Calvary Baptist Church Fort Bragg
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
The Dawn of Blessing, a Thanksgiving Monologue
The Psalmist encouraged us:
Psalm 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
The history of our own country has often been likened to the conquest of Canaan, and the likeness, while certainly less than perfect, is not without its merits.
Take, for instance, the description of the promised land in Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees,
and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness,
thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron,
and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
It does sound a lot like America, doesn’t it?
Let’s go back to the beginning.
Almost 400 years ago the sun of God’s blessing arose upon our forefathers on this American continent.
But it was not, at first, the full-faced warmth of a midday sunlight.
As a matter of fact the story begins long before dawn ever lightened the skies of that cold dark night.
The ocean voyage on that small rickety ship had been characterized by misery and mishap.
The Mayflower was tossed and broken for 2 months before the sick and weakened crew caught sight of land.
They surely thought then that dawn was near, but the darkest part of their night was yet to come.
During the winter of 1621 they spent most of their evening on the Mayflower.
They had tried to build a shelter, but it was destroyed by fire.
Half of their number perished that winter due to cold, disease and starvation.
March opened upon a torn and broken cluster of inexperienced farmers.
It was planting season, but they knew nothing of how to make this cold hard land produce food.
Little hope of dawn still existed in the hearts of those few survivors, but then the faintest hint of light began to show in the darkness of their tragedy.
Samoset and Squanto stepped out of the woods and extended their offers of assistance.
They made a peace treaty with Massasoit, chief of the local natives.
It was only the first few rays, but the dawn had come.
The first harvest yielded just enough food to keep the little ragtag handful of pilgrims alive.
It has been said “that feast was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men.”
But it is their response to those few rays of hope that coaxed the sun of God’s blessing into fullness.
They did not build a monument to their own accomplishments.
They did not horde the fruits of their labors or push away those who were different than themselves.
They set aside a period in which they would acknowledge the One Who makes the sun rise.
They determined to give thanks to God.
They invited the natives to join them, and the first Thanksgiving took place in the fall of 1621.
Some would say that the blessings that shone down upon the settlers and their descendants in the ensuing years was due to blind luck and the wisdom of the decisions that they made on this continent.
However, what characterized their decisions in those early years was not always wisdom, and fortune did not always rest with them.
Over the ensuing years they made the same blunder that many make who seek a utopian society, and do not understand the reality of economics.
For several years and in several different colonies over the years, the pilgrims and settlers attempted to make, what we now call, “socialism” work.
William Bradford chronicles this in his diary and says that it produced “corruption, confusion and discontent.”
Despite their failures and the consequences thereof, they regularly stopped to give thanks to God for every little ray of blessing, and God responded by giving them the full warmth of the sun.
Over the next hundred and fifty years the settlers in America made many mistakes, but one thing they did not fail to do was give thanks to the God who made the sunlight of His blessing to shine upon their brave new world.
And God responded by continuing to smile warmly upon them.
During that early time colonies celebrated what they called Forefathers day.
It was not a celebration of the Pilgrims though, so much as it was a remembrance of what caused the sun of God’s blessing to shine so brightly upon them.
It was the fact that they gave God the glory for their blessings.
Thomas Jefferson intimated this in His own Thanksgiving Proclamation:
“…it becomes us humbly to approach the throne of Almighty God,
with gratitude and praise, for the wonders which his goodness
has wrought in conducting our forefathers to this western world…”
He went on:
“…to appoint THURSDAY the 9th of December next, to be a day of publick and solemn THANKSGIVING to Almighty God, for his mercies, and of PRAYER, for the continuance of his favour and protection to these United States; to beseech him that he would be graciously pleased to influence our publick Councils,
and bless them with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness and success;
that he would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory;
that he would grant to his church, the plentiful effusions of divine grace,
and pour out his holy spirit on all Ministers of the gospel;
that he would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; that he would smile upon the labours of his people, and cause the earth to bring forth her fruits in abundance, [and] that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy them…”
The people of America followed the recommendation of their leaders and were grateful, and God rewarded them with an extended period of blessing.
When the United States of America was founded, its first president constantly affirmed the God of Heaven to be the source of all blessings upon this new country:
“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,
to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits,
and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
As American leadership recognized the source of the sunlight of God’s blessing God made that sun to shine all the brighter.
As Governor of Massachusetts, John Hancock proclaimed:
“I HAVE therefore thought fit to appoint, THURSDAY, the seventeenth of November next, to be observed as a Day of Public THANKSGIVING and PRAISE, throughout this Commonwealth:—Hereby calling upon Ministers and People of every denomination, to assemble—and in the name of the Great Mediator, devoutly and sincerely offer to Almighty God,
the gratitude of our Hearts, for all his goodness towards us;”
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln spoke of the need to remember the One who makes the sun to shine upon this country as he began his presidential proclamation:
The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come,
others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature,
that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
Then every year for 75 years every president proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to God for His blessings and the favor that He has shined upon us.
In 1941 congress finally made formal what had, over the years, become a full-fledged American tradition, to give thanks to God for sun light of His blessings upon our land.
From then until now the holiday of Thanksgiving has continued, but it is not now what it has been in the past.
A day that has always been recognized as a time when our ancestors gave God thanks for His blessings has changed over the years.
The historical story is clear, but often it is told differently now.
As I search annually for unique presentations of Historical fact, I run across teaching materials that claim the Pilgrims dedicated a day to thanking the Natives for their help, that today we gather to celebrate family and give thanks to each other.
These are good principles, but they are not the gratitude to a benevolent God to which He has responded with blessing for 400 years.
The sunlight of His blessing that has warmed our land for centuries has begun to wane.
I would argue that the cooling of His favor toward us is directly proportional to the decline of America’s gratitude to God.
But this story is not one that needs to end with the sad decline of a nation that used to be thankful to God.
It does not have to end with the sunset of His blessing.
We can revive the gratefulness that once coaxed the sun of His blessing to shine upon us.
It is our rightful place, to raise our hands in grateful praise to that One Whose rays of blessing have caressed our land.
We may succeed in extending the day of blessing if we are willing to revive the spirit of thankfulness to God in America.
As you enjoy the plenty with which God has blessed you tomorrow, make sure to genuinely thank Him for it, not because it is all you want, for the Pilgrims could certainly have asked for more, but because it is more than we deserve.
God has been good to us.
He is always good, and He is glorified when we acknowledge His goodness.
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