Let’s start with a few facts and a little history.

This week Americans will eat 365 million pounds of turkey; 250 million pounds of potatoes; 77 million pounds of ham; 17 million pounds of fresh cranberries; spend $42 million on canned cranberries; spend $96 million on bread crumbs for stuffing; and purchase 483,000 pounds of pumpkins for pie. That doesn’t include everything else we have like olives, pickles, pecan pie, and millions of marshmallows for 57 million pounds of sweet potatoes we will eat.

That’s a long way from the original Thanksgiving dinner celebrated by the 50 survivors of the original 102 passengers of the Mayflower in 1621. They were joined by 90 native Indians and the celebration lasted three days. There was always a bit of controversy around if and when to celebrate an official day of Thanksgiving but early on it was declared an official day of Thanksgiving by George Washington who called upon all Americans to express their gratitude for the conclusion of the war of independence and the ratification of the Constitution.

“Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us..and also that we may beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.”

In 1827, the magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale (the author of “Mary Had A Little Lamb”) launched a 36 year campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. It met with quite a bit of resistance from the South as it was perceived as a push for the abolition of slavery and the freeing of slaves since part of Sarah Hale’s agenda was raising money to send those freed slaves back to Africa as part of Thanksgiving. The South had even more reason to complain when Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday in 1863 – in the heat of the Civil War.  Part of that declaration read, “In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, the order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.” It took years until the South would celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of the country.

In 1853, Henry Wise of Virginia  wrote, “This theatrical national claptrap of Thanksgiving has aided other causes in setting thousands of pulpits to preaching ‘Christian politics’ instead of humbly letting the carnal Kingdom alone and preaching singly Christ crucified.” It was also condemned as a Yankee holiday that would just corrupt the morals of the South and be little more than an “occasion for indulgence in dissipation at the cost of character.” 

“While we are content,” he wrote, “to buy our cotton spools and wooden ware from New England, because hers are the cheapest, we are by no means content to receive her notions of religion, morals, the duties of citizenship, as being the best.”

Anti-Thanksgiving sentiment wasn’t confined to Virginia. In 1855, William H. Holcombe, a physician in Natchez, Mississippi, recorded in his diary, “This was Thanksgiving day…I am sorry that the Yankee custom has crept in among us. I object to it because it makes gratitude to God a matter of civil ordinance, and limits to a single day the exhibition of feelings which should be a portion of our daily life.”

But, over time, the holiday became a national celebration and it was Franklin Roosevelt who, in 1939, finally fixed the day we observe now – even though he wanted to initially change it to the third Thursday of November to allow for more shopping days for Christmas as we were in the middle of the Depression and that would have boosted the economy. At the time it was considered inappropriate to shop for Christmas before Thanksgiving. In 1941 Thanksgiving Day was signed into law as an official holiday and day of observance. Republicans objected to the change, calling it an affront to the memory of Lincoln. People began referring to November 30 as the “Republican Thanksgiving” and November 23 as the “Democratic Thanksgiving.” Twenty-three states went along with Roosevelt’s recommendation, 22 did not, and some, like Texas, could not decide and took both days as government holidays. But, the crisis passed and we now celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November – regardless of our political party.

But that’s not what I want to talk about this morning. It begins with an experience.

He sat down, paused before he spoke and then said, “It’s too much for me to give thanks. I cannot be thankful for this.  I will never be thankful for this.”

He and his wife had lost their son and someone with the best of intentions had quoted Paul’s instructions to the church in Thessalonika, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Then was not the time to say, “Paul did not say be thankful for everything – but thankful in everything.”  Yet, that is what I thought about for days afterwards.  Paul says, literally, eucharisto, in everything and in every circumstance – no matter what – eucharisto – give thanks.

I grew up Southern Baptist so we never heard the word eucharist.  I think that was something the Episcopalians across town did on a pretty regular basis. At least they mentioned it a lot.   We didn’t have rituals other than full immersion baptism, marriage, at least four verses of “Just As I Am” and dinner on the ground after church.  We were non-liturgical – just like the authentic Christians of the early Church.  What they called the Eucharist we called by its real name and the name Jesus gave it – the Lord’s Supper.  Sometimes someone who had been brought up Methodist would slip and call it Communion.  We did it four times a year and we always tried to time it so we were not there or had to leave early because it made the service longer.  Then they would change up on us because attendance always dropped when we knew ahead of time.  So, it was only years later that I discovered the Episcopalians were all along doing what Paul told the Thessalonians.  They were giving thanks all the time – eucharisto.

Scattered throughout the whole New Testament you’ll find this word.

The lone Samaritan leper who returns to Jesus throws himself at the feet of Jesus and gives thanks.

Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus gives thanks.

The church at Jerusalem gives thanks to God for the collection on their behalf.

You cannot avoid it.  It’s everywhere you turn.  People giving thanks.

People are changed and give thanks.  People give thanks and are changed.  Even in Romans Paul describes the awful effects of people who fail to give thanks.  “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculation, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  Giving thanks is not a mere formality or pleasantry, is it?  If there is one consistent ritual we should have it’s this one.

But something else becomes clear as you read the passages.  There is a connection between eucharisto – thanks – and breaking bread.  Not wafers but real food. Several courses, in fact.

Every description of the last supper says “He gave thanks and broke bread”

In feeding the 5,000 he broke the loaves and gave thanks.

At the inn at Emmaus it was when Jesus broke bread and gave thanks that the disciples recognized him for who he was.

As I’ve thought about it more I’ve begun to see that giving thanks – eucharisto – is connected to bread more often than not.  There is something about food and gratitude that we don’t want to miss. Something happens when we break bread and give thanks.

Here is what I’ve come to realize.

Breaking bread is something we do with others.  It is something that is shared.  We don’t give thanks alone, do we?  Yes, of course we do sometimes but there is a connection between eating together and being grateful that is unique.  This is the best way to give thanks – to do it while eating with others.

So then I started thinking about Paul’s words to the Thessalonians and I could hear him saying,

“In the midst of everything in your life eucharisto and break bread together.”  Take care of each other that way.  Lean on each other and carry one another’s burdens.

In sorrow and in joy – give thanks and break bread.

In birth and in death – give thanks and break bread.

In gain and loss – give thanks and break bread.

In sickness and in health – give thanks and break bread.

In laughter and in sadness – give thanks and break bread.

In grief and in glory – give thanks and break bread.

Let’s not quarrel about politics this year or all the ulterior motives of our opponents. Let’s not make a day of celebration into a raucous feast of squabbles and controversy. Instead, let’s focus on breaking and buttering bread, carving turkey, slicing pie and scooping potatoes with each other while giving thanks. We can call it Thanksgiving or the national Eucharist or even Turkey Day but let’s not forget what we have known from our founding. In spite of our losses, disagreements, sometimes shameful behavior and sins or what Lincoln called “national perverseness and disobedience” we can instead focus on his final words that we would “fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

Like my friend, this may be a hard time in your life right now.  You are in the right place.  You are with a fellowship of what John Claypool called fellow strugglers.  For some, this may be the time for God to use you to comfort others.  This may be your opportunity to be the peacemaker in your family or among your friends. This may be the week that God has called you to focus on His gifts and not your grievances. This may be the time to be quick to listen and slow to speak. It may be the time to count your blessings without subtracting your burdens. Whoever you are and whatever your circumstances I am certain you and I are meant to be here to bless the people around us this week.

Break bread and give thanks.