We Thank God
What is the path to becoming Grateful? It runs through the focused labor of being honest!
I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. This holiday, with its stories of Indians and settlers, tales of bravery and conflict, and yes, the food, it all mixes together to create some wonderful memories.
Not the least of which is my maw maw’s fudge icing! The recipe was in her head and has now been lost to posterity, and we are all the poorer for it!
But how do we become thankful? What is the path to gratitude? Is it merely nostalgia? Or maybe emotional feelings of guilt? None of that is even remotely long-lasting or healthy!
The path to mature thankfulness and actual Thanksgiving lies in my willingness to be honest and selfless.
Look at our lesson in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-14:
Brethren, remember our labor and toil; we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our behavior to you believers; for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea.
St. Paul tells these precious spiritual children that he thanks God constantly that these dear people “received the word of God.” They willingly embraced Paul’s message of the Good News of Jesus Christ and treated this message not as Paul’s personal opinion but as coming from the Creator Himself.
Why? What was the key to drawing out of Paul’s constant thankfulness?
These people were willing to be “exhorted,” “encouraged,” and “charged.”
Paul reveals the profound virtue in his spiritual children: to become willing to hear just how to “lead a life worthy of God.”
And Paul said they showed this willingness even when they had to be corrected. They showed this willingness even when they were depressed by the weight of the calling and by the brokenness of their lives. They showed this by their courageous embrace of being challenged to rise to the calling of a Christian. They didn’t let laziness or fear keep them from being purposeful Orthodox Christians.
So, it turns out that becoming grateful means not some nostalgic sentiment but the sheer honest knowing of what has been gifted to us by a loving God! It means gratitude comes after I’ve paid the price to labor for this precious Faith in my everyday life. Seeing that Faith makes me more aware of my need for God’s grace and more attentive to the spiritual disciplines that keep me on that “narrow way.”
Far from some notion that God is nothing more than a heavenly “sugar daddy” that spoils His children, this Orthodox Path means I will never be truly grateful for all God has done without actively applying the spiritual disciplines in my life. Like a runner who trains for years and finally wins the prize, he comes to the podium and thanks everyone who made it possible for him to labor for this award.
So it is with us. My gratitude will always be too small as long as I only pay lip service to the challenge of practicing this cosmic Faith.
In 298, Irenarchos cared for the prisoners in his native Sebastia. Many of these prisoners were Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. One time, seven women were being tortured for being Christians, and St. Irenarchos witnessed these women’s bravery, humility, and faithfulness in the face of such torments. Moved to tears, St. Irenarchos boldly proclaimed himself a Christian as well. He was tortured and beheaded with the seven women for his faith in Christ. It was seeing these heroes of the Faith be more grateful for their salvation than they were for their comfort that moved St. Irenarchos to embrace true Thankfulness.
Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the US. It is an annual invitation to grow beyond the shallow sentiment that moves us emotionally ever so briefly to the robust and mature life of Gratitude that stokes the fire of faithfulness in us and helps us live a Normal Orthodox life!
P.S. As a triumphant man of war enlisted with the Prince of Peace, the prince of darkness did you destroy utterly in your courageous martyrdom. And now, by your entreaties, do you ever preserve in peace and in godliness, O Martyr Irenarchos, all them that acclaim thy valiant deeds.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV
🌐 Saint Paul, pray for us! ⛪☦️🕊️⛲
Onward to Bethlehem.....✨🌴🐪👑