Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 1 Preaching has its hazards. One of them is talking too much about yourself. I m afraid I ll be walking pretty close to that line today. So please forgive me in advance if I make the sermon too much about my own experience and not enough about God. But, beloved, I need to share my thanksgiving journey with you. The admonition to give thanks hasn t always sat well with me. Unfortunately, I think growing up in the church had something to do with this. What I often heard when the church community said give thanks was no sorrow aloud and no room for heartache, as if something was inferior about us if we grieved our losses or got stuck in our problems. And it was our job to fix our self-pity by making ourselves thankful by the sheer force of our willpower. And shame on you if you couldn t make a thankful heart come to life. There seemed to be little space for someone to suffer, suffering almost being defined as a moral failure. All those who were depressed, neglected, poorly treated and troubled were lumped into the category of something wrong with them. If they so chose, the assumption went, they could snap out of their fog by counting their blessings. The church of my youth wasn t always free to acknowledge the deep struggles of its members. Whether this was my perception rather than the reality, I can t say. But definitely I ve often thought thanksgiving was an unfair expectation levied on hurting people.
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 2 Somewhere along the way, I also learned to pay attention to who is telling who to be thankful. Often, it s the powerful telling the powerless, or the wealthy telling the poor, or the loved telling the unloved, or the lucky telling the unlucky. You get the picture. Thanksgiving can be used to shush the unpleasant complaining of those who, in one way or another, make us aware of the inequities in life. We wish they would be quiet because they prick our guilt. They remind us of our relative blessedness in relation to our neighbors and our responsibilities toward them. So we respond, Don t they know how lucky they have it? to quell our guilt and to distance ourselves from their complaint. That statement has been spoken by masters to slaves, unfair bosses to employees, husbands to non-compliant wives, elected officials to a restless citizenry. Some groups call for thanksgiving to press down, to silence the voices of those with legitimate gripes about the way things are, even though an imposed gratefulness doesn t seem to be what the Bible has in mind. So for years I ve been suspicious of thanksgiving, especially when someone is commanding me to do it. I want to know who s telling who to give thanks and for what purpose. I ve been quick to counter that complaint is as legitimate as any other form of prayer. And I ve often thought after calls to be more thankful, Yeah, but. Yeah, but let s not forget that for many
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 3 of us life isn t sunshine and roses. Yeah, but it s okay if you can t give thanks today through your tears. Let s keep it real here, and not gloss over the truth of human pain. But lately, I m beginning to see with more clarity the other side of thanksgiving, how a life without gratitude shrivels and hardens. Don t ask me to applaud the minister who minimizes the broken heart of a mother whose child has schizophrenia. I can t go along with forcing the bright side on a grieving widower. Let s not glibly prescribe the power of positive thinking to someone in their late fifties who just lost his job to downsizing. Yet, I now see and accept that even that unemployed man, that grieving widower and that heartbroken mother at some point will need to reconnect with the blessedness of life. Not to justify what s gone wrong, not to please someone else who can t tolerate the presence of pain, but because they need to heal. If we can get there, gratitude helps us to be well. I m afraid that over the years my thinking has made me sick. In the name of being honest, I ve often fixated on all that s wrong with me and the world around me. Well, if I want to focus on problems, there are plenty to choose from. The gaps, weaknesses and failings in the church s life and my life are obvious. But latching onto those flaws doesn t make me better. I get sicker. There is no virtue in obsessing on what s wrong.
