Father, are you getting a little radical on us? What do you mean including confession with Thanksgiving? That day is a day to give thanks for God’s bounty. It is not a penitential day.
Then I have a surprise for you because it was a surprise for me as well. Did you know that up until the 20th century, the idea of confession of sins was included in Thanksgiving? Let me give you a couple of quotes below that will show you what I mean.
In 1777 the Continental Congress issued the first call for a Day of Thanksgiving. In it it says:
“. . . It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance. . .”
On 3 October 1789, President George Washington issued a Day of Thanksgiving proclamation, in which it says:
“. . . Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks . . . and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions. . .”
On 3 October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln followed President George Washington’s example:
“. . . I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience . . .”
That tradition, of thanksgiving and penitence, was not followed in the 20th century. Rather, Thanksgiving Day became simple a day of giving thanks, but not of confession. As a result, our theology of Thanksgiving has become woefully deficient. Yes, it is definitely a day of giving thanks. But, if I could phrase it in a way closer to what our forefathers/mothers said, it is a day to give thanks that in spite of our many sins God has yet been faithful to bless us and provide for us.
So, let us this Thanksgiving, when we pray around our tables with our family and friends, remember to offer up some prayers of confession as well as the traditional prayers of thanksgiving. Let us admit our national sins, for that is what all the proclamations call us to do, express our remorse, and then express our thankfulness that he blessed us in spite of ourselves. In this way, you will identify with our forefathers/mothers and carry on a very appropriate Day of Thanksgiving.
May God bless you this coming week as you travel and as you give thanks for His bounties.
This is an interesting connection that I had never considered before. I think you are right though that remembering confession in conjunction with thankgiving deepens the theology of the holiday. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.