Thanksgiving 2016

“Gratitude” becomes a buzzword every year around mid November. We see it on jewelry commercials, see it

on grocery-store billboards, and hear it on radio advertisements. There is almost no way to avoid a word so

inextricably bound to our cultural vocabulary. As with most widely used words in the American vocabulary,

“gratitude” runs the risk of losing its revolutionary nature.

In today’s reading from Deuteronomy, we heard how the people of Israel were given specific instructions

about how and when to present their first fruits before God. Deuteronomy’s vision for a sacrifice of gratitude

is both simple and complex. The offering is given to the priest, and then the worshiper responds with a

retelling of the Abraham and Exodus stories.

This seems a bit odd to our modern ears. Why go through the trouble of retelling a story that’s been heard

thousands of time before? Why recount the mighty deeds of God in the history of Israel? Why contextualize

the land of the fruits being offered to God? Those are all valuable questions, but one even more pertinent

may be: Why not? Why not recall God’s track record of grace in the life of Israel?

It is easy to assume that the people of Israel were just as inclined as we are to forget the divine origin of their

numerous gifts as the people of God. They were inclined, like we are, to imagine themselves as the source

and end of all they had.

They had to be reminded of the ways in which God fulfilled God’s promises to their ancestors. They had to

be reminded of God’s faithfulness.

At the center of God’s personality is a profound generosity. When it comes to blessing and loving the human

family, God holds nothing back. Everything we have is a gift from God, because everything we have belongs

to God.

This reality of profound generosity stands at the center of today’s gospel lesson. Jesus is attempting to escape

a crowd of listeners when they suddenly appear at his side. They ask him when he arrived on the other side

of the Sea of Galilee, and he says, “I assure you that you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous

signs but because you ate all the food you wanted.”

That statement alone is proof that Jesus needs new public relations!

After another exchange of questions, the crowd asks, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and

believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave

them bread from heaven to eat.’”

It is obvious that this crowd was familiar with the Exodus story. What they weren’t familiar with, though, is

the starring role Jesus had played in sustaining the people of Israel on their trek toward the Promised Land.

“It wasn’t Moses who gave you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. … I

am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be

thirsty.”

In an instant, Jesus inserts himself into Israel’s collective history, as the life-sustaining Presence who guided

them through desolation to liberation. In an instant, Jesus connects himself to the God who brought Israel

“out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,” the God who showers down manna from heaven

and leads Israel into a land filled with good things, even milk and honey.

Gratitude is tricky. It can easily become a cumbersome process of making a mental list of things one is

thankful for or another source of feelings of spiritual inadequacy. Gratitude, in the vision of Jesus and

today’s Deuteronomy reading, is much deeper than a list; it is a way of life that grows out of God’s

faithfulness to Israel.

While our consumer culture tells us to be grateful for the stuff of life, God invites us to share in profound

gratitude for life itself. “When you offer your first fruits to the priest,” says God. “Remember the land from

which the fruit comes. Remember that I gave you this land.”

This fruit-bearing, promise-keeping, wilderness-wandering, faithful God is the fountain of life, the source of

all goodness. On the surface, this sounds right. But when the surface is scratched, it challenges everything

American culture assumes about assets. We have things because we want things. We have things because we

work hard for things. We buy things because people will like our things.

The challenge of God in Deuteronomy and in Jesus Christ is this, though: Rethink your gratitude. Are you

grateful for things, or are you grateful for people? Are you grateful for the things that make life convenient,

or are you grateful for life itself?

What if God had never delivered Israel from Egypt or Jesus hadn’t ever given himself as manna in the

wilderness? What would the people of God had given thanks for? Each other? The dust? Breath? Life?

Maybe.

Israel’s “maybe” leads today’s people of God, assembled here, to give thanks and recall all that God has

done for, with and through us, to place ourselves in the ongoing narrative of gratitude. It forces us to practice

a counterintuitive, countercultural Thanksgiving, giving thanks not for our bounty and excess, but giving

thanks for life’s most basic gifts: bread and wine and each other. It forces us to acknowledge Jesus’ presence

at the center of it all: sustaining and nourishing us as the manna of God.

So, pilgrims on this journey of gratitude: Remember all that God has done, and give thanks.

— Broderick Greer is a second-year Master’s of Divinity student at Virginia Theological Seminary and a

postulant in the Diocese of West Tennessee.