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 4 Breaking the pattern isn t easy, however, especially when the habit is reinforced. I m a little ashamed to say I sometimes get a charge out of focusing on the negative, a boost of energy from self-generated anger. But then, when the anger burns away, the residue on my soul can take the form or bitterness, a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. It s a high price to pay. I have my list of what s wrong. I bet you have yours, and I bet you have little control over much on your list. Pull out your list so we can read it together. What s wrong with your world? Common Core standards, too much focus on ISIS or not enough, young people these days, prescription drug abuse, Obamacare is too big or doesn t do enough, children who won t follow your advice, parents who won t get off your back. Now, I have a question: how has your worry, fretting, raging over your list changed anything? Has it been helpful to you? Is it time to learn a new way of thinking? Paul tells his friends in the Philippian church to be intentional about their thinking. They could think about how Lydia can t lead a committee meeting to save her life; how the last visitors to worship weren t welcomed warmly; how a few of the elders really get on their nerves. But Paul has a different idea. Instead of making a long list of all that s wrong, all that needs fixing in their broken life, he tells them to think about the good
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 5 stuff. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just; whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence among you, and if there is anything worthy of praise, put your noggin to work on those things. Fill up your mind with the good happening in your life together. Pay attention to what God is doing around you. Would you like to practice with me? I walked by a Sunday School room one Sunday and noticed only one student was there. But the teacher, instead of giving up was fully engaged with the child, smiling and interacting with the young learner. And I thought to myself, That child must feel special, like he s worth the trouble and time. He ll leave today feeling more valued, loved. And that happened right here in the place you support and call home. If you re going to think about something, think of that. At the funeral this week, hearts were broken. But you know, my heart was also warmed when I saw who came in honor of the deceased. Family and friends, of course, but also members of our visitation team, who had grown close to Phyllis McAmis over the years. They didn t know her from anybody, but then they felt so close they had to be here for the funeral. I get the feelings blessings are spilling out all over the place among the visitors as much as the homebound. Who saw that coming? Not me, but I m
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 6 glad it arrived. Is this not sweet and commendable and honorable and true, care overflowing in your family of faith? If you re going to think about something, think of that. I think we ve grown used to excellence in our life together, almost blind to it. Would you help me see it again? What about the paraments always being changed for the season, and everything ready and waiting for communion, baptisms, funerals and weddings from the bread to the flowers to the candles? And not just barely done, but beautifully done without most of us ever worrying about it. Think about that, rejoicing, giving thanks. What about the music? The hours put in by leaders and singers, bells and directors, the piano and organ giving it up to the glory of God and voices that speak grace to all of us. And we haven t started naming the people who use their considerable gifts to manage, cook, plan, finance, teach, and dream. If there is any excellence among us, and there s plenty, fill up your mind with it until you re thankful. And of course, we don t have to stop with church life. Good thinking practice in here is good thinking practice in daily life. As we go to work and watch the news and drive the streets, look for what s commendable and honorable and just and pure, and those things will begin to neutralize that bitter pill you may have swallowed.
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 7 I read with interest an article by David Brooks, an old style Republican, who writes for the New York Times. Snap Out of It is the title of the piece, and Brooks points out a few things that are counter to our assumptions. Did you know that there is less war going on the world right now than at any other time? Our enemies are real, but not that impressive by historical standards. We ve face much worse. Cities are more vibrant, diverse, tolerant and healthy than they have ever been in our history. Poverty is shrinking across the globe, especially in Asia and Africa. And I would add a few others: violent crime is down, not up; and teenage drug use is less than it has been. Could it be that the world is not in a downward spiral? You mean we re not just trying to make ourselves feel better when we count our blessings? There are true improvements in our social and political world? Think about that. At this point in my life, giving thanks is less about trying to avoid the ugly truth, and more about turning loose of what I can t control. I think about the good, the honorable, the true to get in touch with a larger and deeper truth: in spite of all we endure and suffer, life is still good. I know this when I hold my grandbaby, have dinner with my wife and sing hymns with you on Sunday. I know this when I remember though I can do little, God has done all that needs to be done in Jesus Christ to rectify his broken world. God is the ruler, yet. And so I can live with hope and confidence
Thanksgiving Sunday, 11/23/2014, Greeneville, Tennessee 8 now, and laugh at my sinful self which has met its match in the love of God. I m not making this up. It s true: life is still good. I m learning to think about that because such thinking keeps me closer to sanity and health. I assume everyone received your box as you came in. See one of the ushers if you didn t get yours. This is your stinkin thinkin box. Whenever you begin to fixate on what s wrong, take your list and put it in the box. This will take a lot of practice. You ll have to do it over and over and over again. And then, make your other list, the noble/true/good list. If you need help, take your order of service home. The litany we used today will work. Take the hymns home, too, and reflect on them. Ask for God to help you turn loose of what you can t control, name every feeling you need to name, then let the list go. Practice, practice, practice. The only antidote to a world gone wrong may be a people who know how to give thanks, and thereby live hopefully and generously and freely in a frightened world. This may not be the answer we want. But it s the answer we have. Whatever is just, honorable, whatever is pure and excellent, train yourself to think of these things. And the God of peace will be with us.