Thanksgiving: Feasting as a Family

Kent and Barbara Hughes Authors
Updated Nov 04, 2011

If, as a family, you give to God's work in accordance with the biblical directives, and especially at holidays give attention to the poor, you should have no reservations about feasting. The festival tithe of ancient Israel has established the principle of feasting in celebration of God's goodness as important to family spiritual life [see Deut. 12:10-11, 17-18]. Some of the guidelines we used may be of help to you in enhancing your table. They are worship, sameness, sharing and hospitality.

Worship

Typically, our worship at the table has included Scripture, prayers, and a hymn. For example, Christmas dinner is preceded by the reading of Luke 2, a hymn such as "Joy to the World," and prayer. Similarly, when we gather at the Easter table we read from an Easter narrative (John 19, Matthew 28, Mark 16, or Luke 24, or perhaps 1 Corinthians 15) and then sing an Easter hymn, such as "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," and pray. Thanksgiving, though not a religious holdiay per se, is intrinsically religious for the Christian, and we have made the most of it in worship with the reading of Governor Bradford's Thanksgiving Proclamation or a Puritan prayer, some Thanksgiving Scriptures, then prayer followed by the doxology.

Sameness

We have come to realize that consistency, not innovation for innocation's sake, is important. So we have established traditional entrees: turkey at Thanksgiving, tamales and enchiladas on Christmas Eve, prime rib at Christmas, and lamb at Easter. Predictable aromas, especially as they are associated with regular family celebration, enhance the anticipation of the event and more importantly build a sense of continuity and security -- which is so important in this changing world.

Sharing

We have found that our attempts at spiritual discussion at the table around the theme of the celebration have ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. So much depends on who is there, the guests, the ratio of children to adults, how some are feeling, and quite frankly, the personal dymanics before coming to the table. One grouchy teenager can skew everything. Also, awkward attampts at "sharing" at the wrong time can put everyone off. Nevertheless, we have learned that if we do not prepare for spiritual discussion, it very likely will not happen. So we both come with starter questions in mind, and we wait fo rthe right time to inject them. Sometimes it just doesn't work. But when it does, the result can be sublime.

Hospitality

The Scriptures call us to be hospitable (Rom. 12: 10-13), and we have found that our traditional feasts are perfect opportunities to heed the call. Besides, hospitality is implicit in Old Testament directives about feasting:

You shall eat [the offerings] before the LORD your God...you and your son and your daughter ... and the Levite who is within your towns. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. -- Deut. 12:18

Students away from home, singles without family nearby, and the elderly are all ideal people to invite. One year we hosted an exiled Bolshoi ballerina, who insisted on baking a huge napoleon. The creation of the monster pastry (twenty pounds) paralyzed our home for the better part of two days. But what substance it become for family interest and humor. And we were enriched when Luba Bershadsky sat at our table and talked about her life in the gulag and the miracle that Christ had wrought within her.

A Puritan Prayer for Thanksgiving

O MY GOD,
Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
our hearts admire, adore, love thee,
for our little vessels are full as they can be,
and we would pour out all that fulness before thee in ceaseless flow.

When we think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over our hearts,
crowding into every moment of happiness.

We bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given us,
for preserving its strength and vigour;
for the ease and freedom of our limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing our daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for hearts that feel sorrows and necessities,
for minds to care for our fellow men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for own expectations of seeing thee clearly.

We love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase our love, O our God, through time and eternity.