Thanksgiving Day, Cycle C
National days of thanksgiving within the United States and Canada are by nature primarily expressions of civil religion, not of the ecclesial, individual, family, community, or universal levels of religion, even though every level in which we express our religion may be involved. Because civil religion at its best is inclusive of the religions of all of the people living within a nation, in nations such as the United States and Canada in which there are Native Americans, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, and many other groups, observance of National Days of Thanksgiving should include participation by all of the groups represented and use resources drawn from the oral and written traditions of every group represented. Civil religion at its worst, however, excludes minority groups and uses the power of the state to promote the religion of the powerful majority within the nation. Therefore, worship experiences at the national level should be inclusive of all of the people, and the celebration of national days of thanksgiving in local areas should also be inclusive of all of the people in the local area.
Leaders in worship at the national level of religion ideally should not be pastors, rabbis, imams, and so on, but should be public, national, state, and local officials, and the most appropriate texts should be selected from national documents such as the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and comparable documents in Canada. There have been few instances in which such inclusive expressions of religion on national days of thanksgiving have been attempted and have been successful. It would be meaningful to participate in more of these, if they are planned and implemented appropriately, expressing repentance for national acts of oppression, and inclusive of all persons.
National level of religion within our biblical texts is for the most part centered on the political manifestations of the religion of ancient Israel and of Israel as a nation. That nation provided a positive example in some instances and a negative one of exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful in many others. Deuteronomy 26:1-11 is one of the best of the positive models available to us. The other texts selected for our use on this occasion: Psalm 100, Philippians 4:4-9, and John 6:25-35 are basically expressions of ecclesial rather than national and civil religion. They are expressions of thanksgiving, but not at the level of national, civil religion. They can be used in ecclesial religion on many occasions, but are not designed specifically for civil religion observances.
In summary, since there were no constitutional democracies comparable to the United States and Canada during the lifetimes of the writers of our Scriptures, there are no biblical texts that are ideal for our use on National Days of Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, even within ecclesial worship services.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
As indicated above, among the four texts selected for our use on the occasion of a national day of thanksgiving, this text is the most useful and relevant. The use of first fruits of the season in this text provides the emphasis on offering food and dedicating it to the Lord, as well as on sharing food with others. Our practice of sharing baskets of food during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons with people who cannot afford good food is at most a token effort if those who receive it lack adequate nutrition during the rest of the year.
Psalm 100
This is a beautiful psalm of praise and thanksgiving for any occasion, even though it is not set in the context of a national, civil religion.
Philippians 4:4-9
This also is a very meaningful expression of faith that with considerable adaptation can be used within an ecclesial level of worship on a national day of thanksgiving.
John 6:25-35
The Johannine Jesus is depicted in this text as the “true bread from heaven” giving life to the world. This text can, of course, be used within a totally Christian setting on any day of thanksgiving. It would not be helpful in a civil religion setting that includes Jews, Muslims, and other groups.
