Pentecost 24

Matthew 6:25-33

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!

Some of my fondest memories are of Thanksgivings in my native New England where the sometimes fresh-fallen snow provides a vivid reminder of the difficult circumstances under which the Pilgrims observed the first Thanksgiving. And still today, Thanksgiving dinner in the homes of many Pilgrim descendants begins with empty plates holding just five kernels of corn. During the harsh winter of 1620-21, the food supply at Plimouth Plantation became so critical that the daily ration of corn was reduced to just five kernels per person per day. Today, the five kernels of corn in an otherwise empty plate help New Englanders remember who they are, and from whence they come.

In our family, Thanksgiving Day always began with a football game between two rival high schools. Then, the several branches of the family would converge on my grandparents’ house where the aroma of roasted turkey, fresh-baked pies, and other delicacies would make all us kids drool like so many of Pavlov’s dogs. We always had a special grace just before dinner, numbering our blessings and remembering those no longer with us.

And then we’d sit down to eat.

Usually, there’d be so many of us that we couldn’t all fit around the dining room table – even with the leaf stretching it to the limits.

So we kids would sit in another room…at the Kid’s Table.

And the adults would sit in the dining room around the Big People’s Table.

And right there formed a sort of living parable about one of the important meanings of Thanksgiving.

You see, the Kid’s Table at which we sat was a fun place to be! For once we had gotten our food and escaped the attention of our parents, we were free to do as we pleased! And we did! I don’t know how many years in a row my younger brother Steve fell for it, but one of my favorite Kid’s Table tricks was to pick up a cup of pudding with whipped cream on it, and carefully sniff it several times.

“Yuck!” I’d exclaim. “There’s something wrong with this pudding! My gosh, just smell it!”

And Steve, like a lamb being led to the slaughter, would pick up his little bowl of pudding and whipped cream and innocently bring it right up to his little nose. And my cousin Eddie, who had a real good sense of timing, would wait until just the right moment, when the bowl was just an inch or two away from Steve’s face, and …WHAP!

 And Steve would go crying into the other room, to the Big People’s Table, his face covered in pudding and cream. And the adults would come and yell at us, and mutter various threats of the sort that adults do but never carry through on. And Steve would get to stay there and sit at the Big People’s Table, soaking up the sympathy of the people there. And we at the Kid’s Table would wait until we were alone again and then break into hilarious laughter. My sister Karen by that time would have celery sticks hanging out her nose, and my cousin Jimmy would be cramming his mouth with a combination of mashed potatoes, winter squash, stuffing and brown gravy as he played his annual role as The Human Blender. And the laughter would erupt again!

Oh, there was always something going on at the Kid’s Table!

And yet, for all the joyous frivolity of that adolescent location, there was burning deep within my heart a compelling desire for something else. I guess it started the year my older cousin Buddy left behind those of us who sat at the Kid’s Table and graduated to sit in the other room with the grown-ups. I don’t know how to explain it, and it probably doesn’t make an awful lot of sense. But as much as I loved the Kid’s Table, I wanted from that time on to be able to go and be included at the Big People’s Table, too.

There was an air of mystery about it. I suspected they had better food there, and got the first crack at dessert. And frankly, I couldn’t stand it when I heard laughter coming from the dining room. It was as if I was really missing something going on at the Big People’s Table. Gosh, I wish I could be there, instead of here…at the Kid’s Table.

And that brings us to today’s Scripture Lesson.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…”

 In the early days of my ministry, I loved preaching on this passage because it seemed to be saying that we should learn to relax, and not be so anxious about life – that God will take care of us. Stop and smell the roses! And that is true, to be sure. But as the years have rolled by, I’ve come to see some deeper things in these words of Jesus.

For one thing, I’ve learned that one of the worst things you can say to a person who is worried is, “Don’t worry!” Then they start worrying about the fact that they worry so much!  Anybody here worried about being a worrier? Not helpful!

But even more importantly, I’ve come to discover that, far from telling us not to worry, Jesus is saying something much deeper and more wonderful.

For one thing, Jesus is inviting us to find God’s goodness in the life we have. Not the life we want or wish we had. But the life we have – bumps, bruises, disappointments and all. Because God is at work in every life – in every situation – in every circumstance – providing what we need. I mean, just consider the lilies of the field.

In the year 1637, a great disaster hit the city of Eilenberg, Germany. This was during the Thirty Years War, and the city had opened its arms to refugees fleeing the conflict. But the influx of so many people, along with a shortage of food and terribly unsanitary conditions, resulted in a plague. Eight thousand people died. At one point, a minister by the name of Martin Rinkart was the only pastor left alive. He was performing forty or fifty funerals a day.

But in the midst of that demonic horror, Martin Rinkart penned a hymn that is still sung today:

“Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In Whom this world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.”

Can you picture these hardship-stricken Christian people being thankful for life in that horrible moment? The darkness was so deep! The pain was so real! The tragedy was so apparent! What is to be thankful for in such a time?

“Now thank we all our God…who wondrous things hath done…
hath blessed us on our way…with countless gifts of love.”

From where does such love come – to open your arms to refugees? To share with them your home and your food? To risk your health by caring for them in their illness? To become one of them in life and in death?

From where does love come of the kind expressed by Martin Rinkart and his congregation of people during the plague?

