What Do You Really Know About THANKSGIVING?

by Joe Mucciolo, Sr.

Known popularly in our day as "Turkey Day", Thanksgiving Day is often associated with Pilgrims, Turkeys, Indians, football and a kick-off of the holiday shopping season. But to many, its decidedly Christian origins and intentions remain somewhat of a mystery.

It started in England!

Well, sort of. In 1646 English Parliament in conjunction with Church of England and Protestant church leaders met to hash out common Christian doctrines. In that document, titled the Westminster Confession of Faith, they stated, "beside religious oaths, vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner." This confession was adopted by many protestant churches and became influential in the New World as protestant groups fleeing persecution sailed across the globe. The Pilgrims popularized the Thanksgiving Day feast after their missionary-based move to the Americas.

The French Connection

But it was first celebrated in the New World by "Huguenots" - French protestants who settled in the area of modern day Jacksonville, Florida, in 1564. Of this original Thanksgiving feast they recorded, "We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us. " showing us the Christian roots of this day of thanksgiving "in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, and reverence".

St. James Place?

In 1610 the colonists at Jamestown, after a particularly harsh winter remembered as "the starving time," celebrated a day of thanksgiving to God - even though there number was reduced from 409 to a paltry 60 colonists. This Jamestown thanksgiving day consisted of prayers and praises to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Pilgrims

Everyone has heard of the Pilgrims, but much of what we know is misinformation - some deliberate, some unintentional, but we remain misinformed nonetheless. Many are under the impression that Thanksgiving was a feast wherein the Pilgrims, running to America from persecution under English rule, gave thanks to the natives for saving them from certain destruction. But this synopsis is full of half-truths at best. Though the Pilgrims did flee from English tyranny, they fled to Holland, where they were by and large given religious freedom. The reason for their move to the Americas was twofold: to escape the ungodly influence of the Dutch on their children, and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the globe.

But who were they thankful to on that traditional first Thanksgiving Day feast? The first and foremost recipient of their thanksgiving and praise was the Lord God Almighty, who, through His providence, caused the settlers to endure the hardships of that first winter, and ultimately blessed their efforts in the New World. Were they thankful to the native peoples who had befriended them? Most assuredly, just as the natives were thankful for the help they also received from the Pilgrims. Both communities were mutually beneficial to the good of each alike. The Indians (Native Americans) taught the settlers how to manage and fertilize crops in this new and different soil, while the Pilgrims taught Old Testament laws of crop rotation to improve the depleted soils and free trade economics to the mutual benefit of both communities.

This exchange of ideas, this symbiosis, coupled with the voluntary conversion of many native peoples to Christianity, ushered in a fifty year peace treaty between the two colonies, wherein they joined forces on many occasions to fend off other marauding tribes. But they also joined forces to give thanks to the Almighty God who allowed them to prosper together.

"Thus out of small beginnings greater things have grown by His hand Who made all things out of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light kindled here has shone to many, yea, in a sense, to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise." - William Bradford

The Presidents of the United States of America

Since these early celebrations, the U.S government established a regular day of feasting and thanksgiving, "offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them." This was quoted in 1789 by a congressman in the House of Representatives!

Many U.S. Presidents have since confirmed the foundation of Thanksgiving Day, including Abraham Lincoln, who said of this National Holiday, "the gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday in November next as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in heaven. ".

So celebrate Thanksgiving Day with a mind towards the God of the Bible and thankfulness in Jesus Christ, the giver of all good things!

Turkey Day, Holiday, Holy Day

The traditional Thanksgiving Day feast, where families and friends join together for a day of celebration, friendship and good food, a day of sharing in one another's lives, is something that does not have to be constrained to a single day in a year.

In fact, a similar celebration is commanded by God to be kept weekly! In the New Testament celebration of the Lord's Supper, the disciples met on Sunday, not for an extended Church Service/lecture and entertainment, but for real fellowship over the sharing lives with one another in Jesus name. This meal was a time when believers in Jesus Christ could build each other up and offer support that continued throughout the week. It is, in fact, a picture of the Heavenly wedding feast to come, when all believers will feast with Jesus at his return!

But to enjoy this real "communion" (community) and its attending benefits, you must be born again! Jesus said in John chapter 3, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Since we are spiritually dead because of our sins, we need a rebirth in order to have fellowship with God. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned, and we know from Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death - eternal death in what the Jesus describes as "The Lake of Fire"! Since God is good and perfect and just, he cannot let criminals go unpunished. But the "good news" that people often speak of is that God sent His son Jesus Christ into the world so that we could be pardoned from our sins. He was sacrificed, fulfilling God's justice on our behalf, so that we could be forgiven - the ultimate governor's pardon!

But in order to experience this forgiveness, and the gift of God which is eternal life, we need to be born again, which involves repentance, turning from sin, and trusting in Jesus. Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Pray to God to receive salvation today, and you can be a part of His weekly practice for the Heavenly Feast - a real Thanksgiving Day where "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" - 1 Corinthians 2:9.