11/24/57

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9; 9: 15.

Text: 2 Corinthians 8: 9; 9: 15; "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. -- Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift."

Some 337 years ago, a band of men and women who took their religious faith seriously left the civilized world which they had always known in order to plant their lives in an entirely new, and uncivilized part of the world. Of course they would, for a time, hope for supplies to be sent by ship occasionally. And, if their venture were successful, other companies of folk might follow. But neither of these contingencies were certain. There had in fact been such colonial ventures as theirs which had never been heard from again --- wiped out by the savage hostility of the new world.

The New England fathers of our faith and freedom were not the first ones to leave the old world. There had been others who came to the new shores farther south. But the Mayflower company sought not only new opportunities for a livelihood, but new freedom and opportunity for positive nurture of their faith.

The venture was expensive. The first winter treated them cruelly. Only the hardiest of them survived the cold, the disease and the danger from natives that surrounded them week after weary week. But, in the spring, they planted their seeds in their clearings. Their modestly successful harvest at the end of the first growing season was such as to make them hopeful of a better, second winter. And they were grateful for it as well as for other blessings which they knew they enjoyed. With common accord, they gave thanks to God for their survival and for their harvest. And it was no "stuffy" celebration, either! They did go to their meeting house to give prayerful, thankful praise to the god of things as they are. It was not something that God demanded; it was something they needed to do! And attendance at the meeting was not just a token gathering of a few, who were not too busy with deer hunting or other holiday pursuits. Practically the whole company was there!

Then they feasted on the good things which they had, or could procure, from the wilderness around them. It is worth noting that the quality of these pioneering lives was such that their thanksgiving was not confined alone to prayer and feasting. As soon as they were able to do so --- and far sooner than most of us who live in greater plenty would think we were able to do --- they were giving of their meager means to establish schools, and to aid others in the name of their faith.

The giving of thanks and the giving of dedicated substance has been characteristic of genuine Christians from the first. Some 1900 years ago there was a depression which vitally affected first century Christians, along with others. Jerusalem, in Palestine, and other parts of the Roman Empire, were hit hard enough so that there was untold hardship. Throughout the known Asia of that time, special sacrifice offerings were raised among the Christians for relief. Paul spearheaded the drive, and urged his fellow Christians to give generously. He reminded them that they had what they had because of God’s immeasurable generosity to them. And he reminded them of the way that divine generosity was lavished in Jesus Christ. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich --- Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" That is the way Paul put it when writing to the Christians at Corinth.

A full understanding of this inexpressible gift makes us aware that the abundant generosity of God toward us can hardly result in less than a generous attitude and response on our part. "You will glorify God --- in acknowledging the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your contribution ---" said Paul. [2 Corinthians 9: 13].

In our nation, a Thursday in late November has become a legally-appointed day of Thanksgiving. It is a holiday of remembrance of the Pilgrim Fathers, and of their thanks and giving. But, more particularly, it is proclaimed as a day for our thanks. True thanksgiving is more than a day set aside by presidential proclamation. It is more than a religious formality in which some people, with that kind of conscience, gather at 9:00 AM or other convenient hour on or near the last Thursday in November, for a brief church service. It is more than an announcement that the season for Christmas shopping is just around the corner.

Thanksgiving is an inner reality, an expression of the soul, an attitude toward all of life. It may be accented or underlined on a special day in the life of the nation. But it pervades many days, all days, of a Christian life. It is much deeper than politeness or good manners. It is not acquired overnight. It is not expressed in one church service alone nor even in one season. It is nurtured and cultivated like some choice flower, day after day and season after season.

Thanksgiving Day, as well as Christmas and Easter and other great occasions, means little to the self-centered person or to the emotionally immature person, except for feeling good over what he may get out of such a day. It may satisfy some whims and needs. One may experience only a limited sense of appreciation as he says "Thank you," or lets someone else say it in his behalf. But I suspect that the New England founding forefathers put a deeper meaning into their thanksgiving. The bigger the soul of a person, the more mature he is emotionally and spiritually, the greater is his capacity for gratitude.

The spirit of thanksgiving does not depend, as much as we think, on outward circumstances. Surely we ought to be grateful for the outward abundance which many of us have. And we should remind ourselves that we of the fortunate parts in this nation are just an island of comfort and plenty in a great, appalling sea of human need over the world. But true joy, radiance, happiness, peace and thanksgiving are not dependent alone on material advantage.

Remember those Pilgrim Fathers. Did they find things just as they wanted them when they spent that first bitter season on these shores? Of course not! Their winter had been cruelly cold; their homes were of crudest construction; food was scarce; an appalling number of their loved ones died in the first year, and they did not themselves know how long they could remain alive. As they continued celebrating a day of Thanksgiving, in succeeding seasons, it is said that they had a custom of putting 5 grains of corn at each place around the table. This was to remind them that during that first dismal winter at Plymouth, the food was so hard to get that only five grains of corn were rationed to each individual at a time! But these folk were grateful!

See how often, in the book of Psalms, the Old Testament writers sing of praise, blessing, rejoicing. Then notice the setting in which the psalms were sung. It is amazing to note how often it is hardship and sorrow, hunger and privation, misunderstanding and pain, slavery and persecution, war and defeat, exile and torture, illness and death, that form the background for the psalmist’s praise to God.

Consider Jesus; how he spoke about joy and thanksgiving more in the impending shadow of the cross than at any other time. Think of the hardships of Paul -- dissension and hatred, prison and flogging, persecution and apostasy. He had to live in much more distress than is the lot of most people. But, in almost every letter, he expresses thanksgiving!

