Acts 2:43-37
On this Sunday before the United States celebrates Thanksgiving, it seems good to stop for a few minutes and think about gratitude. Often when we’re asked what we’re grateful for, people list things that make them happy. We’re grateful for food, clothing, and shelter. My granddaughter is grateful that her mom bought a second car. I met a young man this week who said he didn’t care about things, but he loved travel experiences. Instead of wrapped presents this holiday, his dad is taking him to New York for Thanksgiving and his mom is taking him to the Caribbean for Christmas. He knew how lucky he was, and he was grateful.
Sometimes we think gratitude is connected to good circumstances in life: enough money to be safe and well-fed, friends and family near to us, a good job, a chance to be useful to others. These are easy to be grateful for. But spiritual leaders tell us that the attitude of gratitude doesn’t have to be connected to happy situations. Gratitude is a way of looking at life, no matter what’s happening around you.
The Psalms in our scripture are full of prayers of thanksgiving. People thank God for beauty, for harvest, for protection, for victory. All these are good things. But the Psalm weren’t written only when ancient Israel was doing well. Many of them reflect tribal warfare, uncertain harvests, or illness. Even in difficult circumstances, or maybe because of difficult circumstances, people were grateful for God’s presence in their lives.
Our scripture today describes an idealized version of early Christian communities. People gathered for worship, for potlucks, and to support each other. They ate “with glad and generous hearts.” We know that first century followers of Jesus didn’t have easy lives. Many were enslaved. Most were poor, in debt, at the mercy of rich overlords. Some were persecuted for their faith. All lived under the thumb of Rome. Yet when they got together they had a good time and they were grateful.
As we celebrate this week, there will be people celebrating because we have pooled our resources to share with others. We paid half a utility bill this week and Tri-County social services paid the other half so a family has heat and lights. We paid another family’s back taxes – only a few hundred dollars, but it means they won’t lose their mobile home at the end of the year. We helped feed 220 people on Monday traditional Thanksgiving dinner and another 100 on Friday. They were all grateful, although they didn’t all eat the vegetables. Having enough to share can make us grateful for that privilege.
When we celebrate this week, there will be some folks who have little reason to be grateful. I think of those whose countries are at war: Ukraine, now being asked to accept a peace agreement that favors Russian aggression; Gaza, where an uncertain ceasefire is only the beginning of a long road of recovery; Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, Venezuela, and so many other places where life is dangerous. But even there, people look around and find reasons to be thankful.
Willie Nelson, the country singer, is reported to have said once, “When I began to count my blessings, it changed my life.” Nine years ago our friend Pat and I celebrated Thanksgiving in the transplant house at Mayo Clinic. Volunteers brought us piles of food. We were warm and well-cared-for. I was healing. It was a good celebration. I’ve told you before that while we were in Rochester for a season, we kept a daily gratitude journal, listing every evening at bedtime all the good things that had happened that day. There were successful procedures, gifts of food, flowers on the porch, and always kind and helpful people. Like Willie Nelson, I would say that the practice of looking for some reason to be grateful every day changed the whole experience of serious illness. There are many times in life when we can’t change what is happening to us, but we can change how we react to what’s happening around us. It’s not always easy. We don’t have to do it perfectly. We only have to make a beginning, see one good thing, and that will make a tiny crack in negativity and start the process of transformation.
There are lots of myths surrounding our story of the first Thanksgiving. We imagine it was much more of a feast than it probably was. Life in a new place wasn’t easy. The work was backbreaking; many died of illnesses we never experience now. But there was a harvest and hope for food to last the winter. There were neighbors who helped and friends. They were thankful. Over the years our country has celebrated Thanksgiving when times were plentiful and when they were not. During peace and war. Through pandemics which separated us, after natural disasters, and in times when we prospered. This year we’ll feast in a variety of ways. But the most important won’t be how much food is on the table or how many people are around it. The most important will be our own gratitude. To be thankful for what is and hopeful for what may be. Thanks be to God, who gives us life and allows us to enjoy it, to treasure each moment, to share it with friend and sometimes strangers. And to be grateful.