A Reformed Reflection on Thanksgiving!

Having lived overseas for ten years, I have a deep and abiding love for Thanksgiving! All across the world, if you tell other Christians how you and your fellow Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving, you are instantly met with an earnest jealousy as they tell you how much they wish their country had a holiday like Thanksgiving that they could celebrate. While some similar celebrations exist, there is no holiday that compares to Thanksgiving in origin, history and significance!

Beginning with the puritan settlers, the heart of Thanksgiving was first formed in the hearts of the puritans as they risked capture, disaster, disease and death at every turn in order to establish a land built upon the principles of pure religion. Many believe that their pilgrimage was in the name of religious freedom, but this was not so! The Puritans were faithful followers of Jesus, and would never wish to see a land filled with idolatry. Their purpose was to find freedom from the tyranny of King James I, who had established himself as the sovereign head of the Church of England. Watching their nation trade one antichrist for another, these faithful men resolved to take themselves and their families away no matter the cost. Their reward was one of the most arduous journeys taken since the Israelites were delivered from Egypt!

Their hope and dream was that a community united in faith and obedience to the Word of God, bound together by the Holy Spirit, would be able to govern itself according to the instructions given to Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New. While this dream proved too idealistic for this broken world, the root of that dream saw them filled with immense thankfulness toward God for every new day. For this reason, when God brought the pilgrims a bountiful harvest after enduring the harsh winter of 1620, 52 Plymouth settlers and 90 Wampanoag Indians joined together in the Autumn of 1621 to thank God for His blessings. There, proclaiming God’s faithfulness to an unconverted land, the first seed of our great holiday was planted.

2 years later in 1623, the pilgrims once again faced hardship in the form of a drought. Seeking God’s hand of mercy yet again, the people of Plymouth declared a day of humble and fervent prayer. That same evening, God brought such a rain as sent the entire town into weeping and rejoicing for God’s continued deliverance and mercy. This tradition would be kept every year, combined with the teaching of the Word, the singing of Psalms and food being offered by the rich to the poor of the community. Finally, in 1668, the Plymouth Colony Court declared Thanksgiving an official holiday throughout the colony to be observed every year on the 25th of November.

It wasn’t until December 18th, 1777, after America’s victory at Saratoga, that Thanksgiving first became a national event. George Washington declared a national day of thanksgiving be given to praise God for His manifold blessings. This spirit continued in the sermons of pastors throughout America the following years. As Nathan Holman said so aptly in his sermon delivered on the 21st of November, 1811,

“It is also a matter of joy that we inhabit those colonies which were planted in righteousness. Our ancestors were eminently pious… The blessings which attended their exertions, and the effects of their prayers are visible even at the present day. As God has owned, and blessed, and prospered this nation beyond a parallel, even from its first settlement, we have reason to hope that, though he may punish us for our great degeneracy, yet he will not at once wholly forsake us.”

Every year, America took time to reflect thankfully on God’s grace and provision until finally, after the victory of the Union at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln declared on October 3rd, 1863, that Thanksgiving was to be observed as an official, national holiday every fourth Thursday of November. From then on, Thanksgiving has captured the hearts of Americans new and old as they gather together with family to reflect on all the blessings of life that might otherwise go unnoticed and unaccounted.

That concludes my passionate reflection of the origin and history of our beloved holiday, and now I turn my attention to the significance of Thanksgiving! While many culinary reasons come to mind, I cannot spend an entire article talking about turkey, ham, gravy, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, rolls, cranberry sauce, cranberry-apple crumble, peach cobbler, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, pigs in a blanket… OH and those little lemon bars my sister always makes! Even in written word, it is difficult for me to conceal my love for sharing delicious food with family and friends, and I think there is spiritual significance for us as Reformed men in our enjoyment of these things.

Throughout Church history, believers have wrestled with the enjoyment of physical things. The creeping claws of Gnosticism have never fully fled the Church, and with every generation comes some rebranding of the same old belief. This belief is that our calling as God’s children necessitates the abandonment of all earthly pleasure in the pursuit of spiritual maturity and enrichment. This belief has just enough of a grasp on truth to keep them fall falling off the cliff, but we know that as Christians we must never be satisfied merely to grasp desperately for the truth. Our feet must be firmly planted upon it (Ps. 40:1-3), for we know that Christian truth is spelled with a capital T, since Christ is Truth.

But, as Pontius Pilate once asked, “Quid est veritas?” Knowing that Christ is Truth, we also know that when He returns, He returns to make all things new (Rev. 21:5). We also know that He has given us all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17-21). Our Savior also places no value on outward, performative religion, condemning the Pharisees for their false piety (Matt. 6:16-18). God does not command us to forsake the physical world, since He has decreed that we shall spend eternity with Him in a restored, physical world with restored, physical bodies. Therefore, as Reformed Christians, let us not assume the beliefs of weaker brethren, but embrace the gifts God has given us, reaping the fruit of the Spirit as we enjoy all things with self-control!

As we do, like our Puritan ancestors, our hearts will be broken for the sick and needy as we reflect on our own blessings. In this way, we fulfill the command of 1 Timothy 6:18, throwing off haughtiness and assuming a generous attitude toward those in need. If not for the holiday of Thanksgiving, I may not have been so called and convicted to give toward others, and that is why the holiday is so significant! Thanksgiving calls every American believer to live out their thankfulness, putting action to feeling as we live out our faith with joy in our hearts!

I spent this Thanksgiving driving from one house to another, and with each home, my love for Thanksgiving continued to grow! Here I was, a young man whose family is serving God’s purposes far away, and yet I did not feel alone for one single second. Instead, with every warm embrace, I was reminded that there is not a place on this earth that I am without family in Christ Jesus! This sweet reminder was just another reason I was caused to reflect with joy on the holiday of Thanksgiving!

This leads me to my final reflection. As an aspiring pastor, I love the communal aspect of Thanksgiving. Every Christian should be engaged daily in thanking God for His protection, guidance, provision and grace, but it is not often we engage in such thanksgiving as a community. We do so in church as we praise God and sit under the teaching of His Word, but our communities are not oft to join us there. However, surrounded by delicious food and family from every corner of our country, our family members find themselves inexplicably consenting to sit at the same table with the believing relatives. This presents us with one of the greatest evangelistic opportunities of the year, as we get to thank and praise God in the midst of our lost loved ones. In this way, our communal thanksgiving raptures a captive nation and points them directly to the fount of all mercy! May we never waste this great evangelistic holiday as we seek to proclaim the Gospel!

While there is much more I could reflect on regarding Thanksgiving, I don’t want to make my international brothers anymore jealous than they already are! Suffice it to say that Thanksgiving is one of many gifts we should be thankful for every autumn season! As we move on from Thanksgiving and set our sights on the greatest holiday of all, let us each reflect on all the reasons we have as believers to be thankful. Not all of us end our days or spend our holidays filled with joy, but take heart! Joy and peace are not the fruit of man, but as Scripture teaches, they are the fruit of the Holy Spirit! If you find yourself struggling to enjoy the holidays, just remember that peace and joy are yours in the Holy Spirit, and the faithful tree will not be left barren!

May God bless you all according to the great riches of His grace in Christ Jesus! All glory be to our heavenly Father, from whom we receive every blessed gift, chief of whom is Christ Himself! I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving, and as I look forward to my next article in December, I wish you all a merry Christmas!