I am not sure if you have had the privilege of spending time with young people and young adults (age 16- College age) - but if you have had that - as I have for the last 20 years as a priest - then you will agree with me that they (especially those connected to faith) ask and are concerned often with one particular question and it is “what is God’s will for my life?” They often ask: What university should I attend? What career does God want for me? What person should I marry?
But not just teens and millennials should be concerned with God’s will - we all ponder an element of it as connected to the age and stage of our life. But there are not easy or quick answers, the answers are not in some bible code, but rather God has a more majestic way - the answer is intimacy with the Father that allows us to specifically see His will.
This is why I am so grateful that we have a moment where we can take time to as St Paul tells us “ Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:18)
But thanksgiving is not a day - Thanksgiving is a habit of the soul
Sometimes we see Thanksgiving as a category on Family Feud with the top 10 answers on the board
- turkey, over eating, sleeping on the couch, visiting in the inlaws, watching sports, left overs
But God’s word tell us to be Thankful for / in spite of / regardless of …
- Being thankful & Obeying Christ is not like choosing the accessories in a new car
- we place ourselves under the authority of God - all His commands
Thanksgiving is a habit of the soul
Can people say that about you ? That thanksgiving is a habit of your soul?
• or is there some discontentment or greed .... the presence or absence of certain attitudes?
• is it only if you knew the Master Plan for your life - then you would be thankful
• anything lodged in your heart that if you had something or someone then you would be thankful?
If that is the case then it would be impossible for you to see Thanksgiving as a habit of your soul
Yet - the best gratitude - and the eternal one - is rooted in Jesus - not in our circumstances, this not going to happen overnight - but all things work together for Good
It takes one huge step: It is thanksgiving in all things!
We get being thankful of the good stuff - promotion, job is exactly the one you want, boss is awesome, the household life great, the bank account comfortable, the world trip atleast 2 per year. But being thankful when life is not all that great - there is the challenge of faith. - But Christ is the same - God is not a shifting shadow in your life - He is constant - but our circumstances change - from awful to great:
- one day someone thinks your awesome - the next day they don’t respect you
- one day traffic is clear and you get to work with time to spare - next day you sleep in & almost late
- one day your marks at school are great - next day it seems like the teacher dislikes you
- one day you are surrounded with family - next day you are living in your home alone
If we base our thankfulness on circumstances, then we are in for a rough ride - and maybe you are on the roller coaster in your life and it explains
= why you are complaining, anxious, stressed, bitter, depressed, and even lonely
So the first step to making Thanksgiving a Habit of Your Soul is to have a gratitude rooted in Christ not Circumstances. This is illustrated in the story of Matthew Henry who wrote in his journal shortly after he was robbed:
I am thankful that he never robbed me before. I am thankful that although he took my wallet he did not take my life. Although he took all I had that day, I am thankful it was not much. And I am thankful that it was me who was robbed and not me who did the robbery
Thanksgiving is not Circumstance - it is Christ - and having a habit of thanksgiving even when it is hard - because in it - we find “what is God’s will for my life?”
So how can we develop (practical way) Thanksgiving as a Habit of Your Soul? Well let me draw from my experience and tell you one simple thing I do.
For the last 11 years as your Pastor I have had a habit - I have told you this before several years ago - and that is Sunday night - long after everyone has left - I sit in the church with a single light on focused on the tabernacle and I write a list of the things that have happened on the Lord’s Day
The conversations at the door - people asking me to pray for a loved one, telling me a joy in their life, the people I see returning to Church, the people I have not seen a while, the kids I saw at school who said I will see you on Sunday - but their parents don’t bring them but they want to come, the hurts I have heard or even felt, the sadness and joys I have over heard in the Café, in the parking lot, in the whispers of prayer in our chapel and I sit with them.................
Then each night during the week - I go for a little rosary walk when I finish my day - sometimes very late and in cold weather I sit in my chapel at the house - and well I talk to God (people walking think I am talking to myself - nuts or cool??) and I give thanks. No matter the wins or the woes of the day I try and remember the gratitude that began my week.
When you gather for thanksgiving - when you grasp that turkey leg, delve into the mash potatoes - eat the pie, scoop the salad, or simply sit in the silence of looking around a table - give thanks - but not just for that circumstance -not just for those people - but give thanks being grounded in Jesus and making thanksgiving a habit of your soul!
Develop your list, put it all down - the wins and the woes of your life right now - and daily as a walk, in silent prayer, in the drive - be grateful for it all and be thankful to the one who gave it all. It might not be perfect, and it may still be filled with questions, but it is in gratitude that we must begin and in doing so develop it as a habit of the soul.
Be grounded in Jesus, not in our circumstances - thankful regardless. That if Jesus is all you have - that Jesus is enough! Develop this year - thanksgiving - as a habit of the soul!