NOVEMBER NOTES FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! -Philippians 4:4-
In these November notes I want to draw your attention to that which, sometimes, gets overlooked in our Christian journey. I speak of the place and the power of giving thanks to God for His goodness and grace to us. The Apostle Paul says it this way: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” It is in the month of November that we celebrate, as Christians and as a nation, one of my favorite holidays; Thanksgiving.
As you know, “Thanksgiving Day” is a national holiday in the United States commemorating the harvest of the Plymouth Colony in 1621. The event followed a winter of great hardship.
When it was first inaugurated, only a few eastern states participated. However, so I have learned, through the effort of a woman by the name of Sarah Hale, a change was affected. She was filled with the determination of having the entire nation join in setting apart a national day of giving thanks “unto Him from whom all blessings flow.”
To this end, she resolutely engaged the press with an endless flow of letters and articles to the various newspapers and journals of her time. In addition, she pleaded long and earnestly with three Presidents: Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan during the period of 1846-1856. A small measure of triumph was granted in the year of 1852, when her campaign succeeded in uniting 29 states in marking the last Thursday of November as “Thanksgiving Day.”
Then came the dark days of the Civil War. Who would listen to a lone woman with her persistent pleas for “just one day of peace amidst the blood and strife?” One man did. Her entreaty won the ear of one of the greatest American presidents in our history. And, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln officially proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a day set apart for the national giving of thanks unto Almighty God. Lincoln lived to see only two such occasions, but Sarah Hale lived well into her 90’s, content that her long-cherished hope had at last become a reality.
“Rejoice in the Lord in always. And again I say: Rejoice!” This seems like a tall order from Paul as we draw close to Thanksgiving Day this year. As you read these notes, we will soon elect a new President to lead this great land of ours. For those whose candidate wins, it will a time of great rejoicing. And for those whose candidate doesn’t, perhaps there will be more lamenting than thanksgiving. Our country has fallen on challenging and difficult days. There are people who have lost their homes and others who have lost their means of a livelihood. We are outraged at the greed of Wall-street and fearful for the future. We worry about the cost of health-care, our 401K’s, terrorism, the war in Iraq and the war on our city streets. In our fear and bewilderment we wonder how it is possible that we can rejoice always. This is where our Christian faith comes in.
In faith, we know and believe that God is sovereign. He is the One who guides the destinies of men and of nations. He is our Captain and King, our Father and Provider. He is the One who is present with us in the good times and in the bad. He is the One who is worthy of our thanks even when times are tough. I want you to ponder, slowly and deliberately, what Luther has to tell about God’s preservation and then you decide if there really isn’t anything to rejoice about.
In His explanation of the First article of the Apostles’ Creed Luther writes: I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them; also clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and home, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my goods; that He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life; that He defends me against all danger, guards and protects me from all evil; and all this purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which it is my duty to THANK AND PRAISE, to serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Now you know why. Please join us as together, on this THANKSGIVING DAY, NOVEMBER 27TH, 9:00A.M. we rejoice over His love and grace which endure forever!
Until next time,
Pastor TK
