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The Rev. James A. Todhunter "Thanksgiving and Gratitude" Psalm 100 Rev. 1:4b-8 Luke 19:1-10 The crowds have come out to meet Jesus in Jericho. The head tax collector, a rich man named Zacchaeus, is eager to see Jesus. Since he is a little guy, he runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a big shade tree for a better view. Here comes Jesus and when he gets to the tree, he looks up and sees Zacchaeus and shouts "Hurry up! Climb down! I am coming to your house for Thanksgiving!" And Zacchaeus said, "Okay, come on." And Jesus said, "I'd like to bring some of my friends, too." "Why, not!" Zaccaheus replied. So Jesus went to Zacchaeus' place with his out of work disciples, and this blind man and a couple of prostitutes and some crazy people from the streets, and others. And he went and they began socializing with brie and crackers and dry sherry and little bowls of peanuts; and then they sat down and were served a first course of clam chowder and leak and squash soup with chopped green onions and crushed walnuts sprinkled on top; and then came the main course: turkey and dressing and string bean casserole and sweet potatoes with melted marshmallows and honeyed ham and collard greens and macaroni and cheese and risotto and Peking duck and oysters, and then dessert: pumpkin pie and mincemeat pie and custard cream pie and carrot cake and manhattan cheese cake and ice cream and frozen yogurt, with chocolate and butterscotch sauce and peanuts and cashews. And all this they washed down with lots of good things to drink; of course, providing juice and other non-alcoholic alternatives. But, since this was Bible times, there was plenty of wine, including Columbia Crest chardonnay from Washington State and Concha Y Toro merlot from Chile. Then came French roast coffee and espresso (regular and decaf) and then a little brandy or maybe some Serbian slivovitz, and finally these nice little chocolate mints. And then Jesus said "When does the game start?" Thanksgiving is arguably America's favorite holiday. More people travel at this time to be together than at any other holiday time. Thanksgiving is not particular to any ethnic group, and what people have for their Thanksgiving meal now varies widely beyond the traditional turkey and dressing. It is the most family centered of our holidays, yet one in which people most often think about including non-family members. The focus is not on sharing gifts or a particular religious rite. It is about the meal - the feast. Thanksgiving is a unique blend of the religious and the patriotic. Proclaimed by an American President as a national holiday, It recalls the story, dear to our congregational roots, of the gratitude of the pilgrims who survived that first bitter New England winter, and could not have done so without the help of the native Americans who welcomed them. Those who sat at that first Thanksgiving table, European congregationalist and native animist, present us with a picture of what America is at its best, as well as a sad and fleeting glimpse of what could have been. And yet, Thanksgiving still offers us the hope. That story of faith and courage and generosity and trust, lives on every time we see a elementary school pageant. There is something right and beautiful in our multicultural society to see little African-American pilgrims and Chinese- American Indians and Salvadorean-American turkeys. The story belongs to all of us, and even though few people have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, it is still our story. What does the Thanksgiving story have to do with the story of Jesus and his encounter with Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus, though a little guy was a big shot. I see Danny DeVito playing him in the film version. He was a bottom-feeder who had fought his way to the top of the food chain. Efforts are afoot today to reform the IRS, but in Palestine under the Romans, tax collectors were ipso facto corrupt creeps who skimmed off much of what they took in. They were hated by their own people because they were Jews who had sold out to the Romans and did their dirty work for them. He was a member of an oppressed class who had fought his way up to a place of security, and was reviled for it. What did Jesus see in Zacchaeus? As he had climbed to the top of the heap, ~o he climbed to the top of the tree to see Jesus. Why? The story doesn't say. Was guilt gnawing away at him? Was he in some kind of personal crisis? Did he have some vague, unexpressed longings for more meaning in his life despite his relative wealth? We simply don't know. In a way it doesn't matter. Who knows why, really, a person turns to God? Maybe the reasons are never clear. But somehow it seems Jesus perceived a turning in Zacchaeus. Maybe not even that - maybe just an openness, a curiosity. I think many people come to church, not because they have their faith together, but because they have this