Recently, Rev. Paul Nickerson came to our church to do a workshop on Stewardship for us. The workshop was wonderful and very informative. One of his many suggestions was that Chris and I, as the church's pastors, make a goal of writing a handful of thank you notes every week to church members for all the many ways you are stewards of your time, treasures, and talents. I loved the idea. Why? First of all, I love stationary! Second of all, in the age of email and junk snail mail, I believe a handwritten thank you note communicates more gratitude than ever before. And most of all, I liked the idea because I have so much gratitude for my church family and all that they give the church.
So first, I went out and bought a box of thank you notes (a task that took entirely too long because of how much I love stationary). Then I began brainstorming a list of people to thank, and I was shocked to see how my list grew and grew and grew! Then, as I would start to write a thank you note to someone for something, I would be reminded of all the other things that person had done that also deserved thanks, and so what was supposed to be a short thank you card would grow until I was writing in tiny letters on the back of the card too. In addition, writing a thank you note to one person would often remind me of other people to thank who were either in that person's family, or who had done a similar kindness. After an hour of thank you notes, my hand was cramping and a single verse from the psalmist popped into my head, "My cup overflows."
Friends, I am filled with gratitude for all the ways in which the Holy Spirit is moving through the people of our church to give their kindness, give their time, give their talents, give their treasures -- in short, give themselves. So thanks be to you, my church family, and thanks be to God. Ultimately, isn't that's where all our gratitude and thanksgiving comes home -- to the heart of God? God is the Source of all our goodness and giving. At the end of a successful surgery, we thank the surgeon, but we also thank God who guided the surgeon, and without whom the healing would not be possible. Truly, God has prepared a table before us, in the presence of our enemies, anointed our heads with oil, and filled our cups until they have overflowed. (Psalm 23) And because my cup overflows -- overflows with the Love of Christ -- I can't help but pour out that love to my friends, my family, my church, my community, and my world. There simply is not enough room in my cup for the goodness of God!
Now, I know what you're thinking. Oftentimes, it's hard to say, "My cup overflows." When troubles come -- and they always come -- it's hard to see the banquet before us and sing words of praise and thanksgiving to others and to God. But Ephesians 5:20 says, "Give thanks always for all things." And first Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always! ... Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." You might read those verses and think, "really God? Give thanks always, at all times? How is this even possible?" It is only possible with practice -- a lifetime of continual practice. Practicing gratitude means deliberately choosing to give thanks over and over again as a life-long discipline. But why choose this work? Because choosing to practice gratitude, to "count our blessings," forces us to see this world as it truly is; like our communion bread, it is both broken and blessed. We do not live in the Garden of Eden anymore, but we do live in a world saved by Jesus Christ, and that's something to be thankful for. Troubles come, but we are cared for by God through the kindness and giving of others, and that's something to be thankful for too. And besides, choosing to practice gratitude is not just some arduous discipline that must be done because thanks is needed where thanks is due; it is guaranteed to add immense joy to your own life.
So I challenge you too, to practice gratitude so that you may see and feel the world as it truly is: broken yet blessed. You can do this by beginning a gratitude journal, where you make a list of five things you're grateful for every day, no matter how bad the day or how small the blessings. You can do this by writing thank you notes every week. If you like to sing or play an instrument, why not sing or play one song of thanksgiving every day? In my house, we've made a family tradition of saying grace and thanking God every time we eat together. You'll probably find that once you start practicing gratitude, it's hard to stop. You just might find, like me, that your thank you note list is never-ending, that your cup overflows.