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FILED UNDER: PENTECOST, PENTECOST C, YEAR C

Thanksgiving Day (B) – November 24, 2012

Gratitude is the secret

BY BARBARA BAUMGARTEN | 2 COMMENTS |

Joel 2:21-27; Psalm 126; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Matthew 6:25-33

Worry may be the signature human condition, and its attendant anxiety the characteristic mark of our time.

Current estimates reveal well over 12 percent of the American population suffer from some form of

debilitating anxiety. Considering the current economic crisis, perhaps we might wonder why more don’t

suffer from it.

After all, too many people – intelligent, skillful people – are out of work, money and viable options to care

for themselves and their families. “Lack” is a dominant word in our culture and is cause for tremendous and

justifiable worry. College, once an expectation, is becoming an impossible dream of America’s youth. But

they can’t find jobs either. And then there is the despair that accompanies these concerns, which taxes the

budget even more because it gives rise to medical problems – problems that increase anxiety exponentially

due to the current state of our healthcare system.

In today’s gospel, Jesus admonishes us not to worry about our life. How does that help? Doesn’t reading

these words heap guilt on we who are worried for worrying? Aren’t Jesus’ words the romantic musings of a

young idealist, insensitive to the poor, the unemployed and especially to the worrywarts? At first glance, his

advice does not seem very practical or doable.

Or does it?

Protestant theologian Paul Tillich characterized the most predominant modern anxiety as spiritual; that is, we

suffer from emptiness or meaninglessness. If Tillich is the diagnostician, then perhaps the Jesuit theologian

Anthony de Mello, following Jesus’ advice, offers the cure. De Mello said, “You sanctify whatever you are

grateful for.” In other words, instead of nursing our worries, change the focus. Look elsewhere, beyond self-

absorption. Cultivate a grateful heart.

The ease of this cure is what makes it seem unrealistic. Do you remember the Old Testament story of

Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, found in Second Kings? He sought out the

prophet Elisha to heal him of his leprosy but when Elisha instructed Naaman to wash in the Jordan seven

times, Naaman became angry. The cure was too easy! When at last Naaman followed Elisha’s instructions,

his flesh was restored to that of a young man.

Or take the example of Dennis, who was down on his luck. First, he was injured, and then he got sick and

had to cancel a long-awaited trip. Feeling anxious over the poor state of his body compounded his illness and

annoyed his family members. Dennis, consumed in his black cloud, almost canceled his weekly ministry at

the local retirement home but instead he forced himself to go. He felt awful when he began reaching out to

the first broken-down senior who approached him. And then, by the end of that first encounter, Dennis felt

refreshed. Filled with gratitude, his symptoms vanished during his time of ministry.

Gratitude does not come easily, especially when we are caught in the grip of anxiety. Nor does gratitude

come in a sudden conversion. It comes through a slow turning away from worry by intentionally stopping to

find something, anything, for which to thank God. In the midst of worry, it can be a real stretch. Jesus

understood this. Take something simple and common, Jesus says, for which to give thanks: a bird, a flower, a

blade of grass. Anything will do: a breath of air, a dog’s loyalty, a glass of water. It is the small step of

moving out of self to notice something or someone beyond the self that matters.

This small step leads to huge results. It leads to finally getting what Jesus is trying to tell us: everything is

God’s, and God is eagerly waiting to give us more and more – if only we would allow it. Jesus wants us to

notice what is in front of us, to believe that God is present and to be thankful. Change the subject, Jesus

admonishes. There is a lot of stuff in life we are powerless to change, but changing the subject is always in

our power.

Another way to think about this is to imagine two buckets. Bucket one contains those things over which we

have control; the other, bucket two, contains things we cannot control. Now imagine yourself confronted

with an intractable problem, some elements of which are in bucket one, some in bucket two. Where are you

going to spend your time?

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded on the premise that alcoholics are powerless over alcohol – bucket two

– but that there are steps that can be taken, such as making a personal inventory – bucket one. By changing

the subject from the self lost in the big picture to the small picture just in front of, yet beyond the self, results

happen.

Of course, the contents of the buckets are not static; things heretofore outside your control may move under

your influence. Still, bucket one is the place to focus, and it is here efforts may bring results, alleviating

worry. In addition, sheer activity in bucket one, regardless of results, is a great worry quencher, because you

can’t worry when you’re busy. Depressed? Get off your duff and do something, the dictum goes. Jesus adds,

notice what is in front of you.

