On Wednesday night, I was honoured to lead the reflection at the AOTS Mens’ club prior to the presentation by the youth from the Covenant Church who came to share reflections on their recent mission trip to Guatemala. I read from a resource by the Canadian Food Grains Bank that said:
The main theme in the Bible concerning Hunger is God’s promise of abundance in the context of human faithfulness. The story of God’s generosity starts in Genesis with an exuberant liturgy of abundance – “it is Good” – continues throughout the Psalms with a high-spirited expression of praise and carries through the stories of humanity’s often turbulent and troubled relationship with God.
Even with over six billion people on the planet, hunger is no more inevitable than it is justifiable. There is more then enough food grown today for everyone to have enough. Yet chronic hunger persists in the lives of over 800 million people … God’s economy is defined by the promise of abundance in the context of faithfulness. From a Christian faith perspective, scarcity is a human construct, and part of the human horizon of action.
Abundance or Scarcity? God’s way or ours? It is seems up to us to decide …
The issue of scarcity and abundance … faithfulness and gratitude are themes that run through the readings today … They are themes that run through our lives as well … And to begin the task of reflecting on these ideas on the eve of Thanksgiving a good place to start is with the mythic figure of Job.
Admittedly, Job is an unusual character to consider at Thanksgiving time … but there is something quite appropriate in considering him too - Here he is, sitting minding his own business. He’s a father, a business man, a faithful man – and one afternoon in heaven, God and H’Satan (the obstructer – the tempter – the trickster) start in … God asks H’Satan what he has been up to lately … and H’Satan (Let’s be very clear in this – we are NOT dealing with Satan as we know him with horns and a tail and so forth. This is H’Satan – a fairly benign and almost neutral character in the Old Testament. H’Satan, to do a bit of a digression, is NOT an evil entity – he is simply the one who asks God the questions like – “Do you think that person would still be faithful is you took everything away from him??”)
So, in heaven you’ve got God and H’Satan sitting around and H’Satan asks that VERY question … God says – “have you considered my servant Job and how faithful he is?”
“Sure,” says H’Satan, “he’s wealthy, he’s successful, he’s got a great family, he’s got the respect of his community, he wants for nothing – of course he’s faithful … take all of THAT away from him and see what happens … see if he stays faithful when he has NOTHING left …”
What follows is disturbing – not because Job loses everything – these things happen – but it is disturbing because the text clearly tells us that these things happen because God WANTS it to happen …It is God at H’Satan’s urging who stretches his hand out and touches Job, not just once but several times … Job loses his family (except for his wife), his flocks, his wealth, his status, and then finally he loses his health and is a complete and utter outcast … living on a dirt piles outside the city gates …
Job’s wife then tells him – “Give it up Job. Curse God and DIE …” it would be better then living … BUT, Job refuses … Job is steadfast and faithful – he will NOT curse God. He will not abandon his faith. He stands his ground and continues to believe …
Job is a good figure for Thanksgiving … In a season of plenty – a season of overeating … a season of giving thanks for the abundance around us, it’s easy to forget that much of our thankfulness is built on enjoying and savouring what we have … We don’t want to ask the question – “would we still be so thankful if we lost EVERYTHING??”
Could we sing songs of praise if our hearts were breaking?
Would we dare to say “thanks” when we feel utterly bereft?
These are tough questions – but they are at the heart of Job’s story. We have before us a man who had the courage to live Thankfully; even in the face of profound and devastating losses … I was struck this week when I read the accounts of the school shooting in Nickel Mines Pennsylvania that claimed the lives of 5 innocent little girls. I have to confess that that simply boggled my mind … The word WHY?? Simply didn’t suffice … Yet, in this story are profound echoes of Job …
As the week drew to an end, and the people of the Amish community in Nickel Mines began to bury its children … people from all over the world were sending donations to help THEM – the elders of the Amish community were asking that a trust fund be set up for the widow and the children of the shooter …
For the widow and the children of the man who took the lives of no less then five innocent girls … and instead of expressing anger and outrage – this community reached out in love and care … They didn’t say it – they lived it – “Look after the children,” not just our children – but the children of the deeply disturbed person who caused such unimaginable suffering …
The Amish community in the midst of their grief is showing the rest of us – particularly those of us who sit week after week in pews all over the world – HOW we are to live out our faith … - HOW to live out the words of Jesus in Mark when he took a child in his arms and said: “to such as these belong the Kingdom of God …”
Today in our world – if we dare to listen, we have a stirring of what The Kingdom of God is supposed to be … It would be easy and understandable for the Amish community to stretch out their hands in ANGER and OUTRAGE and to lash out at the world and at the family of the man who killed their children … But they are in the fullest sense followers of Christ. They take this (BIBLE) and the words within it seriously … These are not just words on a page for them – they are principles by which we – all of us – them AND us - are to live our lives … and today they are.
The pain of that community is unimaginable … yet, they want to ensure that family of the shooter are not forgotten … and in that moment they live the very principles of welcoming, loving and celebrating children … principles of living our Faith.
So, this Thanksgiving as those of us who are fortunate enough to gather around tables with family are about to tuck into the meals we’ve prepared, we MUST – as citizens of the first world – we have a moral obligation to be truly thankful for all the many blessings that we simply take for granted … It’s easy to thank God when life is GOOD … it’s harder to thank God when life isn’t …
But if we were honest and took stock of what we have around us, we would be able to be MORE then a little thankful:
Housing … more then enough food … our medical care … drinking water … each other … Ann Weems puts it very well when she says:
The stead fast love of the Lord never ceases;
God’s mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning.
The Lord God gave the people of the earth a garden,
And the people said, “That’s very nice God, but that’s not
enough. We’d like a little knowledge, please.”
The Lord God gave them knowledge.
And the people said: “Now that we have knowledge,
we’d like things.”
The Lord God gave the people things,
But they always said: “that’s not enough.”
So the Lord God gave them gifts unequalled:
The sun,
Lightning and thunder
Rain and flowers
Animals and birds and the moon
God gave them the Rainbow
God parted the Red Sea and gave them Manna
God gave them prophets
And children
And each other,
But still the people said, “That’s not quite enough.”
God loved the people…
It’s far too easy to say “That’s not quite enough …”
I was struck this past week at AOTS Mens’ Club hearing the young people from the Covenant Church share their experiences from their trip to Guatemala … but what struck me most was hearing them say – “the people were so poor, they had almost nothing, but they were so happy …”
Like wealth and happiness are synonymous.
The lesson for them, and for us – if we have the courage to hear it, to listen to it, and to live it - is simply this – the stuff of life will never give us happiness and it will never take us to a place of happiness and joy. The stuff of life MIGHT make us comfortable and allow us to enjoy life a bit more (not a bad thing) - but with THAT stuff, we seem to still say “That’s not quite enough …” – Instead our joy, our gratitude, our thanks arises out of the other “STUFF” of life – the people, the relationships, the intangibles that we simply can not buy and sell, but are truly gifts from God … The Gifts of God are about ThanksLiving …
The question we must ask ourselves this Thanksgiving weekend is whether or not we have the courage to practice ThanksLiving, and be appreciative and thankful for the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us??
It’s not a question we can answer with our lips … it’s a question we can answer with our lives …
May we in the coming days have the courage to live out our answer to the question of ThanksLiving … and may we do it boldly, courageously and faithfully.
Abundance or Scarcity? God’s way or ours? It is seems up to us to decide …
ThanksLiving offers us an answer – if we dare …
May it be so – Thanks be to God - Let us pray …
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