Church leader, this month gives us an amazing opportunity to model for and lead our churches toward a biblical model of true thanksgiving. But only if we will be brutally honest about our circumstances. And only if we truly believe the promises of God.
And so, church leader, I have to ask: how thankful are you feeling? How effective do you think your thanksgiving services are going to be this month?
Paul reminds those who are in Christ how they are to walk (3:12), bearing one another, freely forgiving, loving one another by the peace of Christ that rules in their hearts. As a result of this he says to “be thankful” (3:15b). Most literally, he says “be thankful ones” or “be thankful people.” They are to be unified in their gratitude. He exhorts them to be known as thankful people by those who are watching. “Perception is reality” some say, so let their perception of you be that you are thankful, and this because you have been freely forgiven and joined perfectly in Jesus.
A prayer of thanksgiving. This liturgy seeks to bear in mind the unique and difficult circumstances of 2020, as well as the fact that many Thanksgiving gatherings will be virtual.
It is a great solace to me that my faithfulness will not be measured by the number of people who come to hear me preach, but that I cling to Christ in my preaching. Your faithfulness is not determined by the efficacy of your work, but by the efficacy of Christ’s. To be sure, we ought to do everything with excellence as unto the Lord, and not to men. And that excellence may shut lions’ mouths, but it also might mean being fed into one.
Gratitude in the wilderness is a hard fought practice. It recognizes and gives thanks for what God has done in the past, cries out in pain for the way things are now, and calls God to act in the present in accordance with how God has in the past.
Gratitude.
It's not an easy virtue, even on a good day.
Far easier is an attitude of entitlement--that sniveling and singularly unattractive presumption that what's yours is yours by virtue of merit or morality or some other human achievement or distinctive.
While I've not seen any hard data to support the following claim, I feel confident in saying that gratitude has been, for most of us, an especially elusive virtue in the Year of Our Lord, 2020.
While we are still awaiting the final results of this week’s election, one thing has become clear. The divisions we have experienced in the United States in recent years are deep and real. They will be with us for awhile. As Ronald Brownstein writes in The Atlantic, “The clearest message of this week’s complicated election results is that the trench is deepening between red and blue America.”
Martin Luther once said: “If the doctrine of justification is lost, the whole of Christian doctrine is lost.” That might be a slight exaggeration, but it suggests how vital this doctrine really was for the Reformers and remains for the churches of the Reformation today.
Any attempt to return to Christendom requires syncretism: a marriage between the church and ruling power. A power that is in direct contradiction to allegiance to the sovereign rule of Jesus over all things. Newbigin was clear throughout his writings, there can be no return to Christendom, nor should there be.
As pastors, we are called to lead our flocks through the age of anger, to lead them to resist conformity to the forces at work in our world that are creating this age. To do so, it is critical that we understand the dynamics that are creating the age of anger, and to counter these dynamics with faithful preaching and discipleship, being used by the Lord to form communities of peace in a time of rage. It will come as no surprise to pastors that the anger of our era has infiltrated the church. We have witnessed this anger as members of our church battle it out on social media. In order to shepherd well during this time, it is important for pastors to understand the dynamics that are at work globally, and to see how these dynamics are playing out in our local fellowship. As pastors, we must ask: How do we shepherd our flock in this volatile time? How can we counter the anger of our age that is flooding the church?
REPLAY: The Augustinian Pastor
JOEY SHERRARD
ARTICLE: Why Church Identity Really Matters
JOEL LAWRENCE
SPECIAL: Local and Global Ecclesial Theology
MATT O’REILLY
ARTICLE: Twice-Told Tales
ANDREW WILLIAMS
