How do we give thanks when we are not thankful?

This Thursday, as a culture, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the one holiday that has an almost universal understanding regardless of religious or cultural upbringing. While there are differing opinions and often heated debate regarding the meaning and purpose of holidays such as Christmas or Easter, Thanksgiving is the one holiday that leaves no debate. While people may disagree about what should be served at Thanksgiving dinner; while people may disagree about which football game to watch, or if football should even be watched, no one disagrees about the meaning and purpose of Thanksgiving.

By its very name, thanksgiving is the day in which we all pause to give thanks for the blessings that we have received. Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and response to the events of the past year. So, I would like for us to spend our time together addressing this idea of Thanksgiving. And to do that, I would like for us to spend our time together looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Thessalonians.

However, before we jump into this section of this letter, I want to spend a minute talking about the writer of this letter and the original recipients of this letter. The book of 1 Thessalonians was written by a man that we know today as the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was once a self-righteous religious person who persecuted Christianity until he had an encounter with Jesus Christ after He had been raised from the dead. After His life transforming encounter with Jesus, Paul proceeded to become the chief missionary to the non-Jewish nations of the world and wrote the majority of the letters that we have that form the New Testament of our Bibles.

Paul planted the church of Thessalonica during his second missionary journey, which occurred around 50 A.D. The city of Thessalonica was a port city of approximately 200,000 people that was located along a prominent Roman trade route in Macedonia, or modern-day Northern Greece, called the Egnatian way, which connected Rome to the Orient. As a result of its location, the city of Thessalonica was a commercial center in the Roman Empire. After planting the church, Paul wrote this letter that we know today as the book of 1 Thessalonians a short time later from the city of Corinth, which was located in southern Greece.

From its beginning, the church at Thessalonica and its members experienced trouble and distress as a result of persecution and exploitation by the Roman Empire. Followers of Jesus who lived in Thessalonica were harassed and hounded for their beliefs by both political leaders and other religious leaders. And as these early followers of Jesus struggled to follow Jesus in the midst of the persecution and exploitation that they were experiencing, the Apostle Paul sat down to write this letter that we have in the New Testament today to encourage them to persevere in the face of persecution.  

And as Paul finished his letter, we see Paul give a series of commands that seemed to be both unthinkable and unrealistic in light of the circumstances that the members of the church were facing. So let’s look at these commands together, beginning in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Rejoice always; ¹⁷ pray without ceasing; ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Here we see Paul give a string of three commands: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves as a follower of Jesus who lived in the city of Thessalonica. I want us to place ourselves in their shoes. 

Ever since you became a follower of Jesus and word spread that you were following Jesus, you have experienced trouble and distress. You have experienced trouble and distress as a result of persecution and exploitation by the Roman government. You are being harassed and hounded for your beliefs by both political leaders and other religious leaders. You have lost friends because of your beliefs; you may have lost your job because of your beliefs. You are searching for hope and encouragement.

Then you receive a letter from the Apostle Paul, who introduced you to Jesus and helped bring you into a relationship with Jesus. And as you near the end of the letter, Paul commands you to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. You’re a member of the church at Thessalonica. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond to Paul’s commands?

Maybe you can relate to some of the struggles and questions that must have been running through the members of the church at Thessalonica’s mind. I mean, how do you give thanks when you are not thankful? How do you give thanks in all circumstances?

And that can especially be the case this time of the year. You see, for many the thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are painful and difficult times. They are difficult and painful because we can become caught up and overwhelmed by the hurts, habits, and hang ups that we experience as we live life here on earth.

After all, how are we supposed to give thanks in all circumstances when we have lost a job, or the job we have is something that we dread going to every day? How do we give thanks in all circumstances when our husband or wife leaves us? How do we give thanks in all circumstances when our family rejects us because of our faith in Jesus? How do we give thanks in all circumstances when we lose a loved one suddenly, unexpectedly?

How do we give thanks in all circumstances when we receive critical and hurtful comments that cut to the core of our being as we walk down the aisles of school or work? How do we give thanks in all circumstances when we are carrying the shame and the guilt of our past, or present selfishness, rebellion, and sin in our lives? How do we give thanks in all circumstances when circumstances out of our control throw our life into chaos? How do we give thanks in all circumstances when we feel abandoned and alone?

How do we give thanks in all circumstances when we feel like we are eating a pumpkin pie made out of salt instead of sugar? How do I give thanks in all circumstances? How do I give thanks when I are not thankful?

Now, oftentimes, a temptation that we face is to respond to difficulties, doubts, and struggles in our spiritual life by keeping them to ourselves, to not allow anyone else to be aware of our difficulties, doubts, and struggles. So we show up on Sunday morning and go through the motions of putting on a façade that gives the right answers, that give the right appearance, while behind the façade we are hurting, questioning, and crying out for connection and community. But why do we do this?

So often, at least for me, we do not want people to see that we are struggling because that would give the impression that we are “less spiritual” than others. So we put on the façade and hide behind the mask of “everything is fine” or “I’m just praising the Lord”. However, when we choose this method of dealing with the difficulties, doubts, and struggles in following Jesus, we choose to accept a counterfeit spirituality which robs us of the opportunity to engage in genuine and authentic community where people are cared about, prayed for, and where the transforming power of God can move through our lives as we live in community with others.

Other times, we find ourselves struggling to be thankful because we feel a gap in our lives. We can find ourselves wrestling with difficulties, doubts, and struggles in our spiritual life because there is a gap between our expectations and the reality of our circumstances. Maybe you can relate to the struggle of reconciling the gap that we can experience between our expectations and the reality of our circumstances?

For example, maybe you were sold on the expectation that once we choose Jesus and follow Him that our life will be smooth sailing. If you grew up in church, you may have heard this idea conveyed with a church mumbo jumbo talk statement like “Well you know, the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will”.

If you were sold on that kind of expectation, here is the thing: that expectation is not taught in the letters that make up the Bible. I mean, do you think that Jesus felt that the safest place to be was at the center of God’s will. Really?

I wonder if Jesus felt that way? I wonder if Paul, the disciples, or early followers of Jesus in Thessalonica felt that way? I wonder if Christians in the Syria, or in China feel that way? Do you feel that today, or are you right there wrestling with the gap between unfulfilled expectations and the reality of current circumstances? How do we live lives that are always joyful and that give thanks in all circumstances? How do we give thanks when we are not thankful?

Tomorrow, we will unpack Paul’s commands to discover the answer to that question….