In today\u2019s Epistle, Paul talks of \u201cgiving thanks to God \u2026 at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you first hear those words, you may say to yourself, \u201cWhat a ho-hum verse! Giving thanks to God \u2026 what else is new?<\/em> Isn\u2019t that just what every Christian\u2019s supposed to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not so fast. There\u2019s more to it than just giving thanks. The apostle goes on to add: \u201cat all times and for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add that phrase to the end, and what has been a matter of common courtesy \u2014 dropping God a little thank-you note from time to time \u2014 is now something much bigger and far more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we really supposed to give thanks constantly<\/em>? More than that, how are we ever going to give thanks for everything<\/em>? Surely Paul is engaging in a little sanctified exaggeration, a little holy hyperbole, right?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nope. The apostle is setting the bar pretty high, but that doesn\u2019t mean that, because it\u2019s difficult, we ought to give up trying. Giving thanks \u2014 at all times and for everything \u2014 is a lofty goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are we ever going to give thanks at all times? That would mean we\u2019d have to stop doing some things, like complaining!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, complaining. It\u2019s not an easy thing to keep on complaining if you\u2019re feeling grateful, is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complaining is an odd thing. In a backhanded way, it makes us feel good \u2014 you know, \u201cmisery loves company.\u201d Okay, maybe we\u2019d prefer it if that huge, bodacious problem would just go away. But if it shows no signs of doing that, we\u2019ll settle for second best. We\u2019ll milk it for all it\u2019s worth, a ready supply of gripes we can pull out and use \u2014 like fingernails scratched across a chalkboard \u2014 to make others pay attention to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all known chronic complainers: folks who scarcely ever have a good word to say about anything \u2014 and a whole lot of negative things to say about everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Army chaplain once told the story of being out on a training exercise with a battalion of soldiers. He was assigned to the signal corps. In those days before satellite phones and GPS systems, these were the soldiers who set up radio antennas and other communications gear so units could communicate with each other in the field. Once they\u2019d set up the antennas, they divided up into little teams who maintained the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chaplain was out visiting one of these communications posts when he happened upon a soldier with a notably sour attitude. \u201cSoldier, how\u2019s it going today?\u201d asked the chaplain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChaplain,\u201d he admitted glumly, \u201cit\u2019s a pretty bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chaplain went on to talk with the soldier about all the things that were bothering him. None of them had anything to do with the field exercise, which in fact was going rather well. The complaints were all of a personal nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, the chaplain moved on to another signal corps installation. He knocked on the door of the truck that served as both workstation and home away from home. To his surprise, the same soldier answered the door. He\u2019d moved during the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, how\u2019s it going today?<\/em>\u201d asked the chaplain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChaplain, it\u2019s a pretty bad day \u2026\u201d the soldier began. Then, he went through the same down-in-the-mouth litany as before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third day, to his surprise, the chaplain ran into the very same soldier, in another part of the operation. You can pretty much guess what happened: same question, same gloomy answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d the chaplain continued, \u201cI met you yesterday and that was a pretty bad day. I met you two days ago, and you told me that<\/em> was a pretty bad day. It seems to me, if this continues, someday you\u2019re going to stand before your Maker, who\u2019s going to ask you, \u2018How was your life?\u2019 I\u2019ve got a feeling the only answer you\u2019ll be able to give is, \u2018It was a pretty bad life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the soldier smiled. The chaplain knew he was getting through to him. He\u2019d gotten the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As should we all when it comes to this business of complaining, which is the polar opposite of giving thanks. Sure, there are times in life when complaints are in order, but when complaining becomes a constant habit, the only thing it can accomplish is to drag us down \u2014 and very often, everyone else along with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The antidote to that emotional spiral of doom is thanksgiving. To seek at all times \u2014 on rainy days and sunny \u2014 to find something for which to offer thanks. That begins to approach what this verse means by giving thanks at all times.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The apostle also advises us to give thanks for everything.