Harvest and Thanksgiving are Times for Remembering Blessings

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

Gratitude seems to be an innate part of our human nature. Of course, it needs to be cultivated, and “Thank you” in some form or another is usually the fourth expression we teach our babies — after “mama, “daddy,” and that magic word: please. Nor is ours the only country that sets aside a specific day to give thanks as a nation.

Did you know that the words “thank,” “thanks,” or “thanksgiving,” are written 95 times in the Old Testament? Think of that, for a moment. That’s the Old Testament: a whole different story, living under the Law, before Christ came to redeem us from our guilt under that Law and its fearsome consequences. Might be hard to have a thankful spirit under those circumstances. Yet, as the Psalmist reveals in the above quote, those who recognized God’s “steadfast love” could indeed give thanks.

As we might well imagine, most of these “thank” references are in the Psalms. Yet, even the prophets speak of thanksgiving to God. Isaiah, foreseeing the Redeemer as far beyond a political savior, anticipates “songs of thanksgiving,” (51:3) from the people whom God will comfort. Jeremiah also describes God’s comfort for and deliverance of those who turn to him, as those people respond with merrymaking and thanksgiving. He follows this description by that powerful proclamation of God’s, “And you shall be my people, and I will be your God,” (30:19-22), a promise each of us, millennia later, still holds dear.

But when Amos speaks for God, condemning the people for loving “to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,” (4:5), he speaks of God’s judgment, for the people lack true thankful spirits as they “oppress the poor [and] crush the needy.” We are admonished to have truly thankful hearts, giving hearts, not grasping.

We have much to be thankful for and could never make a complete list of all our blessings. But it is the steadfast, the “long-suffering” love of God that created, redeemed, and sustains us that gives us delight in life. In the end, and for all time, God’s steadfast love was poured out for us on the cross. This is the Gift we give thanks for daily.

Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, we learn that our gratitude can only be weighed on the scale of our love, lived out in kindness and service to others. As you read this issue of the Tempo, you will have prayed about and then committed your support, through your prayer, your time, your service, and your money to the ministries of your congregation, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. We, of Stewardship Committee thank you for your dedication to the work of our Lord Jesus Christ in the vast vineyard of this planet earth. We ask that you continue to study God’s word, the Bible, that you may perceive more keenly what God’s Word, our living Christ, calls you to dedicate, to do in His Name. Let each of us pray that our deep gratitude for all God has blessed us with will shine from the love we share in our lives. “God bless us, every one!” —IlaJean Kragthorpe