Thanksgiving Eve Ecumenical Service, Rock Springs, WY

This was a great service with people representing the Ba Hai' faith, the Jewish faith, and mainline Christian churches of ELCA Lutheran, United Methodist, Episcopal and United Church of Christ.


Thanksgiving Eve Service
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
Presented at Mt of Olive Lutheran, Rock Springs, WY 11/25/2009


What a marvelous thing it is when so many of us from varying faiths and denominations are able to come together and spend time in celebrating the Love of God and to give Thanks for this love!
Because we are a collection of varying faith traditions, I feel very inadequate to be addressing all of you. Inadequate as I have to admit that I do not have the knowledge that I feel I need of each of the faiths represented here this evening as not to say something that would unknowingly be offensive to you. So let me apologize upfront for not being able to speak in a language that would be universal enough to bring a non-offensive message to you. But if the truth be known, I probably am guilty of offending someone within my own faith community with things that I say on a weekly basis. To this end I am going to have to speak from my faith tradition, which is Christianity, and hope that the universal idea of Love comes through my thoughts so that every person here this evening will feel represented.
When I was talking to pastor Martha about what she was hoping for, from me, I heard her tell me that it would be nice to hear about “ways of thanks giving” that have come down to those of us who identify with the Hebrew and Christian texts. So in thinking through the idea of “how has Thanksgiving” come through these books, I started to come up with general idea’s that a few stories have to give us.
The first idea that comes to my mind is that of “Faith, Promise and Direction”. As a people of God we often ask for help in decision making and asking to be directed down the best path especially when we come to a “Y” in the road and don’t know which way we should go. The stories that come by way of a man and his wife, Abram and Sarai who later change their names to Abraham and Sarah are perfect examples of Faith, Promise and Direction. We really don’t know much about the early years of Abram and his family other than at some point in Abram’s life, God spoke to him and said, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you….and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” When I read the stories about Abraham and Sarah, what I most get out of them is the understanding that Abraham was a man of great faith and did not accept blindly the traditional idea’s that he had been raised to believe in, but rather struggled with each new experience in life, examining his faith structure and seeking direction from the one who had giving him great promise if he only would follow the leading of God. It is in the following of God’s direction that not only was Abraham blessed, but all of us have been blessed. Thank God that there are people in this world who like Abraham, stop and listen and in listening, discern and in their discernment help promote the love that God promises.
Another story that came to me in the idea of “Blessings” is the story of a man who tried to run away from God and of God’s request to speak to a people that were called “gentiles”. Even though Jonah is most remembered as the man who ran away from God and ended up for 3 days in the belly of a large fish, the real focus of this text speaks with great power of the affirmation of God’s love and forgiveness for all peoples.
For those who need refreshing about the story, it goes something like this: Jonah, a Jew was asked by God to go to the Gentile city of Nineveh and tell them that if they do not change their ways, their city would be destroyed. Jonah being the thoughtful and diplomatic man that he was, ran in the other direction, thinking that he could just disappear from God’s sight and not have to deal with this potentially dangerous assignment. And disappear he did, as lunch for a rather large fish; a fish that God had directed to swallow Jonah and transport him to the outskirts of Nineveh. With little choice, Jonah did speak to those in the city about the upcoming destruction that they would receive if they chose not to repent and turn to the ways of God. As it so happens the city did repent from their way of life and did turn to God and was spared. We can celebrate in “thanksgiving” that God is truly a God of everyone, not just a select group.
I do find it interesting that when God did not destroy the city of Nineveh, because of the words that Jonah had delivered to them, that he became angry with God for not destroying the city, even once it’s citizens had turned to God. How often do we feel that we are the only ones who are to be blessed by God and become angry when we see others who do not appear to have a relationship with God are being blessed. Let me I restate this: how often do we become angry when people do not live up to our own personal expectations??
One of the most beautiful stories within the Hebrew bible is the story of steadfast love as portrayed between two women, that of Naomi and Ruth. In this story where these women find themselves destitute through the death’s of their husbands, decide to stick together where the younger, Ruth, declares her loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. As the story unfolds, Ruth finds favor of a certain wealthy man and not just because of her beauty, but because of her devotion to Naomi and of the integrity of her own life. Boaz who is the wealthy man eventually marries Ruth and it is through their son Obed that the line of King David is established and eventually produces the person known as Jesus of Nazareth, who we as Christians look to as the final sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
Martha, told me that she was going to unplug the microphone if I spoke past 10 minutes, so I want to wrap my thoughts up. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the Apostle Paul spoke about Spiritual gifts. After speaking at length about what “love” was and was not, he concluded by saying: And now these three remain, faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love. There are many things within our daily life’s that we can point to and give thanks for, but I hope by sharing the three stories on Abraham and Sarah, of Jonah and of Naomi and Ruth that you will see where true “Thanksgiving” comes by way of our faith and of the hope we bring each day of our lives and most of all, through the love that we can give not only to those we call friends and family, but also to those who are strangers; for if we share out love to the stranger, then they no longer are a stranger but a part of us. Let your Thanksgiving be that of faith, hope and love, and out of these three, let Love triumph! Amen