Scripture: Psalm 95:1-3; 96:1-9; or portions of Psalm 107.
If ever the people of any nation had more than others to be thankful for, surely the people of the United States should be considered for that distinction. That we have, as a nation, been blessed far beyond most other nations of the world in many respects is very plain indeed.
As far as the material blessings are concerned, though our country has only about one-sixteenth of the world's population, yet it is said that we have about one-half of the world's wealth. While over one-half of the world's population is undernourished, with an estimated ten thousand persons dying of malnutrition each day, one of the major problems of our nation is what to do with its large surplus of food and other farm products. While the question concerning clothing that bothers most people on earth is how to get enough to keep warm or to meet their simple needs, the big clothing question in America seems to be, "Is it in style?" To say that as a nation we are the best fed, best clothed, best housed people on earth is probably a fairly accurate statement.
As far as physical health is concerned, we probably have better food, better medical care, and a longer average life expectancy than the vast majority of the rest of mankind.
As far as spiritual blessings are concerned, in a world where around one-half of the people have not yet even had the Gospel preached to them, we live in one of the most Christian nations on earth - not a completely Christian nation, to be sure, but certainly one of the most Christian. While Christianity has been on the decline in some parts of the world insofar as church membership and support are indicators, and while Christians are still being persecuted in some lands, a larger percentage of the population in the United States belongs to the church, at least in name, now than at almost any other period of American history, and there are opportunities all around us for the deepening of our spiritual lives.
The way our nation has been blessed in many ways above many others is drawn for us rather vividly in the following words:
I planned an ultra-modern home, but a Korean citizen whispered, 'I have no home at all!'
I dreamed of a country place for the pleasure of my children, but an exiled lad kept saying, 'I have no country!'
I decided on a new cupboard right now; but a child of China cried, 'I have no cup!'
I started to purchase a new kind of washing machine, but a Polish woman said softly, 'I have nothing to wash!'
I wanted a deep freeze to store quantities of food, but across the water came a cry, 'I have no food!'
I ordered a new car for the pleasure of my loved ones, but a war orphan sobbed, 'I have no loved ones!'
I planned a stained glass window above the choir loft, but a Mexican pastor murmured softly, 'My church has no walls!'
I wanted an increase in salary so that I might have more of the luxuries of life. Millions cried from the far-flung corners of the world, 'We do not have the necessities of life!'
I wanted a beautiful church building so that I might worship the Lord in a more inspiring atmosphere. Over half of the world's population said, 'We have never even heard of your Lord!'
Yes, as a nation and as a people we have been blessed in many, many ways far beyond most of the earth's population, and we ought, of all people, to have grateful and thankful hearts.
Yet, with so much to be thankful for, there is still a great deal of grumbling and complaining in this fair land. And, if we are honest enough to admit it, most of us could probably say truthfully that we don't appreciate our blessings and live in the spirit of thankfulness and gratitude that we ought to do.
To help us along this line, let us give our attention to some things that we may not have been quite as aware of as we should have been.
First of all, if we would live in the proper spirit of gratitude, we need to learn to be grateful for the things that we have, rather than complaining because of what we would like to have but have not gotten.
This was the spirit in which the first Thanksgiving was celebrated here in America - the spirit of gratitude for the blessings which the people had rather than the centering of attention upon what they did not have. Think for a moment about the circumstances that existed in the Massachusetts colony during the days of 1621.
From perhaps the average point of view Governor William Bradford did not have much to encourage him during the bleak days of that year. A great sickness had come over the small colony of pilgrims. During the winter it had taken the lives of thirteen of the twenty-four heads of families, all of the wives in the homes were dead except four, and all of the bachelor men had died except six. Food was extremely scarce. The MAYFLOWER had sailed back to England for more supplies, but no one knew when or if it would return safely. The harsh climate, the hunger of the people, the fear of the Indians, the continuous work: all of these things combined to discourage the little band of people who were left. In addition to these things a drought came and reduced even further their prospects of adequate food. Cotton Mather said that if William Bradford as leader had not been a person of more than ordinary piety, wisdom and courage, he would have failed and his followers would have given up in despair.
And yet in the fall of that year of such hardships, Governor Bradford set aside a "Solemn Day" for public thanksgiving for the things that they did have. Instead of grumbling over their hardships and what they did not have, the little band of pilgrims gave thanks to God for the presence of the friendly Indians, Samoset and Squanto, for the gifts of corn from them, for the rains that came to relieve the drought, and for the fact that even half of them were alive.
This is the real spirit of Thanksgiving - the spirit of gratitude for the blessings which one has, and if we will keep this in mind, then all of us ought to be able to have thankful hearts, for:
"There is no human being
With so wholly dark a lot,
But the heart, by turning the picture,
Can find some sunny spot."
