Ecumenical Thanksgiving Devotional

With many thanks to Nick England, who will preach this sermon for me at Tuesday night's Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service at St. Mark's Catholic Church here in Lancaster.

Norman Rockwell's iconic Thanksgiving

 

I am thankful tonight for many things: for my family and my friends, for the blessings of living at peace in a country where freedoms abound, for having enough to eat and a warm place to sleep, for security and relative peace, at least in my immediate environs. I am thankful for Fairfield Medical Center and for Fairhope Hospice. I am thankful for Lancaster's band of Gold and for the education my children received in the Lancaster City Schools and at St. Mary's and Fisher. I am thankful that we still have an agricultural county fair with horses and rabbits and children doing good things. I am thankful for dogs and shotguns and land to roam.  I am thankful for many things, and I'm sure all of you could add to my list. There are so many blessings in our lives.

But there is another thing that I am most thankful for. I am thankful that God the Father loved me so much that he sent Jesus to die and be resurrected so that I might be reconciled to God, have the hope of heaven, and find the strength of the Holy Ghost to live a life that is much better than I could ever have pulled off on my own. In the old Episcopal service of Holy Communion, the wonder of God's provision for us is expressed in a series of Scripture quotes we often call “the comfy words.” I would like to read them for you tonight, because they are timeless reminders of God's love for you and for me.

“ Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him.

OME unto me all that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. St. Matth. xi. 28.
    So God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. St. John iii. 16

Hear also what Saint Paul saith.

    This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Tim. i. 15.

Hear also what Saint John saith.

    If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins. 1 St. John ii. 1.”

In 1922, Rhea F. Miller wrote a gospel song which is one of the greatest thanksgiving prayers I've ever heard. I won't attempt to sing it tonight, but I imagine many of you have heard thesse words:

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands; I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand Refrain: Than to be the king of a vast domain And be held in sin’s dread sway; I’d rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause; I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause; I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame; I’d rather be true to His holy name He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom; He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb; He’s all that my hungering spirit needs; I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead

On this thanksgiving day, I will take time out from the family traditions and celebrations to remember those specific things for which I am thankful. I'll think of those who have gone before me, of the institutions that have brought me prosperity, peace, and security. I'll think of those who are alone and far away in this season that I might be free. I'll remember and give thanks for the manifold blessings in my life. But most of all, I'll think of Jesus, my Lord and my Saviour, my brother and my friend, and I will thank the Father that he has called me and set me apart as one of his own. And with that prayer, I'll ask God to give me his strength to live a better life in this coming year as I strive to love him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and my neighbors as myself. I invite all of you to give thanks and to join me in this commitment and in this prayer. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.