Devotions

The fourth Thursday in November is set aside in the United

States as a day of thanksgiving. It is not primarily a day for

feasting. It is not primarily a day of family reunions. It is not

primarily a day of parades, dog shows, and football games.

It is for giving thanks. And what does that imply? What

beliefs are implied by the act of thanksgiving?

First, thanksgiving affirms our most basic belief: the belief that

there is a God. If we did not believe that God exists, we would

not thank Him for the blessings that He has given. Thanksgiving

would be uncalled for in an unplanned clockwork universe; it

would be unreasonable to thank a gift for automatically, or
accidentally, sending itself.

Second, thanksgiving affirms that God listens to people. Why

would we speak seriously to someone if we did not believe that

he is paying attention? On Thanksgiving, some football fans

might talk to referees on their televisions, but they don't seriously

expect the referees to listen. When we thank God, though, we

expect Him to hear us.

Third, thanksgiving affirms that we are in God's debt. When a

person tells someone, "Thank you," it is, with some exceptions, a
way of acknowledging a favor -- not a way of saying, "I deserved
that." And when we express our gratitude to God, it is no mere
courtesy. It is not like the "Thank you" that we say to the cashiers
at the supermarket when they give us our change. It is an
acknowledgement that we have benefited from undeserved divine
favor.

Fourth, thanksgiving affirms that God's gifts are good. If
someone gives us a gift that we do not consider good, we might
thank the gift-giver anyway, grudgingly and insincerely, just to be
polite. But God is not fooled by good manners; if our words of
thanks to Him are not sincere then they are wasted. That is why,
as we offer thanks at the communion-table -- at the "Eucharist," a
word based on the Greek word for thanksgiving -- each person
should examine himself to evaluate his own sincerity, thanking
God for His greatest gift. This does not mean that in order to give
thanks, we must affirm that the gifts that God gives are the same
gifts that we would have given ourselves. Nor does it mean that
we like, or understand, what God has given. It means that we
believe that God's gifts are good -- whether we instantly like them
or not; whether we immediately understand them or not.

There is something else that happens when we receive a gift from
God with thanks. God does not give His gifts purposelessly.
When we receive a gift from God with thanks, we accept the
responsibilities that go along with the gift. Whether we are
receiving the gift is the energy-content of a meal, or the gift of
another 24 hours, or the gift of new life, when we thank God we
affirm that we want to use the gift to accomplish the purpose for
which God gave it.

To "say grace" for the Thanksgiving dinner, or for anything else, is
more than a courtesy or a tradition. It is a doctrinal act. It is a
resolution that, as God has devoted His gifts to a special purpose
by giving them to us, we co-operate with that divine act by giving
ourselves back to God. This setting apart of ourselves to God's
purposes is not a task reserved for Thanksgiving Day. For us, to
whom God has given so much, thanksgiving should be a way of
life.