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sthanks03
Do Not Be Anxious
Text:
Philippians 4:6
Date: A Day of National Thanksgiving
11/26/03 (7:30 p.m.) office suite xp
On Thanksgiving Day in the United States many of our
churches schedule the Divine Service. It makes good sense for Christians
to gather for the Eucharist or Holy Communion on this day because
only Christians know how to give proper thanks to God, namely, by
receiving his gifts. The word “Eucharist” means, literally, to “give
thanks.” However, to gather this holiday for a service of the Word
and prayer emphasizes that this occasion is not a festival unique
to the Christian Church. Our brothers and sisters in Canada, after
all, have their national day of thanksgiving on the second Monday
in October, and in Croatia, August 5. It is a Day of National
Thanksgiving.
Still, this day, in itself, does witness to the religious
and Christian roots of our nation—a fact that is, no doubt, a cause
of increasing anxiety and unrest among those, these days, who are
determined to erase every vestige of religion and especially Christianity
from the public square. In the chapter titled “Public Attacks on
Churches and Christians,” David Limbaugh, in his book “Persecution,”
relates this somewhat shocking account of how our unique American
story is being revised by some. He writes:
“Once
a symbol of America’s faith heritage, Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts,
is now saturated with political correctness. No longer are vacationing
families treated to stories of the Pilgrims who were on a mission
to gain religious freedom. Instead of being touted as ‘the cradle
of American democracy’ as it was once, the site has been ‘transformed
into a city ashamed of its past.’ On the grounds is a new monument
plaque that documents (quote) ‘the devastating effect of Christianity’
on America, the Pilgrims’ genocide of Native Americans, and ‘the
importance of treating Thanksgiving as a “National Day of Mourning.”’
In the town of Plymouth there has been an historical
Pilgrims’ Progress March held ever since the 1920s. “After the marchers
paraded through town, they would wind up at Burial Hill, where they
would perform an authentic Pilgrim worship service, featuring prayers
and Psalm singing.” Since 1970, however, the United American Indians
of New England have staged a competing event in Plymouth, called
the National Day of Mourning, to commemorate the struggles of Native
Americans.
“As stated in the December 12, 1996 issue of Workers World
(a publication of the Workers World Party, a self-identified socialist
organization) the National Day of Mourning (quote) ‘targets the
mythology perpetuated in Plymouth and throughout the U.S. that the
Pilgrims were wonderful people who came to Massachusetts only in
search of religious freedom and that Native people lived happily
ever after’ (end quote). This event included a protest of the Pilgrims’
Progress march….
“‘The
pilgrims came to these shores to establish a capitalist venture
and settlement here,’ UAINE co-leader Moonanum James, of the Wampanaog
nation, declared in 1996 after that year’s protest. ‘They stole
land from Native people, were completely intolerant of Native culture
and spirituality, and participated in numerous forays where they
murdered indigenous peoples.’ So the protestors finally prevailed.
A historic site celebrating America’s Christian heritage has been
declared politically incorrect and unacceptable, and Christian Pilgrims
have been branded as plunderers and murderers.”
“While celebrating ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity’ as the highest virtues,”
Limbaugh concludes, “the secular left displays rank intolerance
toward Christians, their beliefs and values. The mounting evidence
leads to the inescapable conclusion that secular forces are engaged
in a war not to preserve a wall of separation, but rather to radically
secularize our society.”
[Limbaugh,
Persecution, pp. 223-225]
To gather as church on a day of national thanksgiving
is, in a sense, becoming a more and more subversive activity in
the eyes of many. But as we see the evidences and challenges of
an increasingly secularized society—driven by the self-contradictory
philosophies of multiculturalism and diversity—it is more important
than ever that Christians, first, pray for and on behalf of those
who do not know how to pray and, second, renew our resolve to bear
public witness to the Word of God as the moral cornerstone of the
very founding of this nation.
First, let us pray for and on behalf of those who do
not know how to pray. In our second reading tonight, St. Paul writes,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God” [Philippians 4:6 (ESV)]. Specifically, he writes to Timothy,
saying, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are
in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly
and dignified in every way” [1 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV)]. While the irreligious,
agnostics and secularists think that God should be completely shut
out of government, the truth is this is impossible to do. In his
own Word God reveals it is he who acts, guides and directs, although
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