Sermon, November 19, 2006
Thanksgiving Sunday

copr.2006 by
Rev. Michael Poage, pastor
Fairmount United Church of Christ

"FROM A BAR IN ALASKA"

Psalm 98; Ezekiel 34:11-16; Matthew 25:31-46

In her book, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott writes the following:

"I was remembering an old story the other day about a man getting drunk at a bar in Alaska. He's telling the bartender how he recently lost whatever faith he'd had after his twin-engine plane crashed in the tundra.

"Yeah," he says bitterly. "I lay there in the wreckage, hour after hour, nearly frozen to death, crying out for God to save me, praying for help with every ounce of my being, but he didn't raise a finger to help. So I'm done with that whole charade."

"But," said the bartender, squinting an eye at him, "you're here. You were saved"

"Yeah, that's right," says the man. "Because finally some (&#@**&^) Eskimo came along!".

Some of us, for whatever reason, just never get it. Maybe we are all in that place at sometime in our lives -- whether we are sitting in a bar in Alaska, or just plugging away at our everyday tasks -- that often seem like a crying out to a God who does not hear, and does nothing about it (whatever "IT" may be).

And since this is Thanksgiving Sunday, perhaps we can do some thinking together about who that "Eskimo" has been -- or is -- in our lives. The title of the sermon is not meant just to get your attention, and it is not a joke.

Above all, it is not a joke!!

Who has come along and lifted you or me out of the wreckage? How many times has it happened, and we still don't get it -- or we say: "I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps!"?

This is a Thanksgiving unlike any in our history. One man, NOT Arabic or Middle Eastern, gets through security illegally at a major world airport and 10,000 people are evacuated from the terminal. A car goes out of control and two teenagers are killed. One side in a war has lost perhaps 600,000 lives. Genocide is constantly with us (or with someone).

The United States distributes ten billion dollars annually for global aid -- an amount UNDER what we spend on our pets each year. And we still mourn the loss of thousands of lives on Sept. 11th -- children and adults from over 80 countries -- a Thanksgiving unlike any in our history.

On the other hand, this is a Thanksgiving just like any other in our history.

The Psalmist, in a poem (Psalm 98) written thousands of years ago, says:

"Sing to God a new song! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it! Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of..."

And in the Book of Ezekiel (34:11-16), written thousands of years ago, we read these words:

"I will be the shepherd of my sheep.... I will seek the lost, I will bring back the strayed, I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak... I will feed them with justice."

Not with revenge will I feed them, but with justice, with equity, with life and breath.

We hear in Matthew's gospel (25:31-40) these words of Jesus:

"Come, you that are blessed by my God, inherit what is prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me... Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me."

This is a Thanksgiving so much like every other one in our history.

Several times when I have joined the seniors group from Fairmount for the monthly breakfast I have attempted to pay my bill and the waitress just says to me: your meal has been paid for. Just like that! A mystery! Just like today -- this might not be a bar in Alaska (!) but you're here (you were pulled from the wreckage alive) -- as you did it to the least of these, you did it also to Me.

I go to the eye doctor on a regular basis -- the annual exam. You know the routine. They put those drops of "whatever" in your eyes, it stings, your eyes water, they give you some tissue and have you sit down in a room, as your eyes are hurting, watering and dilating and they point out all the magazines you can read until they come back to get you for the really fun stuff.

I picked up a TIME magazine and was just thumbing through the pages when I ran across an obituary -- for the great violinist, Isaac Stern. My eyes were clearing some and I read this short article written by a fellow musician.

He wrote about how Mr. Stern, just through the passion of his music, brought together the small or large community of musicians playing with him -- how he was the cornerstone of the music and made all the other musicians relax, forget that it was a "performance," and lift the music into new realms of beauty and life.

The writer of this obituary finished with these words:

"In any but medical terms, the cause of his death, 'heart failure,' was the farthest thing from the truth. The one constant in [Isaac Stern's] life was that his heart never failed."

Can we say that about our nation, our lives, our church, our community? Who saves us from the wreckage and we still don't quite get it? Just as you did it to the least of these you did it also to me.

Your meal has been paid for.

This Thanksgiving is so unlike -- and so much the same -- as any in our history.

God bless you all, and have a happy and thoughtful Thanksgiving.

Amen.

PASTORAL PRAYER AND THE LORD'S PRAYER:

GOD OF ALL CREATION,
IF WE HUMANS CAN MANIFEST UNSELFISHNESS AND CONCERN,
COMPASSION AND A RELENTLESS HEART,
IS IT NOT BECAUSE SUCH ACTION
IS AT THE VERY NATURE
OF THAT WHICH IS MOST IMPORTANT?

FOR OUT OF THE HEART OF GOD
COMES THE EVIDENCE OF A LOVE
FOR ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE,
AND A REFUSAL TO GIVE UP ON ANYONE.

THE ANGELS SAY:
"DO NOT BE AFRAID."
SO IN PLACE OF FEAR
LET US PUT HOPE, HOPE
IN THINGS SEEN AS WELL AS UNSEEN.

AND LET US GIVE THANKS.

WE MAKE THIS PRAYER IN THE NAME OF THE ONE WHO TAUGHT US TO PRAY, SAYING...

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever.

Amen.