The God of Thanksgiving
by Christopher Hendrix
This week, we celebrate one of the greatest Christian holidays in our culture. Thanksgiving comes to us through hardship and suffering. The irony in our generation is that a colossal ungratefulness exists. At the same time, we sit comfortably in temperature-controlled homes, eating food that sat in our packed full refrigerators waiting to be prepared at the turn of a dial on our gas ovens. In a society with the most material wealth to be thankful for, we are among the least grateful people.
The First Thanksgiving
In 1621, the Pilgrims feasted because of God’s goodness with friendly local Indians. In reality, the Pilgrims had faced far greater adversity than had been expected. The climate was inhospitable, the crops were scarce, the native peoples were often violent, and their ranks were dwindling. Hunger, disease, discomfort, and discouragement were the norm in everyday life. These Christian Pilgrims, who pulled away from the Church of England and were determined to establish a truly Christian community, actually landed in New England. That mistake made disaster almost inevitable. Nevertheless, they “fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over this vast and furious ocean,” recorded Governor William Bradford. The colony would go on to survive in God’s Providence.
In 1789, President George Washington declared the first national day of Thanksgiving by asking Americans to “unite in most humbly offering our prayer and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of nations.” The Pilgrims were driven by a worldview centered on the worship of the one true and living God, the Creator of the universe, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. They understood His providential rule over the universe to explain both what was bad and what blessed them. They did not attribute their survival to their own strength nor to the help of the Indians, but to God. They clung to Christ through the worst of it all.
The Ungratefulness at Thanksgiving
On the other hand, unbelievers are driven by no impulse to give thanks and wouldn’t know to whom thanks should be addressed. When they are thankful, they miss that thankfulness requires an object. To whom are you grateful for the blessings? Usually, thankfulness for them boils down to self-sufficiency, self-directedness, and self-reliance. Their horizon of thankfulness is, to say the least, relatively low. For them, it might as well be “Turkey Day” or something equally empty. This stark contrast between the Pilgrims' profound gratitude and the current generation's shallow thankfulness reflects our society's spiritual state.
The key difference between then and now is worldview. The mindset of our age is one of victimhood and the thought of being owed something. Discontentment reigns as shouts for more rage. Dependency on the government grows, leading to laziness and a lack of drive. What undergirds this is the Darwinist worldview. From early on in school to the university years, our kids are taught to believe there is nothing else to this life than the material world. So, if they learn this, then we shouldn’t be surprised when they live this. Actions always follow belief.
Our culture has aimed to “liberate” kids from the bondage of religion, but all it has done is exchange the freedom found in Christ with the chains found in man. This has produced ingratitude, a high view of self, slothfulness, sexual depravity, and death. The secular experiment has failed. It has flatlined and run its course. It’s evident to all but the prophets and priests of secularism refuse to admit it. At this point, the emperor has no clothes, and it's time for us to realize the truth.
The True Thanksgiving
The Christian worldview offers something totally different. It provides life, joy, and freedom. That’s because it is built upon truth. It is built on the person of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14–16 tells us that Christ is the Christian’s great high priest who sympathizes with us in our weakness. He has fulfilled the role of the high priest, but better! The high priest could not remain in the presence of God very long for fear of death. Jesus, the Son of God, is fixated in the presence of God. This presence is given to us through the Spirit. God dwells with us because the great High Priest has atoned for our sins, redeemed us, and reconciled us to God. This incredible work of God gives the Christian a new identity. We are a new creation, filled with hope and the promise of a better life.
In this life, the believer beholds Jesus and runs to Him in times of difficulty. Jesus—without being sinful or sinning—experienced human weaknesses such as hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. He knows the temptations that would lead us into sin. Though He was tempted externally with no internal proclivity to sin, He understands the human frame. This enables us to draw near to His throne and allow His mercy and grace to smother us. We are saved through His priesthood, sanctified through His prophetic role, and glorified through His kingship.
So then, the Christian worldview can only result in one thing. That is gratitude. Gratefulness overflows because we know what Christ has done for us. We know the Providential God works all things for our good and His glory. We behold the Sovereign Lord who ordains all things, even the size of the Turkey we will consume. Every dish is given to us by Him. Every bite of pecan pie and every sip of wine reminds us that God is the ultimate source for these things. It points us to every blessing in our lives, culminating in our salvation. Even then, our salvation points us to something greater, and that’s the very presence of God that dwells with us. So then, perhaps the most significant difference between the Pilgrims and our generation goes beyond worldview. Maybe it’s the difference between life and death. Between knowing the One True God and worshipping false gods. Between knowing the God of Thanksgiving and the gods of ingratitude.