Community Thanksgiving Service, November 16, 2017

Last evening we held the annual Thanksgiving Community Worship Service. This year the service was hosted by St. Mary's Catholic Church here in Lake City. I was asked to deliver the message and I have included the manuscript of the message below.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Grace & Care,
Roy 

Community Thanksgiving Sermon – 11/16/17

Matthew 6:25-33  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Before I start, I want to let you all know... to pay no attention to the sermon title in the bulletin. I'll be honest, I hate sermon titles, they're usually kind of cheesy in my opinion... plus I hate that since you have to come up with them days ahead of your sermon, in order for the bulletins to be printed, that the title tends to rein me in on where my sermon might go.  Often I find that as I go about preparing a sermon that my focus or message will change or evolve if you will and by Sunday my sermon title might have little or no bearing upon the actual sermon... such is the case today, so disregard that title and just follow along with me for a few minutes.

With that out of the way... A week from today, we each will sit down with family, friends, and loved ones to celebrate that all-American Holiday “Thanksgiving”. And what better way to celebrate a Holiday than by sitting down and eating copious amounts of food... you just have to love America!

So, in preparation for that day... tonight, we gather here as a community of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, members of various Christian denominations, gathered together as one... to lift up words of praise, worship, petition, and thanksgiving to our mutual Savior.  Praise God that we are so blessed to live here where the local churches work so very well together.  Sadly, that's not the case in all communities, thankfully... here... we all understand that we are all on the same team and that we are all working towards the same common goal... 

Thanksgiving is quite honestly, one of my all-time favorite holidays... in no small part because every so many years Thanksgiving just happens to fall on my birthday... and back in the old days when I was a child, that was when I'd really make out... with the whole family coming together to celebrate not only Thanksgiving... but my birthday... and thus... I would get extra gifts.

Additionally, it was a time when my mother every year would bake two of my all-time favorite foods... pecan pie, and plum pudding... and of course I always had a serving of each... no matter how stuffed I was by the time dessert was served. It's just really difficult to not be thankful with all those things being considered... great food is always a blessing, but getting gifts on top of it just makes it all the better.  So... I might have a bit of a selfish reason for having long favored Thanksgiving... but, none-the-less it truly is a great time of year filled with lots and lots of great memories.

Truth be told, I really do have a great fondness towards Thanksgiving, it follows harvest and as an old farm boy, I still love this time of year.  All the smells of fall, all the colors of nature, the cooler temperatures, it's a time to look back at the summer that you've just gone through and to look forward to another year that lies ahead, a time of preparation for Christmas, and a time for families to come together. It's the time for giving thanks, thanks to our all-gracious God who loves us so much that He gave us this world to live in, to love, to enjoy, and to care for.  Praise God.

Of course, there is a great deal of National history surrounding this all-American holiday.  We all know the story behind the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims way back in 1621 when they had survived their first winter and then the first spring, summer, and harvest here in the New World. Personally, I can also be thankful that my ancestors who were there that fateful day had survived that first dread-filled winter... or else I actually wouldn't be here at all!

Those earlier settlers had so much to be thankful for, they had learned a great deal and had endured even more. They could have been fearful and worried about the future, but, instead, they gathered together... all of those who had survived that first winter, and then had pulled together to plant and harvest their first crops as a community, that day they gave thanks to their God. They gave thanks to their Lord for delivering them... and also for the eternal lives and salvation of their friends and family members who didn't survive that first winter.

It's really the story of that first winter that I want to focus on today and to the Pilgrims reaction and response to that winter.  Hopefully, we all learned the story of that first winter during our days in school, but let me remind you all about it so we can understand together the magnitude of the story.

The Pilgrims' First Winter In America 
Adapted from the writings of Stan Griffin
When the "Mayflower" and its passengers anchored at the tip of Cape Cod in November 1620, the Pilgrims "fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had ... delivered them from ...perils and miseries …"

Soon afterward came the writing and signing of the "Mayflower Compact," in which Pilgrims and Strangers alike agreed to: (1) make laws for the good of the colony; and (2) to obey those laws. This was done before anyone had yet been ashore.

After several scouting expeditions and even a move by the "Mayflower" to a new harbor, a suitable place was chosen for the colony. After the decision was made, they found their new home on a map drawn by Captain John Smith six years earlier. He had named it "Plymouth."

The designated site was located on high ground beside a river. There was land that had been planted in corn by the Native Americans, and it was near a "sweet brook" which ran under a hillside and contained "much good fish."

On December 25 the first working party left the ship to begin construction of "New Plymouth," as they decided to call it.

Construction began initially on a "Common House," to be located behind the beach. The structure was planned to be 20 feet square. There was an adequate supply of timber available.

Building crews had to cope with alternate days of rain, snow, and sleet. In spite of the weather, all four sides were up in a period of three weeks.

This "Common House" was intended to be a storage area for supplies from the "Mayflower," but events caused it to be used as a family shelter and later as a temporary hospital.

This first structure was soon surrounded by small huts made of branches and sod built to house the workers. The other settlers spent their nights on the "Mayflower" until they had somewhere to live on land.

