In speaking of the “common sense” of Thanksgiving, I’m not planning to offer practical suggestions for cooking a turkey or decorating for the Thanksgiving holiday. Rather, I’m referring to an instinctive knowledge common to all people. In particular, I’m referring to that intuitive sense possessed by all people that giving thanks is right and good. Every person, I believe, in his heart-of-hearts instinctively recognizes that it’s appropriate to express gratitude to another person for benefits received.
Indications of the “Common Sense” of Thanksgiving
The very fact that Americans have a special holiday in November seems to indicate the common sense of Thanksgiving. Indeed, you may recall how defiant many Americans became just a few years ago when certain government officials suggested that people should skip thanksgiving celebrations in light of COVID19! Many Americans said, “No way! We’re not giving up our Thanksgiving!”
Of course, some people would attribute the American practice of thanksgiving to our Christian heritage. “Americans give thanks,” they’d argue, “not so much out of instinct as out of tradition.” And it’s certainly true that our national holiday has Christian roots. Thanksgiving Day is most commonly associated with the Pilgrim’s first harvest feast in 1621. And various American presidents have perpetuated this Christian tradition. In his first presidential proclamation, George Washington declared November 26th, 1789, the first national day of thanksgiving. He said,
“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.”
President Lincoln reaffirmed this tradition when on October 3rd, 1863, he invited all his fellow citizens to observe the last Thursday of November as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in heaven.” Undoubtedly, the American practice of thanksgiving is to some degree rooted in Christian tradition.
There’s evidence, however, that the practice of thanksgiving extends beyond Christian tradition. For example, the American Indians recognized the propriety of giving thanks even before the Pilgrims landed on American soil. One ancient Indian ritual makes this statement: “Our Creator shall continue to dwell above the sky, and that is where those on earth will end their thanksgiving.”
In Dallas, Texas, there is an organization called “The Thanks-Giving Foundation,” formerly called “The Center for World Thanksgiving.” They have several articles on their website regarding the origins of thanksgiving. I’ll quote some extracts:
Thanksgiving and gratitude have marked important milestones in American life for hundreds of years, but thanksgiving isn’t only an American tradition. The roots of thanksgiving and gratitude stem from the human universal need to express gratitude through prayer, gift-giving, and celebrations practiced throughout the world.1“Thanksgiving—One of Humanity’s Most Universal Gestures” (accessed Nov 27, 2008).
Here’s another quote:
Worldwide, the values and traditions of thanksgiving are found in every culture and religion. Indeed, all the major world religions—including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam—have rituals, observances and liturgies that express thanks to a higher power for the gift of life and its wonders.2“Gratitude and Thanksgiving—A Worldwide Tradition” (accessed Nov 27, 2008).
I would not advocate the ecumenical agenda of this organization. They’re trying to make all religions equal, and I don’t agree with that. But I do agree with their observation regarding the universal felt need to express gratitude. The presence of terminology for gratitude in the language and culture of every nation and every religion seems to indicate this common intuition.
Implications of the “Common Sense” of Thanksgiving
What practical lessons can we draw from this universal phenomenon?
1. Humanity’s common sense of thanksgiving provides evidence God’s existence.
You’ve heard of the various arguments for God’s existence: the cosmological, teleological, and ontological. Well, this is what I am calling the “thanksgiving argument” for God’s existence. How does the universal sense of the propriety of thanksgiving provide evidence for the existence of God? In this way: apart from the existence of God, it is impossible to explain the fact and significance of this common sense of thanksgiving. And the only way that we can explain this common intuition is to presuppose the existence of God.
For example, try to explain the fact or meaning of gratitude from a purely secular and materialistic viewpoint. According to secular materialism, we’re nothing more than a cluster of molecules and electrical impulses. If that’s what we are, why should one cluster of molecules give thanks to another cluster of molecules? We don’t expect the soil to thank the sun for warming it. We don’t expect the tree to thank the raindrops for watering it. We don’t expect the carpet to thank the vacuum for cleaning it. If we’re basically made of the same stuff as everything else in the universe, how can we account for this universal intuition among men of the propriety of thankfulness?
Think about the following scenario with me: The Johnson family are on vacation. Bill and Betsy want to get away from the busy rat race of city life. So, they take their two teenage boys on a hike in the Sierras. On the second day of their camping trip, Billy (Jr) and Tommy decide to wander away from camp early in the morning to explore the wilderness on their own. By dinner the boys still haven’t returned. Late that evening, Bill and Betsy call the ranger station and report that their sons are missing. Two days later the search team finds the boys cold and hungry. Immediately, after one of the rangers gets done assuring Bill and Betsy that the boys are safe and sound, he hands the boys the phone so they can talk with their parents. And the first thing the parents say is this: “Thank God you’re alive.”
