, or even clothes. Compared to Christmas and Halloween, Thanksgiving is really quite boring (unless you raise turkeys, that is).
Second, even those who encourage us to remember “the true meaning” of the holiday, get it wrong. We are told to love our families, and to remember the sacrifice of others and to express our thanks for them by doing something ourselves.
What is not mentioned in our culture is the fact that the “real meaning” of Thanksgiving is giving thanks, not to ourselves, or each other, but to the God who has given us so many blessings. What has obscured this is the nearly complete abstinence of genuine Christian thought in our culture. What should concern us is how easily this particular brand of abstinence is embraced, inadvertently, by believers. We still give prayers of thanksgiving at the huge meal. But in the end, it’s about eating and watching football.
My point here is not to make everybody feel guilty about thanksgiving dinner, or a relaxing afternoon. I started out remarking about the near seamless transition from Halloween to Christmas, barely noticing Thanksgiving. I don’t think anything will change our culture. What I think is needed, though, is for God’s people to guard their attitude. This thanksgiving our family will get together and enjoy a big, traditional meal. And we will probably find a way to watch some football. But, we are also taking this time to imitate the God who has given us so much by giving of ourselves to one another. Maybe when we are able to be a channel of God’s blessing to someone else, we will understand a little more of what it means to be thankful to God.
It could be argued that Thanksgiving is half of Worship. God is always worthy of our worship. But, He has done so much for us that the child of God should be highly motivated to give Him worship for His blessing in their life.
I am going to examine Milestones of Thanksgiving in the next several postings. Not that they must come in any particular order, but I believe that these are important and effective truths to remember in giving thanks, whenever we express it – especially now.
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