A Deep-Seated Thanksgiving: 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica is filled with encouragement and teaching on how to follow Jesus well. Paul had to flee the city when his life was threatened, but Timothy had remained behind to care for the church. Now Timothy has come to visit Paul and has brought back a really encouraging report about how they were doing, yet there were a number of things Paul also still needed to teach and encourage them in.

This is a letter that comes from Paul’s heart, a letter that shares with them his deep thanksgiving for their faith in Jesus which brings him deep joy in his own relationship with God, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” Paul’s filled with gratitude and thanksgiving here and it’s all based in relationships: their relationship with him and their relationship with God.

Today is Thanksgiving Day, it’s actually a government holiday, not a church day. Thanksgiving should not be just a one day a year thing, Biblically, thanksgiving is a way of living. On Sundays, when we spend time in worship to confess our sin and ask for God’s forgiveness, every time we hear God’s words of forgiveness and grace, our response is to turn to God and Jesus in a spirit of thanksgiving, and ask how then shall we live to show our thanksgiving to God for what Jesus has done for us on the cross and for the gift of the Holy Spirit that keeps drawing us to Jesus. Our thanksgiving is rooted in our relationship with Jesus, leading us to welcome the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and ways of seeing the world. We’re transformed from looking at the world and life from the perspective of what can I get out of it, to how can I be part of the way Jesus is bringing in his kingdom of peace and shalom. We are changed from self-seeking to sacrificially asking Jesus to use us to be a blessing.

Thanksgiving is also at the heart of our confessions; the Heidelberg Confession begins with the question, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” The answer lies in our relationship with Jesus, “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

Chuck Colson writes that there are two kinds of thankfulness. “One is secondary, the other primary. The secondary sort is thankfulness for blessings received. Life, health, home, family, freedom, a tall, cold lemonade on a summer day — it’s a mindset of active appreciation for all good gifts.” These are the things that make life enjoyable. The problem, as Jonathan Edwards taught, is that “this gratitude doesn’t come naturally — if at all — when things go badly. It can’t buoy us in difficult times. Nor, by itself, does it truly please God. And, to paraphrase Jesus, even pagans can give thanks when things are going well.” This is so different from what Paul experiences here, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress ad persecution we were encouraged about because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.” Paul’s hurting, yet he’s still thankful and grateful because the people he loves are in relationship with the Lord!

Jonathan Edwards goes on to talk about a deeper kind of thankfulness, “gracious gratitude.” This is the thankfulness that we’ve just seen Paul express, a thankfulness rooted in who God is and in our relationship with Jesus, and through Jesus, with each other. This is about being thankful for God’s character, his goodness, love, power, mercy, grace, and his never giving up on his people, even when we receive no benefit or favours from God that we can see or touch. We see its real evidence with the Holy Spirit working in a person’s life as they live out and express their faith in Jesus no matter what’s happening in their lives, good or hard times.

Paul encourages us in Romans 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us.... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is the heart of our thankfulness, the reason for living life with a spirit of gratitude; our relationship with Jesus rooted in his sacrificial love for us.

Ann Voskamp writes, “Gratitude is at the center of a life of faith. It sounds too simple to be true, but isn't that the sign of all deep truth: so simple we're tempted to dismiss it, and so hard, it is exactly what God uses to change our hard lives.” To live into gratitude, all it takes is one small switch in how you look at life; instead of looking at what you don’t have, instead look at all the things you have and thank God. I know that if you are in advertising, this might bankrupt you, if you’re shaped by our culture, you might say that I’m crazy, but if you’re looking for joy and contentment, if you’re looking for something better, you won’t find it in more stuff, instead you’ll find it in better relationships, beginning with your relationship with Jesus. Mary Jo Leddy writes that in radical gratitude, “We begin to recognize what we have rather than what we don’t...we awaken to another way of being, another kind of economy, the great economy of grace in which each person is of infinite value and worth." Living with a strong spirit of gratitude leads to healthier stronger relationships making us healthier and stronger too.

I read a comment from an online site, “People who are filled with such radical gratitude are unstoppable, irrepressible, overflowing with what C. S. Lewis called “the good infection” — the supernatural, refreshing love of God that draws others to Him. And that, more than any words we might utter, is a powerful witness to our neighbors that God’s power is real, and His presence very relevant, even in a world full of brokenness as well as blessings.” When gratitude sits deep in our hearts, it shapes everything we do and say. A spirit of gratitude can transform our families, creating strength even though all our families have warts and stresses. Cultivating a spirit of gratitude for each other can bring healing and hope, even though it might not happen overnight.

People notice in positive ways when we approach life with a spirit of thanksgiving and it helps us build strong relationships with our neighbours as they see how the presence of the Holy Spirit transforms how we see and relate to the world we’re in. A spirit of gratitude can change our culture’s perspective of the church being filled with hypocritical judgemental angry people. It’s a shame that this is how so many people see us today, but Jesus can change how the world sees us through how we allow his Spirit to change us.

So, as you gather, or maybe have already gathered over tables filled with food, surrounded by people you love and care for, and after having worshipped our God and the gift of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, may we all walk through the days and weeks ahead looking to recognize all God’s blessings, especially those of relationships and friendships, and then allow his blessings to flow through us into the communities we live in. May the Lord bless you to be a blessing this Thanksgiving Day and always.