Thanksgiving Day 2018.
We are only three short years away from the 400th anniversary
of the Thanksgiving celebration on which those that followed are modeled
after. In the fall of 1621, 53 Pilgrims
celebrated their first harvest in the New World, joined by about 90 Native
Americans. Soon after the birth of the United States, our first President,
George Washington, declared a “National Day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” Though various states had official “Thanksgiving”
proclamations and holidays set aside at different times, it was not until
Abraham Lincoln declared a “National Day of Thanksgiving” in the midst of the
Civil War, that it became widely popular.
Finally, in 1941 Congress made it official by way of legislation
declaring Thanksgiving as a National holiday.
While the Thanksgiving meal has always been a major focal
point of the day, in some ways even that misses the original point. For some, the emphasis is on stuffing the bird
and then stuffing themselves, with nary a thought to anything else, unless it
be football and the shopping binge to follow. But for others, a comely tradition has
developed in which each one gathered at the table tells of something they are
thankful for. A fine method of focusing attention on our blessed condition to
be sure, but still somewhat prone to missing the point.
If we are giving thanks, to who or what are we doing
so? In this increasingly secular society
in which we live, the question is not rhetorical. So, who do you thank on this Thanksgiving
Day?
If you consider yourself an atheist, sharing the worldview
of famous atheist Richard Dawkins, then you might be thankful to the universe
which he describes as having “… no design, no purpose, no evil and no
good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.” If you count yourself among these, then God
calls you a fool (Psalm 14:1 among other places) and It would seem pointless for
you to be thankful.
Or perhaps you offer your thanks to “mother earth” for the
bounty she has bestowed upon you. Do you
think the earth (who, I hate to break it to you, is not your mother) hears and
accepts your praises? Thanking a mute idol puts you in little better position
than the one who rejects the knowledge of a Sovereign Creator altogether (Romans
1:18-25). In fact, that earns you the same title of fool (God’s description,
not mine).
But, you say, can’t a person just be thankful for things without
directing that thankfulness toward a particular being or object? I suppose, but it is an exercise in empty discourse.
Words of thanks aimed to no one, in praise of no one, and that give glory to no
one, is the epitome of mouthing words but saying nothing.
So, this Thanksgiving Day, won’t you give your thanks
specifically to the LORD God in Heaven, who has blessed you with life, liberty
and sustenance; the One who created the world and all that is in it, which you
are able to enjoy each day?