In the November (1963) issue of TOGETHER is an article by H. Gordon Green first published in the November, 1955 issue of FARM JOURNAL entitled, "The Thanksgiving I Don't Forget." In it he tells of some of his boyhood experiences on the farm in Canada where he was brought up. There was a lot of work to do during the year, but each Thanksgiving Day his father did something that helped them all to appreciate the fruits of their labors. On Thanksgiving Day his father would gather the children together, and then all of them would take an inventory of everything on the farm. They would go to the cellar with its barrels of apples whose fragrance seeped up into the kitchen as they opened the cellar door, the bins of beets and carrots packed in sand, the cabbage and onions hanging from the beams, the sheaves of celery, the mountain of sacked potatoes and turnips. They would inventory all of it. Then they would classify and count the preserves, the canned peas and corn and beans and the jellies and rhubarb, strawberries, applesauce and maple syrup. From there they would go to the barns and figure up how many tons of hay was in the mow, how many bushels of oats, wheat and barley was in the granary, and would count the livestock, chickens, turkeys and geese. He said that his daddy said he wanted to see how they compared with the previous year or with the year they had a bumper crop, but that what he really wanted was for them to realize how God had smiled upon the hours of work through the year.
But strangely enough the Thanksgiving Day that H. Gordon Green said he remembered most thankfully was the one in the year they seemed to have nothing to be thankful for. The year had started off well enough, with hay left over, lots of seed, four fine litters of pigs, and enough money set aside to enable them to acquire a much-needed hay loader. It was the year that electricity had first come to their community, too, and some of us can appreciate that for we remember when it first came to our own homes and the difference it made. At first their father didn't think they could afford it, but one day when his wife was doing a big wash with an old scrubbing board, he told her that if he would cut his own poles, the hay-loader money would just about put electricity in the house and buy a washing machine. It was a joy to see a light bulb dangling from a wire in each room and to see the gleaming washing machine helping with the work. No more oil lamps to fill, dirty lamp chimneys to wash, or sooty wicks to trim!
Then the tough breaks came. The rains started as soon as the first oat spears began to turn the fields green, and drowned out the entire crop. Those who had the seed sowed again, but September brought back the rains. Almost the entire crop was lost, and even the potatoes rotted in the mud. A turnip patch was about all that prospered.
Two of the cows were sold that fall, all of the pigs and a lot of other livestock that normally would have been kept. And then Thanksgiving was upon them once again. Not even a goose was left on the place for their Thanksgiving dinner, but Thanksgiving morning Gordon Green's daddy brought in a jack rabbit he had caught in a trap. "These aren't half bad sometimes, if you roast them with a hunk of fat pork," he said. "Let's try it." With the warning that it would take a long time for the tough old thing to cook, his wife put it on to cook.
They took inventory that morning as usual, but the children weren't very cheerful and kept thinking about all of the new things they had wanted that now they couldn't have.
Finally the family sat down to dinner - or rather to what we call supper for it was already dark when the rabbit was ready. Jack rabbit and turnips were on the table. Somebody said, "It looks like a piece of old dead horse: I don't want any." His mother cried.
Then his daddy did a rather strange thing. He went up to the attic and got one of the old oil lamps, lit it and put it on the table, then had the electric light turned out. The contrast was amazing. How in the world had they ever seen with only the flickering light of an oil lamp before electricity came? When grace was said, the family remained quiet for a moment afterwards, thinking. "Just think," his mother said, "A year ago we had to have this!" It got to be a lovely meal. Gordon Green said the jack rabbit tasted like turkey, and the turnips were the mildest they could remember. And that Thanksgiving that had started out to be such a gloomy one as they thought about all of the things that they wanted and didn't have turned into the Thanksgiving never to be forgotten as they thought about what they did have.
And how much more thankful all of us would be if only we would think more of the things that we do have rather than spending our time complaining about the things that we do not have, if only we would learn, as Edgar A. Guest so wonderfully put it, to
"Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way;
Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day;
Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do,
For round about you there are men less fortunate than you.
"Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom;
The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom;
Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes, and all their laughter sweet.
"Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!
And what if rain should fall today and you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had."
A man once said to me that you didn't appreciate water until the well went dry. Well, we need to learn to be thankful for the blessings we have when we have them. There is indeed none of us with so wholly dark a lot, but the heart by turning the picture can find some bright spot.
Another thing that most of us probably need to learn to be more grateful for is our spiritual blessings, not simply our material blessings. Many times when we think of our blessings, we think in terms of things such as comfortable houses, good food, economic prosperity, good health and the material things of life. But how much thought do we give to our spiritual blessings? How grateful are we for the things of the Spirit that give meaning and true purpose to life? The great things in life are spiritual, not material. The most important part of each one of us is his soul, not his body: the body without the spirit is practically worthless. The most important thing about a home is not the building or the house but is the kind of home that is carried on within that house. The most important part of a school is not the buildings and physical equipment but the minds that are being trained there and the characters that are developing there and the spirit and characters of the teachers. The most important thing about this church is not the building, but is the spiritual condition of the people who congregate here. Not only so, but all things material are temporal and will eventually pass away, while the lasting things of life that endure forever are spiritual.
