What Would Change if Jesus Showed up to Thanksgiving?

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“Thanksgiving will draw our hearts out to God and keep us engaged with Him; it will take our attention from ourselves and give the Spirit room in our hearts.“

Andrew Murray

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and there are so many beautiful, biblical reminders of gratitude and contentment being tossed in my direction. Yet, I have one question still resting on my heart as I prepare for the joyful celebrations and traditions that will take place tomorrow….

What would change about the day if Jesus showed up?

The House Jesus Would Show Up To

Big Thanksgivings are pretty normal in the United States. But, here in West Africa? Most of our Thanksgivings have looked small and unique, shared with close friends and teammates.

We’re doing something a little chaotic this year, though. We’re inviting two other missionary families, two single missionaries, a nanny, and eleven peace corps strangers (we only know one of them) to our house.

I’m an introvert, so inviting all these people – some being strangers – into our living room has been a stressful thought for me. But, the more I’ve thought about it, I think that this is the kind of place Jesus would be on Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow our house will be loud. It will be messy. It will be full of raw, human chaos. And as much as these gatherings stress me out – it’s beautiful. A bunch of random sojourners – all probably a little weary from traveling in a bunch of different directions – are gathering together to revive a little part of our souls.

Wouldn’t it be just like God to bring us, flawed, broken lovers-of-His-heart, all the way to West Africa to meet flawed, broken lost-souls who just happened to find their way to West Africa too?

What if part of this journey is to meet these people who sojourn like us, but without hope of an eternal home?

Maybe we’re here to tell them about the comfort in our sojourning. To invite them to His table.

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

– Philippians 3:18-20

I think this is the kind of house Jesus would show up to for Thanksgiving. The messy house. The loud house. Houses with chaos and strangers and people from all kinds of backgrounds with all kinds of loves and all kinds of brokenness. He seems to like those kind of places. To observe people…to sit in the middle of it all and watch it unravel. And in the unraveling, He quietly reaches inward and touches all the hurting places.

Inviting Jesus to Our Living Room

So we invited Jesus to our living room.

The cool part about inviting Jesus is that He’s already there. The invitation is more for us than it is for Him. It’s like if you went to a large restaurant and happened to be there at the same time as one of your friends. You might not notice your friend if you were seated on opposite sides of the establishment. But if you had invited the friend to dinner at the restaurant, you’d be sure to notice them because you’d be looking for them.

That’s the trick. We have to look. We have to become beautifully, deeply, fascinatingly in-tune with the Holy Spirit. Do you know Him so well that you sense Him moving in a room? I long for that. I want to recognize His presence; to see His hand the minute it even briefly touches the heart of someone beside me.

So, when I say I invited Jesus to my living room…I don’t say it because He needs invited. He’s already in my living room. I say it because I need to place myself in the mindset of looking for Him. What is our plan for thanksgiving if there is no Holy One to thank, after all?

If Jesus Showed Up…

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

– Ephesians 5:8-10

I’ve also been thinking a lot about what would change if Jesus showed up. It’s revealed a lot of hypocrisy and lowliness in my heart. For example…

If Jesus showed up, I’d listen better and talk slower. I would show patience and compassion before jumping to criticism and judgments.

If Jesus showed up, I wouldn’t complain about having so many random people come to our house. Instead, I would smile at Him and say, “what a lovely way to introduce them to you!” And I wouldn’t hesitate to initiate the introductions if He asked me to. I would engage before being engaged.

If Jesus showed up, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to let my tears of thankfulness fall when telling everyone about all the wonderful things He has done for me. I would applaud Him every chance I had, just like I’d applaud someone who saved my life if at a family dinner.

If Jesus showed up, I’d sit with Him. I wouldn’t pay much attention to the mess. I would ask Him a lot of questions. “How should I talk to this person? What would be a good question to ask? Do you think they need to talk about anything specific? Who looks weariest? Can you come with me and hold parts of the conversation when I don’t know what else to say?”

My Thanksgiving would look a lot different if Jesus showed up.

And you know what’s convicting about that?

Jesus will show up.

Since Jesus is Showing Up…

He’s showing up to my Thanksgiving. He’s showing up to your Thanksgiving. How will we welcome Him? Will we sit with Him? Will we introduce the other guests to Him?

I’m writing this tonight because I already know I’m going to make a lot of mistakes tomorrow. Anyone who knows me knows I do not like parties or big events. I like quiet. I like stillness. But even more than those things…I love Jesus. And He is the quiet and still within my heart.

Since Jesus is showing up, I want to spend a lot of time with Him. This is my early commitment not to hide in my bedroom, a corner, with the littles, or washing dishes in the kitchen. I might do a little of all of those things. But I want to stand where Jesus is standing. To talk to the people He is looking at. To share the words of encouragement He is pouring into a lonely soul.

Since Jesus is showing up for Thanksgiving…I want to show up for Jesus.