Consider the story of David Scholer, the late New Testament professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in

Pasadena, California. He suffered from asthma, diabetes, arthritis and was diagnosed with incurable

colorectal cancer in 2002, which subsequently spread to both lungs. Yet in spite of all of this, he survived

beyond the expectations of his doctors, maintained a global ministry through electronic and paper

correspondence, and remained one of the most popular professors on campus.

Although Scholer’s body did not heal, nor did he expect it to, his illness taught him to be thankful for his

family and friends, the people he met along the way, the energy to do the things he enjoyed, and most of all

for being alive. Scholer knew his disease was bucket two. Gratitude for people and for being alive was

bucket one. By focusing on bucket one, Scholer’s tears were transformed into “shouts of joy,” as we read in

Psalm 126 today.

The Serenity Prayer, penned by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous, sums

up the bucket theory:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and

the wisdom to know the difference.

By adopting gratitude, we can discover God’s abundance. It’s a funny thing, but gratitude takes math out of

the equation. When gratitude replaces anxiety, even when we find we have less than we had during our

worry days, gratitude reveals that we have far more than we need.

Look at the birds of the air, consider the lilies of the field. Jesus wasn’t being idealistic; he was being

practical. Medical science has shown that by not worrying, we can add to our life span. We don’t have to

worry about our lives day to day – what we are going to eat or drink or wear? Nor do we have to worry about

our children’s needs. All we have to do is say thank you, knowing that what needs to happen will, and the

rest is not all that important. Gratitude is the secret.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What do you get when you cross a centipede with a turkey? The answer: Drumsticks for everybody! When

you get a hungry family around the table Thanksgiving Day, you might wish that you could cross a centipede

with a turkey.A group of Moms got together and composed a list of things they are thankful for. They wrote

that they were especially thankful:

“For automatic dishwashers because they make it possible for us to get out of the kitchen before the family

comes back in for their after dinner snacks.

“For husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house because they usually make them big enough to

call in the professionals.

“For children who put away their things and clean up after themselves. They’re such a joy you hate to see

them go home to their own parents

“For teenagers because they give parents an opportunity to learn a second language.”

And finally, “For Smoke alarms because they let you know when the turkey’s done.” (1)

Each of us would have our own list of the things for which we are thankful. Most of us are mature enough in

our faith to recognize that Thanksgiving is a most dangerous holiday. When we give thanks for our good

health, what does that say to people who do not have a healthy body? Does that say that we are more

deserving than they, or that somehow God loves us more?

When we thank God for our nice homes or our families or our freedom as Americans, what does this say

about good, decent God-loving people around the world who do not share these blessings?

I have no ready answers for such questions and neither does anyone else. I would prefer, however, as we

give thanks this Thursday and all the rest of the year, that we do it for the right reasons.

What are some of the things that every Christian, regardless of his or her circumstance, in every corner of the

globe can be thankful for this Thanksgiving season? Let’s explore a few of them.

In our lesson from Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae, he begins by giving thanks for the members of this

church. He prays that they might be strengthened “with all power, according to [God’s] glorious might, for

all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father . . .”

And Paul gives the church at Colossae some very specific things for which they ought to be thankful. These

are things every one of us, regardless of our circumstances can be thankful for, too.

The first thing for which we should be thankful, according to St. Paul is our inheritance. He writes, “. . .

giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the

kingdom of light . . .”

Paul chose his words very carefully. An inheritance is not an award for outstanding merit, is it? An

inheritance is not pay for a job well done. It is not something one earns or deserves or creates by his or her

own devotion. An inheritance is a gift--a gift that is dependent on someone else’s efforts.

You may receive a large inheritance not because you are that smart or energetic, but because, perhaps, you

had grandparents who were smart and energetic. Or in some cases you had a grandfather who was never

caught. Just saying . . .

Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said he spent a large sum of money to trace his family tree and then spent twice

as much trying to keep his ancestry a secret?

A little baby can come into a large inheritance simply by accident of birth. One of the consequences of the

New Birth in Christ Jesus is that we automatically, immediately, at that moment become heirs of all that God

has in store for his beloved children. That is a staggering fact that many of us who have been in the church

all our lives have difficulty accepting.

There is a wonderful old story that makes this point painfully clear. There was a believer who was not

everything he ought to be and he knew it! In fact, when he finally passed from this life to the next one he was

deeply concerned that St. Peter wouldn’t let him through the Pearly Gates. When he got to his destination,

however, he was welcomed with open arms.

