Grasping at Gratitude: Why Suffering, Weakness, and Death deserve a place at the table this Thanksgiving

As we approach the season of Thanksgiving, we begin to pull our gratitude out of the box as though we were unpacking winter sweaters. "Oh, I had forgotten I owned that!" or "I was wondering where this had gone." We thank God for family, jobs, health, homes, etc. that before this season had seemed like the white noise of our lives.

But the question that continues to nag me is: How are these things any different than what every other American unbeliever is thankful for this season? How does our public gratitude to God about these things speak any deeper message to our world about the beauty of the Gospel?

And this pains me. The world thinks they know Jesus because this is all we present about him. He is love. He gives good gifts. See, here's my perfect family, superb health, and tidy home.

If unbelievers already have these things without Jesus, why would they want him?

No, we believers must not stop at a brand of gratitude that every "good" person already has. It is equivalent to loving those who love you. That's easy. No trouble. But Jesus blew that pat on the back right out of the water with Luke 6. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that" (v.32-33). And we can say the same for gratitude. Even sinners are thankful on Thanksgiving. I mean, it's in the name for heaven's sake. We're obligated. And, if pressed, I'm sure many would say they were thankful to "God" in much the same way that we are.

But Jesus' economy is always different. He continually turned the world on its ear. And so we are forced to look at gratitude differently as well. The question becomes: "What does the gospel give me to be grateful for that those without the gospel do not possess?" Of course salvation is the immediate answer... but I think that is the jumping-off point. Salvation is the beginning from which greater depths of gratitude can be discovered.

And this Thanksgiving, I'd like to propose some new ways to be thankful:

Gratitude in Suffering

1 Thessalonians 5:18
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Talk to anyone very long, and you will hear the ring of suffering in their story. But the message of the gospel is the message for the suffering. A woman most familiar with suffering is quadriplegic Joni Erickson Tada. She addresses the issue of gratitude in suffering in Nancy DeMoss's book, Choosing Gratitude. I have copied a powerful excerpt from her story below:

... many decades in a wheelchair have taught me to not segregate my Savior from the suffering he allows, as though a broken neck [...] merely ‘happens’ and then God shows up after the fact to wrestle something good out of it. No, the God of the Bible is bigger than that. Much bigger.

And so is the capacity of your soul. Maybe this wheelchair felt like a horrible tragedy in the beginning, but I give God thanks in my wheelchair…I’m grateful for my quadriplegia. It’s a bruising of a blessing. A gift wrapped in black. It’s the shadowy companion that walks with me daily, pulling and pushing me into the arms of my Saviour. And that’s where the joy is…

Your “wheelchair”, whatever it is, falls well within the overarching decrees of God. Your hardship and heartache come from His wise and kind hand and for that, you can be grateful. In it and for it.

And so we can speak genuinely when we say we are grateful for our suffering ONLY when Jesus is the most beautiful thing in the world to you. Then, anything that pushes you into his arms is a gift.

Gratitude in Weakness

Tim Keller once wrote, "Unless you believe the gospel, everything you do will be driven by either pride or fear." Both of these are quests for control. And both of these make us and everyone around us miserable. And so we glory in a God for whom we can boast and find our greatest confidence. And in light of the glory of the Son, what room is there for boasting in anything but the cross? And in the shadow of the cross, what room is there for fear?

2 Corinthians 12:7b-10
"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Gratitude in Death
What irony when the season that brings us the most joy throughout the year is the season of death for the nature outside our walls. We long for cold weather and the pipe-dream of snow. But icy cold and frozen ice are the death-knoll for many of the very plants we've been babying throughout the year. Somehow, bare trees and foggy mornings usher in feelings of warmth and romance and we don't mind the loss so much. And so it is with our own lives. Death to ourselves brings freedom and true life.

Romans 6 says it beautifully:
"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—  because anyone who has died has been set free from sin."

And the wonderful news is that our precious Savior has endured the death that comes with winter and has arrived on the other side through his resurrection... which secures the promise for us. Although he is the first to emerge from the winter, we have his assurance that he is not the last. We will follow him into freedom. So there is no fear in death; the cold brings us warmth because through death we find freedom. O Death, where is your sting now? It's defrosting by the blazing warmth of the gospel.

And so perhaps if we begin to boast in the cross instead of our wealth and blessing (although they are truly gifts), the people within our spheres of influence will discover that the message of Jesus does not look the same as their own version of Thanksgiving Gratitude and might very well find the fulfillment they did not experience through their annual gorging.

We thank you, God, for satisfying us with your Son!