BiblicalInsights.net

     An outstanding volume on the theme of thanksgiving is David Pao’s book, Thanksgiving An Investigation of a Pauline Theme.  This book is published by InterVarsity Press and is a part of a series called, “New Studies in Biblical Theology.”
     There are four words that are commonly associated with thanksgiving.
They are: God-centered, dependency, worship, and covenant.  The spirit of thanksgiving is born out of an understanding that God is the ultimate source of all things.  This involves both physical and spiritual things.  Creation passages affirm this fact.  Consider Gen. 1:1; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16-18.  Pao mentions that thanksgiving in Paul’s writing is reserved for God and not for humans. The only possible exception he gives is Rom. 16:4 where Paul thanks Priscilla and Acquila for risking their lives to help Paul, but Pao mentions that even this shows a wider concern for the ministry of God and the work of God.  In thanksgiving, we recognize that God is the ultimate source of all things including our own existence.
     Secondly, in thanksgiving, we confess our dependency upon God.  Our narcissistic age inflates the gradiose self and manifests a stubborn independence. Narcissism is self-absorption and produces ingratitude.  We must be able to appreciate help and enrichment from others.  In thanksgiving, we confess our need of God.
     Thirdly, in thanksgiving, we express our gratitude through praise and prayer directed to God.  Worship is an expression of a grateful heart.  When we feel a sense of being overwhelmed by God’s goodness, our hearts are made to sing and to bless God’s holy name.  Feelings of entitlement rob us of gratitude.  God does not owe us anything.  But, He has freely given us all things to enjoy.  We must freely give our hearts to Him.
     Fourthly, in thanksgiving, we express our full consecration to God according to the covenant He has given us.  Thanksgiving is more than just words.  It must become a way of life.  Paul states that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God (Rom. 12:1,2).  Complete consecration to God is the fullest expession of thanksgiving.  
     Here are some closing thoughts on thanksgiving gleaned from Bits and Pieces, Nov., 2008, p. 12.
     -The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction.  A person cooking is a person giving: Even the simplest food is a gift.
     -He who forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness.
     -One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.
     -As bread is the staff of life, the simple sustenance of the body, so appreciation is the food of the soul.
     -“In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thess. 5:18).

     The Episcopal Church is undergoing a split due to differing views on the Bible, gay relationships and other issues.  The theologically conservative Diocese of Forth Worth voted recently to split from the liberal Episcopal Church.  This is the fourth diocese to do so.  The others are Pittsburgh; Quincy, ILL; and San Joaquin, based in Fresno, CA.  About 80 percent of the clergy members and parishoners in the Texas disocese supported the break in a series of votes at the diocesan convention.  The vote is the latest fallout from the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson (www.dispatch.com –Texas Diocese splits from Episcopal Church, by Rachel Zoll).    
     Is it possible that what is happening in the Episcopal church will happen in other religious groups?  The answer is, yes!  The gay issue is a moral issue for many religious people.  This moral issue, like others, tests us as to whether or not we will walk in God’s Ways.  The apostle Paul clearly identifies homosexuality as “unrighteousness.”  He writes, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?  Be not deceived:  neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”  (I Cor. 6:9-10).  Paul lists ten classes of sins in these passages.  The phrase, “abusers of themselves with mankind” refers to sodomy or homosexuality.  Homosexuality is unrighteousness.  Paul also identifies homosexuality as uncleanness and as vile affection in Romans 1:21-27.  If we uphold God’s truth, we identify homosexuality as a sin against Him.  As with any sin, it can be overcome and forgiven by God.  In I Cor. 6:11, Paul states, that some in Corinth participated in these sins in the past, “but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”  They were converted, changed, and transformed by the power of God.  Consequently, they ceased these sinful practices and enjoyed fellowship with God and the spiritual blessings in Christ. 
     Does the gay issue threaten to split churches of Christ?  Recently, David Lipscomb University hosted the Christian Scholars Conference (June, 2008).  During this conference, Jared Cramer presented a paper.  Cramer is currently affiliated with the Anglican (Episcopal) movement (working toward priesthood).  The paper was titled, “One New Humanity: Reconsidering Homosexuality in Light of the Ecclesiology of Ephesians.”  Cramer affirms that there is nothing “wrong about a faithful, loving, monogamous same-sex relationship” (www.christiancourier.com  –David Lipscomb University and the Christian Scholars Conference, by Wayne Jackson).  Now, each of us is confronted with a test of truth.  Is Cramer or Paul correct?  What will you believe?  Who will you follow?
     As homosexuality becomes more pervasive in our society, it will become more divisive.  Whether or not it becomes a divisive issue in the churches of Christ remains to be seen.  Hopefully, Christians will stand upon the truth of God’s Word and reject homosexuality as a moral evil.

     Robert Reymond in his book What is God? makes an astute comment concerning contemporary worship and the concept of the majesty of God.  Here is the quote, “Therefore, it is absolutely esential–indeed, it is a vital imperative for our spiritual health–that we who desire to know what God is like should always listen carefully to God’s description of himself in Holy Scripture alone, submit our hearts to that description without murmuring against it, endeavor to live our lives in accordance with it, and worship him in a way that befits his revealed perfections, that is, with reverence and awe.  And speaking of worship, I want to state categorically that, in my opinion, the intrusion into the contemporary church of superficial, flippant worship styles that abound everywhere today, with their applause for the church’s “performers” and their sappy contemporary music, is not and should never have been regarded as simply a matter of ‘cultural preference.’  Rather, as an infusion of the popular culture into the church it is a symptom of what A. W. Tozer describes in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, as “The loss of the concept of (the) majesty of God from the popular religious mind.  The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be unworthy of thinking, worshipping men…”  (What is God? 48).
     This quote, it seems to me, is targeting the heart of many problems in religion in general and in worship in particular.  Our religion is more about us than it is about God.  We are more inclined to act to please ourselves rather than God.  We pay lip service to Him while ignoring His Will.  A study of God, based upon what the Scriptures affirm about Him, would be beneficial for every person and every congregation of the Lord’s people. We must love God supremely, worship Him only, and serve Him faithfully.