This is a sermon for Thanksgiving. Pastor Jim Kniseley presented this sermon at
the Thanksgiving Service at Resurrection on Sunday evening, November 18,
2007. Folks from Grace Lutheran were
joining Resurrection folks for this service.
Dear
Friends in Christ,
Tonight I want you to think about Pilgrims. At Thanksgiving time when we speak of
Pilgrims we just have to think of the English Separatists who came to
But something is missing, I believe. Nowhere in that large sanctuary (it seats
600), is there a picture of Jesus!
Nowhere. Plymouth Congregational
Church seemed to have been built to make saints of the Pilgrims. We should never forget the faith and hope
that they endured hardship for; to worship Jesus Christ in an unrestricted way.
Other folks also depict those Pilgrims in a rather
dark fashion. Most of the Pilgrims were
Puritans, and even today the word “puritanical” is not a happy word. Some folks think of Puritans as severe,
austere, rigid, religious fanatics.
Historian George Willison writes, they were “fond of controversy, and
sharp of tongue, engaging in many a high-pitched quarrel with friend and foes
alike…” H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism
as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.”
It is easy to dismiss people by painting making them
seem entirely odd. Here are some facts
about the Pilgrims that aren’t often remembered:
They weren’t sullen and sour. They wore bright clothing. The loved to listen to music; just not in
church. The Pilgrims thought the organ and
pianos and guitars and oboes wwere the “voice of the devil.” They found choirs distracting.
Still, they weren’t monks or nuns. They married early, often, and late; and
produced lots of children. They loved to
drink – especially beer.
The Pilgrims were neither rigid fanatics nor
stained-glass saints. They were ordinary
people with extraordinary faith. They
were, like most of us, on a pilgrimage, searching for truth and a closer
connection to God. Let’s take a few
moments to think about what it means “to be
Pilgrims, “ both in the 1620’s and today.
To be a Pilgrim means having the courage to act on
your commitments. The Mayflower
Pilgrims’ courage was clear when they left Holland. This little band, described by William
Bradford as “seventy menfolk and women, 32 good children, a handful of cocks
and hens, and two dogs” had no illusions about the dangers that lay ahead of
them.
In his historical book, Of Plymouth Plantation,
Bradford discloses the colonists’ worst fear.
They expected “famine, nakedness, continual danger from savage people,
who are cruel, barbarous, and most treacherous, being most ferocious in their
rage and merciless when they overcome.”
Their chances for survival seemed slim. It was late in the year for an easy Atlantic
crossing, and too late to plant crops.
They had scanty supplies. The men
knew little about hunting or fishing – and less about fighting. Still, as one of their spokesmen put, “It is
not with us as with other men, whom small things discourage.” The Pilgrims had the courage to go forward,
no matter what it might cost.”
It took even greater courage to stay in Plymouth
after they landed. During the first
winter, conditions were worse than they imagined. There were great gray wolves, whose howls
terrorized the colonists at night. There
was the “Great Sickness.” Over half the
Pilgrims died. They buried their dead at
night in unmarked graves so the Native Americans wouldn’t know how weak they
were getting. At one time only seven Pilgrims
were well enough to tend the sick.
Yet, in spite of that terrible winter, none of the
survivors returned to England on the Mayflower in the spring, when they had the
opportunity. As the Mayflower sailed
over the horizon, the Pilgrims stood on the shore and wept. Few expected to live until the ship returned.
Here’s a key to why those first settlers
endured: The Pilgrims had the courage to
act on their commitments, no matter what.
The question for tonight is about us here. Do we have the courage to act on our
commitments, no matter what?
Tonight we worshippers represent two congregations,
Grace and Resurrection. We both know
what it is like to be a mission congregation, starting out with great hope that God will use
us for mission, will prosper our ministry, will help us grow. Both of our congregations also know the times
of discouragement and seeming at times
to go backward instead of forward. Here
at Resurrection the founding pastor left abruptly after less than 3 years to
accept a call to his home state of Arizona, the next pastor was here less than
2 years, and the third pastor was here five years and resigned abruptly to
start a mission congregation in Richmond.
At Grace you have a wonderful new opportunity to grow and attract folks
because of the bold decision to move to a leased facility in the Southpoint
Shopping Center that is spacious and attractive. We also know that you have stretched yourselves
financially, believing that God has a plan in mind for you to grow and prosper.
In each of our congregations there have been and are
some extremely dedicated folks that are part of the ministry for the
long-haul. While other less committed
folks may come and go, thanks be to God for the steadfast, tenacious, won’t
give up spirit that characterizes these folks in our midst. They give inspiration to the rest of us.
To be Pilgrims
means sharing what you have, and turning thanks into giving. The Pilgrims colonists willingly shared all
they had. During their first three
years, all property was held in common.
At one point, they were down to five kernels of corn per day for food. Still, they divided the corn kernels up
equally. And, the original group of
fifty that survived the first winter shared their limited food with the sixty
newcomers who arrived in the spring.
The Pilgrims traveled hopefully, with faith in the
future. They worked and struggled and
sacrificed for something they believed in.
It is my hope and prayer tonight that we, all of us, will also give of
ourselves so that our congregations can be even better servants of Christ than
we already are. I hope and pray too that
we as individuals are heading for a Homeland too: a glorious homeland that we
cannot earn, but can only receive through faith. There is power when we live, not tied to the
past, but as “strangers and foreigners” passing through life as Pilgrims,
looking forward to, and struggling for, the homeland God has promised.
To be a Pilgrim is to have the courage of our
convictions, to turn thanks into giving and to cling to God’s promise that the
best is yet ahead of us.
Thanks be to God for this gift of courageous faith. Amen!