“Are you certain that you didn’t make a mistake?” he asked St. Peter. “You see, there are certain parts of my

life of which I’m sort of ashamed.”

St Peter answered, “No, we didn’t make a mistake. You see, we don’t keep any records up here.”

The man was greatly relieved and overjoyed. Then he saw a group of men over in a corner beating their

heads against a celestial wall and clinching their fists and stomping their feet in disgust. “What is the matter

with them?” the man asked St. Peter.

“Oh,” said St. Peter with a smile. “They also thought we kept records.”

Obviously those men kept the law even though they would have liked to have lived a little more freely.

I am not suggesting that what we do is unimportant. Nevertheless at the top of our list for which we need to

be thankful this day is that salvation is the free gift of God. It is an inheritance that is bestowed upon us the

moment we become children of God.

Father John Powell in his book, Unconditional Love tells about when he was serving as a chaplain in

Germany. A dear little sister, 87 years young, was assigned to care for his room. He says that every time he

left the room, even for a moment, the good sister cleaned it. She would wax the floors, polish the furniture

and so forth. On one occasion when he left the room for a short walk, he came back to find her on her knees

putting a final sheen on her waxing job. He laughingly teased her, “Sister, you work too much.”

The dear, devoted little sister straightened up (though still kneeling) and looked at him with a seriousness

that bordered on severity. She said firmly, “Heaven isn’t cheap, you know.”

No, heaven isn’t cheap. It cost Jesus his life. Eternal life, however, is part of our inheritance as children of

God. Christ earned it, we simply receive it. You see, it troubles us that no records are kept in heaven because

we are afraid that a few scoundrels will slip in. We forget that if heaven was based on merit, each of us

would be in great difficulty as well.

Think of it this way. Most of us had the privilege of being born an American. It is nothing that we earned or

deserved. We could just as easily have been born to a starving family in the Sudan. Freedom is part of our

inheritance as children of this nation. Of course, the parallel is not exact. Most of us were born in this

country. It was not something we chose. However, we must choose to accept the inheritance that Christ

bestows upon us. That is the only requirement. We must accept it. Nevertheless, it is free. Every believer can

give thanks for that this morning. That is the first thing for which we can be thankful according to our text.

Here is the second--everyone of us can be thankful for the incarnation of Jesus Christ. “The Word became

flesh and made his dwelling among us . . ." (John 1:14). In our lesson St. Paul writes, “The Son is the image

of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation . . .” A little farther he writes, “He is the head of the body,

the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have

the supremacy.”

Of whom is St. Paul speaking? There is no doubt. He is speaking of the risen Christ. Without the

incarnation--God becoming flesh and reconciling the world unto himself--there would be no inheritance. For

that all of us can be thankful.

Many people were awe-struck back in the 1960s and 70s by the work of zoologist Dian Fossey who left her

home in California to travel to Africa to conduct an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups in the forests

of Rwanda. Dian Fossey left her home in California to live for 18 years among those fierce creatures

studying them closely. Gradually the gorillas accepted her and trusted her. Tragically, in 1985 Dian Fossey

was murdered still seeking to protect the gorillas among whom she had made her home. The case has never

been solved.

It is much farther from the throne of God to a stable in Bethlehem than it is from California to Rwanda. Yet

Christ made that journey in our behalf. The Word became flesh. And, of course, he, too, was murdered and

as a result provided us with access to his Father. “What wondrous love is this, O my soul, what wondrous

love is this . . . Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul . . . Christ laid aside His crown for my

soul for my soul.”

When Robert Louis Stevenson retired to the Samoan Islands for his health he became to the natives of that

island a kind and generous friend. Stevenson was concerned that there was only a path leading from the

harbor of his island over which his new friends must walk in order to bring provisions to the interior. With

his own money and personal efforts, Stevenson had a good road constructed for his people. In gratitude the

Samoans called it, “the road of a loving heart.”

I know of another road of a loving heart, don’t you? Crucial to everything we believe as Christians is this

truth--that God so loved the world that He made that long walk to come from where He was to where we are.

When it was impossible for us to reach out to Him, He reached out to us.

