Sermon Tone Analysis

Deuteronomy 16:16, 17

Worship and Thanksgiving

 

Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths.

They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.[1]

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t is a myth, a caricature of horrendous proportions, that the Jewish people are penurious, parsimonious, stinting, stingy, tight-fisted—either toward fellow Jews or toward Gentiles.

My observations of the Jewish people inevitably lead me to anticipate warm-hearted generosity, even a sense of magnanimity toward all people.

Even toward the churches with which I have been affiliated, I have frequently observed a benevolent philanthropy demonstrated by Jewish people.

Having completed a Bachelor’s Degree, I sought admission to graduate studies.

Upon application, I was accepted for doctoral studies in the biomedical sciences at a Jewish school.

I was the first “goy” from west of the Mississippi to be accepted for training in the Sue Golding Division of Biomedical Sciences of the Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

The school is located in the Bronx, and I was immediately disoriented by the transition from Kansas’ bluestem prairies to the concrete jungles of New York City.

I discovered that the cost of living in New York City would be a tremendous burden for my family.

Having grown up in Kansas, I adjusted poorly to city life, which I found to be far more expensive than I could have imagined.

During that period when I was most strenuously pressed by the demands of city life, I was the recipient of Jewish compassion and largesse.

The faculty of the medical school was exceptionally generous to me, and to my family.

Jewish benefactors provided for my family at a time of serious pecuniary distress, and the Jewish faculty was generous with their time and with their advice.

When it became evident that I would be better off in a school in the Midwest, I again experience great generosity from the faculty and administration of that Jewish school.

I can never forget the generosity of the Jewish people toward someone who was not part of their religious or cultural community.

I pray that one day I can repay the generosity and kindness shown to me and to my family.

Under the Mosaic Covenant, Jewish worshippers were expected to be generous on all occasions.

The lesson has been learned quite well, and the expression of generosity seems to be ingrained within Jewish culture.

Especially were the people of God expected to be generous toward the work of God and toward the workers of God during the three great feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and the Feast of Booths (Succoth).

During the great feasts, no Israelite head of household was permitted to appear before the Lord empty-handed.

This is because God had pledged to bless His people; and out of the blessing of bounty they would receive from the gracious Lord, they were to be generous toward His work.

The Requirement for Celebration — Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths [*verse 16*].

It is a tragic truth that we require reminders to be generous.

We easily forget the reasons under girding national celebrations, and thus we slip into self-centred activities that neglect the original purpose of holidays.

We once spoke of */holidays/*—“holy days”—for that was the occasion for rejoicing in most instances.

We celebrated the Faith of Christ the Lord and rejoiced in the knowledge of God’s mercy and goodness to us.

Increasingly, our calendars are filled with secular days that celebrate indulgence and the exaltation of the “self.”

There was a day, not so distant from this day late in the Age of Grace, when Christmas was a celebration of the Faith.

People gathered in churches to remember the goodness of God in sending His Son into the world, and to worship the Son of God who came that we might have life.

Today, Christmas has become a sort of glorified celebration of materialism.

The reason for exchanging gifts is forgotten in what has become a modern version of Potlatch as the value of gifts received are weighed against what is given.

It is a “family” day, but the birth of the Son of God is all but forgotten.

Similarly, Thanksgiving is less a day of giving thanks than it is a time to indulge ourselves.

Far too many modern Canadians see Thanksgiving as an excuse to avoid work, gorging on rich bounty.

Observe the artwork produced by the children in any public elementary school in the week preceding Thanksgiving.

It will sadly become apparent that most children have no idea about the origins of the celebration.

Too often, there will not be even a hint of the spiritual nature of the observance.

The tradition of a Day of Thanksgiving did not originate in the New World, but the tradition wends its way through thousands of years of history to the beginnings of the Jewish nation.

In the English Standard Version of the Bible that I use, I find 38 instances of the word thanksgiving, 24 of which are in the Old Testament.

There are 132 occurrences of the word */thank/* and its cognates, the majority of which are found in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The point of this exercise is to remind us that gratitude is integral to the Word of God from the beginning of the Faith.

Thanksgiving, under the Old Covenant, was integral to the three great feasts.

Thanksgiving, for the ancient people of Israel, was a time of feasting and fasting, of praising God, of singing joyful songs, and meditating on God’s goodness.

It was a rich celebration, and it is still a time of celebration for observant Jews to this day.

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation are usually credited as the first Europeans to observe a Day of Thanksgiving, but multiple services of Thanksgiving were held in the Americas before the arrival of the Mayflower.

The first Thanksgiving service known to be held by Europeans in North America occurred in Newfoundland on May 27, 1578, when Martin Frobisher declared a Day of Thanksgiving for safety in his explorations.

