Thanksgiving November 24, 2021

Thanksgiving

Colossians 3:12-17

November 24, 2021

What does it mean to “Be Thankful’?

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” And be thankful.

Now that is a fine and good translation—be thankful. But in English you could easily take that the wrong way. That thankfulness is just a “being”, just a state of the mind or heart, and not a “doing”. Thankfulness, God forbid, might be thought to be only an attitude or a feeling and not a 24 hour a day, seven day a week doing.

My hope tonight is to clarify one very simple point with you—that thankfulness isn’t just a “feeling-good” thing but it’s primarily a “doing-good” thing. We often fall into this talk of thankfulness as only an emotion or an attitude. Only a “feel good” thing. We talk about an “attitude of gratitude”. But in that case, if it’s only a “feel good” thing, then who is thankfulness for? Only for ourselves! It becomes only a psychological tool to make us feel better. To make people feel better about themselves and the world.

“Hey, you should be more thankful!” we might say, “Oh yes, consider the benefits of being more thankful. It will make you feel so much better. It will make you appreciate what you have more and will lower your stress and your blood pressure. Give you better quality of life.” Well, that might all be true but I would hope that we don’t have a national day of thanksgiving only to make ourselves feel better. Sometimes I’m really scared that’s what Thanksgiving Day has become in America. Just a day to make us feel better about ourselves. Look how thankful we all are!?

No, thankfulness isn’t just a feel good thing, but it’s a doing good thing. Someone else has blessed us and we owe them our thanks. From the grace we’ve received, we owe gracefulness. There’s something to be done and it must be done. There’s praise and thanks to be given. There’s testimony to be made. Not to ourselves! Yikes! Of course not! Thanksgiving and praise are due to someone else who has given charity to us. Who has given grace to us.

Paul uses the word two more times in our verses. After he says, “And be thankful,” then in v. 16 he tells us to do things. To let the Word of Christ dwell in us. To teach and admonish one another. To sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. With what? With “thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Thankfulness is due. By singing. By teaching. By dwelling on God’s Word.

Then again, not to put it to rest too quickly, again Paul circles back to thanksgiving. He says, “And whatever you do (not just singing), in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Did you catch that? Do everything with thanksgiving. Every thing you say. Everything you do. Do it all with gratitude. Don’t just feel gratitude—do gratitude in everything you say and do! To whom? To God the Father through Jesus Christ. It’s all His grace. Everything. All is grace.

So consider this word “thankfulness” or “gratitude” in the Greek. It’s really cool. It’s from the word “grace”. Actually that still happens even in the English—“gratitude” comes from “grace”. You see the word grace in there. But in Greek it’s even closer. The Greek for grace is charis. Like where we also get the English word “charity”. So to get the word for thankfulness you simply add the word “good” or “well” in front of the word grace. In Greek its eu-charis. Good grace, or more properly we would say, “well-received grace”.

Thankfulness is just grace returned to the one who gave the grace. It’s eucharist. That’s a term we use for the Lord’s supper where Jesus gave thanks for the meal. We give thanks by receiving His grace well in the Lord’s Supper. Eucharist. And of course, then ungratefulness is simply grace not received well (acharistos – grace not gracefully received).

All of this is to say, being thankful isn’t an emotion or feeling but it’s doing—it’s specifically receiving the grace of God well, acknowledging the Giver of the grace, and then returning His grace to Him in trusting, singing, praising, praying, witnessing. It’s doing and saying everything with grace, that is, with thanks to God through Jesus.

Now you may be thinking, “Well, I’m never going to live up to what he’s talking about. I’ll never live up to that kind of doing. To that kind of thankfulness.” No, of course you won’t. That’s why your thankfulness must be given through Jesus, as Paul says. Jesus will make your thanksgiving good. Now I’m meaning this quite literally. Your thanksgiving day tomorrow will not be good, it will not be eucharist—grace received well—without Jesus. If you don’t believe in Jesus and live in Him, then tomorrow any so-called “thanksgiving” that you offer will actually be acharistos, grace not received well.

Jesus is not only the perfect embodiment of Thanksgiving Day and all gratitude and thankfulness—but He’s also the one who makes your thanksgiving good before God. How often have you heard Jesus complain? Did He whine and grumble a lot during His days on earth? No. His life was the perfect Eucharist. He received His Father’s grace well and thanked Him for it. Even in the darkest hours of holy week and the cross when Jesus prayed, “Take this cup from Me,” He still prayed “not My will, but Yours be done.” And even in the darkest when He prayed, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” He still prayed, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” His thanksgiving was perfect. He was graceful and grateful.

And in Him, so are you. You are washed clean and purified from all ungratefulness. From all the times you’ve not received His grace well. You’re made well in Jesus’ blood. So we bring now all our own thanksgiving through Him. In everything we say and do, we do it in the name of Jesus giving thanks through Him. In the end, we’re not all that concerned with how thanksgiving makes us feel or how it affects our attitude and well-being. We’re concerned with giving to God what we owe Him. We’re concerned with receiving His grace well and returning it to Him with faith and prayer and love and song and praise.

Think of this term we often use “saying grace”. Tomorrow for the meal someone might say, “Who’s going to say grace?” Now you know where that term comes from since you know the word thanksgiving is simply “good grace”. Receiving God’s grace and returning it to Him. Who will say grace tomorrow? I hope you all will! Since, of course, saying grace is our doing of thanksgiving. It’s our returning to God from all the grace He’s given us in Jesus Christ.

So the last point then I want to give you tonight is…when you say grace tomorrow for the whole day in everything you say and do, I would ask you to use your imagination. Use your whole imagination in a really big way. Remember, this isn’t about an emotion or feeling or attitude of gratitude. It’s a doing and saying thanks and grace to God in everything. So use your imagination and see how every single thing in your life is grace from God. Receive every single thing well.

Use your imagination. That family member that you’re least excited to see of all of them tomorrow—make him or her the greatest cause to say grace to God tomorrow. See how that family member is grace from God to you. Talk to them. Thank God for them. Praise them. Care for them. Loving that family member may be the best way you could ever return grace to God.

Use your imagination. That work that you really don’t want to do is probably the very work that God is most using to make you a better person. To make you more humble. To make you more gracious and thankful. Do the work with grace. With thanksgiving. Say grace as you’re doing that work. That work may very well be the most important work that you have this week because it will benefit the most people or in the greatest way.

Use your imagination. Your holy, Spirit-filled, mind of Christ imagination. That cross that you’re nailed to with Jesus is the very grace of God for you. See it like Jesus sees it and say grace, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.”

Use your holy imagination. In this church service tonight, God is in the midst of us here speaking to us, delivering His forgiveness to us, listening to our prayers and our thanks, and sending us away with His peace. Do you see it? Use your imagination. Say grace to God for this holy service and this holy house.

Say grace tomorrow. Use your imagination. We’re not talking about a feeling good thing. We’re talking about a doing good thing. Using our imagination to receive ALL of His grace well. And to return it to Him in singing, praising, praying, testifying, giving, and serving. Friends, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Amen.