1 Thessalonians

Thanksgiving is a commanded response of worship to God, and such a response must be distinctly Christian if it is to be biblical thanksgiving.
But thanksgiving isn’t a response to just anyone or anything, it’s to be our proper response toward God, and specifically for His goodness. I would even argue that thanksgiving is central, if not the foundation of our worship.
In fact, it’s the lack of thankfulness towards God that leads to idolatry. It was the lack of gratitude in the Garden that led to Adam and Eve’s eating from the tree they were told not to eat from. Rather than giving thanks to God for giving them absolutely everything else, they were displeased that being God was off limits to them-because in essence that’s what the tree represented.
I’ve given you everything, God says, but as for My throne, My sovereign rule over what is good and what is evil, I can’t give you that. And so they ate from the tree, displaying their ingratitude.
Well, maybe I’m reading too much into the Genesis account. What does Paul say. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God - and here it is - or give thanks to Him.
Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God… meaning this is what God desires from us. Thanksgiving isn’t just foundational to our worship; it is our worship.
It is the worship God desires. Now, it expresses itself in different ways, such as joy and exultation, praise and singing, prayer and confession. I would suggest even our contrition is grounded in thanksgiving, because we’re only moved to contrition as a response to God’s mercy, thus out of a response of thankfulness.
Now, there’s nothing distinctly Christian about having an attitude of gratitude. The world promotes looking on the bright side of things, that being thankful leads to a happier healthier more fulfilling life than the unthankful alternative.
The problem is that thanksgiving-giving thanks-is necessarily directed towards a person. Giving thanks is a response toward someone’s grace toward you-their good favor toward you. That’s what the Greek word means. [Euchoristeo’]. In other words, you can’t thank inanimate objects. You can’t go outside and thank the sun for the beautiful day.
But you also can’t thank animate objects such as your dog. Why? Because there is no volition of good intent taking place in your dog. Persons alone can offer grace, and so thanksgiving must be directed towards a person if it is to be thanksgiving in the truest sense
So when the world removes the Creator from its thanksgiving, they gut thanksgiving from much of its meaning.
There’s nothing distinctly Christian about being thankful in and of itself.
But get this. Worldly optimism dressed up in a cloak of thankfulness is not Christian thanksgiving. The optimistic attitude of gratitude the world promotes will prove futile in the end. You see, a positive attitude can lead you straight to hell just as readily as a negative attitude can.
Like Israel of the past, the Thessalonians were headed to the promised land-the true promised land! Now is not the time to grumble over the provisions along the way.
That would be like heading downtown to receive a multi-million-dollar inheritance and grumbling over your old beat-up car breaking down a few blocks away. So what! You can get a new car! But if in your frustration, you fail to get to the bank because you somehow feel you’re too entitled to walk the last few blocks, , you won’t see the inheritance.
Beloved, some of your vehicles are wearing down. They’ve got decades of miles on them. But you’re almost there! Finish the race. Finish the race with thanksgiving.
God has supplied everything we need in Christ Jesus. Let our outer selves waste away. We have new vehicles coming-new glorified vehicles. And we’re going to need them if we are to gaze upon and stand in Christ’s glorious presence. Now is the time to rejoice and give thanks for the assurance of what’s to come!
The coming of the Lord, the coming Day of the Lord, is given as grounds for their hope, and thus, whatever circumstances may come, they can give thanks. If you’re in Christ, that is your hope. So whether you’re having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day like Alexander, or things seem to be going well, we can give thanks in every circumstance because our promised hope is not in our present circumstances, but in Christ: His finished work of salvation in justifying us sinners before God, the current work of sanctification He is working in us through His Word and Spirit, and the promised hope of His imminent return and all the glories that come with it.
Our thanksgiving is a response. It is our expected response of worship toward God for His goodness. Our thanksgiving is distinctly Christian because it is grounded in Christ’s glorious work on the cross. And our thanksgiving is a meal, where we feast on Christ, who became true bread and true drink for us.