What’s odd about that response?
You say, “Nothing. That’s what I would have said.”
But what if I told you that Bill and Betsy don’t believe in God. They aren’t religious. Never once have they taken their boys to church or talked about God in the home. Why, then, at that moment do they intuitively feel the need to thank God? Answer: Because of the common sense of thanksgiving.
Let me approach it from another angle. Many Americans are grateful to have been born in America. Many Americans recognize that there are benefits and privileges in this country not found in other places in the world. This is why you and I become impatient and irritated with those Americans who are not grateful. We expect every American to feel some measure of gratitude for having been born in this country.
Now follow me carefully … “Thanksgiving” is defined as an act in which one person thanks another person for the benefits they have received. Here’s the question: if thanksgiving is an act by which we express our gratitude to another, then to whom should Americans give thanks for being born in this great land?
Someone says, “We should thank our parents.” True, inasmuch as our parents have faithful cared for us and provided for our needs, we certainly owe them thanks. Someone else says, “Americans should thank their government.” I agree that inasmuch as our government faithfully upholds the laws of the land and protects our liberties, we can give thanks to our government.
But let’s remember that neither our parents nor our government ultimately determined that we would be born in America. Yet there’s something inside of us that prompts us to offer thanks to Someone greater and higher than either the government or our parents! This is why multitudes of Americans still gather in churches and temples and synagogues and mosques and shrines to give thanks to their Creator.
You see, the universal recognition of the propriety of gratitude confirms the existence of the God to whom all men owe thanks. The poet Christina Rossetti has observed, “Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with grateful hearts and no one to thank.” But the truth of the matter is this: were there no God, there would be no so thing as grateful hearts! So, I contend that the reality of gratitude confirms the existence of God!
2. Our common sense of thanksgiving reveals a primary purpose for our existence.
Why did God create human beings? The Bible tells us that God created man for His own glory (Isa 43:7). This is why the Shorter Catechism teaches us that man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” What does it mean to “glorify” God? Basically, it means, to honor God. And one of the primary ways by which men honor and glorify God is when they give Him thanks. In fact, the Bible closely connects the ideas of glorifying and thanking.
For example, in Luke 17, Jesus heals ten lepers. Then we read, …
Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan (Luke 17:15-16).
Do you see the connection between glorying God and giving thanks? Or consider Revelation 4:9 where were told that in heaven “the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever.” You and I were created to glorify God. And one of the primary ways we fulfill our created purpose is by giving thanks to God. If this is so, we cannot expect to live happy and productive lives unless we are fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. The great theologian Augustine taught that the human soul is restless until it finds its rest in God. Likewise, it can be said that the human soul is never truly happy unless it is overflowing with gratitude to God.
Perhaps this is why so many of our fellow Americans fail to find true happiness. It’s not because they’re failing to pursue happiness. It’s because they’re trying to find happiness apart from God! This leads to a third implication …
3. Our common sense of thanksgiving exposes our sin of ingratitude.
At some level in their consciousness, all men recognize that they should be thankful to Creator. It’s the very purpose for which they were created. However, as we consider the attitudes and actions of humans in general—including ourselves—we have to conclude that God does not receive that gratitude He really deserves.
Think for a few moments of the many benefits with which God has blessed human beings: First, consider the fact that God created us and the beautiful world in which we live. Did God owe us our existence or a place in His created universe? Of course not! It’s a gift! Second, consider that fact that God sustains our existence every day. God is the one who gives us the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. God is the one who causes every heartbeat to pump life-giving blood through our veins. These too are gifts for which we ought to be eternally grateful. Third, consider the great dignity with which God has endowed humanity. Consider the engineering marvel of our bodies. We can taste, we can feel, we can smell, we can see, and we can hear. All of these are wonderful blessings. And think of our minds and emotions. We have the ability to reason and think and calculate. We have the ability to experience joy and love and even warm feeling of gratitude!
Beyond all of this, consider the fact that the Invisible God who created us has also chosen to reveal Himself to us. “The heavens declare the glory of God!” Our own conscience and heart bear witness to the reality of God. And not just that there is a God, but a GOOD God! As Paul the Apostle once declared to a city of pagans, “God has not left you without a witness, in that He did good and gave you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).
