I revisited a homily I wrote a few Thanksgivings ago for X Church and decided I can’t ramble about anything better than this today, so enjoy this “classic” reflection and have a blessed Thanksgiving with your families!
Tom+
November 26, 2015
X Church Homily, Christ Church, Frederica
Propers for Thanksgiving Day
The Rev. Tom Purdy
In 1971 a strange thing happened in the radio and advertising industry at the same time. An advertising jingle became a requested song – people called their radio stations asking for it to be played like it had come off a hit record. Anyone remember the song?
If not, you’ll remember the commercial they made to go with it, which came out 4 months later. It started with the face of a pretty young woman, and expanded to show more and more people singing the song with her, with many nationalities obviously included in the singing. Know it yet?
“I’d like to buy the world a home,
And furnish it with love,
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow white turtle doves”
They wanted you to remember one line in particular: “I’d like to buy the world a Coke
and keep it company; that’s the real thing. What the world wants today is the real thing.”
It was a smash success as advertisements go. They did actually go back to the studio and create a pop-version of the song, taking out the Coca-Cola reference. Many advertising jingles and campaigns have been measured against it. Because it was one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time it was also the closing scene to the popular cable show, Mad Men. The mysterious advertising man, Don Draper, is given credit for the commercial in the show – the pinnacle of his creative genius.
Well, a friend of mine sent me a video today that mashed up that Coca-Cola commercial with the Prayer of Humble Access – the prayer we say just before coming for communion. It’s a weird combination, right? By design, in this case. To jump back and forth from the syrupy sweet song about the syrupy sweet beverage to the stark and decidedly un-sweet tones of the prayer is jarring. But it is a good juxtaposition to place the commercialized claim for what “The real thing is,” up against what our faith teaches us is, indeed, the real thing, found when we humbly approach the Lord’s table. Instead of a sing-songy hope to keep the world company through sharing sodas, God came to keep us company through sacrifice and radical love.
And as great as that little crossover jingle was and is, it is a quintessential example of how we can get our priorities screwed up and lose track of what the real thing is.
Tonight’s Gospel is the assigned reading for Thanksgiving in the Prayer Book Lectionary. Jesus tells us not to be worried about our lives, what we will eat, what we will drink, or what we will wear. But of course, we do worry. Few of us here tonight worries a great deal about whether we’ll have food to eat tomorrow, but we do worry about what we will eat. In our culture we’re so blessed with abundance we have food entertainment – entire channels devoted to it. We get to choose between a myriad of restaurants. We learn to prepare exotic dishes for fun. We don’t just eat, we eat well, and put a lot of time, energy, and money into making sure that’s possible.
We could say the same about our choice in beverages, thinking now of those of us who have the wherewithal to choose exotic and expensive drinks with the right ingredients or the best vintages. And our clothing is another matter all to itself, where labels and designers matter. Even our children get sucked into it. My ten year old is quickly paying attention to the brand of sandal all the middle school girls are wearing. And of course we could go on.
On one hand, Jesus’ words are comfort for those who might worry about where their next meal will come from, or whether they have warm clothing now that the nights are getting cold. Those are the primary worriers he’s addressing, calling them to have faith that God will provide for them like God cares for the birds of the air and lilies of the field. Our worrying is on a whole other level. And yet, ironically, his words are equally as powerful for those of us who worry about the particularities of our abundance. It’s true when he questions us about our worrying, “you of little faith,” and it’s true when he tries to redirect us: “But strive first for the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you indeed.”
Tomorrow is a day set aside for giving thanks; for acknowledging that God blesses us mightily. And when we stop and think about it, as we are more likely to do having set the day apart, we realize that God’s promises to care for us have been fulfilled all along. God has and does care for us, even if we live in a state of dissatisfaction because we don’t have everything just the way we want it.
Maybe Jesus WAS speaking to us and the way the wealthy and privileged worry too.
Jesus knew the truth deep in our hearts, the same one that advertisers know is there. We do worry, regardless of what we have. And that dissatisfaction and worry can be exploited – is exploited. It’s why on the day we set aside for giving thanks for all the blessings we have, we turn around and rush out to shop for those things we don’t have but can get for 40% off if get there first. For some in our culture, our thanks are hollow, or at least short lived and weak compared to that pull for more, cheaper, bigger, faster, flashier.
And yes, perhaps the Prayer of Humble Access is a worthy antidote, an appropriate juxtaposition. Here we are, with all of our abundant blessings, coming to God’s table seeking more. Our faith isn’t enough to guide our lives as God would hope for us, but we’re here anyway, to get another helping. We are broken, and our hearts aren’t prepared for the gifts of grace we receive over and over again. And yet, God loves us, and invites us to join in at the table. It is indeed a humble moment of recognition to give thanks for this reality too. Because it is real.
And here we see, Coke had it right; at least partially right. What the world wants today, what the world needs today is the real thing… …the thing that we find in the love poured out on this table. We need this more than we need a Coke. We need this more than we need to say we’ve eaten at the newest restaurant in town. We need this more than the right logo in our closet. We need it more than a lot of the things we worry about. The real thing isn’t for sale. We aren’t going to find it on Black Friday, but we will find it on Good Friday, and on Easter, and on Pentecost, and on Christmas, the day that God came to make a home in the world and furnish it with love, to keep us company and show us the REAL thing. The image isn’t a hillside full of young people from all over the world sharing a soda, it’s, as we pray before coming to the table, “that we and the whole company of Christ, may sit and eat in your kingdom,” and a recognition that on this side of heaven we do just that when we come here.
Strive first for the kingdom of God, and making sure that no one else need worry about what they will eat or drink, or what they will wear, and we won’t have to worry about anything either. Perhaps the apple trees and honeybees, and the snow white turtle doves can wait. But yes, please, let us share the real thing.
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.