Expectantly thankful?

Beacon of Hope, Thanksgiving Square*

     It is hard to be writing an Advent piece before it is actually here, and before Thanksgiving for that matter.  To solve my dilemma of not wanting to skip over Thanksgiving and therefore minimize the importance of  attempted to read the Advent 1 lesson with the lens of Thanksgiving and lo and behold this Advent text is FULL of Thanksgiving!  This week we are in Chapter 12 of The Story and this chapter focuses on three aspects of David's reign:

1. David and Bathsheba, and Nathan's involvement to help David see the truth of his sin
2. David's challenge with his son, Absalom, who committed insurrection and was killed
3. David's preparation for the building of the temple

     Our focus will be on the third portion, which comes from selected chapters from 2 Chronicles and tells of David's preparation for the building of the temple. As our text begins God reveals to David that because of his exemplary military record (and thus the many thousands who died at his command) he will not be allowed to build a temple to God.  Even though God has allowed David to win and has blessed Israel through their victories, it seems that for the temple to truly be a place for God's dwelling it needs to be constructed and overseen by someone with no bloodshed on their hands.  Thus David's son, Solomon, would be 'a man of peace and rest' who could build the temple.
    King David then addresses the people whom Solomon would direct in the building; he emphasizes the fact that the temple will not be for mortals, but for God.  Perhaps this is necessary because King David then goes on to describe how lavish the temple will be, and all of the materials and precious stones and metals he has collected - this promises to be the most opulent structure built to date, and will be a testament to God's unending faithfulness and mercy to Israel.  As our text ends, King David began to praise the Lord in a song of thankfulness:

                                 Blessed are you,
                                     O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel,
                                     for ever and ever.
                                Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power,
                                     the glory, the victory, and the majesty;
                                     for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours;
                                yours is the kingdom, O Lord,
                                     and you are exalted as head above all.
                                Riches and honour come from you,
                                     and you rule over all.
                                In your hand are power and might;
                                     and it is in your hand to make great
                                     and to give strength to all.
                                And now, our God, we give thanks to you
                                     and praise your glorious name.

In this week of Thanksgiving I find that David's song of praise invites us, too, into the jubilant posture of thankfulness, acknowledging the greatness of God's love and faithfulness.  More importantly, I think, with this attitude of gratitude, we realize just how much we do have - a great key to avoiding the consumer trap that is the holiday shopping season.  As my colleague Julie Schuett said so clearly at our community Thanksgiving service yesterday, "nothing is more satisfying than giving thanks for all you have rather on focusing what you lack."
    
And yet.  And yet this is also Advent, the season of expectant hope.  As much as this is a text about thanksgiving, it is also a text of waiting and anticipation of the temple to be built.

In our culture the season of preparation officially starts the same day as Thanksgiving.  There is no time to be stuck in Thanksgiving, but we are swept up in the preparation for Christmas by the Black Friday sales starting at 8:00 on Thanksgiving night.  The same, I think, is true of our faith. 
     As we simultaneously give thanks for all of God's abundant blessings, we look around us and realize the reality that all is not as it should be.  And so we prepare for that day when it is.  For David and Solomon and all of the Israelites the preparation consisted of readying a physical building.  For us today we prepare our hearts - not necessarily adorning them with jewels and precious metals, but with a ready willingness to have Jesus in our lives.
     Pondering these two themes of Thanksgiving and Advent together have left me pondering the mystery of the paradox: how am I thankful for what I have and still am waiting for?

*Scott, Andy. Beacon of Hope, Thanksgiving Square, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55532 [retrieved November 25, 2013]. Original source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Belfast_(144),_October_2009.JPG.