Rethinking Thanksgiving

My belly is still full and I am about to pass into rich, dreamless sleep, the kind that comes from tryptophan and good memories. However, I've been thinking a lot lately about Thanksgiving. It is a quintessentially American holiday, a fixture of our civil religion. Civil religion isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I think Christians have a responsibility to critically reflect on the ways in which civil religion mingles with their faith, and possibly hinders it. 

I am considered about some of the language I hear around Thanksgiving. I squirm a little inside when I hear people give thanks for their possessions, health, affluence. At its worst, an American Thanksgiving becomes a celebration of affluence. And I don't think that pleases God. 

That oldie-but-goodie hymn, "Give Thanks," says:

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because he's given

Jesus Christ, his Son

We are supposed to give thanks for God's gift of Jesus Christ ( Christmas and Thanksgiving can go together!). Jesus is our ultimate gift, not our shiny cars and big houses. Jesus, after all, had no place to lay his head.

Or another great hymn, "For The Beauty Of The Earth"

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This, our hymn of grateful praise

God's creation and love received from others and all around... that's why we praise God. 

But I know it's hard. I know that even though I'm a college student, I'm extremely rich by global standards, and even by some American standards. I think God wants rich people to acknowledge the spiritual danger of wealth and to feel a moral imperative to give it away. 

I am thankful for God's grace. I am thankful for every family member around my Thanksgiving table, and for all of my friends. I am thankful for the hard work my dad does so we can afford Thanksgiving dinner, and my mother's loving labor over our turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc. I pray that day by day I can witness the ways God is at work in my life and the lives of others around me and give thanks. And that I'll be too distracted by grace to be worrying about money. 

An Accidental Field Trip

Because I injured my neck when a box fell on my head at McDonald's, I am taking muscle relaxers. Because I am taking muscle relaxers, I accidentally slept until noon this Sunday morning. Because I accidentally slept until noon, I could not attend church this beautiful morning. Because I couldn't go to morning church, I looked up churches with Sunday night services and landed upon Our Lady of Presentation Catholic Church and Grace Baptist. Because the Catholic Sunday night Mass is in Spanish, I went to Grace Baptist. And that is how a young female liberal Methodist ended up at a King James only, thoroughly Calvinist, all male-led Baptist church tonight. 

I walked in and immediately noticed a huge American flag and the flags of every branch of the military on the wall perpendicular to the altar. I was immediately annoyed. I'm very patriotic and I respect the military with all my heart, but that doesn't belong in the sanctuary. One American flag, fine, but church should be about God. The bulletin prattled on about eternal security and getting saved. I immediately thought of the old response to the door-to-door evangelists' query, "Are you saved?"-- "Yes, I was saved on Friday two thousand years ago." And as a PowerPoint connoisseur, I can tell you their PowerPoint was quite amateurish. 

In other words, I felt I was entering the buckle of the Bible belt. (All right; that sounded weirder than I meant it to. Perhaps the sterility of the sanctuary stifled my sexual-connotation-radar.)  Looking back, I can see I was being snooty, sniffing at their conservatism and dismissing their very real faith. 

We sang two simple hymns, "Take My Life" and "Give Thanks." And then, Pastor Pete said we were going to go around the room and each person would say what he or she is thankful for. The results were stunning. Husbands and wives, parents and children thanked God for one another. Grown men were moved to tears by what God has done for them. And nearly every person showed a deep, organic understanding of the ways God has moved in their lives; they were thinking theologically, and it was impressive. Luckily, I was sitting in the far back corner of the sanctuary and I was one of the last people to say what I am thankful for.

I said I am thankful for the ways God calls each one of us. I knew I could not thank God for calling me into the ministry there because these folks would think I am damned for being a woman called to be a pastor. But when I said I'm thankful for my calling, these far right folks nodded heartily. I continued, "And thank you God, for bringing me here tonight. I've learned a whole lot."

And I meant it. Then, Pastor Pete said we were supposed to get in small groups and pray together. Every person in my group thanked God for me. These strangers talked to God about me. It was quite moving. 

I am truly thankful I went there tonight, or rather that God led me to Grace Baptist. Of course I'm as Methodist as ever, but I think we liberals can learn some stuff from the right-wingers. And more importantly, so many right wingers are devout disciples. I really want to try the going around the circle and giving thanks thing. Not in worship; I feel strongly that worship needs to be more engaging than that. Maybe in a small group or Sunday School class I'll lead one day. I pray the church God gives me to lead, if that's his will, will be red hot with Holy Spirit fire like these KJV-only Baptists. I guess the Holy Spirit really does go wherever he wishes, like Jesus says in John 3. And sometimes, it's the "open-minded" who are actually trying to close doors. I'm thankful this Sunday that the Holy Spirit isn't bound by my prejudices.

Liturgy with John Lennon

L: Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
C: You give abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance (Psalm 68:9)
L: They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
C: Your loyal love extends beyond the sky (Psalm 108:4)
L: Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind
C: We are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10)
L: Possessing and caressing me
C: We are your children through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26)
L: Jai garu deva om
C: Victory to God, Divine. 

L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: We are more than conquerors through him who loved us 
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: Neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: Nor things present, nor things to come
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: Will separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:37-39)

L: Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
C: You answered us, Write the vision, make it plain on tablets (Habakkuk 2:2)
L: They call me on and on across the universe
C: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (1 Samuel 3:10)
L: Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
C: Then you spoke out of the whirlwind, and answered (Job 38:1)
L: They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe
C: The wind blows where it will. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
L: Jai garu deva om
C: Victory to God, Divine.

L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: And we also were included in Christ
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: We heard your word, the truth of our salvation
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: We were marked with a seal, with the Holy Spirit
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: We are your possession (Ephesians 1:13-14)

L: Sounds of laughter, shades of life are ringing through my open ears
C: Your joy is in us, and our joy is complete (John 15:11)
L: Inciting and inviting me
C: You invited many guests to your banquet; you said everything is made ready (Luke 14:17)
L: Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns 
C: Your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105)
L: It calls me on and on across the universe
C: You have said, "Here am I, here am I," all the day long (Isaiah 65:1)

L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: You keep us strong until the end
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: We will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: You have called us into fellowship 
L: Nothing's gonna change my world
C: And you are faithful (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)

L: Jai garu deva om
C: Victory to God, Divine

L: Jai garu deva om
C: Victory to God, Divine

L: Jai garu deva om
C: Victory to God, Divine

L: Jai garu deva om
C: Victory to God, Divine