The Dow lost 395 points yesterday as tech stocks dragged down the major indexes. A star system in our galaxy is primed for an intense explosion that could wipe out the ozone layer in our atmosphere (though the system is eight thousand light years away from us).
Here’s the good news: we’re not living in AD 536, which one Harvard historian considers the worst year in human history. The reason: a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Iceland spewed ash across the Northern Hemisphere, blanketing the land in a mysterious fog for eighteen months.
Temperatures fell; crops failed; people starved. Bubonic plague followed, wiping out one-third to one-half of the population of the eastern Roman Empire and hastening its collapse.
How does this dismal story relate to Thanksgiving?
“Give thanks in all circumstances”
I’ve been contemplating a challenging sentence in Scripture: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
“Give thanks” translates eucharisteite, from which we get “eucharist.” The Greek verb is a present tense imperative second person plural and thus can be literally translated, “Each and every one of you is commanded continually to express gratitude without ceasing.”
“In all circumstances” translates panti, meaning “in each and every place and time.” The Greek adjective admits no exceptions or qualifications. Such gratitude is God’s will “for you,” referring to each and every believer.
Why does our Lord command every Christian to express thanks in every circumstance of life? Does this imperative mean that God’s self-esteem is so low that he needs our constant affirmations of gratitude? Or could it be that this command is for our sake rather than his?
An attitude of gratitude in hard times
The latter is obviously the case. Why, then, does our Father want his children to live in a continuing state of thanksgiving?
The answer is not that every…
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