vague sense of wanting to see things more clearly, wanting something to happen. Why do you climb a tree? You want to see better. You want to grasp more clearly the big picture and gain perspective. For Zacchaeus, Jesus happened along at the right moment, when some turning of the soul was opening Zacchaeus to a new vision, a new perspective on the meaning of his life, this man who had fought to better his condition. People strive to meet their needs and better themselves in every time and place. Take here and now. A number of us have been working on the Silver Spring Re-development Advisory Board. You may have read about the latest, and more modest plan to revitalize the downtown retail center. Throughout this process, however, people keep talking about Silver Spring's racial, class, and ethnic diversity as unique, as key to our identity - East Silver Spring and Longbranch are Silver Spring, too. A smaller group of us have been working to put forward a proposal that gives more than lip-service to this diversity. We presented a design for a Leadership Training Institute to equip members of our minority communities for greater roles in economic and political leadership, so that they, in turn, can lead their communities more into the mainstream of Montgomery County life. The Redevelopment Advisory Board voted several weeks ago on what budget priorities it wanted to present to the County Executive for funding. To our amazement, the Leadership Institute came out number one. Now we are working to get the proposal truly presentable. What we all want is a healthy community where people's needs are met. A healthy community - whether it be Silver Spring or Christ Congregational Church - a healthy community must provide for meeting a range of human needs. Human needs are a hierarchy, a pyramid as psychologist Abraham Maslow taught. First basic needs (food and shelter); then safety and security; then social needs (community), then self-esteem and personal fulfilment. Finally self-actualization. Needs must be met at each level before needs at the next can be addressed. A person without food or shelter will have little available energy to think about art and literature. The process is from the bottom up. We all naturally strive to have our needs met. Like our friend Zacchaeus, we climb higher as best we can. But there is an important thing that happens. The sad reality is that the higher we each climb on the hierarchy of needs, all too often we forget what it was like when we were at or near the bottom. Now that our basic needs are being met, we take that for granted, and we easily forget how all consuming the struggle for survival can be, and still is for many. We are told this is a real problem in minority communities - people who move up and out and forget those they've left behind. One of the wonderful things about Thanksgiving is that it can be a time to remember what is was like and to remember those who are still struggling at the bottom to get their basic needs met. In a sense, each of us is a pilgrim survivor of that first bleak northern winter in a strange land. And each of us needed help to do it. I usually get a number of calls at this time of the year from people who want to help. I spoke with someone last week, now very successful, who could vividly remember the extremely hard times his family went through when he was a child. He hadn't forgotten. Without that remembrance, Thanksgiving becomes hollow even self-congratulatory. Nor should Thanksgiving be a guilt trip, wherein we are supposed to feel bad about enjoying ourselves. Not at all. Guilt feelings are always an excuse for inaction. It is a time to celebrate and give thanks and feast. And it is a time to remember the least among us and include them by doing something tangible. Which brings us back to our friend Zacchaeus. He had managed, by hook or crook, to meet most of his needs. He had made to the top. But was he aware, someplace in his heart, of those he had left behind? And was he aware that he had gotten there by climbing over others along the way? Or was he discovering that the highest level, personal and spiritual self-actualization, involves truly caring about others and their well-being, and identifying with those at the very bottom. And that is Just what Zacchaeus did. When Jesus invited himself to Thanksgiving, Zacchaeus said, "I will give half my possessions to the poor, and to the people I've cheated I will pay them back four times over." And Jesus said "Today salvation has come to this house." Of course, the Thanksgiving story and the Zacchaeus story are both about the great feast. Jesus never tires of telling us and showing us that the great meal together is our most lively symbol of the Kingdom of God. All are invited. All are included. All are welcomed. And there is plenty of everything. May your Thanksgiving this year be truly heavenly! And may God say of you "Today salvation has come to this house." AMEN. Back to Table of Contents. |