Being Thankful if Today’s Dinner is at a Mission or a Mansion
Karla and I didn’t go to Kansas City this Thanksgiving, and our kids didn’t come here. But we won’t be alone. This morning we will be at the Eastside mission, helping feed their neighbors a Thanksgiving meal.
I haven’t served Thanksgiving Dinner at a mission in a long time.
My internship during my seminary years was at the Kansas City Rescue Mission. Back then, I was a regular on the holidays at the mission. Had you asked me during that time, I would have told you that I would be a director of a rescue mission “when I grow up.” I had no visions of pastoring a church. I thought my calling was to the down-and-outers of the world not the up-and-comers. What I’ve learned, in the last 37 years, is that both groups need Jesus.
Many folks eating the free meal at the mission have Jesus. But others there will think that their past sins and behaviors have blown their chances with God Almighty. They haven’t. That’s not how God works. God is willing to enter any surrendered heart (no matter our past).
Many church-going regulars eating thanksgiving dinner around a big dining room table with lots and lots of food have Jesus too. But some church folks act like they need just a little “dash of Jesus” who makes their already full life just a little better. That’s not how God works either. Jesus isn’t a condiment to our lives. Jesus must be the main course. It’s an all or nothing deal with Jesus. Either we have Him or we don’t. The question then becomes “does Jesus have all of us?”
Michigan native, Hillsdale college graduate and evangelist Judson Van DeVenter had the answer for all people no matter where one eats thanksgiving dinner. His words penned over 125 years ago still ring true. “All to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him, I freely give.”
Everyone is in the same boat. We all need Jesus and Jesus needs all of us. When we don’t have Jesus we are doomed. When Jesus doesn’t have all of us, we are living a far less than fulfilled life. We are never satisfied (even if our cupboards are full and surrounded by family). But when we have Jesus and Jesus has us, then no matter the circumstance or trial (even if our cupboards are empty and we are alone), we can be living a thankful, blessed life.
True thankfulness flows from a heart fully surrendered to Jesus. Those people who know they have all of Jesus and Jesus has all of them are the most thankful people around whether eating their meal at a rescue mission or in a mansion.