Yet we probably count our physical and material blessings far more often than we do our spiritual ones.
Our pilgrim forefathers were willing to give up material things for spiritual opportunities. They gave up temporal comfort and comparative security in order to come to this country where they might have more spiritual freedom. Have we come to realize how much more valuable spiritual blessings can be than material?
We no doubt have thanked God many times for life. Have we ever thanked Him for death which separates the soul and body releasing the spirit to go to its eternal home which may be far better than this earthly home?
We have thanked God for health. Do we ever thank Him for sickness that may draw us closer to Him and do us far more spiritual good than perfect health may be doing?
We are grateful for physical strength. Are we ever grateful for the human weaknesses and infirmities and inadequacies that humble us so that His power might flow through us more completely?
Three times a day at least we may thank God for our daily bread, for food for our bodies. How often do we thank Him for food for our souls?
How often do we thank God for the Bible? For many centuries the Bible was denied to the vast majority of professing Christians, and was available to only the clergy and that in Hebrew or Greek or Latin - not in the language of the ordinary person. Many people were persecuted and some put to death in the effort to make the Bible available to people in their own language. There was a time when the few Bibles that were available were smuggled about much as bootleg whiskey is today, outlawed, and those who had copies in their own language had to hide to keep them and read them. They appreciated the Bible then. Do we?
Back in the winter of 1831-1832 three Nez Perces Indians and one Flathead Indian appeared in St. Louis with the request for knowledge about the white man's God and a copy of the Bible. They had traveled a total of around two thousand miles probably either walking or riding horseback most of the way to learn of God and to get a copy of the Bible. They were given many gifts, but turned homeward with heavy hearts because they were not given a copy of the Bible. One of them is quoted as saying, "When I tell my poor blind people, after one more snow, in the big council, that I did not bring the Book, no word will be spoken by our old men or by our young braves. One by one they will rise up and go out in silence. My people will die in darkness, and they will go on a long path to other hunting grounds. No white man will go with them, and no white man's Book to make the way plain. I have no more words." They had a great appreciation for the Bible. How grateful are we for a copy in our homes? How much do we use it and how often do we thank God for it?
There are still many parts of the world where the people do not have a copy of God's Word. There are still many lands where the Bible is so prized that the few copies available are literally read to pieces. How thankful are we for this blessing?
We are gathered here in an assembly of worship. Many times we have heard the prayer, "Lord, we thank Thee that we are free to worship Thee after the dictates of our own hearts."
But there are many people in the world today who are not free to worship as they desire. In Communist countries those in authority not only frown upon Christian worship, but if assemblies of worship are permitted, they try to put stumbling blocks in the way to keep people from attending. Meetings are planned at the normal time of worship to conflict and keep people away. Those who do assemble for worship are noted and may be persecuted for it, or denied economic advancement or ostracized.
I heard or read of how the Lord's supper is sometimes celebrated in China, where many of the church buildings have been taken over by the government and vast efforts have been made to suppress Christianity. At a regular meal one Christian may give some little sign known to Christians as to what he is doing and may put a piece of bread in his mouth. Then a little later another may take a drink of water, and thus in communion in spirit with other Christians present may celebrate the Lord's Supper without others at the table even knowing what is going on.
How thankful are we for the privilege of assembling together to worship God and to advance the cause of His Kingdom?
And consider this: that God is no respecter of persons. Some of the riches of this world and some of the material blessings may be out of the reach of some of us. But in regards to a right relationship with God and the gift of everlasting life, Jesus says, "Whosoever will, let him come," in effect, and we have the privilege of being just as rich in Spirit as anyone else.
I once heard Bishop Roy Short say that he had just about come to the conclusion that we know just as much about God or as much of God as we really want to know.
The spiritual blessings of life that are showered upon you and upon me are the most priceless possessions of all - how grateful are we for them? Have we learned how to be truly thankful for the spiritual blessings as well as for the material blessings?
One other thing about this matter of thanksgiving that we would do well to note: how thankful are we to God for the blessings of life? Have we learned that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift, that He is the source of all blessings, and that He is the One Whom we should thank for whatever of good and sunshine and blessings come our way?
Life came from God. It is His gift. Are you glad to be alive?
This world came from God. He made it. Are you thankful for the privilege of living in it? Then God should be thanked.
I once heard of a person who had a very painful boil, who went to a doctor to have it treated. The doctor lanced it, and the person praised God for the relief, saying in effect, "Thank the Lord!" The doctor is quoted as having said, "You ought to thank me. I'm the one who did it."
Well, where did the doctor get his talents? Where did he get his life? Where did he get his strength?
The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father above. He is the One to be thanked for all of the joy and goodness of life. Have we learned to thank Him as we should?
If ever a nation had more than others to be thankful for, surely America is that nation. If ever a people had more than other people to be thankful for, we are that people. Let us take time to count our blessings - to look at the things that we do have. Let us think about our spiritual blessings as well as the material ones. And then let us render unto God praise and thanksgiving for His goodness and all that He has done for us.
"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."