Kenneth L. Nelson - "Are You Ready to Give Thanks?" (November 22, 1998)

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Priest	Hear now, the word of proclamation for this day,	0:12
	as recorded in the fourth chapter of the book	0:15
	of Deuteronomy.	0:17
	Listen now for this portion of God's word.	0:19
	So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances	0:25
	that I am teaching you to observe	0:30
	so that you many live to enter and occupy the land	0:33
	that the Lord the God of your ancestors is giving you.	0:36
	See, just as the Lord my God has charged me,	0:41
	I now teach you the statutes and ordinances	0:44
	for you to observe in that land that you are	0:47
	about to enter and occupy.	0:50
	You must observe them diligently,	0:53
	for this will show your wisdom and discernment	0:56
	to the peoples, who when they hear all these statutes	0:58
	will say, surely,	1:02
	surely this great nation is a wise	1:05
	and discerning people.	1:08
	For what other nation has a god so near to it	1:10
	as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him?	1:13
	And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances	1:17
	as just as this entire law	1:21
	that I am setting before you today?	1:24
	But take care, and watch yourself closely,	1:27
	so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen,	1:32
	nor to let them slip from your mind	1:36
	all the days of your life.	1:38
	Make them known to your children,	1:40
	and your children's children,	1:43
	how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,	1:45
	when the Lord said to me, assemble people for me,	1:49
	and I will let them hear fear and words	1:53
	so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live	1:57
	on the earth, and may teach their children,	2:00
	so that I approach you, and stood at the foot	2:03
	of the mountain while the mountain was blazing	2:07
	upon the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds.	2:09
	Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire,	2:13
	you heard the sound of the words but saw no form.	2:17
	There was only a voice.	2:20
	He declared to you his covenant which charged you	2:22
	to observe all of it, the ten commandments,	2:26
	and he wrote them on two stone tablets.	2:29
	And the Lord God charged me at that time to teach you	2:32
	the statutes and ordinances for you to observe	2:35
	in that land that you are about to cross	2:39
	and that you are about to occupy.	2:42
	This is the word of the Lord.	2:46
	(audience murmurs in unison)	2:49
	Let us pray.	2:51
	Come now, Holy Spirit, with all of your quickening power.	2:56
	Pour out your spirit afresh upon us,	2:59
	that as we hear your word proclaimed,	3:02
	it may move us to obedience.	3:04
	In the name of Christ our Lord, amen.	3:07
	Today is November the 22nd, are you ready for Thanksgiving?	3:13
	Have you picked out just the right turkey, chicken, or ham?	3:19
	Of course you have.	3:25
	Have you done the last minute shopping?	3:27
	Of course not.	3:30
	The shopping never seems to be done,	3:32
	it seems that there are never enough eggs	3:34
	or you just ran out of milk or something of the kind.	3:36
	Are the kids home from college yet?	3:41
	Having spoken with some of our students	3:44
	it comes to my attention that a significant number of you	3:46
	are flying out tomorrow,	3:49
	although the break begins on Wednesday.	3:52
	(audience laughs)	3:54
	Have all of the out of town relatives started arriving yet?	3:57
	Have you mowed the grass or raked the leaves yet?	4:01
	After all, you know how your mother or mother-in-law	4:05
	gets about those leaves.	4:08
	Have you figured out how you're going to get the pies	4:11
	and cakes and breads done in time for dinner	4:14
	without undercooking the turkey?	4:17
	More importantly, have you figured out how to schedule	4:20
	the meal time so that it doesn't interrupt the football	4:23
	and basketball games?	4:26
	Now you're ready for Thanksgiving, right?	4:29
	Well, I guess if you've gotten all	4:32
	of those tasks accomplished,	4:35
	you're off to a pretty good start.	4:36
	Yet I have a sneaking suspicion	4:39
	that we're just not quite ready for Thanksgiving yet.	4:42
	It seems like we've forgotten something.	4:46
	I don't know, maybe it's all of those Santas	4:50
	that I've seen in the malls	4:52
	or all of those Christmas lights downtown.	4:53
	Maybe it's all of those advertisements	4:57
	saying only 32 more shopping days until Christmas.	4:59
	Maybe it's all that Christmas music	5:04
	piped into every elevator and grocery store that you enter.	5:06
	Maybe the reality is,	5:11
	is that I'm not ready for Thanksgiving.	5:13
	Or perhaps could it be that	5:17
	in the midst of all of the cultural trappings,	5:18
