The Hebrew Scriptures read this morning from the prophet Joel (2:21-17), and the 126^th Psalm, are traditional favorites for the celebration of Thanksgiving. They are extraordinarily beautiful passages. At the same time, they are very easily misunderstood if the only time we hear them is when we are enjoying the smells of turkey and ham and pumpkin pie in the air. Because the nature of the thanksgiving that is being described in these particular Scriptures is fun... but it's not a completely Happy thanksgiving. It is a certain kind of thanksgiving that was experienced over and over again by the children of Israel in the larger story of their journey to the Promised Land.

In that larger biblical story, when something bad happened (like a drought, or a plague, or an enemy invasion – real traumatic events), the people became convinced, just as people do today, that God was really not for them but against them. In their minds, they believed they were being persecuted by an angry God. And that would make anyone anxious! Some, feeling terrified, tried to appease the anger of God by following all of his rules, offering all of the sacrifices, very, very carefully.... While others, feeling outraged at a God who caused such bad things to happen, would rebel against his rules in protest & resistance. And, then, once they had intentionally sinned, everything went tragically downhill... because, now, any time some additional bad thing (like a drought, or a plague) would happen, there was a clearly identifiable sin in view to blame it on. And so, people became all the more convinced that God was angrily punishing them with cause.

Once there is a critical mass of a community who become afraid that unless they all change their ways, God will make things even worse for them... people tend to change. And it really doesn't matter if the droughts and plagues and wars cease right away.... people will still be motivated for change. Because they will understand the ongoing disasters as evidence that they have not yet repented enough... to appease God's wrath. Eventually, of course, the drought will end. The rain will fall again. The plague will come under control of one kind or another. And the people will then believe that their repentance and their reforms have worked. They have stopped God from persecuting them, and enticed him to start blessing them again.

And, then, it's party time! It is time for a celebration of thanksgiving to the God who has lifted the curse that he laid upon them, the God who is now blessing them again.... When we hear the whole story, we can see that this particular kind of thanksgiving is not altogether joyful.... For one thing, it could disappear at any moment.... Even while the people were giving thanks, they had to keep looking over their shoulders... because, something bad could easily happen again. And that would mean that,,, God was angry with them, again. And the whole cycle would be repeated, again. Also, there were negative consequences of this pattern of blaming the bad experiences of life on an angry God who was punishing them for their sins.... it turned out to make people sin all the more!! They got caught up in a vicious cycle of sin/be punished/repent/be blessed, sin/be punished/repent/be blessed. Around & around they would go in that vicious cycle, but God's Peace eluded them. The biggest problem with this kind of thanksgiving, though, is that hidden within it is an image of a God who is a bit like an ordinary toddler that is discovering his powers to affect others. He lavishes us with praise and affection when we do what he wants... but he also throws his blocks at us when we don't do what he wants!!!

The journey of the children of Israel is a journey out of bondage, but not simply a bondage to Pharaoh or to Caesar. Their more fundamental bondage, like ours, is the bondage within their own minds to the image of a flighty God – indulgent here, vengeful there – a God that no one can fully trust, a God who keeps us running away from punishment & toward blessing, but who never actually helps us find the Promised Rest. In such dire straights, we may well look for less godly ways to feel some sort of peace. But, as is always the case, these lesser gods only end up creating more suffering in our lives & the lives of those around us. Nothing really changes. The vicious cycle keeps churning....

We see, then, that this particular kind of thanksgiving for the blessings of God is part of a much larger, more complicated story...a story that the prophets of Israel are working around the clock to repair, to arrive at a new chapter where we finally see the light, that will bring the vicious cycle to an end, and enable us to shout from the rooftops that: “When bad things happen, it does not mean that God is punishing us.”

It is into this desperate situation that Jesus walks, and his message is straightforward: “That God – that petty image of God that you have in your minds........ is not God. My Father is not like that. On the contrary,” Jesus says, “the One I call Father is like me, because He has formed me to be like himself.” And so, when we see Jesus, we are seeing the true living image of the Unseen God.

A very risky move that God is making here in Jesus... throwing a wrench into that vicious cycle that has been churning away since the beginning of time... But it was a necessary move. If the world was ever to actually discover and feel God's true nature, which is Love, all of Israel's lesser images of God had to be recycled. It is not possible to serve a flighty, impulsive, hostile God – and also a God who is Love (Matthew 6:24-34).

This morning's epistle reads: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12). This is the first of seven epistles to come, in October & November, in which the focal theme is the ATONEMENT of Jesus, the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is a very fascinating and controversial topic, atonement, that the lectionary will have us exploring over the next several Sundays.

But for today there is really only one thing that is important for us to grasp, and be grasped by, about the atonement of Jesus, and that is its relationship to thankfulness. The atonement of Jesus, most basically, is about the arising of a new kind of feeling in the human heart: true thankfulness.

It is about an unusual kind of thankfulness, or gratitude, which only arises in response to divine love, that love which has no strings attached to it.... which will not withdraw itself under any conditions, not even at the cost of the Lover's own life. And being on the receiving end of such love transforms us... it enables us to fully trust the One who loves us, and to feel such great gratitude that we ourselves are empowered to turn and to love back, to freely give our own selves away (which would otherwise be impossible).

Jesus knew that being caught up in such a beautiful state of grace was the only way to free the children of Israel, to free us all, from the vicious cycles that plague us. Nothing less than actually feeling this love directed toward us has the power to convince us that God is really for us, that God is really Love. Jesus actually knew what every human being longs to know... that God would not hesitate to die for him... for me.... for you... Imagine how it would change your life if you really knew, in your bones, that God would actually die for your wellbeing... It boggles the mind, in a good way. With an awareness like that, even eating pumpkin pie could become a sacramental experience!

Rather than ending this morning's sermon with a simple “Amen,” I would like to end it by singing a short Thanksgiving song to you. It is a special song, because it expresses a message that, I believe, God in Christ through the Holy Spirit is always singing to each of us. You may want to close your eyes as you listen if it helps you become more aware that, in truth, this song is just between God & you. May God fill each of our hearts and minds with that beautiful state of grace called thankfulness, today and every day.

TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE

When the rain is blowing in your face

and the whole world is on your case

I can offer you a warm embrace

to make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear

and there is no one there to dry your tears,

I can hold you for a million years

to make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

but I will never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

I've no doubt in my mind that you belong

I'd go hungry

I'd go black and blue

I'd go crawlin' down the avenue

go to the end of the earth for you

to make you feel my love

to make you feel my love...

(Written and recorded by Bob Dylan)