Next, a short street was laid out, running from the beach to a hill. On this hill, a wooden platform was constructed. Very shortly after its completion, the cannon which had been brought from England was mounted upon it as a defense against attack.

Along the street, lots were laid out. Each one was 8 feet wide and 50 feet deep. The entire company of settlers were divided into 19 households. Those individuals without families joined a family which they themselves chose, these groups were called households. Then the households were assigned lots (the number of lots assigned depended on how many people were part of each household). Permanent title to the land was not assigned.

Family cottages or shacks built on these lots were made of wattle which consisted of poles twisted or braided together with twigs, reeds or branches, and daub also known as mud, and completed with a thatched roof comprised of plant stalks, reeds, or leaves.

Despite all the obstacles encountered, several buildings were erected in the first few weeks. But illness delayed the home-building.

It was March 21 before everyone had moved from the "Mayflower" to shelter on land. By that time, the number of settlers had dropped considerably. Over one half of them had died during the winter of 1620-1621. The causes given were starvation, cold, and disease. On the list of deadly diseases were scurvy and one that was referred to only as "the sickness."

The terrible statistics of this first winter are as follows:
In the month of December, six people died.
In January there were eight deaths.
In February there were seventeen fatalities.
And in March, thirteen more died.

Frequently two or three died on the same day. Four entire families were taken, and there was only one family that didn't lose at least one member.

Of eighteen married women, thirteen died. Only eight of the thirty-one children perished. This seems to indicate that mothers were probably giving their share of food to the children.

Pilgrim leaders feared the Native Americans, even though none had been seen (at least up close) since the early days of their arrival. They did all they could to hide the magnitude of their human losses. Burial services were conducted after dark. Graves were leveled and planted with corn to conceal them.

The winter was, by local standards, a fairly mild one. The Plymouth settlers were simply not used to living on an awful diet and being exposed to the elements. Had it been a really severe winter, it's likely that all of them would have been wiped out.

During this horrendous winter, there were, of course, some dissatisfied complainers. They were overcome by "wisdom, patience, and a governor who was just and fair."

When the "Mayflower" was prepared to return to England in April. 1621, its captain offered to take any survivors with him at no charge. It is a testament to the faith and determination of the survivors that none took him up on his offer.

This telling of the story by Stan Griffin is interesting in its statistics.  Did you notice where he relayed that eight of the thirty-one children were lost and that thirteen of the eighteen married women perished, also twenty-eight men died that winter.  Though more men died than women, the women fared far worse statistically.  Mr. Griffin speculates that the women were giving their share of the rations to their children and this is the reason that so many of the women perished.  Indeed, it seems that 72% of the women died, but so did 53% of the men, and whereas all of the women were married and likely nearly all had children only a third of the men were married. The remarkable statistic that only 26% of the children died seems to indicate that not only were the women caring for the children but so were the men, and likely not only the men that were parents.

Now the primary causes of death were starvation and disease, there's not much one can do to stop disease in the close quarters of the lower decks of a sailing vessel, where almost all of the pilgrims were forced to overwinter, and one would speculate that the children would be more susceptible to dying from disease than the adults. This logically leaves the large discrepancy between the deaths of the adults and the children to be death from starvation. This means just as Mr. Griffin speculates, that the adults were indeed giving their food to the children, and again, it couldn't have just been the parents making this self-sacrifice.

By giving up a portion of their own rations, these adults were literally being those children's provision. They were by giving of themselves, giving that very thing that they needed to survive... they were literally God's provision, the provision that those children needed to survive. 

Within this terrible story of death and loss, there is a wonderful tale of human kindness. There is an incredible and moving story of sharing, self-sacrifice, and provision. I will ask you to consider this while I read for you again the words found in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 6:25-33  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

When we read these verses we want to look at them as being a message about not worrying... I know I did... that's what I entitled this sermon back when Lorinda wanted a sermon title.  But, I'll be honest... I'm not so sure these verses really are about not worrying or at least not entirely, or even primarily. They speak to provision, to providing... God will provide... so, therefore... do not worry.

What you say, the Pilgrims could have used a bit more provision... half of them perished!  Yes, indeed half of them did perish... but, after researching and preparing for this sermon... I now suspect that many if not most of those who perished did so while being God's provision to those who survived.

You and I, every one of us that claims Christ as our Savior... are called to be our Lord's hands and feet to this wanting world.  We are called to be God's provision.  As the Gospel writer says “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Life is much more than that... among other things, it's serving others.

You are called to feed, to nourish God's children. You are called to clothe His sheep. You are called to teach and to lead those lost sheep that He calls His own... you and I are called to be His provision to His flock.  His children need not worry because we are here.  Look to your right... and look to your left... you need not worry... because God's hands and feet are all around you.  He is as near to you as that person sitting next to you.  That person is here tonight... you are here tonight... because your Lord loves you, and He has called you to feed His sheep... and that is why they need not worry... that is why you need not worry...

Now that is something that we can be eternally thankful for... Praise God!

Let us pray.