Christ Lutheran Church: Welcome

Jesus' Thanksgiving - November 26, 2008

Jesus' Thanksgiving

Matthew 26:26

November 26, 2008

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

Have you ever noticed how the questions you get asked change as you get older? These days, at my age, the Thanksgiving question we asked each other is, “Where are you having Thanksgiving?”

When I was a kid, the Thanksgiving question we asked each other was, “What are you gonna have for Thanksgiving?”

Although, this week I did kind of get asked that question, “What are you gonna have for Thanksgiving? Turkey?” Except, she asked the question a little differently. It was more like, “What are you gonna eat for Thanksgiving, turkey?” (That was supposed to be a joke, folks. But it really did happen).

Kids most want to know, not so much where they’re going to eat Thanksgiving as much as WHAT they’re going to eat for Thanksgiving. Basically, you’ve usually got two main options, turkey or ham. Then you’ve got the trimmings. And then you’ve got the desert.

Remember those WWJD bracelets where those initials stood for, “What Would Jesus Do?” Well, what do you think Jesus would have had for HIS thanksgiving dinner?”

Well, here’s a clue: have you ever heard the word “eucharist?” That is the Greek word for thanksgiving. Sometimes we talk about “Communion,” or the “Lord’s Supper,” or the “Last Supper” or “The Great Thanksgiving” .... or the Eucharist. So, now you know what Jesus actually DID have for His Thanksgiving. He simply had bread and wine.

The reason we call that the “eucharist” or “The Great Thanksgiving,” is because, “in the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread and ..... He gave THANKS. And likewise after supper He took the wine and He ........ gave THANKS .... and He gave it for all to drink.”

He gave thanks. That is why we call it the “eucharist”. Because He gave thanks. But think about that .. it was in the night in which He was BETRAYED ... that the first thing He did was to give thanks! Are you kidding?!!

And then the next thing He did on His way to further betrayal and torture and execution was to give thanks and then give that wine for the forgiveness of sins .... not long before He would ask the Father to forgive His executioners!

The Eucharist is literally the Thanksgiving dinner for Christians. Have your turkey, have your mashed potatoes, your cranberry sauce and whatever ..... but let the Thanksgiving dinner begin tonight with the bread and the wine.

Anybody can give thanks for the things that go right. But Christians are to give thanks .. and as Paul says even rejoice ..... even for the hard times, especially for the hard times.

Why? Simply because our Lord and Savior did. Because it is the first and the last wish of the follower of Jesus to be LIKE Jesus, to have the same attitude as Jesus, especially where it comes to suffering, even suffering on some kind of cross, whether that takes the form of betrayal or illness or financial misfortune.

I bring this up because this happens to be one of the those times when Thanksgiving falls in an especially dark time for this nation. It has happened many, many times before, when the followers of Jesus have gathered together to give thanks when clouds have seemed especially ominous and the future has seemed so uncertain.

This time these dark times are taking the form of world wide economic collapse ... and the tsunami waves of that earthquake are beginning to strike the shores and villages of our homes as people are beginning to lose their jobs and their companies and their retirements.

To many this is, or is feared to be, absolute disaster. And yet we gather once again to give thanks. This is what Jesus did, so this is our opportunity to be like Him. To thank God in the full assurance that He has and He WILL provide all that we need. To thank God not only for His supply but for the gift of faith to trust Him.

As followers of Jesus we are bid to give thanks in ALL circumstances. Especially circumstances like these. In the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and He gave thanks. So in this night of financial uncertainty, let us also take bread and give thanks.

Amen. Let it be so!