Father
John McGinn, Rector
It is difficult, sometimes,
to reflect on God in the world around us.
How many of us were watching the Christa Worthington trial wondering
what would possess an individual to so such a horrible crime. Or we might have been watching about the Playstation
3, where people were standing in line for days then shooting, pushing and
attacking one another to get the game that is going for hundreds and hundreds
of dollars. Then the past few weeks, we
have been talking about stewardship and how giving out of our abundance is
difficult for all of us. Some people
want to hear less, and some people want to hear more about it, but the reality
is that in order to continue Jesus’ ministry we need the help of everyone.
Then I walk into church this
morning and I look up at out alter and see the beautiful harvest, the beautiful
display that the Hebert family has given us and since I have been here, and
well before that, it has been our Thanksgiving tradition.
This morning I want to stray
a bit from the lesson, because I think those lessons make us think less of
Thanksgiving and being thankful. I want
to preach this morning about thanks; about the time of Thanksgiving.
I do not know if you know
that not everyone has been brought up to smile.
When the McDonald’s Corporation invaded
Not everyone has been brought
up to smile.
Sometime back, there was an
article about an organization called Depressives Anonymous, yes there really is
such an organization, anyway, and this particular branch of Depressives Anonymous
got rid of a number of people in the organization because they were not
depressed enough. I guess there are
worse things than being banned from a group because you are not depressed
enough. On the other hand, maybe some of
those people who were banned from the club felt so badly about it that they now
qualify for readmittance. Who knows?
Lots of people have trouble
with the task of being happy. Could it
be that many people have trouble feeling a true sense of gratitude?
In the familiar story of the
ten men with leprosy who were healed by Jesus only one returned to say “Thank
You” What happened to the rest? To busy? To self occupied, most likely. But it could be that a few of the nine just
didn’t feel that grateful. Could it be
that they still felt like outcasts? OK,
they were healed but still, now they needed to go get a job and support
themselves. They lost everything they had while they were sick. Their families
may have turned on them, and what were they to do now? So rather than feeling grateful for what had
been done for them, they were anxious and perhaps even terrified about what lay
ahead.
People react to life
differently. The old saying about those
that see the glass as half full or as half empty is fitting. Some people are
like the little boy who went to a birthday party and on his return his mother asked, “Bobby, did you
thank the mother for the party?” “I was going to” he replied, “but the girl
ahead of me told the lady ‘Thank You” and the lady said not to mention it. So I
didn’t.” There are people who live in
million dollar homes and drive the finest cars, who won’t even pretend they are
thankful. As we approach one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving, these
people are concerned that they do not have more.
In my neighborhood, we have
had three houses torn down in the last couple of years. People have bought the house, torn it down,
and built another one. Some of them
triple the size. Meanwhile, there are
people in small huts in
In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus speaks these very important words: Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your lives, what you will eat or drink or what you will wear. Is not life
more important than food and is not the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds in the air; they do not sow
or reap or store away in barns. Yet your heavenly father
feeds them and are you not more important than they? And who of you by worrying can add a single
hour to his life? And why do you worry
about clothes? See how the lilies of the
field grow? They do not labor or spin,
yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed
like one of these. He has not clothed
the grass of the field where is he today and tomorrow is thrown into the
fire. Will he not much more clothe you,
oh ye of little faith? So do not worry
saying ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things.”
People react to life so
differently.
If I were to submit a survey
to you this morning, there would be a significant number of you who are worried
sick about the future. In some instances
there are concrete reasons for these worries.
But there are others who worry out of proportion to their troubles and
that is sad. How can they feel a spirit
of Thanksgiving if you are obsessed with fears about the future? Thanksgiving requires trust in God. How can we give God Thanks if we do not
believe that God is the source of our lives and everything in them? How can we give God tanks if we do not
believe that God’s will is always what is best?
How can we give thanks if we do not believe that no matter what comes
our way, God is with us?
You may wonder what worry had
to do with Thanksgiving. It is because
the same spiritual crisis that causes us to worry depletes our gratitude. Our spiritual deficit has to do with our
faith.
Six year old Aaron asked his
mother what was for dinner, and she replied “Chicken soup.” “My favorite food. Thank God!” said Aaron excitedly. “Why are you thanking God?” his mother wanted
to know. “I made the chicken soup.” “Yeah,” said Aaron, “But God made the
chicken.”
In spite of that joke, Aaron
knew the truth. When Robinson Caruso was
shipwrecked he wrote two columns which he called “Evil” and “Good.” He was cast on a deserted island, but not drowned
as were all his shipmates. He was away
from humankind and banished from society, but he was not starving. He had no clothes, but the climate was hot
and he didn’t need them. He was without
means of defense, but saw no water beasts.
He had no one to speak to, but God had set the ship so near the shore
that he could get all the things he needed off of it. Robinson Caruso concluded that “There is not
any condition so miserable that there is not something to be thankful for.”
Our sense of worry is not
proportional to our actual well being, but rather is proportional to our faith. If we know God, and we trust God, and we
depend on God, then we are able to relax and trust God whether we have a lot or
a little. If we believe that all things
work for those who love God, then we are able to bring faith to whatever trial and
tribulation that we may confront. The key to worrying less is to be thankful
more. And here is a life lesson: the old
hymn counsels us to count our many blessings, name them one by one. That is the secret to revitalizing you
life. We give thanks to God for our many
blessings, but the one who prospers from our giving thanks is not God, but you
and me.
In a psychology study a while
back, researchers asked college students to keep a weekly list of five things
for which they were grateful. And soon
they listed things like the generosity of friends, music of the Rolling Stones,
wonderful parents. Another group was
asked to track life’s hassles. They
listed stupid drivers, messy kitchens no one would clean and finances depleting
quickly. The third group was adults with
chronic neuromuscular diseases, wrote down what they were grateful for for
three weeks. They listed: bosses who
understand needs, friends for being reliable.
The last group of adults with chronic disease counted only burdens. According to the published results, the
participants who counted blessings, regardless of group, reported feeling more
energetic and a heightened sense of well being.
They reported sleeping well and feeling more optimistic about their
lives. They looked forward to meeting future goals. The grateful groups were more likely to help
someone with a personal problem or offer emotional support.
Counting blessings is a
wonderful antidote for stress. According to the study, the key to dealing with
stress is to give God thanks daily.
Don’t stress about the things that you can not control. Give God your troubles. This is the key to happiness. Give thanks to God. AMEN