1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
I was asked last Sunday if I had a favorite team. I do, the Pittsburgh Steelers – sorry Eagles fans. But the question got me thinking about the dismay I feel when a few public figures, who might be considered role models, say or do things that fall far short of model behavior, such as name-calling, crude comments or disrespectful actions. In contrast, today we find the apostle giving thanks to God for role models to all believers: imitators of the Lord, not agitators for the lost; believers known by their faith, love, hope and joy in the Spirit, their hospitality, patience and service.
Paul thanked God for the faithful in all his letters except one: Galatians. Perhaps he was too dismayed by the words and actions of the agitators and activists who were perverting the gospel to gain popular approval. But this shows that saying Thank You was not done routinely. Thanking God comes from the heart and is supported by prayer.
Based on this scripture, I believe thanking God helps us become better prayer-servants of the living and true God. After Paul’s initial greeting, the first word he writes in the Greek text is “we give thanks”. From it we get the word, eucharist. Rooted in grace, it means to be gracious, to do grace well.
Giving thanks to God is one way of expressing grace. There are many examples of things for which people thank God. On the internet I found lists that included: you woke up to a new day; You have food and water; a roof over your head; friends and family. One list included kindness of people, the small things we enjoy, health and the internet. One list stood out, including a Savior; worship and peace. Yet another list gave thanks for the things we may suffer, recognizing them as opportunities to imitate the Lord and find joy in the Holy Spirit, as this scripture describes.
However, the apostle Paul makes the point of giving thanks to God for all of you – those loved and chosen by God, sisters and brothers in Christ who seek to imitate the Lord and model faith. He prays for and remembers them before the Lord. This is being gracious, doing grace well.
The #1 reason why people say they support their church is to thank God. Not only that, but to thank God for all of you, for your works of faith and love, your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Church should be a place where such thanksgiving is generous and sincere.
“Thank You” can ring out the Lord’s message of grace for those who work quietly behind the scenes, who offer gracious hospitality, who practice patience when others would lose it; believers who act with deep conviction as they graciously extend God’s love. To always thank God for all of you is a sign of Eucharist Living.
Eucharist Living is known by how we become role models for the message we welcome. Paul shows us how Thank You encourages us to do what God has chosen us to do. Thank You is a response to God’s grace, and a way of offering grace to another. Thank You helps us see others as loved by God. Thank You comforts us in suffering and brings joy. Thank You is one way we can become a witness to the power of the Spirit.
I knew of a petite 97-year-old woman who was moving into assisted living after losing her husband of 70 years. As she maneuvered her walker into the elevator her escort gave a description of the room she would inhabit. “I love it,” she said. “But Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room yet!” “That has nothing to do with it,” she said. She had already decided to be thankful.
Each morning, she explained, the first words out of her mouth are Thank You, God, for the new day. Then she thanks God for all the people she has enjoyed and will enjoy, remembering them in her prayers. And her joy showed in how she regarded them each day. She became a source of inspiration for staff and residents. Her life became a eucharist, a vessel for doing grace well.
As I understand this word for Eucharist Living, when we pray for and thank God’s servants, we are thanking God. One person started a Gratitude Journal about people for which to give thanks to God, and then made it a point to thank them personally. What do you think would happen if we committed to writing thank-you notes every week till Thanksgiving? For one, it becomes a form of prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving.
The presbytery’s Vital Congregations Team has been working to re-tool in order to meet the challenges before us. Feeling ourselves prompted by love and inspired by hope, we felt the Spirit urging us toward prayer – prayer that inspires openness to the Holy Spirit, not just with words, but with power and with deep conviction; prayer that discerns and acts, prayer that welcomes God’s grace with joy, prayer that encourages expressions of thanks as personal witness.
Where to start? I believe we decide to be thankful like Mrs. Jones, starting every day thanking God for all of you!