	that we've learned to ask the wrong question.	5:22
	I submit that the real question at hand is not	5:28
	are we ready for Thanksgiving,	5:31
	but rather, are we ready to give thanks?	5:34
	Perhaps a simple question,	5:39
	but one which deserves a poignant response.	5:42
	Are you and I ready to offer up mind and body and spirit	5:46
	in giving thanks for all of God's bounty?	5:51
	Are you and I willing to acknowledge that indeed,	5:56
	God is the source of our being, the giver of all good gifts?	5:59
	Thanksgiving is a odd religious holiday,	6:06
	one that had tremendous meaning in a former age,	6:09
	but which has suffered quite an ironic twist.	6:12
	How did we go from the bleak austere pilgrim beginnings	6:16
	in Puritan New England, to the self-indulgent,	6:19
	self-reliant Shenandoah mentality of today?	6:22
	Being as young as I am, people are often surprised	6:27
	to discover that I am an old movie buff.	6:31
	In an age long gone, there was	6:34
	a wonderful classical movie called Shenandoah.	6:35
	Jimmy Stewart was the leading man.	6:39
	Do you remember Jimmy Stewart's prayer	6:42
	at the dinner table in that film?	6:44
	O Lord, we tilled the ground,	6:47
	we planted the seed,	6:51
	we watered the crops, we harvested the grain,	6:53
	but we thank you anyway.	6:58
	(audience laughs)	7:00
	There was a time when the Puritans came to this land	7:06
	seeking first a place to worship God.	7:09
	Despite its hardship they were more than a little surprised	7:13
	to find such an abundant country so filled with life.	7:16
	Naturally, they saw this as God's blessing,	7:21
	recalling the words of Moses to the children of Israel	7:24
	just before they entered the Promised Land.	7:27
	Do you remember those words which were read	7:30
	in your hearing this morning	7:32
	from the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy?	7:33
	Surely.	7:36
	Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people.	7:38
	For what other great nation has a god so near to it	7:43
	as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him?	7:46
	And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances	7:50
	as just as this entire law	7:54
	that I am setting before you today?	7:56
	But you must always be careful, he went on,	7:59
	and watch yourselves closely, so that you neither forget	8:03
	the things that your eyes have seen, the escape	8:08
	from bondage, the miracles in the wilderness,	8:11
	the gift of the Holy Presence, nor ever let them slip	8:14
	from your minds as long as you live.	8:18
	Put them in the forefront of your memory,	8:23
	write them down on pieces of papyrus	8:25
	and bind them to your foreheads	8:28
	so that you never go anywhere without them.	8:30
	Teach them to your children,	8:34
	and to your children's children.	8:37
	For it is in remembering God	8:40
	and not becoming complacent	8:43
	that you will always find	8:46
	life.	8:49
	Maybe this is why in divine providence	8:51
	we observe Thanksgiving.	8:54
	So that we will remember God,	8:56
	and not become complacent.	9:00
	For what other nation in the history of the world	9:03
	has been more like Israel with the God who is near to it	9:06
	when we have called upon God's name?	9:10
	From those bleak austere beginnings in Puritan New England	9:13
	to the heyday of immigrant arrivals in New York City,	9:16
	from the rolling fields of Virginia, and the south,	9:20
	to the courageous adventures of wagon trains in the west,	9:24
	from the great mills and factories of the north,	9:28
	to cattle drives in the southwest,	9:32
	from Mississippi river boats to gold towns of California,	9:35
	from the halls of Congress in Washington,	9:39
	to the redwood forest of the Pacific,	9:42
	from Silicon Valley and the Alaska pipeline,	9:45
	to the pineapple fields of Hawaii,	9:50
	God has been	9:53
	our God,	9:55
	blessing our people, grieving over our sin,	9:57
	hallowing our dreams, and hearing our prayers.	10:01
	No, we must never forget in an age of cynicism	10:07
	and politics, that it was the conviction	10:12
	that God is with us, that brought the first small boatload	10:15
	of settlers to these shores.	10:19
	It was that same God that inspired the signers	10:21
	of the Declaration of Independence	10:25
	and the founders of a new nation,	10:27
	that put grit and fortitude in the (mumbles)	10:29
	of the pioneers for their westward journeys,	10:32
	that led to the founding of an entire network	10:35
	of churches and schools and colleges,	10:39
	which include Duke University,	10:41
	that allows us to rejoin as one nation under God,	10:44
	after a horrendous civil war,	10:48
	and that kept us strong and made us victorious	10:51
	in two world wars.	10:55
	Yes, that same God allowed us to become introspective	10:58
