Thanksgiving- How can we grow in gratitude?
Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 100; Philippians 4:4-9; John 6:25-35
Usually, thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends to share a big dinner. This is a good thing. We are instructed to celebrate in the Bible. Celebration is one of the spiritual disciplines. If we forget to celebrate, we can become imbalanced and overly negative. We need both fasting and feasting to have a balanced spiritual life. We need work and Sabbath. This is the rhythm we see in the Bible, and the rhythm we are encouraged to model in our lives.
I don’t know if you have noticed this, but gratitude seems to be in short supply lately. If we do not have gratitude, then entitlement will replace it. We will take the good things in our life for granted. This means we will be quick to complain and focus on what is not going well- or at least what is not going our way. For this reason, I think celebrating thanksgiving might be even more important for us as a discipline- so that we can grow in gratitude.
Gratitude has been studied by scientists. In a book called “Science and Spiritual Practices” the author writes,
“Study after study has shown that people who are habitually grateful are happier than those who are habitually ungrateful; they are less depressed, more satisfied with their lives, have more self-acceptance and have a greater sense of purpose in life. They are also more generous”[1].
He also says that they have found that practicing gratitude is likely to help us feel better about our life as a whole, to be more optimistic about the future, and also tends to help us have better social relationships. So gratitude is good for us.
A clue for how we might grow in gratitude is found in our reading from Deuteronomy. The people are instructed to make an offering to God in the form of the first part of the Harvest. So they are to be generous, and they are to offer the best, not the left-overs. When they are making their offering, they are to recall the history of their people. They remember their ancestor Abraham, who was a wandering nomad. They remember that their people were enslaved in Egypt, and they were rescued by God through Moses. Now, because of God’s working to rescue the people, they have a land of their own and a harvest to enjoy. The blessing of this harvest is a result of God’s gracious rescue of their ancestors and gift of the land. They are the ones enjoying the life their ancestors longed for. We read,
A clue for how we might grow in gratitude is found in our reading from Deuteronomy. The people are instructed to make an offering to God in the form of the first part of the Harvest. So they are to be generous, and they are to offer the best, not the left-overs. When they are making their offering, they are to recall the history of their people. They remember their ancestor Abraham, who was a wandering nomad. They remember that their people were enslaved in Egypt, and they were rescued by God through Moses. Now, because of God’s working to rescue the people, they have a land of their own and a harvest to enjoy. The blessing of this harvest is a result of God’s gracious rescue of their ancestors and gift of the land. They are the ones enjoying the life their ancestors longed for. We read,
“Place the basket [containing the offering] before the Lord your God and bow down before him. Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household” (Deut 26:10-11).
I think this could be a helpful model for us to learn gratitude. Perhaps it would be helpful to think about our ancestors. Think back 300 or 500 years and imagine what they would think of how we live. What would they think of indoor plumbing and how that reduces the spread of disease? What would they think of not having to haul water from a stream or a well, but to have clean water on demand flowing from a tap- hot and cold? What would they think of our ability to transport ourselves by car, train, and plane as speeds they couldn’t imagine? What would they think of central heating, and not having to chop wood and maintain a fire all winter? What would they think of modern medical care, and pain killers? … Historical studies tell us that for our ancestors about ¼ of infants died in their first year, and around half of all children died before they reached puberty. This is to say nothing of the danger to mothers due to complications during pregnancy and birth. We are here because our ancestors survived. What would our ancestors say if they could see such medical advancement? … What would our ancestors say about access to education and instant access to information? What would our ancestors say about entertainment? We can turn on a tv, or a phone in our pocket, and instantly see the greatest musicians in the world play their greatest songs. What would they think about democracy- that we can choose our leaders? … And none of this is our own doing. We get to enjoy the fruit of the hard work and brilliance of those who invented these things.
We take so much for granted. But if we could imagine our lives through the eyes of our ancestors, I suspect we would grow in gratitude. In our Deuteronomy reading, I suspect those making offerings, while thinking about how their ancestors lived, would have grown in gratitude as they thought about the good they got to enjoy that their ancestors would have longed for. … Paul encourages the Church in Philippi,
“… whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (4:8).
Yes, I know there are bad things that are going on in our lives and in the world, but I suspect our ancestors would be shocked by how much we focus on what is not good- or at least not going our way. If we can train ourselves to focus on the good and beautiful things around us, then we will be more likely to be full of gratitude.
A time when our ingratitude can be shaken is when we face disasters- the death of a loved one can cause us to feel that we took them for granted. An accident that threatens our health can cause us to be grateful for our health. If faced with the near loss of an eye, we are suddenly aware of our ability to see, and we become very aware of our eyesight and we are grateful for it. At the beginning of Covid many of us realized how much we took the availability of toilet paper for granted- and the ability to gather. … We live the way we do today because of doctors, nurses, builders, plumbers, electricians, inventors, engineers, farmers, grocers, software and hardware creators, drivers who deliver goods, and many many others. And this amazing system is so reliable that we can be shocked when there is a ‘blip’ in the system.
