Practicing Thankfulness
Ephesians 1:15-23
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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President George Washington in the year 1787 proclaimed that November 26th would be a national day of thanks that would serve, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."
Let me stop there for a moment, and let me say that I've wrestled with what an attitude of thanksgivings looks like this year. More precisely, I've struggled with not just an attitude of thanksgiving, but the practice of thanksgiving as well, and if I actually know what it means to be thankful. Do you know what thankfulness looks like in your life? I think we've gone a long time without stopping to ask ourselves if we are genuinely practicing thankfulness in our secular and spiritual lives. And let me say that this year we have the opportunity to pause ask that question of, "What does practicing thanksgiving look like?” That time for self-reflection as individuals and as a community will shape us going forward.
For some reason, meaningful practices such as thankfulness are at the highest risk of becoming the most mundane aspects of life. I'd say that most of us learned to say "thank you" as something you say after you receive something, whether it be a kind gesture or gift. Of course, we want to express our gratitude; not doing so would be rude, but if it becomes something expected of us, what does it look like to practice intentional thankfulness? How can we reclaim the act of thanksgiving so that we do not take things for granted? In this change of mentality and practice, we might then reconnect with the source of all goodness, life, and love.
Perhaps our path to renewing our understanding and practice of thanksgiving begins with prayer. Maybe you don't think about prayer that often, except in church on Sunday, maybe it's something you say before a meal, or maybe prayer is a cornerstone in your spiritual life. Prayer is one way that we explicitly express thanks to God and one another. You'd be surprised at how many feel uncomfortable praying, especially if asked to do it for a group. I knew of a church where the Session, the elders, felt so uneasy the pastor wrote the "elder's" prayer. I don't believe there's a wrong way to pray. If we don't practice prayer, we miss out on exercising a core spiritual muscle that provides a space for us to practice gratitude and have a conversation with God.
Paul prays for the Ephesians in our reading for today. He tells them, "I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers." Of course, Paul doesn't just tell the Ephesians that he is praying for them; he names how he is praying for them. In our prayers to God, what is it that we are praying for? Looking at my own prayer life, I know that I often have to check that I'm not just "asking for things." It shouldn't take a lot to pray for other people and to offer thanks, but the temptation to focus on ourselves is always present. How would our prayer lives and our attitudes be different if we focused more intentionally on including thanksgiving?
But prayer and spiritual devotion is only one part of what it means for us to develop an all-encompassing attitude of thankfulness. Action is the second part of the equation. And we already know what is required of us as disciples of Christ. On this day, as we pay particular attention to the theme of "Christ as King," it's fitting to reflect on how we might physically offer back something to our God who as, Paul says, "put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things." Our response to make manifest the works of God in the world should be driven by our gratitude and not a sense of forced obligation. In our sincerity, then, our practice of thanksgiving is made whole.
That's why we offer our time, skills, and physical resources to the church, this community of faith. Sure there are plenty of other amazing organizations out there that also deserve our time and talents, but we set aside a portion of our energies and possessions as an offer to God as a means of expressing our thanks. Thanksgiving requires us to grow from the inside and the outside. That's why I think even though Thanksgiving will look different this year for many, it can be a day where we actually stop to reflect on what it is we are thankful for in our lives. If we can't visit family and friends, then we might develop a greater sense of appreciation for their companionship, and the examples keep on going.
As we grow in our understanding and practice of thanksgiving, I come back to Washington's proclamation where he urges us to, "unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually." In our learning to be stewards of our resources, proclaimers of love and justice, and in our learning to be care-takers of one another we live into the kind of thanksgiving that places Christ at the center.
What are the things in your life that you never offered thanks for? And how will you cultivate your practice of thanksgiving this year? Let us take a moment to reflect on what it is we are thankful for so that it inspires us to practice a holistic attitude of gratitude to Christ who makes all things possible. Amen.