Pastor Speaks
November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving in these times is a holiday filled with turkey, pecan pie and endless football. Family members will travel great distances to return home. The airports will be jammed with travelers with the goal of being reunited with loved ones. Historically, the first thanksgiving was quite different. It was a day born from adversity and difficult times. Given all their losses, the pilgrims had little to be thankful for. The future also appeared grim. One wonders how they could have been filled with an attitude of gratitude.

I believe it was the faith of the pilgrims that embodied a spirit of thanksgiving. They had the courage too push forward in spite of all of their hardships. An often, overlooked fact of that first thanksgiving was the generosity of the Wampanoag Indians. There would have been insufficient food for the feast had it not been for their help. It was their custom to help visitors. When a visitor came to one of their homes, they shared whatever food the family had, even if the supply was low. It was primarily due to their kindness that the Pilgrims survived at all.

The Wampanoags not only respected other people, they respected all of creation, especially the forest. Whenever a hunter made a kill, he was careful to leave behind some bones or meat as a spiritual offering, to help other animals survive. Those who have a thankful spirit are those who respect their neighbors and the rest of God’s creation as well. We Americans can be thankful that we have such a great heritage to follow.

The time in which the pilgrims lived was vastly differently from today. We have come a long way as a nation. Nevertheless, we still have our own crisis situations which affect us. Recent acts of terrorism and potential terrorist threats have changed the way we live, challenging our freedom. The pure waters and abundant lands that our ancestors lived in are being threatened by pollution. In the past decade we have experienced corruption in the corporate world by executives who have threatened the future security of millions of hard-working families. However, God still wants us to have a thankful spirt.

The apostle Paul said, "to give thanks in all circumstances." (Phil 1:3-7) We communicate to God our dependence on God by giving thanks. We communicate to one another, hope and assurance, by giving thanks. We communicate to future generations, like the first pilgrims did, that being thankful is at the essence of what it means to be people of faith. Gratitude to God and love for one another is the only thing that can reverse the ills of society.. If we are not thankful then we will become bitter and there will be little hope for future generations.

Martin Rinkert was a minister in the little town of Eilenburg in Germany some 350 years ago. He was the son of a poor coppersmith, but somehow, he managed to work his way through an education. Finally, in the year 1617, he was offered the post of Archdeacon in his hometown parish. A year later, what has come to be known as the Thirty-Years-War broke out. His town was caught right in the middle. In 1637, the massive plague that swept across the continent hit Eilenburg and people died at the rate of fifty a day and the man called upon to bury most of them was Martin Rinkert. In all, over 8,000 people died, including Martin's own wife. His labors finally came to an end about eleven years later, just one year after the conclusion of the war.

Rinkert’s ministry spanned 32 years, all but the first and the last. He had to be overwhelmed by the great conflict that engulfed his town. Those were difficult circumstances in which to be thankful. But he managed. From his experience Rinkert wrote these words: “Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices; Who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices.”

It took a magnificent spirit to come through such hardship and express gratitude, just like the pilgrims on that first thanksgiving. And Paul, as he ministered to the struggling churches. It will also be that same thankful spirit that will enable us to continue to give thanks today.

Dr. Keith Wagner, Pastor, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio