From Pastor Steve
November, 2024
Whatever the veracity of the details of the myth of the first thanksgiving in America, what has endured is the tradition of “gathering together to ask the Lord’s blessing” and the sharing of a special meal. When I moved to the CLE in 1998, my extended family began a new tradition which continues to this day: gathering at my comfortable suburban home in Berea. We have a rule that my generation prepares the meal, and the generation below mine cleans up after. A couple of years ago I had to give an inspirational speech before we prayed that reminded that younger generation that it was still their task, no matter how grown up they were now, or what degree they held, or how far they had traveled to get here. It warms the cockles of my grouchy old dad/uncle/pastor’s heart to listen to the “kids” in the kitchen as they pitch in to clean up, joking and kidding and making new memories along the way.
Several years ago, I was the preacher at a Middleburg Heights Ecumenical Thanksgiving service. To prepare, I started by doing some biblical research around the theme “Thanksgiving Day.” That search didn’t turn up very much; but then I remembered that a DAY of thanksgiving is a federal government proclamation, not a religious or liturgical one. Once I remembered that, the whole concept of “biblical Thanksgiving” then opened right up. The scriptures are FULL of references to giving thanks to God, including 37 times in the Psalms alone! The difference is that the foundation of our lives as people of faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to live a LIFE of thanksgiving, not just a day.
That truth is set before us every single week at worship in the dialogue between the presiding minister and the congregation that begins the celebration of Holy Communion:
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
P: It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our savior Jesus Christ.
Blessings to you and yours, not only on this year’s “day of thanksgiving” but on every day that you seek to worship and serve the Lord.
Pastor Steve Krebill
Several years ago, I was the preacher at a Middleburg Heights Ecumenical Thanksgiving service. To prepare, I started by doing some biblical research around the theme “Thanksgiving Day.” That search didn’t turn up very much; but then I remembered that a DAY of thanksgiving is a federal government proclamation, not a religious or liturgical one. Once I remembered that, the whole concept of “biblical Thanksgiving” then opened right up. The scriptures are FULL of references to giving thanks to God, including 37 times in the Psalms alone! The difference is that the foundation of our lives as people of faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to live a LIFE of thanksgiving, not just a day.
That truth is set before us every single week at worship in the dialogue between the presiding minister and the congregation that begins the celebration of Holy Communion:
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
P: It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our savior Jesus Christ.
Blessings to you and yours, not only on this year’s “day of thanksgiving” but on every day that you seek to worship and serve the Lord.
Pastor Steve Krebill