I admit it - as an American, I think Thanksgiving is a silly holiday. I mean, think about what it is. It is the Federal Government telling us... not to remember Veterans or Soldiers, not to remember Independence or honor Labor... it's the government telling us to be... thankful.
You there, people - um, go pray or something.
Really?
I don't know, it seems odd to me that we in the Church would need a governmental reminder to show thanks. Of course, I also think it's funny how many churches do services on Wednesday night -- because people don't want to be bothered to go to Church on Thanksgiving when they could be spending time with their family... so we will give thanks early.
Well, we have service on the day. And we have a dinner afterwards - because not everyone has a big family to gather with, nor wants to slave over turkey. So we've got 90+ pounds of turkey, probably 30 pounds of potatoes (which will be 35 pounds of mashed potatoes after I add the butter and sour cream), 25 pounds of ham -- stuffing, veggies, so on and so forth.
And it will be fun. And we will give thanks. But it still just seems... silly to me.
Oh, and pastors, in your sermons - don't just tell people to be thankful for stuff. Stuff here fades. Give thanks for the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come - all given to us in and through Christ.
2 comments:
Modern Thanksgiving is what's left when the public square has been stripped of religion. When Lincoln called for a national day of thanksgiving after the Civil War, it was a day of repentance and prayer.
Thanksgiving has turned into the day before Black Friday. In fact it is turning into Black Thursday. How sad this is, especially in light of what it was at first.
Post a Comment