Now Thank We All Our God!
O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us, to keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills of this world in the next.
- Now Thank We All Our God, ELW #840, v. 2
Thanksgiving is a time of year that draws us together as we are encouraged to reflect on the gifts that God has given us. As we come to our National Day of Thanksgiving, I want to remind you that Thanksgiving should not merely be about the feeling of gratitude, but of whom we have to thank for the gifts we have been given. It is not enough for us to recognize that we have blessings, but we must acknowledge that it is God who is the giver of these things. As Martin Luther points out:
Give us today our daily bread.
What does this mean?
In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving.
What then does “daily bread” mean?
Everything included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
- Martin Luther, Small Catechism, Art. 4 of the Lord's Prayer
God gives us all that we have, that is, all things which we can count as our daily bread. These are the things that we ought to receive, not just with a heart full of gratitude, but in praise and worship of God who gave them.
And most of all, we should be grateful of God's greatest gift to us: his own Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. To lack in the things of daily bread is merely earthly suffering, but to lack in the Lord Jesus is to lack eternal life. He has generously, lavishly poured out love and grace upon us in the cross of Christ, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
No matter where Thanksgiving Day finds you this year, I hope that you'll be sure to give thanks and praise to God for the many gifts of daily bread that you have - and most of all, for the gift of grace and eternal life through Christ, our true King.
You can join us to celebrate these gifts on Thursday morning at 10:30am with our Community Thanksgiving Service, and you are also invited to join us for the Community Thanksgiving Meal from 11:30am-1:00pm on Thursday. May God bless in this season of gratitude!
