Not really. I should be. But I’m not.
I could make up a list of things that I think I’m thankful for, like so many often do, but that list ends up being so trite and superficial. Family, friends, food, health, Michigan State Football, etc. Should I not also be thankful for things like hot water, refrigerators, toilet paper, trash bags, zippers, shoes, plastic, ball-bearings, and opposable thumbs.
I should be thankful for these and all sorts of things, but if I’m really honest with myself, I’m not thankful at all. Everything I have I take for granted and neglect. Everything. My universe is completely self-centered and vain. I use what I have as if it’s my right to have it, and when the trash bag rips or the hot water runs out, I get all upset as if I've somehow been wronged.
I’m not really thankful. I’m selfish. Really selfish.
I could make up a list of things that I think I’m thankful for, like so many often do, but that list ends up being so trite and superficial. Family, friends, food, health, Michigan State Football, etc. Should I not also be thankful for things like hot water, refrigerators, toilet paper, trash bags, zippers, shoes, plastic, ball-bearings, and opposable thumbs.
I should be thankful for these and all sorts of things, but if I’m really honest with myself, I’m not thankful at all. Everything I have I take for granted and neglect. Everything. My universe is completely self-centered and vain. I use what I have as if it’s my right to have it, and when the trash bag rips or the hot water runs out, I get all upset as if I've somehow been wronged.
I’m not really thankful. I’m selfish. Really selfish.
So how is a Christian to spend a holiday centered on giving thanks? Not by eating pie, watching the Detroit Lions, and drinking beer (all of which I will definitely do), but that's not we give thanks. We give thanks, rather, by approaching the throne room of God at the altar of His own Son’s body and blood, saying “I, a poor, miserable sinner…”
This is the way a Christian gives thanks. Not by giving anything at all. Let us not be so arrogant as to think we can adequately give enough of our thanks to God for the infinite blessings He graciously bestows. Rather, we give thanks by receiving the one thing God so desperately desires to give us.
This is the way a Christian gives thanks. Not by giving anything at all. Let us not be so arrogant as to think we can adequately give enough of our thanks to God for the infinite blessings He graciously bestows. Rather, we give thanks by receiving the one thing God so desperately desires to give us.
“Where is there a more certain testimony and pledge of Your grace than in the precious blood of Your Son, poured out for my sins on the altar of the cross? This, the price of my redemption, You give to me as the firmest testimony of Your grace toward me. As often as I have, through sin, fallen from the baptismal covenant, so often does a return to it stand open to me through true repentance and the salutary use of this Supper. It is a Sacrament of the New Testament. It blesses me again and again with new gifts of grace. Life itself dwells in this body and this life restores me to eternal life and makes me alive. Through the shedding of this blood, satisfaction for sins was obtained. Thus drinking it ratifies the remission of my sins.”
Johann Gerhard, “Thanksgiving for the Sacrament of the Altar,” Meditations on Divine Mercy, 86
I plan to feast on the body and blood of Christ this Thanksgiving. I pray you get to as well.
You don't have to give thanks if you call it "Turkey Day."
ReplyDeleteThanks for saying this.
ReplyDeleteHi. This is my first comment here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first half. I have entitlement issues. I lack gratitude. I'm selfish.
This year, I've been endeavoring to renew my mind and put off the entitlement and put on gratitude. Not because I'm a raging pietist, but because my faith prods me to do so. Not because God will be pleased or pat me on the back for it, but because I don't deserve any of it and I want to be more mindful.
Your post sounds to me like you're discouraging the practice of naming things we're thankful for. I agree that I can't give God anything, and my gratitude doesn't add anything to God. It's filthy rags. And I agree that thanks is expressed in the reception of the eucharist.
But is listing things really so awful?
@X
ReplyDelete1 Corinth. 1:4 “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.”
Eph. 1:16 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
1 Thess. 1:2 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers.”
1 Thess. 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
2 Thess. 1:3 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right.”
2 Thess. 2:13 “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord.”
Rev. 11:17 “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.”
I do not, in any way, intend to suggest that listing things for which we are thankful is somehow improper. We ought always to give thanks for all things. Although using a list can easily become a farce, since we cannot possibly list all things for which we must be thankful, here I'm simply using rhetoric to make my point.
Thanks for the comments!
Okay, thanks. Just checking. :)
ReplyDelete