After his recent trip to Asia, it’s good to see our President (well, the US President, to be sensitive to our international readers) is back in time for the important parts of his job- namely, the Presidential Pardon of a Thanksgiving Day Turkey.
This year, Cobbler and his pal Gobbler received “the nod” to be spared the axe this Thanksgiving, a deliverance celebrated and complete with a Presidential photo-op and the liberty to take a 40+ pound waddle in the direction of life and freedom. As they trot into the sunset, everyone is happy…
…Except for PETA. Bafflingly, the animal rights organization, instead of supporting the pardon of two feathered friends, wrote a letter to the President claiming that the letter “makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds.”[1] Instead, the President is asked to abandon the tradition, as it portrays the US president as being in cahoots with the poultry slaughter industry.
Newkirk, PETA’s president, even goes so far as to say, get this- the killing of turkeys is analogous to the marginalization of African-Americas, women, and the LGBT community. Wow. I’m not African-American, female, or of the LGBT tribe, but I can’t help but think that if I was, I found find belittling insult, rather than solidarity, with such a ludicrous comparison. Perhaps the best way to respond is how most Americans do to this organization- with the roll of the eyes, a chuckle, and a click to the next page of Yahoo’s “pressing” national news.
As one prepares to cultivate the attentions and the desires of his or her heart towards Thanksgiving this Thursday, may we remain thankful that in most other applications, pardons are not events of salvation to be received unappreciated, and neither do they make little or light of the severity of the sentence it liberates others from.
As lucky as Cobbler and Gobbler are, their fortune and reason for rejoicing cannot compare to the joy and thanksgiving of one found in Jesus, as in the Believer’s case, it was not one (or two) pardoned while the many faced sentence, but by the one who was slain, the many have received pardon. “But he was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being was upon him, and by his scourging we are healed.”
My prayer for my Thanksgiving is that my soul be stirred to true thanksgiving in view of the life I have received because of redeeming and reconciling work of Jesus. Thanks, and laud, and honor, and riches, and might, and glory, and blessing be to the Lamb who was slain. By all means, Jesus is the wellspring of thanksgiving- may he be the true centerpiece of our hearts, and the church’s, celebration of this national holiday.
Benediction
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout
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