Now if we truly appreciate God’s goodness to the human race and if we weigh it against human expressions of gratitude, we’re forced to conclude that human gratitude is terribly deficient! How often to you see people in the restaurant bowing their head before a meal to given thanks? How often do you hear successful businessmen, give God the praise for prosperity? How often do you hear our government leaders thanking God for the blessings and liberties this country enjoys? Not as often as we should!
This is what the Scripture means when it teaches, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It’s not that all men fail to be as glorious as God is glorious. Rather, all men fall short of rendering God the honor that is due to His name! Consider the witness of Romans 1:18-22:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
This is a stinging indictment against the entire human race! Although all men are intuitively aware of their Creator, they give Him neither the honor nor the thanks that He deserves. And this ingratitude doesn’t have to take the form of atheism. According to the text, men may be very religious, and yet fail to thank their Creator. They may exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image of their own making.
Earlier I alluded to the multitudes of Americans who gather in churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and shrines because of a common sense that they ought to be thankful to a Higher Power. The sad reality is that most of those people are giving thanks to the wrong god. They are withholding the gratitude they owe to the true God—the God they know in their heart-of-hearts—and they are offering that gratitude instead to a false god.
To illustrate, imagine a wife who’s deeply devoted to her husband. Imagine her husband is away on a long business trip. During that time, she faithful cares for his children and administers the affairs of the home. Then, at his homecoming, she fixes up the house, buys a new dress, arranges for a babysitter, prepares his favorite meal, and sets the stage for a romantic evening. Imagine how that faithful and devoted wife would feel if for the whole evening her husband did nothing but praise another woman with whom he had been working. She would be terribly grieved and hurt!
That’s exactly how God feels when he loads men with countless benefits, and yet they give their thanks and praise to another! God sends his only Son into the World who declares, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one can come to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). And yet people reject Jesus! This grieves and breaks God’s holy heart!
Such is the ingratitude of our sinful heart! And our very sense that we should be endlessly thankful exposes the sinful reality that we are so profoundly ungrateful. That brings me to the fourth and final implication …
4. Our common sense of thanksgiving reveals our desperate need for forgiveness and spiritual transformation.
There is a God. Our chief end is to be grateful to this God. But we miserably fail to do so. We often spend more time complaining about what we don’t have than thanking God for what we do have. Therefore, our common sense of thanksgiving reveals that we desperately need to be saved from this ingratitude.
Perhaps we don’t believe ingratitude toward God is so serious a sin. When we think of bad sins, we think of things like murder or adultery or stealing. Or maybe we think smoking or drinking or dancing are the really big sins.
But when the topic of confession and forgiveness comes up, we may not think much about our failure to give thanks. If we do feel bad about our lack of thanksgiving, it’s often limited to the horizontal level. We forgot to send a “thank you” card for the birthday gifts. We forgot to thank our spouse for doing the dishes or washing the clothes. But we often fail to appreciate the gravity of ingratitude toward God.
Dear friends, let me remind you of what Paul the apostle said in Romans 1. Paul says that God’s anger and wrath is resting upon ungodly humanity for its rebellion against God. And when he wants to describe one of the primary ways in which that rebellion is manifested, he places his finger on human ingratitude: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21, ESV).
Are you an ungrateful person? Do you rarely feel compelled to pause and give thanks to God? Are you always griping about something or someone? Then I encourage you to flee to Christ! He died for ungrateful sinners like you and me that we might be receive the forgiveness of our ingratitude. And just as he cleansed the lepers of his day of their physical leprosy, so he can cleanse us today of our spiritual leprosy. That cancerous growth of sinful, selfish ingratitude that keeps us from loving and serving the one true God! I encourage you to ask God to give you a new heart—a heart that overflows with gratitude.
If you’re a true believer but because of your remaining sin you haven’t been as grateful to God as you should, I remind you of the promise of Scripture: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every unrighteous deed” (1 John 1:9). That includes the sin of ingratitude.
Conclusion
I’ve argued that all men have a common sense of Thanksgiving. But – and this is a paradox –I’ve also suggested that, because of sin, thanksgiving is not as common sense as it should be. To be more precise, the intuition of the propriety of thanksgiving is common. But the attitudes, and affections and actions of thanksgiving to God are not common. Let us pray that genuine gratitude to the one true God and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may become much more common than it is. More common in our lives individually. More common in our homes. More common in our churches. More common in our society.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:3, ESV)
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