<> Ask the Pastor Rev. Walter Snyder If we survive too much turkey, too many relatives, and all those football games, perhaps we'll have time to thank God for all He's done for us. The John Milton wrote a hymn to celebrate the Lord's blessings: "Praise, oh, praise, our God and King,/Hymns of adoration sing;/For His mercies still endure,/Ever faithful, ever sure." Our American celebration has grown out the Pilgrims' thanks to God for a good harvest after a rough first year in the New World. But they weren't the first to have some sort of harvest festival. Ancient Israel, as well as its pagan neighbors, had similar celebrations as the grain was gathered and stored. The Greeks and Romans, northern Europeans, and others partied when the spring and summer's farming was over and their hard work rewarded. If you have some German blood, or have lived up north, you're probably familiar with "Oktoberfest." These days of partying also grew out of harvest festivals. The Bible is clear that being thankful is not enough. Who we thank and why we give thanks are essential. Ours is not only a God who fills bellies; an inventory of His blessings reminds us of all we have been given. The pagans of Bible times and elsewhere would thank their gods. But they worried constantly that the gods would forget them, so their fears grew into superstitious practices. Agricultural fertility was linked to the sexual fertility of their gods, so ritual prostitution (and probably much freelancing) took place on the floor of granaries and barns. People enacting the rite of fertility reminded the gods of their own fertility. Then the gods would bless the next crop. At other places, giving thanks devolved into drunken parties as the fermentable grapes and grain were gathered. Our God doesn't forget us. He even feeds the wicked, sending life-giving rain to those who don't deserve it. But He's not only our God for this life. Because of His mercy, He also acted in Christ Jesus to be our God for all eternity. Thus, our thanksgiving is most of all for "the gift of God [which] is eternal life." We don't NEED to remind God to bless us. We don't even NEED to thank Him. Yet, it is good to thank Him and to ask Him to continue to supply our needs of body, mind, and soul. Psalm 136, upon which the hymn I quoted was based, does mention giving thanks because "He gives food to every living creature." But it also praises Him "because he is good, because his mercy endures forever." The Psalmist reminds us that this is the God of Gods, the Lord of Lords, the doer of miracles. He's the one "who made the heavens by his understanding." It can be jarring to us as we read through the 136th Psalm to find, "Give thanks to the one who killed the firstborn males in Egypt because his mercy endures forever." But this leads to God calling His people out of slavery, stacking up the waters for His people's passage, then sweeping "Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea." For His own, God even does what is unpleasant to Himself. Author of creation and the Lord of Life, He brings death to His own creatures when they oppress those who follow Him. Likewise, "He killed mighty kings," as He led His people across the Jordan River into the land they'd rule "as an inheritance for his servant Israel." Israel was reminded as we are of the great lengths to which God goes to protect and preserve His people. We're not only thankful during the good times, but even when things are bad. He's the God who promised through the Paul to lead us through all things: "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. [Romans 8:28]" Likewise the 136th Psalm: "He remembered us when we were humiliated.... He snatched us from the grasp of our enemies." The Psalmist concluded: "Give thanks to the God of heaven because his mercy endures forever." Milton ends the hymn by saying, "Glory to our bounteous King,/Glory let creation sing;/Glory to the Father, Son,/And the Spirit, Three in One!" Will you join me this Thanksgiving Day in reading and celebrating this Psalm and all it reminds us of, "because his mercy endures forever?" To "Ask the Pastor," write to P.O. Box 1080, Jasper, Texas, 75951; e-mail xrysostom@aol.com, or bend my ear on the street. Walter Snyder is the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Jasper and Faith Lutheran Church, Woodville and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe? A Study Guide in Christian Teachings for Adults." Copyright (c) 1995 by Walter P. Snyder Permission is granted by author to reproduce or retransmit this by any means, provided that its content is not altered, that this notice of copyright and permission is included, and that no financial gain is realized.