First Parish Sermon

The great medieval mystic, Meister Eckhardt, is noted to have once said, "If the only prayer you ever utter is 'Thank you!', it will be enough." I've always appreciated Meister Eckhardt's comforting words. They even give me a sense of relief. For one thing they’re a very easy prayer to memorize. To say, “Thank you”, is neither complicated nor convoluted. But if truth be told, we often forget the prayer, or rather, we forget to say thank you to others or to express our gratitude to the Source of our being, for the incredible gift of life. 

But if Meister Eckhardt is right, then maybe to remember our gratitude once in awhile is enough. It was old St. Paul, I believe, who told us to pray without ceasing. Well, I know that I fall far far short of that admonition, but I do know that from time to time I feel deeply and authentically grateful for the blessings that have come my way. Not always, mind you, but sometimes, and it is comforting to know that the simple prayer of thank you, whether uttered or simply felt, may be enough in God's eyes. 

I've been thinking about Meister Eckhardt's simple prayer of gratitude in terms of the meaning of the Thanksgiving season. Is it enough to simply feel thankful for one's blessings and to say so? On one level I would say, certainly, it is enough, if it comes from the heart. But on another level I would say, it may be enough, but it is hardly sufficient to fulfill the full meaning of what Thanksgiving is all about. Thanksgiving is both an attitude and a response, it is both faith and works. The writer of the Book of James said, "Faith without works is dead." Likewise, thanks without giving is no thanks at all. Thanksgiving has both a subjective and objective side. The subjective attitude is necessary, but not sufficient, to fulfill the full meaning of thanksgiving.

I am impressed by the verse from Leviticus which noted that the ancient Hebrews were told to leave the remnants of their harvest for the poor and the stranger in their midst. Their harvest festival of Succoth, or Sukkot, which has at least metaphorical links to our secular celebration of Thanksgiving, was not complete if the people of Israel gathered their harvest and kept it all for themselves. Gratitude without sharing was no gratitude at all. There was also the tradition of the 50th Jubilee Year, in which the people of Israel were admonished to forgive all financial debts and obligations of service to one another, and to permit every citizen to reclaim their land and property free of all liens and accumulated debts. 

Imagine what such a practice might do to the real estate market or to the banking industry which relies so heavily on credit card debt and  mortgage payments. There is some question as to whether the ancient Hebrews ever put this Jubilee Year of Celebration into actual practice, but they at least thought well enough of the idea to record the suggestion for posterity. Some have suggested that First World Nations put the concept into practice for the millennium by forgiving Third World Nations their financial debts. It probably won't fly, but it would certainly be a nice way to put the giving back into Thanks-Giving. I believe President Clinton recently suggested we do that very thing for some Third World Nations that find it ever so difficult to pay the interest on their national debt. That would indeed be a memorable parting gift for his presidency. But, as we have noted, the idea is an ancient one. 

This ancient Hebrew tradition of sharing resources and forgiving debts reminds me of this lovely prayer from the hand of Abigail Van Buren which we said together at First Parish in Bridgewater this morning:

We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for health and remember the sick.
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service,
That thy gifts to us may be used for others.

Our materialistic secular culture elevates getting over giving to an inordinate degree. When Christmas rolls around the first thing the kids ask one another is, "Whad ya get?" No one ever things to ask, "Whad ya give?" Profit and self-interest take precedence over sharing and compassion. We accumulate stuff and stuff and more stuff. I know whereof I speak because we recently moved from a 10 room parsonage in Norwell to a modest five room one level ranch on the Cape. We couldn’t believe the boxes and boxes of stuff we had accumulated over 30 years of living in the same house. We were forced to get rid of a great deal of that stuff by giving it away to family and friends and to charitible thrift shops. Even then we ended up with more boxes of stuff than we had room for. Why is is so hard to give away the seeming treasures of our lives? 

If we could only lighten up we’d feel ever so much better. We should remember that when we gather 'round the Thanksgiving board. We stuff the turkey and then stuff ourselves to the gills and then some. I got a laugh out of this poetic rendition of "Twas The Night of Thanksgiving" which I simply could not resist sharing with you since it makes my point with a chuckle:

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards,  I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned--the dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation,
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
So I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door,
And gazed at the fridge full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
Till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground!
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.
But I managed to yell as I soared past the trees...
Happy eating to all! Pass the cranberries please!

Thank you, God, for life, thank you for food and family and friends, thank you for the opportunities of living in a free land, and thank you for being able to express our gratitude in acts of love and sharing and giving. Amen.