Thanksgiving: To Shoot or To Sing? (by Bryan Long)

 For the first time, our family is not in Vermont today for Thanksgiving. Our kids don't know any other way and my wife has been eating turkey "on the hill" since she was little. I moved around a lot as a kid and Vermont is one of the few places that I call home. It's going to be a very different "Thanks"giving for most of us.

The word "thanks" in the Hebrew Bible is funny. It means "to give thanks," but it also means "to shoot." We read in the Psalms: "I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High" (7:17) and then in Jeremiah: “Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows..." (50:15)

To shoot or to sing...

They both come out of the same root word for "hand." You can use your hands to draw a bow or you can use them to lift in gratitude. Built into the word is this tension we all feel. Sometimes it's easy to give thanks. Life is going well, circumstances are manageable, and we are able to stop and smell the roses. Other times (like right now) it's a lot more difficult. We are tempted instead to "shoot" arrows of anger, cynicism, sarcasm, bitterness, pain, judgement.

To shoot or to sing...

Tradition tells us that the psalm above was written by David after being wrongfully accused of conspiracy against King Saul, which would surely result in his death. He pleads to God: "...save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me." (7:1) He had every right to spare no arrows. Yet, in that last verse he uses his hands to lift in song. In reflecting on this psalm, C.H. Spurgeon says: "What a blessing would it be if we could turn even the most disastrous event into a theme for song, and so turn the tables upon our great enemy."

That's just it, isn't it? Giving thanks is actual the more effective "weapon." It's easier to reach for an arrow than a song, but it always misses the mark. The bow never satisfies. But we turn the tables when we choose to give thanks to Jesus who took every arrow humanity could shoot on a cross and then rose from the dead to start the restoration of all things - from death to life; from sickness to health; from shooting to singing...

So this Thanksgiving day, here at home, our family will make a choice to turn the tables by giving thanks. We'll put down the bow and use our hands to eat well (steak this year), play board games, give hugs and lift in gratitude to Jesus. That's my prayer for you as well...

Pastor Bryan
Teaching Pastor