A SERMON ON THANKSGIVING
by The Rev L. A. D. Curtis, United Church Residence, St. John's
This sermon is reproduced from a series of sermons first published
by The Newfoundland Conference United Church of Canada in 1954.
Give Thanks To God
- A Thanksgiving Sermon
by
L.A.D.Curtis, United Church
Residence, St.
John’s
Text: “Thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea and the beast in the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas” – Psalms 8:6, 7,8
(Lesson: Luke 12:22-24)
We are called today to give thanks to God for the blessings which have come to us, especially during the season which is now coming to an end. We have gathered in the harvest from the land or the sea. God has been good.
Our text bids us think of the dignity and wonder of man. Perhaps if we can see man ass he ought to be we shall be more grateful to God.
It is easy to forget man’s high destiny when we see him in the mad rush and bustle oaf life. He may not seem a very God-like creature as he does some of the menial tasks of life or as he reels out of a tavern; yet he is made in the likeness and image of God! How we sometimes mar that likeness, distort that image; forsake our God-given heritage!
Then we sometimes go to the other extreme – we think of ourselves as self-sufficient. God makes known to us the secrets of nature and the wonders of science and we put our knowledge to work to serve us. We start on life’s stage as if we had now no need of God. Seemingly we convince ourselves that we have succeeded by our own wisdom and initiative – “Our own right hand hath gotten us the victory.”
It is well then that we should be reminded once in a while that wall belongs to God. “All the beasts of the field are mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” We hear these words, and we are startled and humbled as we recall how we have used in unworthy ways some of the good things of God.
In the Psalm from which our text is taken we are in the presence of a man who recognizes God’s sovereignty, but who marvels at the way the Father has elevated man…”made him a little lower that the angers…put all things under his feet…the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.”
If the ancient writer could step into our modern civilization and see some of the things man has accomplished he would be even more awed than he was in that distant day, for man has not only become master of the living creatures-the birds and the fishes, but he has harnessed many of the laws of nature to do his bidding.
One thinks of man’s mastery of the air through the aeroplane and the radio, of the submarine and the wireless, the electric train and the skyscraper, artificial light and heat and cold. One thinks also of man’s conquests in the field of medicine; of the anaesthetics and the serums, of blood transfusion and the grafting of flesh. Surely man, to whom God has revealed so much, has partaken of the nature of God.
However, when we look at man from a moral standpoint, we see that his moral development has not kept pace with his increased knowledge. Man, who can pierce the night and view the distant plantets, or, who can look through the human body and detect disease, is strangely blind when he is bidden to look at himself. Man the conqueror, is so often the weak or willing slave of his own passions! Perhaps man, the lord of the brute, stoops lower than the beast because he has the ability to stoop lower. With all the opportunities we have had, all the experience which the race has gathered during the centuries, we have progressed so little. God’s good gifts are used too often to destroy God’s handiwork. Surely, that is wrong! If the Almighty has any plan for the world it is that such gift of His might be used to enable man to reach his highest. Every misuse of His gifts helps to defeat that plan. A moment’s reflection will show us that we are using some of His gifts for everything but His honour and glory. This knowledge ought to sadden us san make us wiser.
And so, on this Thanksgiving Day we should give thanks that we are able to look at ourselves and see our shortcomings, for hope is born that way. As long as we can see our faults there is the possibility that we shall correct them, for:_
“We rise by things that are under our feet,
By what we have mastered of good and gain,
By the pride deposed and the passion slain
And the vanquished ills that we h hourly meet.”
Again, if everything comes from God, if He has placed it all at our disposal, then in a very real sense we are all debtors. How little of what we have, of what we are and of what we enjoy is due to our own labour! Most of our food has been brought from afar; the conveniences in our homes. Our modes of transportation, our places of worship have practically all come to us because of the skill, the wisdom the sacrifice of other people. We can hardly do anything or see anything around us without being conscious of that debt which we owe to others. Many of them may be unknown as far as we are concerned, but we enjoy the fruits of civilization because of what others gave to life.
And in our spiritual development, no less, we are debtors. What we owe to those who patiently led us up through our long immaturity until we could face life on our own we shall never be able to repay. We think of those who contributed to our spiritual growth, who helped us to face facts as frankly and as courageously as we could, who sought to inculcate in is something of their own fine attainments until we can say with the poet, “I am a part of all that I have met.” How shall we repay them?
And yet, we go about our business so often with no thought of being under obligation to anyone. We sometimes hear men say with a great deal of pride that they owe no man a cent. And it is a fine thing to be able to say that. I hope that we shall never lose that sense of anxiety to be rid of our financial obligations. Yet many of us have a tendency to feel that when we are square financially with everybody we have settled all our scores and that therefore we are free. The world will not make much progress as long as we do not acknowledge any moral or spiritual obligation. The financial is only a superficial thing when compared tour mental and spiritual possibilities. One of our ministers whose memory will be honoured increasingly as the years go by used to say, “I owe the world a life”; and then he went out to give that life unstintedly in the service of his felloe-men and his God.
And that, after all, is what sets us apart from the lower forms of life-that capacity which the Creator has given us to know Him and worship Him and serve Him. We shall not justify our existence; we shall not prove worthy of the blood and tears, sweat and toil of past generations until we lay our powers at His feet and in humility and devotion use them for Him, remembering that our powers are not our own.
Finally, we ought to remember that we have so much for which to be grateful today. I need not recount our blessings, even if I could think of them all. But they are all around us and there are so many of the.
On the other hand, there is a danger that we forget to give thanks for the ways by which God leads us, even when the pathway be darkened by shadows. They are never so dark that we cannot have a sense of gratitude that they are not worse.
One of our modern poets seems to have caught the right spirit in her poem entitled, “THE WORLD IS MINE.”
“Today, upon a bus, I saw a lovely maid with golden hair;
I envied her-she seemed so gay-and I wished I were so fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one foot and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile.
Oh god, forgive me when I whine;
I have two feet-the world is mine!
“And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who sold them had such charm.
I talked with him-he said to me:
“It’s nice to talk with folks like you.”
“You see” he said, “I’m blind”.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two eyes-the world is mine!
“Then, walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do.
I stopped for a moment, then said:
“Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word, and then,
I know he could not hear.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two ears-the world is mine.
“With feet to take me where I’d go,
With eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
With ears to hear what I would know.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine;
I’m blessed indeed! The world is mine.”
Have you given any consideration to the fact that everything belongs to God? His blessings bestowed upon you are meant as avenues of service. You are really stewards of these things, and one day every steward will be required to give an account of his stewardship. The more we acknowledge God by our gifts, the greater will be our spiritual satisfaction.
L.A.D.Curtis, United Church Residence, St. John’s