Gratitude: The Giving and Receiving of Grace (Part 1)

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

It’s November! Thanksgiving and the holidays are almost here.

Much of the credit for Thanksgiving should probably go to a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale. A prominent writer and editor, Hale had written the children’s poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” in 1830 and helped found the American Ladies Magazine, which she used as a platform to promote women’s issues.

Much of the credit for Thanksgiving should probably go to a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale. A prominent writer and editor, Hale had written the children’s poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” originally known as “Mary’s Lamb,” in 1830 and helped found the American Ladies Magazine, which she used a platform to promote women’s issues.

The New Hampshire-born Hale had grown up regularly celebrating an annual Thanksgiving holiday, and in 1827 published a novel, “Northwood: A Tale of New England,” that included an entire chapter about the fall tradition, already popular in parts of the nation. Hale often wrote editorials and articles about the holiday and she lobbied state and federal officials to pass legislation creating a fixed, national day of thanks on the last Thursday of November—a unifying measure, she believed that could help ease growing tensions and divisions between the northern and southern parts of the country. Her efforts paid off: By 1854, more than 30 states and U.S. territories had a Thanksgiving celebration on the books, but Hale’s vision of a national holiday remained unfulfilled.

Shortly after Lincoln’s Gettysburg proclamation, Hale wrote to both the president and Secretary of State William Seward, once again urging them to declare a national Thanksgiving, stating that only the chief executive had the power to make the holiday, “permanently, an American custom and institution.” Within a week, Seward had drafted Lincoln’s official proclamation fixing the national observation of Thanksgiving on the final Thursday in November, a move the two men hoped would help “heal the wounds of the nation.”

Shortly after Lincoln’s Gettysburg proclamation, Hale wrote to both the president and Secretary of State William Seward, once again urging them to declare a national Thanksgiving, stating that only the chief executive had the power to make the holiday, “permanently, an American custom and institution.” Whether Lincoln was already predisposed to issue such a proclamation before receiving Hale’s letter of September 28 remains unclear. What is certain is that within a week, Seward had drafted Lincoln’s official proclamation fixing the national observation of Thanksgiving on the final Thursday in November, a move the two men hoped would help “heal the wounds of the nation.”

Thanksgiving was originally intended to promote healing in our society.

You may remember in our study of Ephesians that thanksgiving is the result of having a renewed mind in Christ.

Ephesians 5:18–20 ESV

Ephesians 5:18-20

There is a parallel passage in Colossians that says the same thing, but differently.

eph

Colossians 3:15–17 ESV

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

What does it look like to be transformed by Christ? How do you know when your mind is renewed? What indicator do you have that change has occured?

According to these scriptures, the answer is gratitude.

Gratitude - the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

Gratitude is not just a random emotion that we sometimes feel. It is at the very heart of everything that the believer does and says. It’s how you know that you are spiritually alive!

Gratitude is grace

Not only does this exercise help people to feel better, studies show that the habitual practice of gratitude makes lasting changes to your brain’s function and capacity for joy.

Gratitude is grace

Gratitude is Grace, Gratitude is Gifts, Gratitude is Giving Thanks

Gratitude is Grace

God is good. Whatever goodness we possess reflects him.

In Greek, the word that we translate as gratitude or thanksgiving has as it’s root the words joy and grace.

chara = joy, charis = grace, eucharisto = thanksgiving

Remember that grace is favor. It’s God’s pleasure to give us grace.

Gratitude is our joy and pleasure reflected back to God.

Romans 14:17–18 NLT

17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

Goodness is God’s primary attribute.

God is good. He created the world and mankind to be good.

Without God, we wouldn’t even know what it means to be good. God is the standard by which we know and judge what is good.

o The fact that we have a sense of what is good or right testifies to the existence of God who is the essence of goodness and rightness.

God blesses, that’s what He does. He calls forth the goodness in His creation.

Thanksgiving is giving and receiving grace.

Thankfulness and joy are interrelated.

Counselors sometimes assign a “thanksgiving journal” to people who suffer from anxiety or depression. Keeping a thanksgiving journal means making a list of all the things that they are thankful for, numbering each item and adding to that list daily. Try adding three things each day to your thanksgiving journal.

Not only does this exercise help people to feel better, studies show that the habitual practice of gratitude makes lasting changes to your brain’s function and capacity for joy.

Thanksgiving is giving and receiving grace.

God gives His grace (favor) to us so that we might receive it and reciprocate it back to Him in the form of joy, goodness and peace.

