Give Thanks?

Written by Pastor Ed

Give Thanks?

October 9, 2011

First Mennonite, Calgary

Scripture: Philippians 4: 1-9; Habakkuk 3:17-19

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s rather hard for me to give thanks.  I thought about just saying that and then sitting down, but decided that probably wouldn’t go over very well.  And I actually have it quite good.  While I might complain about the fickleness of Canadian immigration, or the hassles of late afternoon traffic, I really don’t have much to complain about.

My house was not washed away in a flood or damaged in a hurricane.  And believe me there has been plenty of that.  This year has seen much in the way of disaster; from flooding, hurricanes and tornados, to drought that has turned whole areas into semi-desert and led to economic ruin.  And, of course, all of this in a time of political and economic upheaval that has left many of us wondering if there is an economic future.

And that’s not to mention the personal tragedies, health issues and so on that people have encountered or are encountering.  Illness, death, job loss and other personal events affect us all in some way or another.  And yet, here we are again at the weekend that has been designated as Thanksgiving here in Canada.

Thanksgiving as a national holiday has some rather interesting antecedents. Most cultures of the world invoke some kind of harvest celebration.  Certainly the native Americans held such ceremonies long before the European explorers and settlers came to this country.  But not all the celebrations in Canada have been specifically about the harvest.  Numerous articles cited the celebration held by the explorer Frobisher in 1578 after he returned from his journey to try and find the northern passage to Asia.  Other celebrations marked special dates in the royal calendar, such as King Edward VII’s coronation.

But the harvest theme has predominated over the years in most countries and cultures, even though the date may be different.  And certainly the harvest is something to be thankful for, and food is a large part of the celebration in most cultures.  But what if there is no harvest?  Should the people of Texas forgo Thanksgiving this year?

We read this morning from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippian church at the end of which he encourages them to “rejoice in the Lord always.”  (4:4)  “Don’t worry about anything,” he says and think only good thoughts.  What extraordinary things to say under the circumstances.  Paul is undoubtedly writing while being under, at least, house arrest with restricted movement and awaiting further trial.  He comments on this earlier in the letter.  And the Philippians church is itself probably experiencing some persecution and turmoil.  But Paul looks beyond the immediate. As one commentator put it:

"Yes, there is the immediate reality of a world in which human beings are constantly at war somewhere, betraying one another, brutally suppressing each other in order to get ahead, and so forth. This was true of the Roman Empire, and it is true today. Every day we hear and see a culture that focuses on what is false, dishonorable, unjust, impure, and shameful. We begin to think that to act hopefully in such a world is unrealistic.

But Paul also sees another reality, and it is the reality that holds the future. That is the reality of God's redemption, already here and still drawing near. Training our minds to think of this reality, and thereby to act with hope, is a daily mental discipline. For such a discipline, we need to experience the counter reality of God's rule in the midst of tangible human relationships. Paul offers his own relationship with the Philippians as just such a tangible counterweight to the temptation of despair and futile thinking."

That is, for us as Christians, we are called to look beyond the immediate to the possibility, no, the reality of the hope we have of something beyond the present reality. And from time to time we are given a glimpse of what that reality might look like.

This week Elsie shared with me a letter they had received from the teacher in the 6th grade class where their grandson attends.  It’s one of those glimpses, and I’d like to invite Elsie to come and share that letter, with a little more background.

(Elsie shares letter) (Sorry I do not have copy of the letter to include here - it told how the class was showing compassion and caring not only for Elsie's grandson who is autistic, but for each other in the class.)

It is those moments when we get visions of what life can be like, or see instances where the Kingdom of God breaks into our everyday existence that provides the basis for our faith and hope in the future.

When the prophet Habakkuk looked around in Judea, he didn’t see many of those signs.  All he saw was destruction and ruin.  Habakkuk probably lived in Jerusalem during the years of the Babylonian siege of that city around 598 B.C.  He saw coming to fruition what other prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel had foretold.  It appeared as though the enemy was certainly winning and Habakkuk cries out, “How long, O Lord?”

He describes in vivid details in the first chapter of his little book the fierceness of the enemy and the destruction that is being laid upon God’s people.  Their horses are swift; they laugh at fortress cities and simply build up earthen ramps to overtake them.  They gather captives like sand and laugh at rulers who try to oppose them.  And these Babylonians are wicked people, yet they are prospering and winning.  How can this be?  Certainly if there has been a national day of Thanksgiving in Israel, Habakkuk would have protested. 

And so he cries out to God, even it seems pouts a bit, and waits for God to answer him.  And God does answer with that well known line, “the righteous live by their faith”  and, says God, they take a long view of history.  And in reality, that’s what we have to fall back on when things look bleak.  Our faith that the God we serve cares for us, and watches over us.  That doesn’t mean we will always experience good times, in fact numerous times Jesus told his disciples that they would experience rough times.

As Christians, we are not immune to the frailties of life, or the economic conditions around us.  I don’t believe God promises that if we are good Christians we will always be healthy and wealthy.  We experience all of life, in its fullness – both the good and the bad.  We know that, I know that, but we need to be reminded of it from time to time as we experience all that life throws at us.

And we also need that long view of history and a world view that goes beyond our immediate circumstances.  It’s very easy for us to focus in and become very self-centered.  Even in this age of instant news from around the world and the availability of massive amounts of material, I am often amazed at our lack of knowledge of history, or of the state of the world around us.  Far too often we are simply focused on ourselves, our family, and perhaps a small circle of friends.  If it’s not good for me, then it must not be good, goes the conventional wisdom.

Our faith calls us to look beyond ourselves and beyond our time and place.  Our sister congregation in Colombia is planting a new congregation in a neighbouring community.  I don’t know anything about the community they are planting the new church in, but I have been to Berna and it’s not a wealthy neighbourhood.  In fact, across the street from the church is a facility to train people so they can perhaps find a job, run by IMCOL, a Colombian Mennonite group a bit like MEDA.  There are large apartment blocks as well. 

By our standards they would be rather poor.  We’ve considered ways of helping them financially.  Yet, as is often the case with persons in those circumstances, they don’t look at their poverty, but rather they rejoice and give thanks for what they have, and thank God for God’s provision and praise God for all that God is.  And they look for ways to share what God has given to them, no matter how little it may seem to us.

Just before the message, we sang a somewhat familiar hymn, “Praise to God, immortal praise”, number 91 in our Hymnal.  It’s a song that is often sung at Thanksgiving and appropriately so as it speaks of the blessings of the harvest and all that brings that harvest to fruition.  I invite you to look at it in your hymnals.

What is often lesser known, is that these five verses by Anna Barbould are not the entire poem that she wrote, and in fact if you look across the page to number 92 you will notice that the verses of this hymn are numbered 6 through 9 and are, in fact, the continuation of the poem.  I’ve never been quite sure why they made tow hymns out of them, but perhaps it is because someone didn’t like these last verses and wanted to stick with the “good times.”

But the author, echoing the words we read from Habakkuk, recognizes that if our thanksgiving rests solely on a good harvest, then there will be times when we will be disappointed.  Some years there is no harvest, as there are in places this year, either from too much rain, or not enough.  But Habakkuk and Anna Barbould, and Jesus call us to look beyond ourselves and our own circumstances and see a God who loves the whole world and has been active throughout history.

It is only then that we can truly offer our thanks and praise to God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, to whom be glory forever and ever, and in all places.  Amen.

I invite us to sing these last verses of Anna Barbould’s poem, “Lord, should rising whirlwinds”.