The lesson of Thanksgiving seems to be a simple one; and it doesn’t seem to vary much from year to year. Maybe that’s part of what makes this such a favorite holiday – well, that and the turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. But the other thing is that the meaning of Thanksgiving is right there on the surface. It’s simple. We don’t have to work too hard or think too much in order to get it. Thanksgiving. Give thanks.

You don’t have to know about the relationship between Jews and Samaritans in the First Century in order to hear the message of the gospel reading – “Remember to say Thank You.” Simple.

You don’t have to know much, if anything at all, about Moses and the wilderness wanderings to catch his drift in his little sermon from Deuteronomy – “You’ve been blessed, so remember that it all comes from God.” Simple.

Moses seems to have it all covered. The land produces richly, he says, and you’re blessed by it. So don’t start getting too clever or proud of yourself, as your blessings pile up. Somehow or another, every good thing can be traced back to the hand of God. Did your hard work bring the blessings to you? But it was God who gave you the ability to work hard. Was it your good schooling and your college degrees that helped you earn a living? But it was God who gave you the brains in the first place. Did your wise investment strategy get you to where you are today? But it was God who gave you the insight and the wisdom. Name one good thing you have that can’t be traced back to God. You can’t, ‘cause you don’t, ‘cause there isn’t.

A man was late for an important business meeting, and he was having trouble finding a parking place close to the office. In desperation, he looked up toward heaven from the driver’s seat of his car, and prayed, “God, I know I haven’t been very faithful, but if you will just get me a parking space I promise that I will go to church every Sunday from now on.” No sooner were the words out his mouth than a car pulled away from the curb just in front of him, right at the front door. He quickly pulled into the spot and looked again into heaven and said, “Oh, never mind – I found one myself.”

That’s not in the spirit of Moses, is it? - or of the day. You have something good? – anything good? Give thanks to God for it.

So we have a special day to remember that, and to celebrate; and its very name reminds us of why we’re here. Simple. Straightforward. To the point.

Of course, there are a lot of layers to that simple thought. It’s not always as easy as God just dropping it down out of heaven on a platter. It starts with God, but sometimes it gets a little more complicated after that.

During a stay with her grandparents, a five-year-old city-girl named Michaela was given the opportunity to pick corn on a neighbor's farm for the very first time. Her grandparents thought the experience could be a useful teaching tool, and so they made sure to explain to Michaela that the corn growing in the field was God's blessing to them.
At first, Michaela thought that the work was great fun, but after just a few minutes of pulling at the ears on the stalks in the dust and the bright, hot sun, Michaela looked at her grandmother and said, "You know, Grandma, don’t you, that you can buy this in the grocery store?!"

That little story got me thinking this past week about all the various people God uses to get my blessings to me – and particularly those people for whom I often forget to be thankful; those people who are usually invisible to me, and yet on whom I depend for so much that makes my life good: people like the farm laborers who have picked the food that will grace our Thanksgiving feasts later today; people like garbage collectors who will haul away the inedible leftovers; people who make my clothes in China or Korea; people who worked to construct the buildings we live and eat and work and shop in; people who keep them clean.

There’s a show on the Discovery Channel called “Dirty Jobs,” which highlights each week some of the jobs that you and I would be glad we don’t have to do ourselves – jobs which, as the host of the show puts it, “make civilization itself possible.” Dirty jobs.

We might usually function under the illusion that all of this happens automatically, without human effort, like the little girl imagining that the corn somehow just gets to the grocery store all by itself, without some person having to labor and sweat in order for us to have it without our own hard work. I suspect that the reason why some of us have a hard time remembering the people behind the lifestyle and the blessings that we enjoy is because we would rather not think about how our middle class life is built on the backs of others, on their hard labors. Do I really want to see in my mind’s eye the image of a Mexican immigrant picking grapes as I raise my glass of wine this afternoon and drink a toast to my host’s generosity and my own good fortune? Easier (for me) if those folks would just stay invisible, just out of sight and just out of mind. But imagine what it would be like to trace back all the elements of just this afternoon’s meal – all those people who stand in between God’s giving and your receiving – imagine picturing all those people who made your meal possible, seated around your Thanksgiving Table with you – the grocer, the clerk, the stock boy; the truck driver, the gas station attendant, the road builder; the processors, the farmer and the worker; the turkey rancher, the spud master, the cranberry picker, the gravy boat captain; the people who made your table and chairs, your dishes and silverware; the people who have provided heat and water for your home - and dozens more hidden away in the blessings of the day. Picture that. We pray that they’re all having a blessed day today, too – and we might remember to offer a prayer of thanks on their behalf, those who labor in various ways so we don’t have to.

Which inevitably leads us to the Apostle Paul’s reflections on abundance and gratitude. We see that it all comes from God. We see all the human hands through which these blessings are passed before they get to us. We are rightly moved to a spirit of humble gratitude for God’s providing and for human helpfulness – but, Paul says, One More Thing: don’t you get the feeling from all of that that what we have received we have received in order to share. Blessed not just for our own sake, mind you, but blessed for the sake of the world. Paul says that God will provide for us in abundance in order that we will have an abundance to share. We share our own labors with the world, and we share the fruits of those labors especially with those who have less than we do.

From God, through others; to us, for others. It’s simple. It’s Thanks-giving.

You got a little Thanksgiving Day prayer card when you came in the door this morning, and I’m going to invite you to do two things with it, or maybe three:

Take it with you today, to the table at which you’ll be eating your Thanksgiving meal, and let that picture on the card remind you of all those others – divine and human, seen and unseen – others who have had a hand in the blessings you’ve received. In fact, I’m going to invite you momentarily, as soon as I’m done, to spend two minutes in silence thinking about the blessings you have, and recognizing the people through whom they have come – people you know, and people you may not know. Think of that, and them, and then on the back of the card write down two or three things you’re thankful for, and the people God has used to send blessings your way. And then, when we come to the litany in a few moments, there will be a time in the prayer when you can name those blessings, and those people, aloud, or, as always, in the silence of your heart.

But just before we come to that, I want to invite you to join me now in praying that prayer that’s printed on the card. You might also want to use that prayer as your table blessing later today; and maybe share your gratitude with those with whom you eat, or just with God. It’s just about the perfect prayer, not only for Thanksgiving, but for every day of our lives – every blessed day that God gives.

So pray with me now:

Merciful Creator, your generous goodness comes to us new every day. By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen