REMARKABLE SIMILARITIES

 THE FIRST AMERICAN THANKSGIVING

At the turn of the 16^th century there was a lot of religious unrest in England.  A group of believers emerged who felt the need to leave the influence of the Church of England.  This group much later became known as Pilgrims.  In 1607 they fled to Holland because their lives were being threatened in England.  From there – in 1620 - they boarded a ship called the Mayflower and set sail for the new lands across the ocean.  Their primary objective was to find a place where they could live and worship in freedom and without persecution. 

The Mayflower was an old boat that was about 100 feet long.  It was quite crowded with 102 passengers (plus crew).  We know the names of all these passengers!  The journey was hard with many storms.  At one point a main beam broke and had to be repaired with a giant screw.  After 66 days, they sighted Cape Cod and realized that they had missed Virginia where they had permission to settle.  But with food and water supplies low, they could go no further. 

Since they were in land that had not been chartered to them, they all signed the Mayflower Compact which basically stated that they would all stay together and cooperate for common survival.  When they were able they petitioned for a new charter for the land in Plymouth;  this charter was granted in 1621. 

In December of 1620, a group went ashore to explore.  They found the land at Plymouth to be suitable for living.  However, the winter was harsh and they were unprepared for it.  Many became sick.  By spring, half had died!  The Mayflower returned to England, but all of its passengers stayed in the new land.  In April, Samoset, a Native American who spoke English walked into the settlement and said, “Welcome!” 

The Wampanoag people had lived in this area for hundreds of years.  They were acquainted with English explorers who had come to fish and hunt.  One of their strongest leaders was Massasoit, who lived 40 miles southwest of the Pilgrims in Rhode Island.  These tribes had suffered from new diseases that took the lives of many of their people!  Because of this, Massasoit was interested in forming alliances wherever he could. 

In the early fall of 1621, the 53 surviving Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in response to a good harvest.  The 53 included:

• 4 married women
• 5 teenage girls
• 9 teenage boys
• 13 young children
• 22 adult men

Another ship arrived after this celebration, bringing more people to be part of the settlement.

King Massasoit attended the Thanksgiving along with 90 of his men. 

The menu for that first Thanksgiving included:

• cod, bass, and other fish
• wild ducks and geese
• turkey
• lobster
• watercress
• berries
• dried fruit
• boiled pumpkin
• clams
• plums, and
• venison  (Massasoit’s men went out and killed 9 deer for the feast).

This tradition was repeated in 1623 when they had suffered through a summer of severe drought.  However, at the end of the growing season came several weeks of rain that caused their crops to grow wonderfully.  The people were filled with such gratitude that they once again expressed their thanksgiving to God through a celebrative meal! 

WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS?

The thing that leaps from this story of the first American Thanksgiving is the fact that they thanked God even though they had experienced terrible hardship and great loss!  49 of their family and friends had died during that first, hard winter!  They had said a final good-bye to mothers, fathers, friends, and children!  Yet, amazingly, when the Mayflower departed for England – no one left!  Their shelters were makeshift.  The Native Americans were friendly.  The game was bountiful.  The sea held food resources for them.  The ground was capable of bearing fruit.  But, most important, they had freedom!  They could worship God and express themselves to Him without interference from outside authorities! 

It’s interesting to me that they didn’t hold a Thanksgiving the following year.  Thanksgiving was not a ritual for them.  It was not a date on a calendar to be observed.  For whatever reasons, they simply did not give thanks in 1622.

However, in 1623, they experienced a terrible drought.  The summer came and passed with no relief.  Governor William Bradford’s diary reports that no rain fell between the third week of May and late July.  It was unbearably hot!  Everything nearly dried up and died.  In response to this crisis they held a gathering to call on God’s mercy.  It was a day of fasting and prayer in which they humbled themselves before Almighty God! 

Listen to Bradford’s report:  (made contemporary)

…all morning, and the greatest part of that day, it was clear weather & very hot - not a cloud or any sign of rain to be seen.  Yet toward evening it began to become overcast.  Shortly after that it began to rain.  It rained with such sweet and gentle showers that they immediately rejoiced & blessed God.  The rains came without wind or thunder;  with no violence at all, and yet with great abundance so that the earth was thoroughly wet and soaked.  It revived the decayed corn & other fruits.  It was so wonderful to see, that it made even the Indians marvel.  After this, the Lord sent them consistent seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather, so through His blessing, they enjoyed a fruitful & liberal harvest.  There was great comfort and rejoicing.  So much so that they set apart another day of thanksgiving.

It’s interesting that they were thankful because there had been a hardship and because they had put their trust in God and because God had clearly answered their prayers and provided for their needs! 

Notice, the previous year had been a normal year, and they did not have a Thanksgiving that year.  But when hardship came;  when drought came;  when they were forced to depend on God – they became thankful! 

APPLICATION

Are you thankful to God even when times have been tough?

When loved ones have died and you’ve had to spend time isolated and cold – can you be thankful then? 

Is God only worthy of praise and worship when He does good things for us?  

Max Lucado tells of when his young daughter fell into a swimming pool.  She was pulled out and resuscitated.  The next morning he was praising God that his daughter was alive and well when He heard God speaking to his heart:  "Would you be praising and thanking Me if she had died?" 

God is always worthy of our praise!

Are you only thankful when God answers prayer?

A lack of gratitude is a terrible thing.  Good parents go to work with their children early to teach them to say thank-you.  I’m always amused when you give a child a piece of candy and the mother says to the child, “What do you say?”  Then, after several promptings, the child looks at you and says. ‘I’m sorry.” 

A lack of gratitude leads to an attitude of entitlement.  And if left long enough, it turns into bitterness and anger. 

Gratitude is so important. 

One Christmas, a parent decreed that she was no longer going to remind her children of their thank-you note duties.  As a result their grandmother never received acknowledgments for the generous checks she had given.

The next year things were different, however.  "The children came over in person to thank me," the grandma told a friend triumphantly.    

"How wonderful!" the friend exclaimed.  "What do you think

caused the change in behavior?"   

"Oh, that's easy," the grandmother replied.  "This year I didn't sign the checks."

 

We all appreciate gratitude when it’s expressed to us.  Don’t you imagine that God also appreciates a thankful heart? 

I spoke with a friend this week and asked him if he was having a good day.  He told me that every day he wakes up and can move his hands is a good day!  Do you feel that way?  Do you regularly give thanks to God for the blessings and protection that He’s given you? 

I send out thank-you notes.  I want people to know how much I appreciate their contributions to what we do here.  I am often thanked for these notes.  To be honest, I receive a lot of thank-you notes, too.  They encourage me,  I keep them and look them over from time-to-time. 

Have you noticed that when people are truly grateful it makes you want to do even more for them? 

Wouldn’t it be great if you could develop a discipline of giving thanks to God? 

My childhood, bedtime prayer:  “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, God, bless Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Jeannette and Lib, Tommy and Bobby, Beverly and Ira; everybody in the world, And keep Harold be a good boy. Amen.”

My prayers are longer and more thorough now;  and hopefully much more meaningful.

How about yours?  Does God know how grateful you are for all the blessings He’s poured out into your life?  Do we really need a national holiday just to remind us to give thanks to God?  Don’t you think He might like to hear it sometimes other than late November?   

The scripture says:   [Psalm 136:1]

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good – His love endures forever!