Thankfulness is not a fruit of the Spirit.
And the implications of that, well…they stink.
It’d have been a bit more helpful for my jaded moods if God had either made it a fruit of the Spirit or had omitted it from the Bible. Thankfulness isn’t just included in the Bible, it’s commanded over and over.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” – Colossians 3:15
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful,
and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” – Hebrews 12:28
“Pray continually,give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.“
– 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
I could keep going, pulling quotes on thankfulness, but just trust me, there aren’t any that let you off the hook about it.
I know that 2020 has been a real…situation…but in the past week I have come across a fair number of articles about years past such as, 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Life in Greece/Rome and 37 Health Practices of the Middle Ages and The History of Plagues and Wars You Weren’t Taught and The History of Toilet Paper. What have I learned? Well, if you think hoarding toilet paper, wearing a mask and staying home is bad, you ain’t lived through the half of it.
But at the end of the day in 2020 there is the nagging feeling of “not enough.”
Not enough money.
Not enough resources.
Not enough sports.
Not enough school.
Not enough time with people.
Not enough people.
Not enough basic human decency.
Not enough.
And there’s not enough holiday decorations in the world to cover up that feeling.
So what do we do, on this, the Thanksgiving with the least reason to be thankful that most of us have ever lived through? Allow me to pull one more Bible verse.
And he directed the people to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
– Matthew 14:19.
There were so many people and a laughable amount of food. I imagine that at least one of the disciples thought turning over 5 loaves and 2 fishes would get them off the hook for feeding 5,000 plus people. But it didn’t.
Jesus took the not enough, said thanks and offered it to God. I can almost hear him saying, “This ‘not enough,’ it is Yours, Father. Do with it what You will.” And then he served others.
This miracle, it wasn’t a one of. Jesus did the same thing for a crowd of 4,000 in Matthew 15. Jesus wasn’t making a point about bread, he was making a point about our hearts.
One more time that Jesus echoed this pattern, taking the bread, giving thanks and offering it to God and then feeding others. It was at the Last Supper. He doesn’t hide the metaphor here.
This is my body.
This is my blood.
A laughable sacrifice.
Surely, not enough, in comparison with the ravenous hunger of the debt of sin waiting to consume us.
Yet, Jesus thanked God, offered himself, and gave himself.
And God took the offering and multiplied it, providing satisfaction, provision, and grace for the whole world.
Jesus lived out the lesson that thankfulness is not a fruit of the Spirit, rather it is a choice which takes its eyes off of “not enough” and moves them first to God and then to the needs of others. Thankfulness is the step that allows us to experience abundance from the “not enough.” We shouldn’t be surprised really. Our God is a “cup runneth over” kind of God.
I am preaching to myself here and I sense the need to pray. If you, like me, are struggling with the frustration of “not enough” I invite you to pray with me.
Father, My attention has been consumed by the “not enough.”
I look at the products I need dwindling on the shelves.
I struggle to help my kids with their schoolwork.
I miss sports and friends. I don’t want to deal with slow downs in shipping.
And I really don’t want to spend Thanksgiving at home.
Father, help me be open to the abundance You make out from circumstances I call not enough.
Thank You for the food and supplies we do have.
Thank You for hybrid school and the technology we have to do our best with our kids’ education.
Thank You shipping and for the people who do those jobs.
Thank You for a warm home, that the Macy’s parade is still on (sort of),
for Miracle on 34th St, and for the potatoes we already have.
Thank You for another Zoom call.
That one is the hardest for me to say thank you for,
because I don’t see how that can be enough,
but You do.
So You do with it what You will.
I trust You because You are trustworthy.
It’s in Your name I pray.
Amen.
Sarah Kinzer 