The Season of Thanksgiving: Setting Priorities
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
November 22, 2009 Consecration & Thanksgiving Sunday
Philippians 1: 1-27
A couple of stories shared by colleagues in ministry: One writes, “I have a friend who had a terrible heart valve defect. He was told that he would surely die without a very risky operation. He sought out a great surgeon and submitted himself to the operation. It was successful. A few years later, when he and I were in a bad situation due to the malfeasance of some of our co-workers, requiring us to work late nights and to expend a great deal of time and energy.. I noticed that my friend seemed not to be in nearly as much misery as I. He was his usual cheerful self, despite the difficulties we had been put in. Finally I had to ask him ‘Why?’ He looked at me like I was a fool and responded, ‘Well, when you have nearly died and been brought back from the dead, and have your life given back to you, you tend to be grateful.’” It seems that some people just know what matters most in life
A second story, again shared by a pastor: “I sat out on a little porch while visiting one of my church members. We sat there as the sun was setting one afternoon. As we sat there, I looked out into the man’s little back yard, thinking how very small it seemed, small and rather forlorn. Thus I was surprised to hear him say, ‘Preacher, I just sit out here some afternoons and give thanks to God for such a blessing.’
“‘Blessing?’ I asked.
“’Yes, blessing! This wonderful home, this beautiful yard, this glorious day. You know, I grew up dirt poor. My family had nothing. I never dreamed I would one day live in a home like this. But here I am. Isn’t God good?’” Again, it seems that some people just know what matters most in life. Could the spirit of thanksgiving have something to do with that?
I have always loved this text from Philippians. Paul is in jail. He has no idea what the future holds, no idea if he will be alive tomorrow. You know, the Romans didn’t actually believe in trial by jury. Yet, if you listen to him, you would hardly know it. He seems so upbeat, so hopeful. “Now, I don’t want you all to worry about me. I’m doing fine. In fact, my imprisonment is actually advancing the Gospel. Christ is being preached. And, to tell you the truth, I can’t decide if I would rather leave and be with Jesus or stay here and work with you. You know, I think I would rather be with the Lord, but I know you need me. We’ve got work to do. So I have decided decided I had better stay.” He has decided? He’s the prisoner, he’s not the judge! This isn’t his issue to decide. But you’d never know it. I have the feeling that when they tossed him in that cell, he did not even hear the clang of the prison door closing behind him. He is in jail, but strangely free, confident about the future. And the powers of despair and death – the power of Rome - have no power over him.
I wish I could be like that. It just seems like I spend so much of my life being timid, uncertain, anxious, afraid. The powers that be exert a lot of power over me; they know how to get me to dance to their tune. But not Paul! How did he get to be like that? We could talk about his powerful conversion experience on the road to Damascus. We could talk about his love for his Lord, and his love for all those little churches he started. But I also want to call your attention back to his very first words to the Philippians: “I thank my God every time I remember you…” “I thank my God…”
I think of the men in those opening stories, I think of Paul writing from a grim prison cell. I think of how each of them seemed to have the ability to enter into an unknown future with trust and hope. And it all began with the spirit of thanksgiving. It was there, in their very souls, every day, with every breath they took.
Henri Nouwen, that late great saint of the church, spoke of “the discipline of gratitude.” Interesting – did you ever think of gratefulness as a discipline?
Says Nouwen, “Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly.” I can choose – gratefulness, as a choice to be made every day. It’s clear to me that Paul made that choice. Even when unjustly accused and unjustly imprisoned, Paul made that choice…to be thankful. And it changed everything; it clarified his priorities, reminded him of what truly mattered. Even in prison, with his life literally on the line, he found reason for thanksgiving. He made a choice.
I fear I may share this story with you every time I preach about thanksgiving, but I return to it again today because I believe it truly gets us to the heart of the matter. Another of the great saints of our generation, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, suffered a serious heart attack from which he never fully recovered. A friend who visited him in the hospital found him weak, barely able to talk. But he was able to whisper this to his friend: “Sam, when I regained consciousness, my first feeling was not despair and anger. I felt only gratitude to God for my life, for every moment I have lived. I have seen so many miracles.”
Well I hope I continue to live for a good long time. There is still so much to live for, so many trout streams still to discover. But if I were to die tomorrow, I hope I could die with those words of thanksgiving on my lips…”I have seen so many miracles.”
Corrieen Boom, another wonderful soul, told this story coming from her days with her sister in a Nazi concentration camp. The two of them decided they would try to keep their spirits up in that horrible, inhuman place by following Paul’s words to the Ephesians, “In everything give thanks.” Like Paul and Henri Nouwen, they made a choice. But, needless to say, there were times when any sense of thanksgiving was hard to come by. Once a swarm of insects, I think they were fleas, invaded their living quarters and remained there for weeks. It took all the faith and strength they could muster to mumble, “Thank you God for these bugs.” Later they learned that a cruel guard who mercilessly harassed the other prisoners left them alone, all those weeks, because he didn’t want to have to deal with the fleas! Thanks for the bugs.
Reflecting on this story, one author has said, “Diehard ingrate that I am. I often forget to be thankful for the things I’m glad are in my life, much less those I resent. Far too often I weep and wail about a problem and then, when it gets resolved, I start beating my breast about the next dilemma on the horizon without muttering so much as a quick thank you. When I do remember to give thanks for everything, the transformation is amazing. It keeps me conscious of all the joy and loveliness with which I’ve been blessed and which I frequently take for granted. And saying thank you, however reluctantly, for things I consider a nuisance, helps me to see them differently.” A choice. Thank you God for that driver in front of me who can’t seem to drive more than 15 miles an hour into Santa Rosa. I’m still working on that one!
But, it is true, that in the midst of the inevitable strains and stresses of life, it can be easy to forget exactly how we got here. We aren’t here because of anything we did or achieved. We all got here as a gift, as grace, called out of nothing into something, called into a life of conscious living among conscious neighbors. Think about it…how incredibly amazing it is that someone or something would love us enough to give us this splendid gift – this life. And I truly believe that it is the spirit of thanksgiving that opens us to the delight, awe, wonder and joy of it all. Think about it…we really have seen so many miracles.
Now it’s true, as I once read, that we humans always teeter between the horrors and delights of life. Reminds me of the old Leon Russell song when he spoke of being up on a tight wire, one side’s fire the other ice. Horror and delight, joy and sorrow, life and death. All gratitude is experienced by people who know pain and suffering. We’ve experienced that, in this church, in the last ten days or so. We all know that. The joy and wonder of this life lived in this world comes with a cost. As you have heard me say before, all gratitude is expressed and experienced under a shadow.
And yet, even as I acknowledge that, I also must acknowledge that when I consider the sweep of my life – which, again, I hope has a ways to go – it is true that goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life; that I have been held in being by a Supreme Being, by One who will never let me down. Original sin? I think I would much rather think and reflect on original blessing. And so my mind returns to Paul, who chooses to be thankful even in prison, and indeed finds so much to be thankful for. I think of that heart surgery survivor, the man rejoicing over his small house and tiny back yard. I think of me; I think of you. I do not know where life will take us in the coming week. I don’t know what challenges we may face, what pain or heartache, or joy and celebration may come our way. I don’t know all the ways we might be asked to put our lives on the line, what risks we may need to take in the name of love or how we may be challenged to live out the faith we proclaim. But I do know this; in the coming week, no matter where we find ourselves, there will be an opportunity for us to give and to live thanksgiving, to choose to be thankful. And it just might make all the difference.