Thanksgiving Eve

Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous businessman who ran a small business that he had started himself.

“I need someone with an accounting degree,” the businessman said. “But mainly, I’m looking for someone to do my worrying for me.”

“Excuse me?” the accountant said.

“I worry about a lot of things,” the businessman said. “But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.”

“I see,” the accountant said. “And how much does the job pay?”

“I’ll start you at a hundred thousand,” said the businessman.

“A hundred thousand dollars!” the accountant exclaimed. “How can such a small business afford a sum like that?”

“That,” the businessman said, “is your first worry.” 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could pay somebody to do our worrying for us? It’s amazing how many things we can find to stress us out – even at Thanksgiving. Or maybe – for those of you responsible for cooking for a large family or those who are entertaining relatives – we find ways to stress out especially at Thanksgiving.

There is an old Irish poem by an unknown author that goes like this: “Why worry? In life there are only two things to worry about: Whether you are well, or whether you are sick. Now if you are well, you have nothing to worry about. And if you are sick, you only have two things to worry about: whether you get better, or whether you die. If you get better, you have nothing to worry about. And if you die, you only have two things to worry about: whether you go to heaven, or whether you go to hell. Now, if you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about. And if you go to hell, you’ll be too busy shaking hands with your friends that you won’t have time to worry. So why worry?”

The word “worry” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to strangle or to choke. While we need to be attentive to life’s concerns, worrying about them “chokes” the joy out of life. Worrying is like driving a car with one foot on the accelerator and the other foot on the brake. The wheels are spinning, a lot of rubber is being burnt, but you’re going nowhere.

Or as someone has said: “Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but it won’t get you anywhere!”

It’s interesting that on Thanksgiving Day, the Gospel should be on being anxious. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount:

“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? 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? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”

Interesting text for Thanksgiving, isn’t it? On the other hand, maybe it’s right on target. After all, gratitude is the perfect antidote for anxiety. Looking over the total scope of your life, hasn’t God been good to you? Do you think the future will be any different?

One of the most appealing stories from an earlier generation is Jean Webster’s “Daddy Long Legs.” It’s the story of a young girl in an orphanage who is befriended by a person she does not know. This kind stranger takes a fancy to her when she is a small child and befriends her. But he does not reveal his identity. Year after year the favors flow in from her unknown friend. She passes through her childhood years and all the way through college, pursuing opportunities provided to her by a friend whose name she does not know.

One day she happens to encounter her unknown benefactor, but she does not recognize him. He does not look like she had imagined he would look. But she finally learns his true identity and loves him – her longtime unknown friend.

Is this not a parable of our lives? We can all think of times when Christ has blessed our lives, and we were not even aware of it. And we love Him for it.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus points out that God has been and will continue to be extremely generous toward us. In his typically down-to-earth way, Jesus tells us to look at the birds. They neither sow nor reap, yet God doesn’t let them starve. If God feeds the most insignificant bird, don’t you think he will provide for us who are His very special, dearly loved, children?

The flowers don’t fuss and worry over what they will wear. God clothes the wildflowers which are here one day and gone the next with the finest and most beautiful colors. If God does that for something growing in the wild, surely God will care for those whom He has created “a little lower than the angels” and crowned us “with glory and honor” as the Psalm says (8:5). Gratitude is the perfect antidote for anxiety.

But there is a second thing about gratitude we ought to recognize. Gratitude keeps blessings flowing into our lives. Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy if you like. But grateful people seem to attract blessings.

A recent study found that people who jot down what they are thankful for each week feel more optimistic about their lives, exercise more, and even have fewer visits to the doctor than people who write down things that annoy them. There is something about the spirit of gratitude that is healing to the body and the soul.

When University of Connecticut psychologist Glenn Affleck interviewed 287 people recovering from a heart attack, he discovered that people who found some positive benefit from their heart attack were less likely to suffer another attack within eight years. He recommends that each day we write down one or more things we are grateful for and read the journal once a week.

Gratitude allows for blessings to flow, whereas anxiety chokes them off.

But you already know that, don’t you? You’re here this evening to give thanks to God for your many blessings, and you long to pass on the blessings that you have received. You have discovered that gratitude is the perfect antidote for anxiety. You have discovered that a grateful attitude causes blessings to flow into your life. And you have discovered that a person who experiences true gratitude seeks to be a channel that blessings can flow through to others.

That’s because a truly grateful person cannot hoard God’s blessings.

On the radio sometime back there was a story about a family of atheists. They had joined hands around a Thanksgiving table. Then they said, “Thank you, Paine-Webber.”

Says James Jerritt, “It is sad when people think of thankfulness for success as being something they alone did, or they and their Wall Street investments did.”

Jerritt gives his definition of a Christian, “A Christian is someone who does not have to consult his bankbook to see how wealthy he really is.”

And that is true of us. We may or may not have full bank accounts. But we know ourselves to be wealthy people because of our faith in Jesus Christ. And so tomorrow we give thanks.