Thanksgiving In NJ 2012

New Jersians are mindful this Thanksgiving of the change of lot which can come about in the blink of a storm or the rush of a wave. Many approach tomorrow’s day of thanks having significantly less tangible goods to be thankful for- particularly true of our shore neighbors. At the same time many New Jersians recognize the lack of thanks they once had for the things they no longer have. It’s sort of like not appreciating someone until they are gone, and once they are gone we wish we would have appreciated them more when they were with us. I believe people in New Jersey post-Hurricane Sandy are approaching this day of thanks from one of two perspectives; 1) They have developed a new thankfulness for the things now gone and so more completely appreciate the things which now take their stead, or the opposite 2) They recognize the futility of appreciating anything too highly which can so quickly be removed, and instead have come to value and covet more fully that which cannot be taken at all. It is this latter perspective that I would like to draw our attention towards this Thanksgiving Day 2012.

Thomas a’ Kempis in his Imitation of Christ once said, “It is vanity then to seek after, and to trust in, the riches that shall perish.  It is vanity, too, to covet honours, and to lift up ourselves on high…It is vanity to desire a long life, and to have little care for a good life.  It is vanity to take thought only for the life which now is, and not to look forward to the things which shall be hereafter.  It is vanity to love that which quickly passeth away, and not to hasten where eternal joy abideth” (Ch.4:1).

These olden words from a Christian monk illuminate for us a biblical truth long past in America- “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). We feel the pain of displacement for those in NJ who have lost much. We sympathize with those still without power. We even seek to share the burden of those who have lost their homes altogether and know not if they shall ever rebuild. Relief efforts continue for this reason. But for bringing eternal truths to light in a way no other means could we can only give thanks, for a veil has been lifted.

Luxuries and abundance always cushion our feelings of helplessness before the throne of grace. They ground us to the present. They trick us into complacency. If abundance stays around long enough we will even mistake it as God’s blessing for a righteous life. But for Jesus there was no veil. Jesus knew that the more possessions man possessed the more those possessions possessed the man. He knew the great freedom possible only when we release our holding on worldly goods and so free ourselves to fly to Him. He knew that the more a man desires to be spiritual the more bitter the present life becomes to him and the more eagerly he pursues what is to come.

“Oh foolish and faithless of heart, who lie buried so deep in worldly things, that they relish nothing save the things of the flesh!  Miserable ones! They will too sadly find out at the last, how vile and worthless was that which they loved.”

“The saints of God and all loyal friends of Christ held as nothing the things which pleased the flesh, or those which flourished in this life, but their whole hope and affection aspired to the things which are above.  Their whole desire was borne upwards to everlasting and invisible things, lest they should be drawn downwards by the love of things visible” (Kempis, Imitation of Christ).

 Oh that loss would compel us after those things which can never be lost. Oh that we would not again set all of our energies on rebuilding our little kingdoms on earth, but that we would rekindle our fervor for the kingdom of Heaven. For it may be that possessions have so possessed us in NJ that, have it our way, we might rather live here always than walk with Jesus in the kingdom of Heaven. It may be that we have grounded ourselves so firmly that we no longer know how to fly to Him. Let it not be our desire this Thanksgiving Day to return all of NJ to middle-class-ness, as if that were the goal. Rather let it be our goal to free ourselves from this world such that losses as we have lost no longer seem like loss at all, but blessings in disguise. Let it be our goal the devaluing of perishable things and the exaltation of the eternal Christ. If it be that we regain the things we lost from the storm let us glorify Jesus not by re-possessing them, but by devaluing them altogether. Let us recognize every worldly comfort not as the very substance of life but simply as a shadow of the eternal rest available to those who will deny themselves their worldly comforts and pleasures and follow Jesus.

This Thanksgiving I am eternally thankful. Granted I have not lost but 5 days of inconvenience from the storm. Others have lost their homes. But I am seeking to set in my heart ahead of time the loss of all things temporal. If it be that the Lord allows all things temporal to be taken from me before I die I commit that I shall be ready- for I had let them go before they went. Let us all be ready at the blink of an eye to give up every temporal thing. Let us settle in our hearts today the loss of all of our possessions. Let us make like we do not own them, cannot keep them and do not want them. Only then will we be truly free and ready to fly to Jesus when He returns.

As you surround your table today may you take in the comfort of food, clothing and shelter not as the actual thing but as a shadow of the true comfort, rest and eternal life that will arrive to us when Christ returns.

Getting ready for that day today,

Shaun