There may be differences among Christians on a host of other things. We may be divided by theologies, how

we baptize people, who we allow around the Lord’s table and even which political party with which we feel

most comfortable. But on one point we all agree; God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Do you see how important that is? There was no other way that God could have possibly revealed His nature

to us. Suppose, instead, He had chosen one of us and taken us to be with Him and then sent us back to tell

others. Do you think we would listen?

Years ago in The American Magazine, Merle Crowell told a true story from Alaska. It was about an Eskimo

from Greenland who was taken on one of the American North Polar expeditions. Later, as a reward for his

faithfulness, he was brought to New York City for a short visit. He was amazed at the sights and sounds he

beheld there. When he returned to his native village, he told stories of buildings that rose into the very face

of the sky; of streetcars, which he described as houses that moved along the trail, with people living in them

as they moved; of mammoth bridges, artificial lights, and all the other dazzling aspects of being in a

metropolis.

After he described the wonders he had seen, his people looked at him coldly. They did not believe him.

Indeed, they gave him a new name. The name was Sagdluk--which means The Liar. He kept that name all

the rest of his days until his old name was entirely forgotten. (2) Do you see that there was no other way God

could have done it then come to us Himself? It was essential that the God of all creation take upon himself

the flesh and frailty of humanity.

We are thankful for our inheritance, for the incarnation that makes it possible, and finally, we are thankful

for our inclusion in the family of God. Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in

him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by

making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

John Haggai in his book Lead On tells about Dr. Claude H. Barlow, a missionary to China and one of the

most revered foreigners to work in that land.

A strange disease for which Dr. Barlow knew no remedy was killing people. There was no research

laboratory for this disease, so Dr. Barlow conducted his own research. He studied the disease, filling a

notebook with his observations. He then procured a vial of disease germs and sailed for the United States.

Before he arrived in this country, however, Dr. Barlow did something quite extraordinary. He took the germs

from that vial and injected them into his own body. Then he went to Johns Hopkins University Hospital to be

observed.

Claude Barlow was very sick now. He allowed his old professors at Johns Hopkins to use him for

experimentation. Fortunately a cure was found, which a healthy Claude Barlow took back to China with him.

His efforts saved countless lives.

When asked about the experience, Dr. Barlow replied, “Anyone would have done the same thing. I happened

to be in the position of vantage and had the chance to offer my body.” (3)

I doubt that just anyone would have done that, don’t you? Only a person with a very special kind of love in

his or her heart would make that kind of sacrifice. Christ made that same kind of sacrifice in our behalf. It is

that very special kind of love proceeding from the heart of God that holds this world together. Without that

love we are all orphans in a strange and hostile universe.

Have I helped you take your mind off of the superficial reasons for celebrating Thanksgiving? I hope so.

Let’s give thanks, but let’s do it for the right reasons. Let’s give thanks for our inheritance as children of

God, for the incarnation that makes our inheritance possible, and for our inclusion in the family of God--an

inclusion made possible by one who took creation’s longest walk--from the throne of heaven to a stable in

Bethlehem to a lonely cross on a hill called Calvary and back to heaven once again. Those are things for

which all of us can be thankful.

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Each of us has a different list of things for which we are thankful. A Sunday School teacher asked her class

to make such a list, and a little boy wrote down that he was thankful for his glasses. The teacher was

impressed by that. Some young people resent wearing glasses. Here, obviously, was a young man mature

enough to appreciate what wearing glasses did for him. "Johnny," she said, "I see that you put your glasses

down at the head of the list of things for which you are thankful. Is there any special reason?" Johnny

answered, "Yes, ma ™am. My glasses keep the boys from hitting me, and the girls from kissing me."

Each of us would have our own list of the things for which we are thankful. Most of us are mature enough in

our faith to recognize that Thanksgiving is a most dangerous holiday. When we give thanks for our good

health, what does that say to people who do not have a well body? Does that say that we are more deserving

than they, or that somehow God loves us more? When we thank God for our nice homes or our families or

our freedom as Americans, what does this say about good, decent God loving people around the world who

do not share these blessings? I have no ready answers for such questions and neither does anyone else. I

would prefer, however, as we give thanks this Thursday and all the rest of the year, that we do it for the right

reasons.

What are some of the things that every Christian, regardless of his or her circumstance, in every corner of the

globe can be thankful for this Thanksgiving season?

In our lesson from Paul ™s letter to the Colossians we can glean some solid suggestions. Paul prays that the

Colossians, and indirectly that we, might be strengthened "with all power, according to his glorious might,

for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father....." St. Paul taught that we should be

thankful in all circumstances. But what are the right things for which we ought to give thanks?

