Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day 2019 Meditation: “Giving a ‘Fig’ about Thanksgiving Day”

Habakkuk 3:17-19

17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls —  

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Dear Christian friends: If you don't give a fig you care absolutely nothing at all about a something. Don’t be tempted to see "fig" in this phrase as a euphemism for another word that starts with the same letter. The fig is symbolic of anything small, valueless, or contemptible; also, a dried fig or a fig’s end. This usage of fig goes back to the earliest days of modern English (or the end of Middle English). To care a fig is to care almost nothing; not to care a fig, or give a fig, is to care nothing at all. The gesture of placing the thumb between the first and second finger comes from the Spain (Spanish Hico). The gesture was common in Shakespeare’s time and was known as “The Fig of Spain”. The modern-day equivalent, at least in Britain, is the “V” sign and was most likely later brought down by one finger by Americana vulgar usage, showing extreme disgust and contempt for something. Or it more mildly could be compared with the thumbing of the nose or with an unsanitary Bronx Cheer.

Habakkuk mentions that the fig tree doesn’t give a fig. Yet Habakkuk talks about giving thanks to God, rejoicing in the Lord, “Though the Fig Tree Should Not Blossom.” The tree itself, without a blossom, will not give a fig. I believe that Habakkuk, writing of the fig tree, gives us something to think about on this Thanksgiving Day.

Habakkuk was a prophet who lived in Judah about 600 years before Christ. These were the closing years for Judah as a nation, before the Babylonians would sweep in and defeat them and destroy Jerusalem and take the people off into captivity. To say that rough times were on the horizon would be an understatement. The Lord let Habakkuk see what was in store for Judah and the thought of the coming destruction and devastation caused him great perplexity. How could the Lord let this happen? When a pagan nation like Babylon sweeps in and conquers a people, bad things are sure to happen: Violence, death, economic ruin, physical devastation. Not much to be thankful for in that list. More like a recipe for disaster.

Today is supposed to be a National Day of Thanksgiving! If you were to look at the facts of how our country is so greatly divided; the socialists fighting against the free-market economy; the impeachment hearings of our president; what is being done to our own country by her own citizens, you would mostly likely say, “I don’t give a fig for Thanksgiving Day” and “there’s absolutely nothing to be thankful for!”

This is nothing new. 2600 years ago, Habakkuk was having similar thoughts when considering what might happen to his nation. And in his case, they really would happen! Babylon would come in and devastate Judah. Ruin and misery would result. Listen to the distress in Habakkuk’s voice: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? . . . Destruction and violence are before me!” This is what Habakkuk could see looming on the horizon, and it was not pretty. 

But as a prophet of God, Habakkuk could see through that gloomy forecast and see God’s saving purpose and long-range plan at work. God’s mighty, and mysterious hand was at work in these strange and perplexing times. The Lord answered Habakkuk’s complaint: “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” You see, when it looks like God doesn’t know what He’s doing, that we think we might do a much better job if we were God, when we begin to doubt God’s goodness and wisdom given freely to is in His Son, Jesus Christ, He reminds us that we are not in charge of things, He is, and He knows what He is doing.

And so, God had a plan at work even in the midst of the coming devastation brought on by Babylon. The Lord would work things out for his eternal saving purpose, even if seeing the end and outcome of that plan would have to wait. Salvation is coming; your deliverance is on the way! Waiting and weeping may last for a while, but I have not forgotten my promises, declares the Lord.  The Lord answers Habakkuk: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

Trusting in the Lord’s promise, even though it means waiting. This is how you will endure the rough times. “The righteous shall live by his faith,” Habakkuk famously writes. And it’s as true now as it was then. Back then, the people of Judah had to wait 70 years for the end of the Babylonian Captivity. And then it would be another 500 years till the coming of the promised deliverer, the Messiah. But Habakkuk did see that salvation coming. He prays to the Lord: “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed.” Yes, God has not forgotten his people. He has not forgotten his promise.

When economic crises produce fear in the nation and the thoughts of the nation being torn apart, remember what Augustine said in The City of God, Chapter 19, “Concerning the Difference Between True Glory and the Desire of Domination”, namely, that “power and domination are not given even to  such men save by the providence of the most high God, when He judges that the state of human affairs is worthy of such lords.” We, collectively as a nation, deserve such leaders because we have failed to obey the Word of God. And so we now have to wait repent and wait upon the Lord, and, above all, give thanks that He has sent us such a great Savior.

God’s promise of deliverance will ultimately be fulfilled in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our salvation and God Incarnate.  Jesus is the “Yes and Amen” to all of God’s promises. For what is this salvation that has come in Christ? It is forgiveness for all of our sins, our sins which deserve God’s judgment. That judgment fell on Christ, on that old rugged cross for our sakes. It is healing for all of our woes from our sin weary body to our sin weary soul.

This salvation that has come in Christ is the very resurrection of our bodies, restored and glorified if we suffer a little while with Him now.  You will enjoy eternal life with your Lord in glory, along with Habakkuk and Hosea and Amos and all the faithful prophets of God, as well as saints like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and, of more recent vintage, like the Luther, as well as a Christian parent or a Christian grandparent that might have taken you to church on a cold winter’s day: They will all be there, with you, giving unending thanks to your gracious God and Savior. And you all will be enjoying figs from the trees that produce twelve months a year along the river of the water of life in the New Jerusalem.

And that is why, Christian friends, you can and should give thanks this day, for though the fig tree should not blossom now, still give thanks to the Lord for creating the fig! Amen.