This past week our board had a long discussion about if we should have a meal on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We traditionally have always went to a restaurant, gathered and celebrated “family.” But over time people have remarked that maybe we should tone it down a bit. Maybe we should save some money have a lighter fare such as sandwiches or not do it at all.

Now I don’t really care if we have a big sandwich, go to a restaurant or have “pot luck” but I do care that we pause as a family and say “thank you.” That we celebrate what God is doing among us, for us and through us. That we give thanks.

During the conversation for just a moment I flashed on John 12. This is where Mary takes a pint of very expensive perfume and wipes the feet of our Savior. In the process Judas Iscariot says, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages” (John 12:5).

Of course we know Jesus replied that this act was a fulfillment was a celebration of the fact our Lord was there among them. That one day he would die, be buried, and rise again for our sins. Reminding them and us to never miss out on an opportunity to rejoice that God has placed us in a believing family to share, to grieve to celebrate within this the Kingdom of God. My point? It is so easy to forget the wonder of being saved. Let’s be honest sometimes we get so wrapped up in budgets, in dynamics of whether to eat out or have a big sandwich and save a few bucks we miss out on simply saying “thank you” to the One who came just for us.

Dear Lord may you be among us in the songs we sing, in the prayers we pray, in the meetings we attend, in the lives we live, in the sandwiches we share together (the bread we break in communion). Come Lord Jesus, come. Amen.