THE FIRST THING FOR WHICH WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL, ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL IS OUR

INHERITANCE. He writes, "....giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance

of the saints...." Paul chose his words very carefully. An inheritance is not an award for outstanding merit, is

it? An inheritance is not pay for a job well done. It is not something one earns or deserves or creates by his

own devotion. An inheritance is a gift-a gift that is dependent on someone else ™s efforts. You may receive

a large inheritance not because you are so smart or energetic, but because you had a grandfather who was. Or

in some cases you had a grandfather who was never caught.

Wasn ™t it Mark Than who said he spent a large sum of money to trace his family tree and then spent twice

as much trying to keep his ancestry a secret?

A little baby can come into a large inheritance simply by accident of birth. One of the consequences of the

New Birth in Christ Jesus is that we automatically, immediately, at that moment become heirs of all that God

has in store for his beloved children.

That is a staggering fact that many of us who have been in the church all our lives have difficulty accepting.

There is a story going around that makes this point painfully clear. There was a believer who was not

everything he ought to be and he knew it! In fact, when he finally passed from this life to the next one he was

deeply concerned that St. Peter wouldn ™t let him through the Pearly Gates. When he got to his destination,

however, he was welcomed with open arms.

"Are you certain that you didn ™t make a mistake?" he asked St. Peter. "You see, there are certain parts of

my life of which I ™m sort of ashamed."

St Peter answered, "No, we didn ™t make a mistake. You see, we don ™t keep any records."

The man was greatly relieved and overjoyed. Then he saw a group of men over in a corner beating heir heads

against a celestial wall and clinching their fists and stomping their feet in disgust. "What is the matter with

them?" the man asked St. Peter. "Oh", said St. Peter with a smile. "They also thought we kept records."

I am not suggesting that what we do is unimportant. Nevertheless at the top of our list for which we need to

be thankful this day is that salvation is the free gift of God. It is an inheritance that is bestowed upon us the

moment we become children of God.

Father John Powell in his book, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE tells about when he was serving as a chaplain in

Germany. A dear little sister, 87 years young, was assigned to care for his room. He says that every time he

left the room, even for a moment, the good sister cleaned it. She would wax the floors, polish the furniture

and so forth. On one occasion when he left the room for a short walk, he came back to find her on her knees

putting a final sheen on her waxing job. He laughingly teased her, "Sister, you work too much." The dear,

devoted little sister straightened up (though still kneeling) and looked at him with a seriousness that bordered

on severity. She said firmly, "Heaven isn ™t cheap, you know." No, heaven isn ™t cheap. It cost Jesus his

life. Eternal life, however, is part of our inheritance. He earned it, we simply receive it.

You see, it troubles us that no records are kept in heaven because we are afraid that a few scoundrels will slip

in. We forget that if heaven was based on merit, each of us would be in great difficulty as well.

Think of it this way. Most of us had the privilege of being born an American. It is nothing that we earned or

deserved. We could just as easily have been born to a starving family in Ethiopia. Freedom is part of our

inheritance as children of this nation. Of course, the parallel is not exact. Most of us were born in this

country. It was not something we chose. However, we must choose to accept the inheritance that Christ

bestows upon us. That is the only requirement. We must accept it. Nevertheless, it is free.

Every believer can give thanks for that this morning. That is the first thing for which we can be thankful

according to our text.

HERE IS THE SECOND THE INCARNATION. St. Paul writes, "he is the image of the invisible God, the

first born of all creation...." A little farther he writes, "He is the head of the body, the church; he is the

beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he may be pre-eminent." Of whom is St. Paul

speaking? Certainly of the risen Christ. Without the incarnation God becoming flesh and reconciling the

world unto himself there would be no inheritance.

Many of you undoubtedly are familiar with the work of California born zoologist Dian Fossey among the

gorillas in Africa. It is hard to imagine that the mighty gorilla had become an endangered species, but thanks

to senseless slaughter by poachers, it is true.

Dian Fossey left her home in California to live for 18 years among those fierce creatures studying them

closely. Gradually the gorillas accepted her and trusted her. From 1967 until 1985 she carried on her work. In

1985 Dian Fossey was murdered still seeking to protect the gorillas among whom she had made her home.

It is a long way from California to the jungles of Africa. It is much farther from the throne of God to a stable

in Bethlehem. Yet Christ made that journey in our behalf.

