Thanksgiving originated as a harvest festival first celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World, Oct. 1621. President Abraham Lincoln was credited for making in a national holiday in 1863, during the American Civil War. He called it a national day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for reflection. It should be time to remember the many blessings we have. Robert Lintner, Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. 


I believe the best picture of Christian thanksgiving is not a turkey with dressing but Jesus’ body and blood. Jesus’ instituted a family meal called Communion, the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, a Greek word which means to give thanks.  


Giving thanks for a Christian is like a two-sided coin. One side is contemplation and the other is action.


On Contemplation

Take time to contemplate the things for which you are thankful. For Christians, we can contemplate the attributes of God, especially how faithful He has been to each of us. The apostle Paul liked to focus on what God had done for him, he proclaimed in 2 Corinthians 9:15, Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! He described the gift as the Great Exchange.  2 Corinthians 8:9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The indescribable gift is God's gift of His Son which is received by God’s grace through faith in Jesus alone.


Make an effort this month to give thanks for what the indescribable gift means to you. I encourage you to contemplate on some theological terms that should help you grasp to a small degree, the indescribable gift of God’s grace.

• Justification - It is the act of God whereby we who were dead in sins are declared righteous. William Evans , Justification is what God does for us ... Jesus Christ became sin for us! Give thanks!

• Sanctification - It is the work of God conforming us to the image of Christ. John Blanchard, God is never more properly thanked for his goodness than by our godliness. We can live what we believe. Give thanks!  

• Glorification - It is the completion of God’s conforming us to the image of Christ. Meister Eckhart (13th C. theologian), Glory is perfected grace. Oh, to be like Him. Give thanks!


On Action

How can a Christians turn contemplation to action? I believe one of the best ways to actively give thanks is through communion. It is probably the most controversial event in Christianity. Wars have been fought over it, people have been tortured, even murdered because of their beliefs concerning communion.

Why has there been so much controversy? Debate has centered primarily on the elements, the bread and the wine. Some believe the bread and the wine are changed into the very body and blood of Christ. Others believe the bread and the wine become the substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ while keeping the appearance of bread and wine. I believe the bread and wine picture Christ's redemptive work and acknowledge His presence in our midst.


Early church comments on communion

• Didache (2nd C. instruction manual), On the Lord's own day come together and break bread and give thanks...Whoever is holy, let him come; whoever is not, let him repent. 

• Ireaneus (2nd C. bishop), The partakers now engage in a spiritual service and enter by communion into the presence of God while the elements remain as they were...The souls of believers are nourished because God superintends the service and by His grace feeds and blesses His own. 

• Augustine (4th C. theologian), ... what faith demands is that the bread is the body of Christ and the cup is His blood.


Why is communion so important?

• It is a family event. It was instituted by our Lord and is not optional - do this in remembrance of me. Jesus Christ is host and we are His family. It pictures the unity of the Body of Christ - an expression of fellowship, with God and each other through Christ. 

• It is a time of remembrance. Jesus instituted communion in a Passover setting. As the Passover reenacts the meal on the eve of deliverance from Egypt, so the Lord’s Supper reenacts the meal on the eve of deliverance from sin and death. The Passover lamb is the Lamb of God - Jesus. It is a reminder of our need for nourishment from Jesus Who is our means of spiritual growth.

• It is a time of proclamation. It looks to the past. It is a declaration of the Gospel, Jesus’ death and resurrection. Augustine called it a visible word of substitutionary atonement, a feast of liberation. It looks to the future. It is a reminder of our certain hope of Jesus’ return when our fellowship will be perfect. Geoffrey Bromiley, He has given us this table, insignificant and even pointless in the eyes of secular man, but eloquent to believers as a sign of things past and ...things to come.  

• It is a time of self-examination. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. Have you not placed your faith in Christ alone for eternal life? Place your faith in Him, now. Are you trying to gain favor with God instead of thanking Him for the full favor that comes through Christ alone? Submit to His grace. Are you carrying a burden of unconfessed sins? Lay them at the cross. Do you have something against another person? Seek reconciliation.

Participate in Communion

Sharing the Bread - In the bread we see Christ as the Bread come down from heaven, the perfect God-Man. 1 Corinthians 11:24, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. Sharing the Cup - In the cup we see Christ as the Lamb of God who came as the God-Man to die for our sins. 1 Corinthians 11:25, In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.


Conclusion

• It is good to remember the grace of God received through the work of Jesus.

• It is good to take communion in a worthy manner, giving thanks in community.

• Jerry Bridges, Thanksgiving is not a natural virtue; it is a fruit of the Spirit, given by him.