Even a cursory glance through Scripture will reveal a rich harvest (pun intended) of thanksgiving to God:
- “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34
- “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
- Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2
- “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 1:4
- “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11
- “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Timothy 4:4-5
- “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
- “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
- “But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.'” Jonah 2:9
- “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Psalm 28:7
- “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High.” Psalm 50:14
Clearly, giving thanks is important. We can be forgiven for thinking that its importance lies simply in the act of gratitude. After all, the first life lesson our parents and grandparents taught us was to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ This is foundational stuff. And so, yes, indeed, giving thanks to God is simply the polite thing to do. But that’s not all there is to it.
In order to give thanks, one must first acknowledge that one has received something worthy of thanks. Sometimes, that can be the easiest thing in the world to do. After the birth of our twins, Amy and I thanked God with heart and soul, and strength. It’s a wee bit tougher to give thanks for a hard lesson, learned hard. Tougher still to have found God in the midst of something awful, and then thank God for God’s presence throughout it all. Regardless of the nature of the gift, one must at least make an inventory of the blessings in one’s life. While this is much more fun that the inventory of sin and brokenness that is Lent, it still requires effort, thought, time, energy, and motivation. Perhaps that is why we give thanks so infrequently – it can be hard work!
In addition, one must acknowledge God as the source of one’s blessing, rather than a favorite aunt who gave the gift of socks; or a blessing that came through sheer good luck; or worse of all, the result of one’s own efforts – works righteousness, in all its ‘glory!’. The Jewish Festival of Weeks (Pentecost – fifty days after Passover) was originally a festival in which the first fruits of grain were offered up to God in the Temple, as an act of thanksgiving (see Leviticus 23). In effect, a grateful people were saying, “You are the source of this blessing, God. Thank you!”
However wonderful gratitude and self-awareness is, at the heart of thanksgiving is an
acknowledgment that God is God. That sounds a little odd at first hearing, but stick
with me, and you will see what I mean. Two Biblical accounts illustrate this quite
powerfully. Here are the two texts:
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19). And, When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left… One of the criminals who
were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have
been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with
me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:33-43).
In both instances, there can be seen the aspects of gratitude and recognition that I discussed above. But notice the addition of faith. The grateful leper worshipped at Jesus’ feet. The ‘good thief’ rebukes the ‘bad thief’ for blaspheming God in his attack on Jesus (the word “derided” in our translation is actually the Greek word blasphēmeo) and then makes his statement of faith, “Remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”
In the 1940s, British scholar Philip S Watson wrote a well-known interpretation of Martin Luther’s theology. Watson’s book was titled, “Let God Be God.” In the depth of our thanksgiving, we are truly and deeply, letting God be God.
