Sermon - Thanksgiving 2025 - Luke 12:13-21

First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1925

Thanksgiving is not about the abundance of possessions

1. Early American Thanksgiving

2. Thanksgiving is not just about a feeling of thankfulness but is about giving thanks to God

3. While we give thanks to God for all of our possessions He’s blessed us with, Thanksgiving moves us beyond the possessions and towards faith in God

A blessed Thanksgiving to you dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Thanksgiving is a civic holiday, but a very wholesome one, and I think it appropriate to remember its origins in our country. Days of thanksgiving are historically normal, while we perhaps think of the Plymouth colony pilgrims celebrating Thanksgiving in 1621, a great many of the early settlers to this land also celebrated a yearly day of thanksgiving. In 1789 president George Washington proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving, saying: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor…Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks.” 

The annual celebration of a national day of Thanksgiving began with Abraham Lincoln, who in the midst of the Civil War in 1863 declared: “The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God… No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Highest God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States… to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

Whether for the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims, the early Americans fighting the Revolutionary War, or for the 19th century Americans fighting the Civil War, they took the time in the midst of their sorrows to acknowledge that all of the blessings they’ve been enjoying come from the hand of our Almighty God and Father. Let’s be clear, they weren’t just sitting around in a life of ease with feelings of thankfulness, but they were vocally acknowledging that all of the undeserved blessings they’ve received come from God, and together they were worshipping Him for His divine providence in their lives.

Thanksgiving in recent years has been robbed of God, as if you can just speak your thankfulness into the ether and that will give you good vibes. But Thanksgiving is about more than a feeling of gratitude, it’s about more than spending time with your family, it’s about more than eating some good food, it is about worshipping the Lord who preserves us amidst life’s many trials. So in a way, Thanksgiving isn’t about the stuff we have for which we are thankful, but it is about looking beyond our earthly treasures and worshipping God, our heavenly treasure.

In that way Jesus’ parable of the rich fool is immensely helpful to direct us away from our possessions and towards the Lord. Here’s Jesus surrounded by a crowd of thousands of people. He’s been performing great miracles and teaching of heavenly things, and yet, this guy comes up to Him and demands: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” This man is meeting God face to face, Jesus is speaking of heavenly and eternal things, and all this guy can think about is getting his brother’s inheritance!

So Jesus admonishes the man and the crowd: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” What a wonderful reminder for us to hear on this eve of Thanksgiving: our lives do not consist in the abundance of our possessions! For the poor this should be very comforting. If the value of our lives consisted in the abundance of our possessions, and if we don’t have many possessions, then our lives would be worthless. But in fact your lives aren’t valued based upon your stuff, but they are valuable on account of the greater eternal treasures you have in Christ Jesus.

But more often than not we think our possessions really are everything! If we had more possessions, we think, if we had more stuff, then we would finally be happy and our lives would be great. But such is explicitly not the case. Jesus makes that clear in the parable of the rich fool.

Here’s a man whose land produced plentifully, and although he already had barns sufficient for him, his wealth was so great he needed to tear down his barns and build larger ones! Having done that he kicks back and says: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry!” Isn’t that the American dream!? Isn’t that the way we expect life to work for us? We build up our wealth so that we can have it made, so that we can kick back, relax, and live in the lap of luxury. 

But riches are deceptive. Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. This rich fool by all outward appearances had everything! But in reality he was lacking one thing. “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The rich fool spent his life amassing earthly possessions, only to die and other people are left arguing over who gets to inherit it. If all you have are earthly possessions, then when you die you will lose everything and you will have nothing. His riches were deceptive, hiding his poverty behind a veil, like shiny wrapping paper disguising an empty box.

The rich fool laid up treasure for himself and was not rich toward God. So instead of filling your life with earthly treasures that will soon fade away, be like Martha’s sister, Mary. Jesus told Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her.” Indeed! “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” 

The Lord has indeed blessed us with many earthly possessions. For our sins we deserve only punishment, and yet He is gracious and showers us with blessing after blessing. We live in a nation filled with as much and more perverseness than existed at the time of the Pilgrims, Washington, and Lincoln, and yet the Lord still provides for us. See how sumptuously we will feast tomorrow! 

So this Thanksgiving, do celebrate with food, drink, and family. Rejoice and be glad! But may this celebrating point you beyond the treasures in your hand and mouth, and direct you to the One through whom all good things come. May the stuffed turkey and pumpkin pies be but a reminder of God’s providence for you and His gift of eternal life through the most precious blood of Jesus the Christ. “Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Then, regardless of the number of possessions you have in this life, when your soul is required of you and all worldly goods are gone, you won’t be left empty, but you will still have the one thing necessary and you’ll find yourself an heir of the eternal kingdom in the heavens. 

Happy Thanksgiving!