Thanksgiving is upon us. People all over the nation will be prepping their annual turkeys, getting excited about watching their favorite NFL teams play and finalizing their game plan for Black Friday. But I propose a new tradition which was first practiced by Joshua in the Bible and is still relevant for today.
Thanksgiving brings together family, friends and food, but more than anything, I think it's a day to reflect on all we've been blessed with, to give thanks for these blessings and then find ways to share with others throughout the year. In this current economic climate of layoffs and financial melt-downs, it's not difficult to feel anxiety, worry and stress, but this holiday is all about focusing on the very opposite, thankfulness for what we have.
Many of us in one way or another have been abundantly blessed and I don't just mean in Ben Franklins or all the branded accessories in our closets. When I think of blessings, I think of family, friends, health, joy, grace and freedom. In this economic climate, especially, it is important to reflect on God's faithfulness in our lives. It's so easy to remember the opportunities which didn't materialize and to focus on loss, but it is in remembering our blessings, that our hope and faith is renewed to carry us through the tougher times.
Joshua 4:1-9 recounts the story of the Israelites at the end of a long journey. God had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt and sustained them through many years in the desert. This was a milestone for a generation, a dream come to fruition, as they crossed over the Jordan river into the promised land.
To mark the memory, God commanded Joshua to set up a memorial of the crossing, but the memorial symbolized much more than parted waters and a river crossing, it represented God's kept promises, His faithfulness, their answered prayers. More than that, it was a sign of hope for future generations to remember.
This past Sunday, my pastor suggested making memorial stones to remember God's goodness and faithfulness. What a beautiful way to see God's fingerprints all over the blessings in our lives. These stones give us faith to face an uncertain future.
As you invite your loved ones over this holiday and pass the pumpkin pie around the table, take a moment to reflect on your blessings and answered prayers. Know that as you share stories of God's faithfulness and bear witness to God's goodness, you are building a legacy of faith and hope for others. Like Dennis Bratcher said in his online sermon, memorial stones are not a "stale tradition of facts and ritual, but the tradition of living encounters with God, a heritage of living stones that speak to us of God, and His work in the lives of His people (from The Voice website)."
So when our children, friends and family ask, "what do these stones mean?" we can say they are places where God met us and they will know He is a living God who still guides His people.
Joshua 4:1-9 (passage taken from Biblegateway.com)
When all the nation had fully passed over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, take twelve men from among the people, one man out of every tribe, and command them, take twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan from the place where the priests' feet stood firm; carry them over with you and leave them at the place where you lodge tonight.Then Joshua called the twelve men of the Israelites whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, pass over before the ark of the Lord your God in the midst of the Jordan, and take up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, as is the number of the tribes of the Israelites, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, "what do these stones mean to you?," then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.
So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever. And the Israelites did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord told Joshua, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
