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Happy Thanksgiving!
On Thanksgiving weekend, we pause to reflect and give thanks. The world is not perfect. Our lives are filled with many problems and challenges. But on this weekend, we take stock of all that we have to be thankful for.
Moses laid out a beautiful vision of what life would be like in the Promised Land:
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. (Deuteronomy 8:7-10)
Once the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt, things didn’t go the way they wanted. For forty years, they wandered in the wilderness. They experienced hunger and thirst. They had no permanent place to call home.
But finally, soon they would enter the Promised Land. Soon, they would have abundance. There would be no more thirst or hunger. They would have everything they needed.
But throughout the whole passage, there is one underlying concern: That in their abundance they would forget God.
Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God… do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God… remember the Lord your God…
Once they had everything they needed, would they remember God?
Was Moses afraid that the people were spoiled brats who were unappreciative of God?
That’s certainly possible. But I think there’s a deeper issue here.
It’s not that they were necessarily just spoiled people who would forget.
For forty years, life was not in their control. They were extremely vulnerable in the wilderness. It was a very difficult time for them.
When you’ve been through difficult things, you want to get over it and leave that all behind. You don’t want to rehash those difficult memories.
In the wilderness, they had no choice but to rely on God. Through their dependence, they grew close to God. But remembering God could also bring back dark memories of those difficult times because God was associated with those difficult times.
When I was a criminal defence lawyer, I was often my clients’ only friend. For many of them, going through criminal charges was the most stressful time of their lives. They were anxious, their life and future was not in their control.
They were often embarrassed and couldn’t talk about it much with others. I was the only one who could really help them in that situation. And so I developed a good relationship with them.
But after the case was done, they wanted to leave that chapter behind them.
One time, I bumped into a former client at a grocery store. There was a look of recognition, but also immediately a look of embarrassment.
It’s almost like seeing me reminded them of that dark chapter of their life. I know that person appreciated me, but for that person’s sake, I pretended not to notice and walked on by.
When things become good, you just want to enjoy it and not go back.
But what happens when you forget God?
This is what Moses says:
When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them and when your herds and flocks have multiplied and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God… Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ (Deuteronomy 8:12-14, 17)
When you forget God, you become proud. You start thinking it was you who created your good fortune.
When you have this attitude, you start treating everything like your own possession. I worked hard. I earned this. This is all mine.
When you treat everything like your possession, it can do something to you.
You become more anxious about losing what you have. It can make you less generous. More judgmental of others. Less compassionate. It can make you a smaller person and more disconnected from others.
Immigrant life was hard. Immigrants had to survive by their wits and tough resilience.
My family worked hard and did reasonably well while I was growing up. But when an economic recession hit in the 1990’s, our family business took a huge hit. We couldn’t keep up with the mortgage payments and expenses on the building we owned. So my parents opened up a second store to make more revenue.
After my first year university, I ran a window cleaning business during the day to pay my own tuition, and I would go to the second store in the evenings. I then got an office job while managing the window cleaning business, while still going to the second store.
That was the hardest moment, and we survived by the skin of our teeth. Fortunately, things turned around after that when we changed course in the business.
It would have been easy to think it was all us. We could have been proud.
God doesn’t deny the hard work you do. There’s a part we play. That’s why I push my kids in sports – to learn the value of hard work.
But Moses shares a great truth:
Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)
Yes, we had to work hard. It took guts and the hard work of our hands to survive.
But it was God who gave us the strength to carry on. God gave us the health to labour and toil.
When you recognize God; when you remember God when times are good; then everything is a gift.
How do you feel when you receive an unexpected gift?
I will never forget the day I got ordained as a minister seven years ago. The service was wonderful. I received so many gifts. I don’t remember how much I received. But what I do remember is the love and support I felt.
When I think back on that, I am filled with humility, appreciation and gratitude. It reminds me that ministry and my calling is a gift. And that renews my strength for ministry.
When you experience life as a gift; When everything you have feels like a gift; Then life opens up. You live with more gratitude, appreciation and generosity. You receive everything as a gift – a gift to enjoy and a gift to share.
When times are bad and challenging, when you are vulnerable and things are not in your control. Sometimes we have no choice but to rely on God.
But when times are good, it is easy to forget God.
When the Israelites suffered in the wilderness, God came to them in a powerful way:
God brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock. He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know. (Deuteronomy 8:15-16)
They became close to God. They experienced God in wonderful new ways.
When times are difficult, God will comfort and strengthen us. But God wants to maintain that close relationship with you even when times are good. God’s desire is to be close to us whether times are bad or good.
There is a Jewish ritual called birkat hamazon. It means grace after meals.
It is a song or prayer they sing AFTER they have eaten their meals. This ritual comes from a verse in today’s passage:
You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. (Deuteronomy 8:10)
Eat your fill, be satiated. THEN bless and give thanks to God.
We’re used to saying a prayer before we eat – that is good. But try saying a prayer of thanks AFTER you eat and are full.
It’s hard to build a new habit – I tried doing that this week and kept on forgetting. But I think there’s great spiritual wisdom in that ritual.
Giving thanks AFTER you’ve had your fill reminds you that everything is from God. It maintains your dependence on God. It helps you remember God.
On Thanksgiving weekend, and every day, enjoy all the wonderful blessings you have. But always remember God. Do that, and you will live and experience life as a wonderful gift.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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