To those who do not have eyes to see, there is nothing to be found in times and places like these but the apparent darkness. But to those whose vision has been sharpened by the Gospel, it becomes possible to see that in the darkness there IS light shining, in the tragedy there IS hope arising, and that God is at work among the people providing the most important thing of all in the harsh times of life:

“Countless gifts of love.”

This is granddaughter day in our church! Bob and Donna Compton’s beautiful grandkids – Gabrielle and Isabella – have been baptized. And Bob and Sandy Ball are bursting with pride over the first visit of their granddaughter Jillian.

Jillian has been on our prayer list from the very beginning of her life. She was born into a world of great challenges, and has had a lot to overcome. I wish every child could be born in perfect health and into a perfect world. But many babies, like Jillian, have to contend with things neither they nor their families bargained for.

So where is God in all this? Well, here is what I believe.

God is in the love of Jillian’s mom and dad. God is in Bob and Sandy and all the family members who have rallied around her little life. God is in doctors and nurses who bring expert care. God is in people like us – and many, many others – who have prayed for Jillian and her family from the day she was born.

God is at work in EVERY life – every moment – every circumstance! God is clothing the lilies of the field, and providing for the sparrows of the air. God is at work, providing us what we truly need – and that is the touch of his loving hand.

And you don’t ever have to worry about that! Whether facing cancer, or grieving a loss, or living through a time of great sadness and challenge, God is sending into your life resources needed for living, people needed for support, and even the wonder of nature all around that is testimony that as beautifully as God cares for the lilies of the field, so God is taking care of you.

You don’t ever have to worry about that!

But if you ARE going to worry about something, Jesus says, this is it:

Worry about seeking God’s kingdom.

Every year at Thanksgiving time, when we bring out Bill Nash’s big turkey, and “Deadeye” Bob Puckett goes into his persona as the great Turkey Hunter, and the people of our church buy turkey hunting licenses that end up as beautiful Thanksgiving baskets for hundreds of needy families, I remember Don.

Don Langille.

Don was a member of my last church. He is the person who thought up the idea of the Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot. When I transported the idea here, I did so to keep alive the legacy of Don’s beautiful life.

We were all shocked and saddened when he was diagnosed with a very advanced case of cancer. Like anyone confronted by such a diagnosis, Don and his family were devastated by the news. We all circled the wagons, and kept Don and the family in constant prayer.

One day, after worship, Don said he had to talk with me. I was afraid that things were going worse than expected and braced myself for bad news. But Don fooled me. He actually had a smile on his face.

“I know why I have cancer!” Don declared.

“You WHAT?” I asked.

“I know why I have cancer…I mean…I know what I can do with it…or what God can do with it!”

Don explained that he knew God hadn’t given him cancer, but that God was showing him how he could live within his cancer.

“They NEED me!” Don exclaimed.

“WHO needs you?” I asked.

“The people in my cancer support group. I mean, I met a lady this week who was so depressed and down. She really needed someone to talk to. When my wife came to get me, we all went out for coffee, and I think it really helped. In fact, she doesn’t believe in God so I told her why I DO believe in God and invited her to church and she’s coming next week…I think God needs me to be in that group.”

 I wasn’t about to argue with Don. And indeed, he did bring the woman to church, and in that very service, by some wonderful act of grace, she was overwhelmed by the love of God and the warm understanding of the congregation. She gave her life to Christ.

“See, I TOLD you!” Don gleefully exuded. “I’m SUPPOSED to be there!”

 Some months later, Joyce – the woman Don befriended – was found to have experienced a miraculous cure. She was cancer-free. Don, who I suspect had been working on something like that in his prayers, just smiled.

I wish I could understand such unexplained healings. But I don’t. Neither do I understand why there was no such miracle for Don. A few months later, as he neared the end, we had a private conversation. One of the things Don expressed to me was a thought to the effect that, in some strange way, the last year of his life had been the best year of his life.

Don had discovered, I think, the secret of Jesus’ words. In devoting himself to seeking the Kingdom of God for himself and others, everything else fell into place, and Don found life!

And over several days, as family members and friends came to say goodbye, Don just quietly smiled and simply said things like, “Thank you. Thank you for what you mean to me.”

 True thanksgiving!

Oh, how Don valued the days he had and all the gifts of God’s grace that came to him while he lived with cancer. Oh, how he expended himself dreaming up ways to bring God’s Kingdom into the lives of others – his wife Fran, his children, his friend Joyce, the needy families who would be served through the Turkey Shoot, and me and many others!

And that brings me back to the Kid’s Table at Thanksgiving.

Dear friends, we are all seated at different tables in life. Sometimes the smells and sounds and sights from the other tables make us feel like we’d rather be there than where we are right now.

Don’t run off to the Big People’s Table. There is a better way.

Thankfully live WHERE you are, and learn to value the grace that comes to you through the hand of God who loves you. God’s loving presence in your life is something you never need to worry about!  Step back a bit and see all the ways God comes to you in countless gifts of love.

And if you’re going to worry about anything, devote yourself to figuring out how you can bring God’s kingdom into the lives of others!

That’s something worth worrying about!

Tim and I, along with Bob, Pat, Linda, Joy and all the staff wish you all a beautiful Thanksgiving!