Sunday Next Before Advent
Bishop Ray R. Sutton

Today’s Sunday pulls together two great seasons and teachings of Christianity. As the Sunday immediately after Thanksgiving it is never able to escape the call to give thanks to the Lord. At the same time, this Sunday begins to point us in the direction of the next season of the Church year, Advent. The word means coming of the Lord. Our Epistle reading shows the important relationship between thanksgiving and the coming of the Lord.

You see, the epistle is from one of the most melancholy prophets in all of Scripture, Jeremiah 23:5-7. In this lesson the prophet tells of a magnificent moment when the “righteous branch of David” will come as king. This coming of Jesus Christ will be such an overshadowing event that all of the great events in the past such as the Exodus and the return of God’s people from captivity will pale in significance. Yet, most importantly, although Jeremiah speaks of the coming of such a fantastic moment, Israel at the time was in awful despair over her sad circumstances. Jeremiah states in the next sentence, “My heart is broken within me” (23:9). Israel had fallen from grace and gratitude to God. Jeremiah wanted to turn them around. He wanted the Lord to return to them. The way back and forward involved repentance and offering thanksgiving to God . . . even in the bad times. I call it thankfulness for the thorns before the rose comes. Allow me to explain a bit more clearly by way of a parable.

A lady named Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door.  During this Thanksgiving week she should have delivered a son,had it not been for a tragic car accident. And as if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Now her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come for the holiday.

Given all of this sadness in Sandra's life, her friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief be met with Thanksgiving by a trip to see her friend, the florist. As Sandra stood in the shop thinking, “She has no idea what I'm feeling,” she was startled as the shop clerk spoke up, "Good afternoon, can I help you?" "I....I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving?  Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call, “The Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop clerk.

The clerk continued, "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories. Are you looking for something that conveys gratitude this Thanksgiving?" "Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you." Just then the shop door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi, Barbara...let me get your order." The clerk politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers. "Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara, replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the 'special', I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest. And she left with her order. 

"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh....she just left with no flowers!" "Right, said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet." "Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery." That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. . . . “So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly." I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and never questioned the good things that happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask questions! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, Scripture tells us not to be anxious because God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I . . .  don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said. ”It's all too...fresh." "Well," the clerk replied carefully, "I’ve discovered that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Sandra's eyes filled with tears. For the first time since the accident, she slightly began to loosen her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out. ”I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." "Thank you. What do I owe you?" "Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first." It read: "My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the difficulties I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have drawn closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant." And so ends the parable tying together thanksgiving and the coming of the Lord. For you see, He comes to us when we give thanks, especially when we thank Him for our thorns. Amen.