When Robert Louis Stevenson retired to the Samoan Islands for his health he became to the natives of that

island a kind and generous friend. Stevenson was concerned that there was only a path leading from the

harbor of his island over which his new friends must walk in order to bring provisions to the interior. With

his own money and personal efforts, Stevenson had a good road constructed for his people. In gratitude the

Samoans called it, "the road of a loving heart."

I know of another road of a loving heart, don ™t you?

A young boy came to a missionary ™s side and said, "I love you and I want you to have this." He pulled

from a straw basket the most beautiful shell the missionary had ever seen. As she admired its beauty, she

recognized it as a special shell only found on the far side of the island, a half day ™s walk from the village.

When she confronted the boy with this, he smiled, and said, "Long walk part of gift."

Crucial to everything we believe as Christians is this truth that God so loved the world that he made that long

walk to come from where he was to where we are. When it was impossible for us to reach out to him, he

reached out to us. There may be differences among Christians on a host of other things. We may be divided

by theologies, how we baptize people, who we allow around the Lord ™s table and even which political

party with which we feel most comfortable. But on one point we all agree; God became flesh and dwelt

among us. That is the incarnation, and again we affirm no incarnation, no inheritance. That is the second

thing for which every Christian can give thanks. God became one of us.

Do you see how important that is? There was no other way that God could have possibly revealed his nature

to us. Suppose, instead, he had chosen one of us and taken us to be with him and then sent us back to tell

others. Do you think they would listen?

Years ago in THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE, Merle Crowell told a true story from Alaska. It was about an

Eskimo from Greenland who was taken on one of the American North Polar expeditions. Later, as a reward

for his faithfulness, he was brought to New York City for a short visit. He was amazed at the sights and

sounds he beheld there. When he returned to his native village, he told stories of buildings that rose into the

very face of the sky; of streetcars, which he described as houses that moved along the trail, with people

living in them as they moved; of mammoth bridges, artificial lights, and all the other dazzling aspects of

being in a metropolis. His people looked at him coldly. They did not believe him. Indeed, they gave him a

new name. The name was Sagdluk which means The Liar. He kept that name all the rest of his days until his

old name was entirely forgotten.

Do you see that there was no other way God could have done it? It was essential that the God of all creation

take upon himself the flesh and frailty of humanity.

WE ARE THANKFUL FOR OUR INHERITANCE, FOR THE INCARNATION THAT MAKES IT

POSSIBLE, AND FINALLY, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR OUR INCLUSION IN THE FAMILY OF GOD.

God has reconciled all things unto himself, says St. Paul, making peace by the blood of the cross of his Son.

John Haggai in his book LEAD ON (Waco: Word Books 1986) tells about Dr. Claude H. Barlow, a

missionary to China and one of the most revered foreigners to work in that land.

A strange disease for which Dr. Barlow knew no remedy was killing people. There was no research

laboratory for this disease, so Dr. Barlow conducted his own research. He studied the disease, filling a

notebook with his observations. He then procured a vial of disease germs and sailed for the United States.

Before he arrived, he took the germs into his own body, then went to John Hopkins University Hospital to be

observed.

Claude Barlow was very sick now. He allowed his old professors at John Hopkins to use him for

experimentation. A cure was found, which a healthy Claude Barlow took back to China with him. His efforts

saved countless lives.

When asked about the experience, Dr. Barlow replied, "Anyone would have done the same thing. I happened

to be in the position of vantage and had the chance to offer my body."

I doubt that just anyone would have done that, don ™t you? Only a person with a very special kind of love in

his or her heart would make that kind of sacrifice. It is that very special kind of love proceeding from the

heart of God that holds this world together. Without that love we are all orphans in a strange and hostile

universe. But that love does exist. It exists in this church and it exists among people around this earth who

have had an encounter with the man from Nazareth.

Have I helped you take your mind off of the superficial reasons for celebrating Thanksgiving? I hope so. Let

™s give thanks, but let ™s do it for the right reasons. Let ™s give thanks for our inheritance as children of

God, for the incarnation that makes our inheritance possible, and for our inclusion in the family of God-an

inclusion made possible by one who took creation ™s longest walk-from the throne of heaven to a stable in

Bethlehem to a lonely cross on a hill called Calvary. Those are things for which all of us can be thankful.