If, then, gratitude depends upon something deeper than formal politeness; if it is not dependent on favorable circumstances and material prosperity, on what does it depend? If we do not particularly possess it, how can we develop it?

1) First of all, genuine gratitude grows out of, and is sustained by, a recognition that God is the source of everything. If this sounds trite, let me observe that no man has grown sufficiently mature until he has formulated, in his philosophy, some concept of God that is workable to his understanding and his way of life; until he recognizes that his own sufficiency is not of himself, but from his God. It is easy for us to become so preoccupied with secondary effects that we forget the primary cause. So much of our attention is given to frozen foods, atom-harnessing, jet-propulsion, miracle drugs, new luxuries and comforts, that we must be alert that we do not lose our sight of God.

Man harnesses science and amazes himself at the feats which can be performed thereby. Actually, however, man creates very little. Someone has figured out an impressive list of what goes into the production of 100 bushels of corn raised on one fertile acre of land:

4,000,000 pounds of water

6,800 pounds of oxygen

5,200 pounds of carbon

162 pounds of nitrogen

125 pounds of potassium

40 pounds of phosphorus

75 pounds of yellow sulfur

50 pounds of magnesium

50 pounds of calcium

2 pounds of iron

plus smaller amounts of other elements. The rain, the sunlight, the birds, the winds all had a contributory effect. One hundred bushels of corn! Who made it? Man contributed some thought and some labor. But the God of things-as-they-are contributed more than a few items! Thanksgiving grows as we give our humble and grateful recognition to God.

2) In the second place, true gratitude is nourished and sustained by the humble realization that we are dependent upon other people. Who gave you birth? Someone other than yourself. Who cared for each of us during early helpless or dependent years? No one could survive without the early care of others. Who taught you to use your mind? To read? To write? Who mints the coins and prints the currency we use for spending, or which we deposit in the bank the while we so glibly refer to "my money"? From where does the paper and the metal come? Who gives it its value? Who stands guard at fire station, police office, hospital desk, telephone switch board, watching over our safety while we sleep, or go on a picnic, or start off for church, or get the kids to school? Who embalms and buries our worn-out bodies after we have finished this mortal part of our lives? The list of those upon whom we depend to get us safely and surely over a short trip from here to Chicago or Minneapolis, whether by train, or plane, or bus, or by our own automobile, would be surprisingly long! Whether we are mature enough to admit it or not, we are tremendously dependent upon other people ---- many other people.

3) Thirdly, our capacity for gratitude increases as we grow in spiritual maturity. We grow in maturity as we cease to make ourselves the center of life. Among other things, this means accepting responsibility! It means sharing and giving.

In one verse of the 116th Psalm, the question "What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me?" is answered in the words of another verse: "I will pay my vows to the Lord." When people get a vision of all they have received, they accept their obligations and responsibility. In other words, gratitude is both thanks and giving.

This is why one who is sincerely grateful enjoys giving to his church, or through his church. He sees how pitiably, and how desperately, people of every condition need Jesus Christ. He understands what wondrous things could happen if more people knew of God’s love. So the grateful person gives -- sometimes generously; perhaps even sacrificially.

Likewise he gives for the relief and encouragement of those in real need, both at home and abroad. He knows that his giving may mean the difference between warmth and cold, health and illness, loneliness or friendship, hope or despair, help or neglect, life or death to someone, somewhere!

Can we say, "Others are hungry but we are fed; many are slaves or refugees, but we are free and housed in homes; look how good God is to us! Let us thank Him for his favor." Yes, we can say our thanks -- we should be terribly ungrateful if we refused or neglected to do so. But if we really appreciate the differences between our comforts and others’ privation, does not our gratitude also make it possible for us to say, "How disturbed and unhappy we are at others’ misfortunes! How much we can do to help, since God has entrusted so much of life’s benefits to us. What a joy it is to us to help!"

A thankful person gives not only of his substance, but also understanding, and neighborly love. Is it possible that some unfortunate people have nothing to give but a check? Or can we all give, also, of our compassion and understanding and friendliness? How mature are we, anyway?

4) A fourth expression of true gratitude is in the giving of a person’s own self. True thanksgiving has always been this -- whether among the Hebrews, or the early Christians, or among the Pilgrim forefathers, or in any of their spiritual descendants. The Pilgrims called "together the little band of the faithful around the tables that held their harvest, not only to give thanks unto One who daily walked beside them, fed them, and led them, but it was also to dedicate anew their future lives unto His eternal keeping."

Paul praised some of the Christians to whom he wrote for their generosity. He explained that it was not hard to understand the reason for their generosity. It was because "first they gave themselves to the Lord."

In a certain church bulletin readers have occasionally seen repeated lines like these:

It is not only money that God wants, but people.

Not coins, but character.

Not tithes, but tithers.

Not gifts, but givers.

Not yours, but you!

So it is! So it was with our spiritual forefathers. The Pilgrims escaped from one kind of tyranny only to give themselves willingly, eagerly, thankfully to a new discipline, and sharing of self. May their children in the spirit multiply their thanks and their giving. And may we know the joyful paradox that the increased giving of ourselves and our substance and our time and talents multiplies our thanks!

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Dates and places delivered:

Wisconsin Rapids, November 24, 1957.

Wisconsin Rapids, November 23, 1959.

Wisconsin Rapids Union Thanksgiving Service,

November 22-23, 1967.

Neillsville, WI, UCC, November 22, 1970.