If my memory serves me, I had never preached a Thanksgiving sermon before--a sermon on giving thanks around the holiday. Why not? As I was reminded, the Sunday following Thanksgiving is often the first Sunday of Advent. Hence, I normally would be following an Advent theme. Yet, another reason stands out: what new is there to say about thanksgiving? Everybody knows he or she should be more thankful and that message is echoed endlessly around the holiday.
I wondered if the Bible might take any different angles on gratitude. I thought first about the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, where the tax collector simply goes to the temple, beats his chest, and says, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner." The Pharisee, however, is full of thanksgiving in his heart and says, "Thank you God that I am not like this sinner." A prayer of thanksgiving has never been so sinful. Point number one: some of our prayers of thanksgiving could actually be sinful. If we are thanking God for being better than others, or if we are thanking God for a huge feast while our next door neighbor is starving, our gratitude is self-centered and self-condemning.
Point Number Two: much of what we thank God for is transient. We may thank God for our new home . . . until we find out it is infested with black mold. We may thank God for the beautiful tree outside our kitchen window . . . until a windstorm blows it into the house. Not to be pessimistic, but many good things for which it is appropriate to give thanks, might just turn on us some day. So, for what can we be grateful and know that the situation won't change?
Point Number Three: We thank God for that which is unshakeable (Hebrews 12). God's goodness is unshakeable. Our past work for and investment in the Kingdom are unshakeable.
To Follow Up:
Today, I saw an article citing the work of Psychiatrist Robert Emmons:
First, the practice of gratitude can increase happiness levels by around 25%. Second, this is not hard to achieve - a few hours spent writing a gratitude journal over 3 weeks can create an effect that lasts 6 months if not more. Third, that cultivating gratitude brings other health effects, such as longer and better quality sleep time.
Gratitude is one of the highest and most fitting of virtues for Christians. Might there be a more effective way of becoming more grateful than simply telling ourselves that we should? Dr. Emmons is confirming what wise Christian teachers have been saying through the ages: Count your blessings. Many spiritual masters go further and intruct us to journal our lives before God . . . and that would certainly include a regular writing down of how God has blessed, is blessing, and will bless our lives and the world.
What's the result of such a discipline? Happiness and good rest. Instead of complaining that we are not as happy as we think we have a right to be, instead of complaining that we never get enough rest, let's pick up a pen and some paper, and nightly thank God for his goodness and his work in our lives. The result: Happiness and good rest. Ironic, isn't it?
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