French settlers are known to have held regular feasts of “thanksgiving,” and even formed the “Order of Good Cheer,” dedicated to sharing their food with their Indian neighbours.[2]

The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation was observed on April 15, 1872.

The day was declared in order to celebrate the recovery of The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.

In the New England settlements, some historians contend that the Popham Colony in Maine held the first Thanksgiving observance in the American colonies, though it is generally recognised that the Jamestown colonists gave thanks for their safe arrival and again held a service of Thanksgiving when a supply ship arrived safely in 1610.[3]

Nevertheless, it is the Pilgrims’ observance of Thanksgiving that most of us remember as the first Thanksgiving observance in the New World.

What is less widely recognised today are the religious roots of the Pilgrim’s observance.

William Bradford, the leader of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts Colony, studied the Hebrew Scriptures, as did almost all educated people among the Puritans.

These Pilgrims took seriously those ancient writings.

The idea of giving thanks to God with a feast was inspired by their knowledge of the Word of God.

The Pilgrims saw themselves, just as the Jews saw themselves, as a chosen people of God being led to a Promised Land.[4]

In all likelihood, they fashioned the Thanksgiving observance after the Feast of Booths (Succoth).

At the Thanksgiving table, the Pilgrims acknowledged “God’s good providence” and “blessed the God of Heaven who brought us over the furious ocean.”

For, said they, “What could sustain us but the Spirit of God and His grace?”  Bradford then quoted Moses, “Our fathers cried unto Him and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity” [*Deuteronomy 26:7*].[5]

The foundation of a national day of Thanksgiving was later promulgated by the first President of the United States, George Washington.

On October 3, 1789, Washington proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving for the American States.

It would perhaps be good for us to hear what this noted leader said in that proclamation.

WHEREAS, 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 favour;

 

WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

 

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favourable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Later, in 1863, while the American States were torn by the War Between the States, President Abraham Lincoln again instituted a Day of Thanksgiving for the nation for the final two years of that dreadful conflict.

Again, in 1941, with a global war having already broken on the European continent, the American Congress established the fourth Thursday of November as the day for Americans to “thank God.”

However, Thanksgiving is not solely an American observance.

Thanksgiving has been observed nationally in Canada, either in November or in October, from 1879 onward.

The observance has been either by statute or by proclamation on an annual basis.

In 1957, Parliament permanently fixed the observance of a Day of Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.

The Proclamations of Thanksgiving have been primarily for abundant harvests throughout the years of our nation, but the proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1957, and for the years thereafter, was “For general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings with which the people of Canada have been favoured.”[6]

In other words, Thanksgiving is a day of “worship!”

It is a day to remember God’s blessings on us as a nation.

As has been true since the earliest days of worship of the True and Living God, at the heart of our modern observance of Thanksgiving is expressing gratitude to God!  Thanksgiving is not about pumpkin pie or squash or corn or Indians.

Thanksgiving is a time for joyful reflection on God’s goodness to us as a people.

Though others may fail to see the religious nature of the feast, let none of us forget that we worship a good God.

The Requirement for Generosity — They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed [*verse 16**b*].

There is an aspect of Thanksgiving that is too easily overlooked.

In our rush to feast, we often overlook the responsibility to be generous toward God and toward others, especially at times of celebration.

When the Israelites were commanded to celebrate the goodness of God, they were instructed to appear before the Lord with a freewill offering in their hand.

Moreover, it was incumbent upon each family to instruct their children in generosity and to set an example for all who were part of the family.

The people of Israel were not simply to gather as families in their homes; God instructed them to appear at the place He would choose.

In other words, the holy days (holidays) are days for */communal/* commemoration and worship in the presence of God.

Though it doubtless offends modern sensibilities, the various holidays, especially those with religious connotations—Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas—should still be observed as days for worship.

What better time to instruct one’s children in the Faith of Christ the Lord then during the holidays that are regularly observed?

Integral to the act of worship on the holy days commanded was the expectation of generosity by those observing the day.

Worshippers were to bring generous gifts as an act of worship.

It would have been unthinkable to have a service of worship without providing opportunity for the worshippers to present an offering before the Lord.

The act of giving provided opportunity for those worshipping to demonstrate in tangible fashion their gratitude toward the gracious Lord of Heaven for His rich provision.

There is another aspect of worship that is sometimes in danger of being neglected—worship, if it is true, is to be joyful.

It is possible to become so focused on the */act/* of worship that we forget the */joy/* of worship.

The people were commanded to *rejoice* before the Lord [their] God [*verse 11*].

To emphasise the point, Moses writes a second time, you shall rejoice in your feast [*verse 14*].