Thanksgiving: More Than a Holiday

We are entering an extended holiday season in which three holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year are celebrated. This article focuses on Thanksgiving Day in America. A brief history is given. As we will see the first settlers at Plymouth, Massachusetts were a religious people. These Separatists wanted to leave the Church of England and establish a new church in the new land.

In September, 1620, 102 passengers boarded a ship, the Mayflower, and left England on their way to America. They were looking for religious freedom and a better way of life. In England the religion (The Church of England) was controlled by the King, and they could not worship God as they believed that they should. These Pilgrims who called themselves “Saints” left England loaded on a ship named the Mayflower. They arrived in America in December 1620 when the weather was cold. With the help of Native Americans, who were called “Indians” at the time, fifty-three of the passengers survived the harsh conditions of the winter and spring of 1621. The Indians helped them by teaching survival skills that made it possible to survive the harsh winter. In the spring of 1621 the Indians taught them how to plant crops. After the crops were harvested in the fall the settlers and ninety Indian friends gathered for a celebration feast. The settlers thanked God for their survival and a successful harvest in the new land, marking the first Thanksgiving Day in America.

In the years following, various dates in history were celebrated by the different states. In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed a nationwide celebration in America marking November 26, 1789 “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God.” In 1863 during the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the final Thursday in November to be “a national day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in heaven.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 26, 1941 signed a joint resolution of congress changing the national Thanksgiving Day from the final Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday.

Although the first Thanksgiving Day was particularly religious in nature, its meaning today is increasingly more secular in its emphasis. The media focuses little on religious matters and more on “Black Friday” the day after Thanksgiving which is the busiest day of the year for holiday sales. My personal observation is that many churches only mention Thanksgiving, but churches no longer celebrate Thanksgiving with special programs such as plays, musicals, and concerts. I believe that this is true because today many Christians place a greater emphasis on secular matters including family gatherings, Macy’s Day Parade, vacations, football games, basketball games, and entertainment. However, the world is never described as a light in a dark world. It is not the media that has been commissioned by Jesus Christ to make God known in the world. This challenge is left to the church although the church has the media at its disposal. The church did not learn to be thankful to God when the Pilgrims along with their Indian friends observed the first thanksgiving in America with a celebration in 1621. Rather, thanksgiving is to be an important part of the Christian’s life. Giving thanks to God is a part of the biblical record.

The first reference to “thanks” or “thanksgiving” is recorded in Leviticus 7:12

(“Thanksgiving” in Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance, [Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004], 1451). Thanksgiving is called a sacrifice and is offered as part of the law of peace offerings. In 1 Chronicles 15-16 David praised and thanked God when the Ark of the Covenant was come to the city of David. Throughout the Psalms David gives thanks unto the Lord regardless of his circumstances. The prophets call upon the people to give thanks to God, even during their captivity (Isa. 51:3; Jer. 30:19). In the New Testament Jesus thanks the Father (Matt. 11:25; John 11:41). Paul is recorded as giving thanks to God in various situations, some good and some bad. He prays for himself and the church (Col. 1:12). In 1 Timothy 2:1-2 he says: First of all, then I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity: (NASB). Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica: “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:15-18, NASB). Based upon this brief list of scriptures and further studies throughout the Bible the following observations are made about thanksgiving.

Thanksgivings acknowledges that God is able to comfort us in every situation. Thanksgiving is an attitude toward God and other people. We thank God because we trust Him to meet our needs in all of the circumstances of our lives. Even in times of trouble we should thank God because we know that He continues to sustain us in our distress. An attitude of thanksgivings reminds us that there are a lot of people in the world who are experiencing greater troubles than our own. Because of this knowledge, we are moved with compassion toward others. Compassion is the capacity to take needed measures to meet the needs of others, often when we have needs of our own.

Let me share this experience.

In the late 1970s I worked as a Nurse Assistant in the Veterans Hospital in Brecksville, Ohio. An elderly gentleman probably in his eighties lay in one bed. This man was helpless. He required total care in bathing, dressing and eating. Across the room was a gentleman about fifty years old. This man too required help in most of his care. He seemed to have little motivation to help himself. He acted as if he had given up hope. He never talked to anyone. One day the nurses were very busy. They were late to feeding the elderly man. When the nurse arrived the second man had gotten up out of his bed and was feeding the elderly gentleman. For the first time, it was discovered that this man could walk. From that day forward, he began to get involved in his treatment plan, and he watched out to see to it that the elderly man’s needs were being met. He was shortly discharged from the hospital.

Thanksgiving is a way of life for the believer. Giving thanks to God keeps us from giving up. It motivates us to press forward and face whatever circumstances that we confront. If troubles come we don’t give up. When things are well with us, thanksgiving keeps us from thinking that we are independent of God. In conclusion, Thanksgiving is not just a day. It is more than a holiday. It is a means of staying connected to the Father who loves us eternally; His faithfulness is to all generations.