<\/em> Here\u2019s where things get really sticky! The author directs our attention not just to the timing of our thanksgivings, but also to their substance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one thing to thank God for a promotion at work. It\u2019s quite another to offer thanks for a pink slip. It\u2019s one thing to thank God for a family member who\u2019s helpful, cooperative and a joy to be around. It\u2019s quite another to offer thanks for the black sheep of the family, the one who\u2019s nothing but a trial to everyone. There are circumstances when thanksgivings don\u2019t come easy, when the act of saying, \u201cThank you, Lord,\u201d is the spiritual equivalent of hard labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet this is exactly what today\u2019s Epistle instructs us to do: \u201cGive thanks for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may be inclined to think, at this point, \u201cWhy bother? What\u2019s the purpose of giving thanks for everything, when doing so is such hard work? Isn\u2019t there something unnatural about trying to make<\/em> ourselves feel thankful?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a little secret. You don\u2019t necessarily need to feel<\/em> thankful, right at that moment, to offer thanks. It\u2019s like a parent saying to a child, \u201cI love you,\u201d when the child has done something really naughty and deserves to be punished. Amid the punishment, the child turns to you, with tear-stained cheeks, and asks, \u201cMommy, Daddy, do you love me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you don\u2019t feel<\/em> a whole lot of love for your child at that moment. Maybe there\u2019s a part of you that can imagine nothing beyond meting out terrible retribution to the little offender (even though you\u2019d never actually do that). So, what should a parent say in response to that question?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is simple. You respond by saying, \u201cI do love you.\u201d You may not feel it right then, but you know on an intellectual level that you do love your child, very deeply. And so, you don\u2019t respond out of the immediate emotion of the moment. You offer the only answer you could possibly give: \u201cYou know that I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the same with thanksgiving. It\u2019s awfully hard to give thanks to God for the troubling medical test result your doctor just told you about, but it can be done \u2014 even if it does seem like a spiritual stretch. It\u2019s a matter of good theology, really \u2014 what we believe about God, when the going gets tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our faith teaches that God created the heavens and the earth \u2014 and that when each stage of creation was completed, the Lord pronounced it good. That means, even though some parts of creation defy explanation \u2014 that may, in our estimation, have fallen from their original glory \u2014 they\u2019re still part of an otherwise good universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be hard, for example, to give thanks for mosquitoes. Which one of us has ever<\/em> offered a prayer of thanksgiving for a mosquito? We\u2019re just not up to it. Yet, our theology tells us that even mosquitoes were created by God, and that somewhere in the great scheme of things, they have their part to play, along with the leaping dolphins and the soaring eagles. We may not see it right at this moment, but maybe we will someday, in the next life if not this one! Maybe you\u2019ll be able to thank God for the bug perched on your forearm, knocking back a hemoglobin cocktail. Not now, but maybe someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all seriousness, though, even suffering can \u2014 on some occasions \u2014 have a positive aspect. It may sound pollyannaish to opine that \u201cevery cloud has a silver lining,\u201d but there\u2019s a fair bit of truth in that statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, consider offering this honest prayer, or something like it: \u201cLord, I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing with this situation, but give me the faith to thank you for it, anyway.\u201d Surely that fits within the definition of \u201cgiving thanks for everything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 One example of that kind of prayer was uttered by Teresa of Avila, a notable spiritual leader of the medieval church. One day, Teresa was out for a walk with several of the sisters from her order, when they happened to cross a small footbridge. The bridge began to swing and sway, and before long, Teresa and all her sisters found themselves standing knee-deep in the frigid waters of the stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teresa is said to have offered this prayer: \u201cLord, I know you have promised never to give us more than we can handle, but sometimes I wish you didn\u2019t trust me so much!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not be an out-and-out prayer of thanksgiving, but it comes from a stubbornly thankful place. \u201cGive thanks always and for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May that be the motto for us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s Epistle, Paul talks of \u201cgiving thanks to God \u2026 at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d When you first hear those words, you may say to yourself, \u201cWhat a ho-hum verse! Giving thanks to God \u2026 what else is new? Isn\u2019t that just what every Christian\u2019s supposed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n