Today is November 1st. Autumn has begun, the leaves have peaked in their vibrant and varied color, the weather is getting colder, and as happens every October the 31st either Linus Van Pelt has been visited by the Great Pumpkin…or not. The Holiday Season begins in earnest and for many here today this has been just the first celebration of Thanksgiving that will occur between now and November 23rd. It seems like I’m having a lot more Thanksgiving Meals every November than the year before.
By now all of us here are aware of why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Hundreds of years ago a band of Christians sought religious freedom and made the dangerous journey across the sea. When they arrived on the shores they, like all others who came before them, found starvation, death, and disease waiting for them. And in the wake of the tragedy of so much loss, they grieved as they worked through the spring and summer. After their first harvest they responded in a way that many even today would find completely bizarre. They thanked God. They praised Him.
It’s interesting that every year our nation grows increasingly secular and yet every year in every home family gathers together to remember what they are thankful for. Atheists just as much as Christians gather together to reflect on what they have and show gratitude for it. To whom the atheists show gratitude for their blessings I don’t know, but as for us we know to whom we thank for all that we have from the roof over our head to the breath in our lungs.
This year I have been reflecting on my own lack of the trite sounding “attitude of gratitude”. I am aware that I am in the monetarily richest country on earth. The poor in the United States are still in the top 1% of the wealthiest people on a global scale. We enjoy every luxury from reliably clean water to central heating and air conditioning. If I’m too lazy to cook there are many places within a 5 minute drive that will take my money in exchange for food and they won’t even make me leave my car to do it. If I have medical emergency, I know I will get the care I need.
And in the spiritual realm we are blessed beyond measure. We have salvation from the LORD Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that the Father has given us EVERY spiritual blessing. The Holy Spirit dwells within each of us and guides us. God then also gave us one another in the bonds of Church Unity.
By every metric…we have it good. We are blessed and cared for. SO…why is it that the most minor difficulty makes me question the goodness of God? Causes me to doubt His care and plan? When something unexpected comes up I act as if everything HE has done for me isn’t enough. I get anxious when He has told us to be anxious for nothing. I fear when He has told us routinely to not be afraid. I find myself feeling neglected if I can’t have what I want when I’ve been told to store my treasures in heaven. I feel alone and abandoned when Jesus specifically told us that He would never leave us nor forsake us, that He would be with us until the End of the Age, and through Paul He declared that NOTHING can separate us from His love and care.
Why do we need a time of Thanksgiving? For the same reason that God told the Children of Israel to make monuments. The world is overwhelming, there’s always something demanding our time and emotional energy, always some new crisis. If we do not take the time to remember what He has done for us, what blessings we enjoy and what difficulties pass us by…then it will never be enough. We are always reaching forward to the next thing…and we need to make piles of stones to make us remember and cause the next generation to ask.
One of the greatest monuments the Jews made is not made of stone at all. It is, like Thanksgiving, a meal and a story. It is the Passover. They tell the story to remind one another and the next generation of the faithful, enduring love of God. Near the heart of it is a song called the Dayenu. Dayenu is the Hebrew word for “sufficient”. It is a testament to how one action by God would have been sufficient, it would have been enough, to warrant Israel’s devotion…but God kept going and blessing them again and again. At a specific point in the Passover Seder, the eldest man in the room would stand and declare:
If He had taken us out of Egypt and not made judgements on them; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had made judgments on them and had not made [them] on their idols; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had made judgments on their idols and had not killed their firstborn; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had killed their firstborn and had not given us their wealth; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had given us their wealth and had not split the Sea for us; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had split the Sea for us and had not taken us through it on dry land; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had taken us through it on dry land and had not pushed down our enemies in [the Sea]; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had pushed down our enemies in [the Sea] and had not supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years and had not fed us the manna; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had fed us the manna and had not given us the Shabbat; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had given us the Shabbat and had not brought us close to Mount Sinai; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had brought us close to Mount Sinai and had not given us the Torah; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had given us the Torah and had not brought us into the land of Israel; [it would have been] enough for us.
If He had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the ‘Chosen House’ [the Temple; it would have been] enough for us.
We know that the story of His blessings didn’t end at the temple. It continued on to birth of Jesus, the miracle of the cross, the resurrection, pentecost, the establishment of the church, communion, and will go beyond us to the Second Coming.
When I reflect on this and ask, “When is enough enough?” to earn my unwavering devotion I am forced to admit it already is..”Dayenu”.
Lord, around our tables today and in the holiday season to come, please send your Holy Spirit to quicken us to speak of You and what you have done for us. And grant us a renewed mind that sees your blessings and declares them more than enough for us to believe, to trust, and rest in You and Your goodness.
Finding Narnia 
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