THANKSGIVING DAY
NOVEMBER 25, 2010
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.
Book of Deuteronomy 8:7-18:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.

You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today.

When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid waste-land with poisonous snakes and scorpions.

He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to obtain wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.

SERMON

My fondest memories of Thanksgiving extend to grade school and maybe even before then. I had a loving Grandmother. Her first name was Mary. She worked at the Sherman Hotel in downtown Chicago. That hotel is long gone. And Grandma Mary died many years ago.

But for what seemed to be decades, on every Thanksgiving morning, my Dad and I would go to the hotel kitchen and pick up an entire banquet of food – food for 12 to 18 people. The food was a bonus to the hotel's employees. There was a huge turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, which I think at my earlier years I referred to as smashed potatoes, yams, gravy, vegetables, bread, and, of course pie. This went on for year after year.

I still remember the watchman at the employee entrance to the hotel kitchen. At his watchman station, down a flight of stairs, he had, what was known in Chicago, as a Billy Club. Now the police refer to it as a baton. It was a nightstick. It was a big heavy stick. What was interesting to me, as a young kid, is that same watchman, who I observed year after year, had only one arm. Kids remember stuff like that. But I also remember that he was a kind man with a ready smile – and he remembered me. So I often wondered if he ever hit anyone with that club.

And I now wonder if employers still give complete thanksgiving dinners as yearly bonuses to all of their employees. I remember, when I got older, and financially wiser, asking my Dad if Grandma paid for that meal, and he said, 'No, it was a bonus.' I still wonder.

My memories of Thanksgiving continue through the years. My memories of my Grandmother continue even though Grandma Mary has since died. My memories of Thanksgiving after Sue and I married, and after our daughter, Sarah, was born, continue to build. And the memories continue to build with Dave, now part of our family, and our grandson, Eddie [did you know I had a grandson!].

But other people had memories also: George Washington established our Day of Thanksgiving as a national day so that we would remember the blessings which God continues to pour upon this nation and us, its citizens.

Yet Abraham Lincoln wisely reminds us that this nation is the recipient of the choicest rewards granted by heaven; and that this nation has grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. Lincoln warns us not to vainly imagine that all these gifts were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. He asks us to remember to pray to the God that made us, and praise our heavenly Father.

Especially we, as Congregationalists, realize that Thanksgiving is uniquely a part of our heritage, now shared in this country. We Congregationalists realize that as early as the year 1620, the Pilgrims agreed to The Mayflower Compact, by which they covenanted between themselves and did so under God.

We remember that Pastor John Robinson and Elder William Brewster, three years earlier, while the Pilgrims were planning their trip to Plymouth, in 1617 - before they sailed to this country, - reminded all to remember God in all of their endeavors, and to remember to thank God for ". . . all answerable fruit . . ."

As we have now made a brief review of the readings, you can easily see that Washington and Lincoln, Robinson and Brewster, and signers of the Mayflower Compact, had all read Deuteronomy Chapter 8, and were thoroughly familiar with that essential passage from the Torah.

In the 13th or 15th century before Christ was born the Book of Deuteronomy was finally written. We Congregationalists are descendants of all of those Pilgrims and others who were familiar with the Book of Deuteronomy – and of their God – the God who inspired all of them; the God who they publicly thanked and praised.

Now, some thousands of years after that passage from Deuteronomy was written, we are to remember, each in our own way, that the Lord our God has brought us into a good land, a land with flowing streams, a land of wheat and barley, a land where we may eat bread without scarcity, where most of us lack nothing.

We do eat our fill and are reminded to bless the Lord our God for the good land that he has given us. We are reminded to take care that we do not forget the Lord our God, by failing to keep his commandments. We are reminded that when we have eaten our fill and enjoy our fine houses and all that we have is multiplied, we are not to exalt ourselves, or to forget the Lord our God. We are reminded not say to ourselves, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ We are to remember the Lord our God, for it is he who gives us power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to our ancestors, as he is doing today.

What can we glean from all of those who ask us to remember? Try this: Once we recognize God's blessing in our lives, and we act on them, then we begin to LIVE. Otherwise we simply exist. Once we acknowledge God's blessings, we see the truth of God.

A famous Pastor, Oswald Chambers, wrote: "God wants you to understand that [this is to be] a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of his blessings." He further instructs us that: "Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him." [Both 31 October Readings.]

Charles Dickens, in his famous play, A Christmas Carol, gifts us the message that we are to be thankful for all God's blessings no matter the circumstances. This is The Day to be thankful for so many blessings.

Our country just underwent a revolution of sorts, without violence. That is a blessing, -- certainly not unique to this country, but unusual in many other countries. We work to share our blessings of liberty and democracy with the world. We are a charitable country – we are able to and we do assist victims of disasters throughout the world – we share our blessings. On this day we invite friends and family to share our table just as my Grandmother shared her gifted table with my family – we share our blessings.

With our friends, we share our hopes and fears, our ill health and weaknesses, but we also share our blessings. We look at our blessed joys, successes, achievements, health, safety, and even our struggles and trials. We look at our gifts and talents, our memories, our friends, and even our pets, the times of laughter, beauty, music and dreams, and how these have blessed us.

We trust and hope in God's promises, faith in Jesus, and love inspired by God's Holy Spirit, -- and we share our faith, hope, and love with our neighbors, for we are a truly blessed people.

May I, on behalf of my wife, Rev. Jan, the office, building, and music staff here at FCC, wish you a most blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Amen.