Is Christmas Following Thanksgiving?
Jeremiah 23: 1-6
Colossians 1: 10-20
NOVEMBER 23, 2025
The prophet Jeremiah reports that the Lord God declares, “Watch out you shepherds” … a warning that they start to pay attention. I don’t know about you but when I hear the word shepherds in a church setting I immediately start to think about “Joy to the world … the Lord has come … let earth receive her King.”
You know … THOSE shepherds from Luke’s Gospel, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Yep, to ALL people not just a few preselected folks.
And suddenly those worn-out shepherds looked at each other, and the first recorded moment of Thanksgiving occurred. Ok, so there was no turkey … no stuffing or as some of you call it dressing … definitely no mashed potatoes and gravy out on the plains surrounding Bethlehem but maybe an apple pie or a pumpkin pie … nah, none of that but most definitely the first Christmas was literally hours away.
Instead of getting a good night’s sleep after counting their sheep, the shepherds witnessed the THANKSGIVING of the angels who knew that THANKSGIVING should be first and foremost focused on THANKING God and then the shepherds went and discovered Jesus Christ, the babe in the manger, and they just knew that their lives were changed forever. In fact, Luke provides the historical record … “And when the shepherds had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”
And, after having just participated in the first THANKS BE TO GOD GIVING … Christmas … the shepherds sat back focused on watching some football games … first the game from Detroit then from Dallas and finally the night game from whatever city the NFL powerbrokers decided to hold it in and then they briefly went to sleep before rushing out to buy BLACK FRIDAY sales items for their tents, their sheep, and their families … and maybe some goodies for themselves.
So, in your world … amongst your family … the question is like that old question debated for generations which came first the chicken or the egg question … today my question is which came first CHRISTMAS or is CHRISTMAS FOLLOWING THANKSGIVING? Is the ultimate item in your Thanksgiving Day prayers offered up at the table a thankful moment for God’s loving gift of Jesus Christ to the world or are those prayerful moments so rushed and hushed that the Jesus from Christmas is just another day’s afterthought?
This past week I had more than a few conversations focused on Thanksgiving and a few on Christmas itself. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of you that just like most folks none of those conversations about Thanksgiving were focused on God or Christ or faith and only occasionally was there a mention of being thankful in a generic sense. We, like most of the American public, talked about food, who was making what … who was coming or where we were going … reminiscing about Thanksgiving’s in the past … I don’t even recall anyone mentioning who will be playing in Detroit or Dallas or even if anyone knows who is in the night game (Nick probably knows but just an FYI the 820 game when most people stuffed with turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing and pie .. oh yea pies mmmm Colleen is making apple and pumpkin … anyhow most folks will be sleeping in easy chairs, on couches or in bed but the No Fun League that seems intent on intruding into the lives of families has scheduled a game in Baltimore with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town ruining Thanksgiving evening for fans in those cities and for the players and those working for the teams.).
And, not to just impact Thanksgiving the NFL now schedules games on Christmas Day itself when families throughout history were reflecting on Christmas Day’s meaning and peacefulness from the world’s chaos. An intrusion into family life and a day of faith. And, to think that some fans get all excited if their teams are playing on those family days. Then again many celebrate the scheduling of football games on Sunday mornings thanks to the NFL’s new relationship with Europe.
Anyhow … yes … anyhow … those shepherds and all of us. I do believe that there is a calendar correlation between Thanksgiving and Christmas even though those of us who are liturgical in nature toss in Advent as our means of getting ready for Jesus birth in between the fourth Thursday of November and the 25th of December. The Canadians give Thanksgiving perhaps a better center stage by holding their day of Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October filling their day with meals just like ours on this Thursday.
The Canadian Thanksgiving is officially called “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” An interesting bureaucratic name for a day of feasting … but most importantly it encapsulates the intent that I hope we all hold for the day … a day of GENERAL THANKSGVING to Almighty God.
Perhaps I am more bothered this year than in others by our lack of God-connection in so many aspects of our lives. The ongoing and everyday dismissal of the teaching expectations provided by the grown-up Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom the prophets and Joseph’s dream reveal to us “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”
Is God with you … in your daily plans … in your conversations? I have been reminding all of us as to our need as church goers to actually read the Gospels so that we can understand what is expected of us as Christians … as believers … as followers of Jesus Christ who are to contradict the world’s voices by standing up and leaving behind our worldly connections to walk in the Light of Christ.
The Lord God warned the shepherds in Jeremiah’s prophecy … warned them about their failure to take care of God’s people’s needs. The ones who have scattered God’s people and driven them away.
I am bothered this year that our Christian faith is being hijacked by those who want to force Jesus on the nation like some of the world’s Arab nations force Mohammad on their citizens. Folks who refuse to proclaim and celebrate the Gospel teaching somehow think mandated government-created prayers or posters in schools will bring about some sort of allegiance to a God whom the powerbrokers reject in their daily lives’ actions.
As we approach Thanksgiving, I am as thankful Paul was that “God makes it so we can take part in the inheritance of the faithful in the light granted go God’s holy people rescued from the control of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son God loves. God sets us free through the Son and forgives our sins through Jesus” not because of some government regulation. Faith is a lifestyle choice … faith is a life changing reality … faith, as noted in Jesus lesson to Nicodemus requires individuals to be transformed into believers, followers of Jesus or in the nomenclature of John’s Gospel, ““Jesus answered Nicodemus, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.””
Friends, have you made that choice … to take on the Spirit of God … to be transformed in your life’s reality? A simple pre-Thanksgiving question for those of you in church today and those of you worshiping online … I will not ask for raised hands because raised hands creates pressure to conform but I want you to answer in your hearts and in your minds and yes in your soul because when Jesus was asked, “Which commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, “The most important one is ‘Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord and you MUST love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”
That’s Jesus talking … that’s the THANKS BE TO GOD GIVING moment you can have in your life. The Lord God spoke through Jeremiah and said, “The time is coming when I will raise up a righteous descendant from David’s line and He will do what is just and right in the land. And, His name will be THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Paul refers to Him as “the image of the invisible God, the One who is first over all creation. He existed before all things, and all things are held together in Him. He brought peace through he blood of His cross.”
Christmas … Thanksgiving … will they be linked together at your table? Are they linked together in your life? It’s your choice … not something the government can force on you … no something you take care of by merely saying you belong but you need to actually be “rescued from the control of darkness and transferred into the king of the Son whom God loves and through whom God sets us free.” A reason for Thanksgiving because of Christmas. “Joy to the World … the Lord has come!” Be thankful to Almighty God for all that God has blessed us with.” AMEN