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Message from the Pastor - Ken Radant

It is good to give thanks to the Lord
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
With resounding music upon the lyre.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.  (Psalm 92:1-4)

Hi everyone! 

We’re not quite into Thanksgiving weekend yet, but it’s coming quickly … so I want to wish you all a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving for 2024!

The writer of the psalm above really got it right. (Of course, he did! The Spirit of God was speaking through him.)  It is a good thing to give thanks to our Lord. He has blessed in so many ways. You and I live in a country where we have unparalleled safety, freedom, and opportunity. We are able to pursue the things we enjoy. Most days, at least, we’re warm, dry, and we have plenty to eat. We have the company and encouragement of family and friends. Each morning we wake with breath from the Spirit of God in our lungs and the prospect of a new set of experiences. The majority of us enjoy relatively good health—most of the time, anyway—and when we do face the challenge of injury or sickness we have access to a remarkable array of medical resources; and we weather hardship with the perspective of eternal hope. Our hope is anchored in the wise and loving care of God and in the historical reality of a risen Savior, giving us confidence that we are loved and that our lives have purpose. Not every day is easy, but we are continually blessed and we have much for which to be thankful! 

I’m glad for days in the calendar that prompt me to stop, take stock and remember my blessings, and turn my heart to the Lord in gratitude. It’s doubly nice that there is an extra day off, freeing us up to celebrate together with loved ones, to do some extra cooking and cleaning and digesting of all that Thanksgiving food.

For followers of biblical faith, this season represents a long, long tradition that dates way back before the coming of pilgrims and the annual sacrifice of turkeys and potatoes. It is rooted in festivals given by God to the Jewish people centuries before Christ, for their enjoyment and good.

The Hebrew calendar was filled with celebrations. Three national feasts were especially important because representatives from every household in the land were expected to show up for the event. These were the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread (March/April), the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost) in May, and the Feast of Tabernacles in fall.

Interestingly, all three of these feasts were tied to the harvest of crops. At Unleavened Bread in early spring, God’s people marked the end of the winter barley crop and the beginning of the wheat harvest. This event included a formal offering of “first fruits” given to the Lord. At Pentecost they celebrated the completion of the main wheat harvest. Later, at Tabernacles (also called the “Ingathering”) they marked the end of the agricultural year with its various fruits. Each feast was a forerunner of our modern Thanksgiving, which follows the same tradition of pausing to celebrate at harvest time, when God’s yearly provision of food is the most obvious.

One of the reasons representatives of every family came “before the Lord” during these seasons was that these were the main times for the Jews to bring their tithes and offerings to God. Our Lord’s people have always made a habit of giving a portion of what they have to the priest, the tabernacle, the temple, and eventually the church. From the days of Abraham this has been a concrete way of expressing thanks for God’s goodness, demonstrating trust that He will care for our needs, as well as providing practical support for ministry. The ancient Jews were an agricultural people. Most of what they “had” was the crops they raised, and so it was natural for them to bring “first fruit” offerings at each of these festivals. This was a way they could turn their daily work into worship. In giving the very first portion of their harvest they signaled that God took first place in all their lives.

Of course, Thanksgiving looks rather different for us. There aren’t many farmers in our congregation, and even if there were I don’t think we’d expect to see people bringing bales of hay, bundles of barley, or flocks of sheep to the church in an expression of thanks, trust, and ministry support! (That’s a good thing. I can’t imagine our poor accounting people having to deal with sheep-offerings, not to mention the work it would create for the cleaning team!) And the weekly giving we do today is a free, Spirit-prompted expression of grateful hearts rather than a response to some rule posted in Exodus in Deuteronomy, which—I hope—makes it a more joyful exercise. All the same, while both our offerings and our Thanksgiving parties are quite different from those ancient feasts of Pentecost or Booths, they are great opportunities to reflect on all God’s goodness to us, to praise Him together, and to show that giving thanks truly is a good thing, filling our hearts with joy as we present our stuff, and ourselves, to God in worship.

May this be a wonderful week and a truly delightful Thanksgiving weekend for you all! And may each of us experience fresh reminders that God’s goodness and care are poured out on us every day. We probably don’t want to cook turkey every week of the year, but we can respond to our Lord with thanks and worship in every season. Paul makes the point well in 1 Thes 5:16-18 when he says:

Rejoice always! Pray continually! Give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 Amen!  Have a blessed week and a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Pastor Ken