	and repentant over centuries of slavery	11:04
	and our treatment of Native Americans	11:07
	and immigrant Orientals and Hispanics.	11:10
	And yes, it is certainly that same God	11:13
	that remains our surest hope for world peace	11:17
	and personal salvation and wholeness.	11:21
	There's good news, my brothers and sisters.	11:25
	We get a second chance.	11:28
	It is only in remembering,	11:31
	as Moses pointed out to his people,	11:33
	that we truly know who we are and whose we are,	11:36
	and are able to face the future with hope and courage.	11:41
	Thanksgiving, then, is about remembering.	11:46
	Unfortunately, the characteristic mark of our age	11:51
	is that we do not really believe that God intervenes	11:54
	in the world of our affairs.	11:59
	We act in such a manner that says that economics	12:01
	and public and private politics are independent	12:04
	of the moral and divine realm.	12:07
	Folks, Thanksgiving is really not the humanistic story	12:11
	of a group of pilgrims who overcame the first harsh winter	12:15
	and went on to form a great nation.	12:18
	We do not give thanks for the pilgrims.	12:21
	Rather, we give thanks for the God that they adored.	12:25
	We do not give thanks for Thanksgiving	12:29
	as simply a story of how we've overcome.	12:33
	Thanksgiving is the story of a people who came to worship	12:37
	and found that even in the midst of their darkest hour,	12:40
	and most difficult of circumstances,	12:44
	that God was with them.	12:46
	It was God who provided for and sustained God's people	12:50
	by the bounty of God's own hand.	12:54
	Thanksgiving, then, begins and ends	12:58
	with God.	13:02
	It is God's own story.	13:03
	Today is Christ the King Sunday, a day in which	13:07
	we celebrate the coming reign of Jesus Christ,	13:10
	and the completion of creation.	13:13
	And next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent.	13:16
	Thanksgiving day is not very far away	13:19
	from Advent and Christmas.	13:21
	Purely, it is an accident of the calendar.	13:24
	But it does represent a very important relationship.	13:28
	For it is in Advent and Christmas that we look forward	13:31
	to coming again of the second chance.	13:34
	It is the great expectation that the season of hope	13:38
	is reborn, and with it there is rekindled within each of us	13:42
	a sense that we can perhaps start afresh,	13:46
	that we can be begin with a new slate.	13:49
	That is why it is such a welcomed time,	13:53
	why it is such a high claim upon the affections	13:56
	of people of great and little faith.	13:59
	We are not washed up.	14:02
	The book is not closed.	14:04
	The last word has not been spoken or written.	14:06
	Thanksgiving then is about how we will respond	14:11
	to the goodness of such a magnificent God.	14:15
	What then should our response be to such a great God?	14:19
	Gratitude.	14:24
	People who are grateful live their lives giving to	14:27
	and sharing with others of what they have received.	14:30
	My gram once said something to me	14:34
	that I think bears repeating on this occasion.	14:36
	Perhaps it was the summary of what Moses was trying	14:39
	to tell the children of Israel and of what I want	14:42
	to say to you this day.	14:44
	Gram said, remember your roots.	14:47
	Your history.	14:51
	And the forebearers' shoulders on which you stand.	14:52
	And there, in the midst of it all,	14:56
	there in the midst of all that makes you you,	14:59
	you will find	15:04
	God.	15:06
	Thanksgiving is about remembering	15:09
	not to forget.	15:13
	Are you ready for Thanksgiving?	15:17
	Are you ready to give	15:21
	thanks?	15:24
	Thanks be to God.	15:27
	Amen.	15:30

Item Info

Title:

Kenneth L. Nelson - "Are You Ready to Give Thanks?" (November 22, 1998)

Description:

Sermon start time: 02:51. Sermon end time: 15:30.
In anticipation of Thanksgiviving, this sermon calls on the audience to remember God and respond with gratitude. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “For it is in remembering God and not being complacent, that you will always find life. Maybe this is why, in divine providence, we observe Thanksgiving, so that we will remember God and not become complacent.”

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44q7r45h

Date:

November 22, 1998

Speaker:

Nelson, Kenneth L.

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Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0933
ref10017_raq
uachapelsermaud
duke:320656
dcrau001577
ark:/87924/r44q7r45h
8079c87d-a018-4b84-b27e-ce1a1cf735a7

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Durham (N.C.)

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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Educational Use Permitted

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