Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God ….” Hebrews 12:28-29

At Bethany Grace Fellowship, this past Sunday we began a three-week series on thankfulness, entitled “Moving from ThanksGiving to ThanksLiving.”  And in my introduction, I mentioned how Thanksgiving has become somewhat of a “non-holiday” in our culture.  I good naturedly pointed out that our local Lowes has had artificial Christmas trees on sale since before Halloween and Christmas decorations appeared promptly in stores on November 1.

Years ago, communities and retailers would hold off on putting up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. In fact, as a kid I remember going to the mall the day after Thanksgiving to take in all the wonderful decorations…it was magical. But now, after Thanksgiving, they’ve already been up for a whole month. It’s weird. And in the sermon, I may have even light-heartedly called out several people who already have their Christmas trees up.

After the sermon this Christmas meme appeared on my Facebook page.

Baby elephants are born weighing approximately 250 pounds, which makes them the world’s biggest babies, right next to people who complain about others celebrating Christmas too early.

Ha, ha, ha! When I saw it, I burst out laughing… or “lol” for those who prefer social media jargon. OK, Bev.  You got me; and point well taken.  It’s never too early to begin celebrating Christ coming to earth or sing carols about his birth. I’ll stop my whining.

Of course, the rush to Christmas by big box retailers has nothing to do with extending the celebration of Jesus’ birth just a little bit longer and everything to do with monetizing the holiday season so they can squeeze every penny out of us.  In recent years, in an attempt to stimulate increased sales, many big-box retail stores changed from promoting black Friday to opening on Thanksgiving Day. Walmart positioned pallets of door-buster merchandise all over the store to tantalize and tease customers into returning on Thanksgiving Day to go shopping.  Thankfully, a few major retailers have stepped back from this practice because of the bad press they received for making their employees work on Thanksgiving Day. I’m not sure what will be happening this year.  With the limitations of COVID, most major retailers are trying to push online sales, since in-person shopping has become so challenging. Will there even be door-busters or early-bird specials?

Now, let me restate for the record. I’m not here to tell you to not decorate early for Christmas, avoid black Friday and cyber-Monday sales, or to not buy Christmas presents for those you love.  I just love Thanksgiving and am advocating for us to adequately give thanks for what we already have before going out and getting even more. When is enough, enough?

But as a Christian, there’s an even more compelling reason to give thanks at Thanksgiving than to take a stand against consumerism.  Because for a Christian, giving thanks is fundamentally an act of worship.  When a Christian gives thanks, we give thanks to God.  We recognize that He is the source and giver of all good things and this stirs us to worship- adoring and acknowledging God. As believers in Jesus, we are, as Hebrews says, “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”  It is “unmovable and can never be taken away.”  As a child of God, I’ve received so much already- new life, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence of Jesus, righteousness, eternal life, and ultimately…heaven.  The list goes on and on. So, regardless of the hardships of this past year, we have so much to be thankful for. So, let’s praise and let’s worship! Thanksgiving week is a great place to start!

This Sunday, November 22 we are having a special Thanksgiving service at Bethany during our normal 9am & 10:35am worship services. The worship team, Steve Leever and I will be leading our church family in a time of corporate thankfulness. We have time built into each service for people to share what they are thankful for and to remember how God has been faithful to us, even in this most unusual year. It’s my prayer that this gathering will strengthen and encourage you and your family in thankfulness and worship. I hope to see you there (or online).

Happy Thanksgiving! (and Merry Christmas, too… Bev).