To expand our vision a bit, we could also look at the incredible fine-tuning of the universe that has allowed life to exist on our planet. One small change to the strength of gravity and there would be no life in the universe. Small changes to the strong force or electromagnetic force would result in much less carbon in the universe, and therefore it would be much harder for life (as we know it) to exist. There are hundreds of these factors that we could look at, where a tiny change would mean there is no life on earth. Even not having our moon would probably mean there would be no life on earth. This has lead some to say that it is almost as if the universe is precisely turned to make life possible. … Think about all that had to happen in the natural world for us to develop as conscious beings, even just from a naturalistic scientific point of view. We live in a universe where life seems to be incredibly rare. Conscious life would seem to be rarer. In fact, so far, the earth is the only place we have come to see any life in our universe.
What I have just said could be looked at by anyone, regardless of their religious point of view, and I would hope that it would give them reasons to be grateful. As Christians, we believe that we draw our existence, and all the blessings of our life, back to our Creator. This means we have even more reason to be grateful. As followers of Jesus, we also have reason to be grateful even for our future. We don’t just have a biological life to be grateful for, we also have a spiritual life. … Among other reasons to be grateful, it means we can be grateful even in the midst of great difficulties. In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul says,
A time when our ingratitude can be shaken is when we face disasters- the death of a loved one can cause us to feel that we took them for granted. An accident that threatens our health can cause us to be grateful for our health. If faced with the near loss of an eye, we are suddenly aware of our ability to see, and we become very aware of our eyesight and we are grateful for it. At the beginning of Covid many of us realized how much we took the availability of toilet paper for granted- and the ability to gather. … We live the way we do today because of doctors, nurses, builders, plumbers, electricians, inventors, engineers, farmers, grocers, software and hardware creators, drivers who deliver goods, and many many others. And this amazing system is so reliable that we can be shocked when there is a ‘blip’ in the system.
To expand our vision a bit, we could also look at the incredible fine-tuning of the universe that has allowed life to exist on our planet. One small change to the strength of gravity and there would be no life in the universe. Small changes to the strong force or electromagnetic force would result in much less carbon in the universe, and therefore it would be much harder for life (as we know it) to exist. There are hundreds of these factors that we could look at, where a tiny change would mean there is no life on earth. Even not having our moon would probably mean there would be no life on earth. This has lead some to say that it is almost as if the universe is precisely turned to make life possible. … Think about all that had to happen in the natural world for us to develop as conscious beings, even just from a naturalistic scientific point of view. We live in a universe where life seems to be incredibly rare. Conscious life would seem to be rarer. In fact, so far, the earth is the only place we have come to see any life in our universe.
What I have just said could be looked at by anyone, regardless of their religious point of view, and I would hope that it would give them reasons to be grateful. As Christians, we believe that we draw our existence, and all the blessings of our life, back to our Creator. This means we have even more reason to be grateful. As followers of Jesus, we also have reason to be grateful even for our future. We don’t just have a biological life to be grateful for, we also have a spiritual life. … Among other reasons to be grateful, it means we can be grateful even in the midst of great difficulties. In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul says,
“we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).
Learning from this, many saints teach that we can be thankful to God even in our difficulties because God is able to use it to do good, perhaps to develop our soul in ways we don’t understand. If we trust God, then we can trust that whatever comes our way will be used for good. Whatever cross comes our way can be transformed into a resurrection. Those watching Jesus on the cross weren’t thinking about resurrection. That was the last thing on their mind. When we face crosses, it is hard to imagine what good can come from it. But, if we can trust that God can work to do good (in ways we can’t imagine), then we will be able to be thankful even in our difficulties.
I haven’t even begun to talk about the promise of eternal life, which is something that is a gift through the work of Christ, and can’t be earned by us. … The word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word for “thanksgiving”. Every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we are celebrating a thanksgiving. We are remembering what Christ has done for us. In gratitude, we celebrate his spiritual life that he pours into us, and for the heavenly doors he opens to us.
May we learn to be thankful for all that God has given us. AMEN
I haven’t even begun to talk about the promise of eternal life, which is something that is a gift through the work of Christ, and can’t be earned by us. … The word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word for “thanksgiving”. Every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we are celebrating a thanksgiving. We are remembering what Christ has done for us. In gratitude, we celebrate his spiritual life that he pours into us, and for the heavenly doors he opens to us.
May we learn to be thankful for all that God has given us. AMEN
[1] (Science and
Spiritual Practices. Rupert Sheldrake. Chapter: The Flow of Gratitude)
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