Reclaiming Thanksgiving

For this week’s blog post, I’m putting up part of the sermon that I gave at the community Thanksgiving service at St. Mark’s UMC.

Thanksgiving, at its core, must be about God. We have ample reasons to give thanks to God: God has created us, God shepherds us, God extends God's steadfast love to us for all time.

Our culture has lost the centrality of God in Thanksgiving. Instead of focusing on God, we so often focus on the food and the fellowship. It is not a “successful” Thanksgiving if the meal is not perfect, or if we don't have the opportunity to fellowship with our families. These are important parts of Thanksgiving, but we must return to the core reason for Thanksgiving, which is giving thanks to God for all God has done for us.

In his proclamation of a day of Thanksgiving, Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation of “the watchful providence of Almighty God” and the “gracious gifts of the Most High God.”[1] We need to focus in on this part of Thanksgiving, treating it as the main course of the holiday, rather than a side dish or an oft-forgotten piece of the Thanksgiving day meal.

How, then, can we do this? In my family, one of our Thanksgiving traditions consists of each member of the family sharing something from the past year that he or she is thankful for. While this can be a worthwhile activity, at times it can also simply be a way of tacking on thanksgiving to the holiday. We ought to put this as a central part of our meals together.

I would urge all of us to do this as we gather at our respective Thanksgiving meals, but with a bit of a twist. Instead of merely thinking about this at the last minute, perhaps we could each take time to ponder on God's actions in our lives over the past year. This preparation will allow for deeper sharing about the activities of God.

As we gather around different tables this week to celebrate Thanksgiving, may we truly take the time to see the work of God in our lives and to share our gratitude for that work. May we move beyond the simplistic understanding of Thanksgiving as a holiday of food, to a holiday where we give thanks to God for his steadfast love that endures to all generations.

---

[1] Kriston Moulton, “Thanksgiving: A Holiday for Believers and Non-Believers”, Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/19/thanksgiving-a-holiday-for_n_786254.html, Accessed 20 Nov. 2010.

Biblical Inspiration and Authority

At District Conference last week, a query was brought to the conference by the Hopewell congregation that asked the question: “Does the Church of the Brethren still affirm the Bible as God’s Holy Word, embracing Scripture as the authoritative guide for our lives?” This query was returned to the congregation, but the issue is likely to return at next year’s District Conference. The discussion at the conference made it clear that there are some in our district, and perhaps in our congregation, who are not clear on what our denomination says on the issues of Biblical inspiration and authority. In addition, I have taken some time this week to look again at my understanding of these two important, interconnected issues. In thinking about this, my position does hold that the scriptures are authoritative in our lives as believers, and that they are inspired by God.

I read through the 1979 Annual Conference statement “Biblical Inspiration and Authority,” which has served our denomination well over the past 32 years. This paper offers several different views on Biblical authority and inspiration that are present within our denomination, including two which speak very closely to my own approach to these issues.

The first of these statements indicates “A third group of Brethren point to Christ as the only perfect Word of God. The Old Testament is judged by the New Testament, the whole Bible by the witness of Jesus Christ, our supreme authority. Jesus' teachings are the basic guide for faith and practice, the canon within the canon. The Bible was created by interaction between God and people and is a mixture of human frailty and the perfect wisdom of God. It points beyond itself to God.”[1] According to this view, the Bible must be interpreted in light of the New Testament, basing our beliefs and practices on Jesus’ teachings, and comes out of the interaction between humanity and God.

The second statement indicates “Another group of Brethren emphasize the Bible's roots in the faith community—written by the faith community, for the faith community. It is salvation history, the record of God's action. The focus of inspiration is the people. ‘The Bible is the touchstone to measure our experience against the record of God's interaction with his people. The authority is in the words and spirit, checked by Christian community today, a continuing channel for God's revelation.’ Themes and principles are emphasized in presenting its message for our day.”[2] The key part of this is the understanding that it is the experience of God by the Biblical writers that provides the authority and inspiration of the Bible. The Bible was not dictated word for word by God to the Biblical writers, instead, it was inspired by their continuing quest to understand their encounters with God.

I would certainly urge each of us to read through the entirety of the 1979 paper, which is linked to in my footnotes below. In addition to this, I would also like to provide a link to some reflections on the Biblical text by Joshua Brockway, who is the Director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship for the denomination. He has written two blog posts on this issue, located here and here. I would love to hear from individuals in our congregation about their views on these two issues.

---

[1] http://cobannualconference.org/ac_statements/79BiblicalInspiration%26Authority.htm, accessed 17 November 2011.

[2] Ibid.

“The Naked Anabaptist: Wrap-Up”

As I look back over the blog posts in this series, and to the book itself, it is clear that “The Naked Anabaptist” offers some intriguing insights and reflections on Anabaptism. It has been helpful in shedding light on the basic beliefs of Anabaptism, and would certainly be a good primer for anyone who is interested in Anabaptism.
The seven core convictions that Murray discusses in his book can all be found, in some way, in the life of our congregation. It is clear that Anabaptism has been an important part of the faith formation within this congregation, and will continue to be so as we move forward. For me, reflecting on how I have seen these seven core convictions in the congregation’s life together has been a helpful way to really think about where our congregation is at this point. I hope that these brief reflections have provided an opportunity for those reading about them to think more deeply about what it means to be an Anabaptist. As I continue in my work here, it is my hope that we will be able to continue to explore the ways that we live out our Anabaptist heritage.