A Thankful People

There is an unsettling moment in the novel, Girl with A Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier. Set in the Netherlands in the mid-1600s, a family that struggles to have enough grieves the loss of a young daughter, Agnes, from a plague that griped their residential quarter of Delft. With a despairing shake of the head, the mother laments, “God has punished us for taking for granted our good fortune. We must not forget that.”ⁱ The loss of a young daughter is tragic, particularly a loss due to a plague that outruns us. Yet, the loss is made even more tragic when one is gripped with a flawed notion of the character of God. A lack of gratitude does not stir the wrath of God; it does not move God to punish. Continuing from one generation to the next is a failure to grasp what God is up to into the cross—God’s movement toward our brokenness is one of grace, not vengeance.

A theme of Paul’s correspondence to the church in Colossae is gratitude—one captured three times in three verses! But this theme is not generated as a warning to the church. Rather, the invitation to gratitude is promised as an opportunity to break, and finally diminish, a culture of ingratitude that permeates our lives. Ours is a culture that seeks to grasp more and more as though there exists a scarcity of resources. Hidden deep within our consciousness is a fear that failure to acquire good things now will result in our missing out. The result is a growing hunger to acquire more. Fear grows that we may not have enough, exhaustion in our striving diminishes appreciation—even joy—in what we presently have, and a competitive spirit shapes a heart that results in dissatisfaction. Finally, we are consumed by this endless striving, our hearts are emptied of peace, and we become an ungrateful, even unhappy, people.

Paul’s antidote is gratitude—generating intentional thankfulness for God’s good creation, for the gift of our lives and the opportunity to love and be loved, and for the gift of redemption from brokenness and sin. Cultivation of gratitude for the ordinary as well as the extraordinary moments available each day will break the culture of ingratitude that tightly secures us in chains. A simple lunch shared with friends, the laughter of children at play, and taking notice once again of the beauty of the earth—the seashore, lush mountains, or flowery meadows—grows upon our consciousness, and we question how we failed to enjoy them before. More, we realize a movement away from a lonely and competitive pursuit of new riches and a movement toward a strong sense of community cohesion that marks us as part of something so much more than our individual lives—members of the body of Christ.

David L. Bartlett shares that in Decatur, Georgia, there is a church that might have been named with Colossians in mind: The Thankful Baptist Church. “Colossians claims that, as with Thankful Baptist Church, when we dress up for each day’s work, we dress ourselves in Christ, with thanksgiving. In a religious marketplace that pushes happy Christianity, Colossians speaks a word for thankful Christianity.”ⁱⁱ Bartlett advances his observation here that thankfulness is harder to come by than happiness but is immeasurably better. Vibrant churches—as well as vibrant disciples—understand the need for gratitude to guard from self-absorption and, finally, despair. Jesus’ own prayers sparkled with expressions of gratitude. Each prayer cultivated, strengthened, and reminded him that God is the very center of our life. Bartlett suggests this prayer, “You have given me so much, O God—I ask but for one thing more, a grateful heart.”ⁱⁱⁱ

Joy,

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ⁱ Tracy Chevalier, Girl with A Pearl Earring (New York, New York: Penguin Books 76.

ⁱⁱ David L. Bartlett, Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, Volume 1: Advent Through Transfiguration (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press) 163.

ⁱⁱⁱ Ibid, 163.

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To read more meditations by Dr. Doug Hood and Nathanael Cameron Hood, you can purchase Nurture Faith: Five Minute Meditations to Strengthen Your Walk with Christ from your favorite book seller.

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