Readings for today: Acts 18:19-19:41
“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…” (Ephesians 1:15-18)
The Apostle Paul was a thankful man. We see it over and over again in his letters. He thanks God for just about every single church. He thanks God for just about every single brother and sister in Christ. He is thankful for the ways he sees God at work in their midst. Amidst hardship. Persecution. Division. He thanks God for His miracles. He thanks God for His blessings. He thanks God for the grace He has lavished on us in Jesus Christ. And when one reads Paul’s letters, we might be tempted to think life was pretty good for Paul. He must have had it okay. He must have never faced struggles or temptations or wrestled with anxieties and fears. Friends, nothing could farther from the truth.
Paul suffered throughout the course of his life. Especially after becoming a Christian. He worked long hours. He was beaten. He was imprisoned. Subject to death threats. Five times he received 40 lashes. Three times beaten with rods. Once he was stoned and left for dead. Three times shipwrecked and at least one of those times he spent a day and night adrift at sea. He lived in constant danger on his travels. Not just from the elements or from the roving bands of highwaymen who often waylaid people on the road but from his own people. He often went sleepless. Often went hungry. Often suffered from exposure. He struggled with anxiety over his churches. Fears of their future. His was no easy life. And yet he was thankful.
How is such a thing possible? In the face of COVID. Economic hardships. Stay at home lockdowns. Fears over physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual safety. How is it possible in a world where death seems to lie around every corner. Cancer. Heart attacks. Strokes. My wife and recently had two college friends suffer brain bleeds. One survived. The other did not. And we grieve with both families. I think about the earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, wildfires, or famine over which we have so little control. The suffering these natural disasters create is enormous. I think about life-threatening poverty around the world. Men and women and children suffering from addiction. I think about the burdens I carry. Anxieties over the churches I serve. Fears for my own family. Uncertainty over the future. It’s enough to drive me mad.
God calls us to a different way. The way of thanksgiving. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1Thessalonians 5:18) He calls us to focus our minds on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence or anything worthy of praise.” (Phil. 4:8) He calls us to consider the blessings and the riches of grace which He has lavished on us. (Eph. 1) Finally and most importantly, He calls us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) This is why we give thanks, friends! God Himself has come into this violent, dark, capricious, unfriendly, unsafe world not to condemn us but to save us! To lift us up out of the pit. Out of the miry clay. Out of the depths of our depression and despair. Happy Thanksgiving!
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 1-4