German pastor Martin Rinkart served in the medieval German town of Eilenburg during the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The refugees suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, there were four ministers in Eilenburg, but one abandoned his post for healthier areas and would not return. Rinkart officiated at the funerals of the other two. As the only remaining pastor, he conducted services for as many as 40 or 50 persons a day — nearly 4,500 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the year’s end, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.
Yet living in a world dominated by death, Martin Rinkart wrote a prayer for his children — something we now sing annually this time of year:
Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, in whom this world rejoices, Who, from our mother’s arms, hath led us on our way, With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
In this month when we move toward thanksgiving, it’s worth considering again why we give thanks. There are therapeutic benefits of gratitude, but that is not what I want to explore here. I want to consider what is unique about Jesus-shaped gratitude — Christian gratitude.
This kind of gratitude starts with a new way of looking at God, the world, and our place in it. Instead of trying to manufacture it by willpower, gratitude for Christians is about perceiving the good. It is a byproduct of a particular way of seeing — through several lenses.
The first lens is benefit — a gift received. I must perceive it as a good thing to have. I must find it favorable. Psalm 103 says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things.” The Psalm reminds us that our lives are filled with benefits from God, but we can overlook them if we’re not looking. A thankful life is one that recognizes these gifts and knows they’re good.
The second lens is noticing the one who does good. To be grateful, you must believe not just that benefits are coming your way, but that they don’t come at random or by accident. They come from someone, somewhere. The giver of gifts has good intentions toward you. Grateful disciples will see this in God. The writers of the Bible are convinced they have a great benefactor. As the book of James reminds us: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” This generosity is an expression of God’s goodness. Giving gifts is at the center of God’s character.
There is a third lens: noticing the one who receives the good. Yes, sometimes that’s you. You are the beneficiary of a God who has your best interests at heart. Those who receive a gift know they are receiving something they did not earn, merit, or deserve.
Martin Luther once remarked that “to thank with all your heart is an art — an art which the Holy Spirit teaches. And you need not worry that the one who can really say ‘Deo gratias’ (to God be thanks) with all their heart will be proud, stubborn, rough, and tough, or will work against God with his gifts.” Thanksgiving leaves little room for pride, because the one who looks at life through these faithful lenses knows his or her place in the scheme of things: in the watch care of a good, gift-giving God. And in my mind, there is no better place to be.
Grace and Peace,