Romans 14:17–18 NLT

Thankfulness and joy are interrelated.

Not only does this exercise help people to feel better, studies show that the habitual practice of gratitude makes lasting changes to your brain’s function and capacity for joy.

Gratitude is gifts

Giving and receiving is the essence of friendship

When someone gives you a gift, you are supposed to give something in return - that’s called gratitude.

You may have never thought about it, but we consider gratitude to be primarily an emotion, but for centuries many cultures (including pre-enlightenment Europe) have considered gratitude to be first and foremost a duty.

God’s grace is a gift to us. What is the appropriate response to that gift?

Ephesians 2:4–10 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Giving is usually a cycle which includes a response.

So in order for a gift to really be a gift, it has to be given freely. You are not obligated by the giver to respond.

You are not obligated by the giver to respond.

But the gift itself demands some kind of response. The very nature of things teaches us not to ignore a gift.

The very nature of things teaches us not to ignore a gift.

Even if we do not reciprocate the gift, at the very least we are obligated to show our gratitude by using the gift well.

When you show your appreciation for a gift, whether verbally, through a written note or by giving a gift in return, you complete the cycle of giving and receiving.

So if God’s grace (charis) is his gift to you. Your thanksgiving (eucharisto) is the appropriate response.

Giving and receiving gifts creates a bond between the giver and the receiver.

Imagine your beloved grandmother gave you a soup tureen as a wedding gift. Seeing that you have no use for the tureen, how ought you respond? You would, of course write an appropriate note of thanks, but then what? Would you box the tureen away and never use it? Would you use it to feed the cat? What if Grandma were coming to dinner? Would you let her see you using her gift to feed the cat? The soup tureen and Grandma are connected… a little piece of the giver comes with the gift. - Peter J. Leithart Gratitude: an intellectual history p.15

So as grace is given and grace is returned there is joy all around.

This is how people bond, whether it the customs of aristocracy or primitive tribal rituals, giving and receiving gifts bonds us to each other.

It also bonds us to God to receive his grace and to regularly thank him for it.

Gratitude is giving thanks

Thankfulness acknowledges the source of our joy

When we give thanks, we are bringing everything under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Next week I will have the opportunity to do a second part to this message. So what I am about to say will be flushed out in more detail next week, but I need to at least introduce an idea here.

In ancient times, this concept of gratitude as a duty that people have to one another was really important.

Both Greek and Roman cultures exploited the use of gifts and social indebtedness in a way that was manipulative and ensured that those in power remain in power.

Jesus broke the mold by teaching that we should not do things just to gain favor. (More on that next week).

The Apostle Paul was radical in the way he opened his letters:

1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,

1 Cor 4:

Philippians 1:3–5 ESV

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Phil 1:3-5

Giving thanks to God is radical!

Instead of playing the usual game of “who is indebted to whom” Paul thanks God for the believers.

He is essentially saying, “I’m not indebted to you and you are not indebted to me, but we are both indebted to God.”

God is the ultimate benefactor. He makes all of our relationships work. He evens the score.

Here’s another application of this principle: food offered to idols.

1 Timothy 4:4–5 ESV

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Giving thanks for food sanctifies it.

We pray for our food. Why? Is it unclean?

I believe the practice started with the early church where food, especially meat, may have been offered to idols.

Since the gift creates a bond between the giver and the receiver, consuming the food could be a source of demonic oppression. (Paul associates idols with demons)

However, if you give thanks to God before eating it, its OK. Why?

“To say that created things are “made holy” by thanks is to say that created things, already God’s by virtue of creation, become specifically his possession by the prayers of the people of God. …If Christians consecrate whatever they receive by thanks, they are not only claiming it as Gods’ own but also obligating themselves to use it in a particular way, to use it with thanks.” - Peter J. Leithart Gratitude: an intellectual history p.72

By thanking God for your food, you are acknowledging God as the giver and binding yourself (the receiver) to God and breaking whatever other attachment may have been associated with that food.

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

As acknowledge God as the giver of every good gift, and thank Him for it, we are bringing everything under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

As we begin to acknowledge God as the giver of every good gift, and thank Him for it, we are bringing everything under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Questions for reflection:

Where have you seen God’s grace in your life? What are some good things that you enjoy which come from God? How do you show your thanks to God?

What gifts has God given to you? What is your appropriate response to God for his gifts? Is your gratitude to God out of obligation or is it heartfelt?

How does thankfulness draw you closer to God? If you recognized God as your ultimate source, how might that help your relationships with others?

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