Thankfulness Is Health

A sermon for Thanksgiving, given November 21, 2010 at the United Church of Acworth, Acworth, NH

Jer. 23:1-6.

Psalm 46

Col. 1:11-20.

Luke 23:33-43.

May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light. He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. (Colossians 1:11-13)

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul shows great concern for the progress of the church in that city, that they might learn all about Christ and embody the fullness of life that Christ offers them.

His exhortation in chapter one verse 11 – bids them depend on God's power for their own strength and to give thanks with joy to God.

In short, everything we are and all that we have comes from God

so, we have every reason to be a very thankful people

Robert Roberts in his book Spiritual Emotions, says that “[Gratitude] belongs to a view of the world in which human beings are by nature and design dependent creatures”

I want to show how these two experiences – namely – dependency and gratitude – go hand in hand and provide a fundamental structure in which Christians individually and the church corporately can find health. Hence, the title – Thankfulness is health.

Let us meditate for a moment on what is called a Hymn in Honor of Christ in our reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians.

Through [Christ] God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him.

God has given us life and the world of things to experience and enjoy!

Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place. He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things. For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. (GNT)

Since we inevitably make a mess of our lives, God provided a way to bring things back to their proper place!

In sum, Through Christ we have our origin, our continuation, and our restoration, or - as we will call it – health

Let us then, consider in what ways we are dependent creatures

I'd like to read a quote from Wendell Berry's essay entitled “The Body and the Earth” -

”It becomes clear that the health or wholeness of the body is a vast subject, and that to preserve it calls for a vast enterprise. Blake said that “Man has no Body distinct from his Soul...” and thus acknowledged the convergence of health and holiness. In that, all the convergences and dependences of Creation are surely implied. Our bodies are also not distinct from the bodies of other people, on which they depend in a complexity of ways from biological to spiritual. They are not distinct from the bodies of plants and animals, with which we are involved in the cycles of feeding and in the intricate companionships of ecological systems and of the spirit. They are not distinct from the earth, sun and moon, and the other heavenly bodies. (Wendell Berry, “The Body and the Earth”)

We have an idea of independence and self-sufficiency that quite goes against the reality

People throughout human history have recognized truths about our fundamental dependence

we can't continue living without the rain and sun.

we can't continue breathing without oxygen.

We would not be if it weren't for our parents – and we would not be as we are if it weren't for our community

We are continually sustained in this life by that which we have no control over

Late in his life King David prayed “All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

We might emphasize – ONLY of thine own have we given thee.

We are embedded in relationships in this world which function as a whole for the health of the whole – this is the design – we are not independent.

But we struggle against this – because we do not like to lose our independence

We love independence. We love to think of ourselves as self-sufficient even if it is not entirely true.

Daniel 4:28-37 we read of the story of the humbling of a king

the king believed strongly in his independence – in his own accomplishments – he did not recognize any other as a possible source of his being the most powerful person in the known world

He is then humbled by being sent out into the wild to live like an animal

verse 33 says that the king “was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his nails as long as bird claws. “

I think that the king was sent out into the woods so that he would see first hand the web of relations among the things in God's creation – that nothing is independent, that everything is dependent on everything else and ultimately on God

He is then returned to his throne humbled with the enlightenment that nothing is his but what has been given by God

the king is us. We so easily become caught up in the belief in our own independence when this could not be further from the truth

Robert C. Roberts writes “The obstacles to Christian gratitude are human resistances to acknowledge our dependence on God, and a failure to appreciate the gifts he gives us and the beauty of a relationship with him”

As we turn our attention back to Colossians we see some striking verses which remind us of our dependence upon God:

For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him.

God created everything in time and space

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

God holds together and directs everything

Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

God provided a way for our personal and communal restoration and healing through the sacrifice of His son.

Gratitude because of dependency

Robert C. Roberts writes “Christian gratitude is thankfulness to God for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for God's inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our thankfulness is grounded in the God's restoration of humanity by the sacrifice of son Jesus

For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We were once in the dominion of the darkness of our selfishness, pride, and ingratitude, but God showed us our dependence and gave us forgiveness

through forgiveness and reconciliation a communities can find health

through forgiveness and reconciliation individuals can find health

Our thankfulness, then, is grounded in God's grace and his generosity for giving us all things that we enjoy – even ourselves – but especially for giving us the way of reconciliation that we might find peace with God, with the creation, and with one another.

The more we realize the truth of our dependence – the more we can enjoy the experience of gratitude.

The more we experience gratitude the more we enjoy the fullness of life that we have as God's new creation. In our thankfulness we will find health.