When You Work for the Church

Thanksgiving Day in both Canada and the United States has come and gone, but as we all know, giving thanks is not about a single day or weekend. Churches around the world give thanks every Sunday as part of their regular worship. Some of us give thanks every day when we pray before a meal, when some of us pray even before we get out of bed in the morning, or before we go to sleep at night.

My Mini-Thanksgiving

Among other things, I’ve noted:

• Grateful for a rich time of worship this morning.
• Grateful for homemade red lentil soup with smoked paprika and coconut milk.
• Grateful for connecting with other readers and writers at the Surrey Christian Writers 10^th anniversary celebration.
• Grateful for a phone call with all three of my sisters at the same time.
• Grateful for my weekly walk and talk with a good friend.

As I look back in my gratitude journal, I realize that most of the things I’ve listed are physical things: Like nutritious and delicious food. Like a good walk and heart-to-heart talk. Like refreshing rain after days of hot summer sun. As Psalm 111 says:

• “The works of the Lord are magnificent” (v. 2).
• “God is famous for his wondrous works” (v. 4).
• “God gives food” (v. 5).

God has blessed us with so many people and so many good things that are part of our physical world. Abundant thanks to our abundant God!

Giving Thanks as a Church

I suppose it’s quite natural for me—and perhaps also for us as a church—to focus on the people and activities that are part of our physical world. After all, what we can see and hear and touch may be the most immediate for us.

Our Sunday morning prayers in church may also focus on our more physical needs:

• prayers for those who are unwell, who are waiting for test results, who are in hospital or hospice,
• prayers for those in transition, moving from one home to another, from one job to another, from one stage of life to another with the birth or adoption of children, caring for aging parents, or other changes,
• prayers for the end of violence in our communities and cities, and in places of conflict around the world in desperate need of peace.

As we pray for these and other physical realities, as we seek God’s intervention and open ourselves to follow God’s guidance, our prayers also direct us beyond what is seen to the unseen. That, at least, is the example of Psalm 111. For while the psalm offers thanks to God for providing food which is so physical and tangible, it also offers praise for the unseen God:

• “full of mercy and compassion” (v. 4),
• the God of “honesty and justice” (v.  7),
• who redeems us (v. 9),
• and is “holy and awesome” (v. 9).

I can’t say that these less physical qualities have made it into my gratitude journal in the same way as the people and events that fill my days. But as I give thanks for the physical and tangible things in my life, I also want to offer praise to God for those unseen things that are less obvious: for salvation through Jesus Christ, for God’s love, mercy, and justice, for the Spirit who is ever-present to guide and comfort us.

So, too, in our prayers as a church. As we pray for those in need of healing, may we also praise God as the giver of every good gift (James 1:17). As we pray for people experiencing the joys and challenges of changing circumstances, may we also praise God who never changes: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!” (Hebrews 13:8). As we pray for peace, let us also praise God for Jesus as the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

While these spiritual realities might not be as immediately obvious with our physical senses, they are just as real—perhaps even more real?—and worthy of praise. Abundant thanks and praise to our abundant God!

Praising God from A to Z

In the original Hebrew, Psalm 111 is an acrostic psalm, with each line starting with a different letter of the alphabet from beginning to end. Going through all of the letters in order was an aid to memorizing the psalm. And it also expressed a sense of completeness—that God had given the ancient people everything—seen and unseen—from aleph to taw. Or, as we might say today for our own time and alphabet, God has given us everything from A to Z, seen and unseen.

God’s abundant giving prompts the psalmist to offer abundant thanks and praise: “I thank the Lord with all my heart” (v. 1). With the psalmist, we, too, can praise God with all our heart, with the fullness of who we are from A to Z.

Tonight, as I again end my day with my gratitude list, I’ll think of the people I talked with and review the events of my day. I’ll give thanks for the blessings and pray for the needs. And, like Psalm 111, I’ll also look beyond the seen to the unseen, beyond the gifts of this day to the Giver, who is generous and wise, all good and always present. Abundant thanks and praise to our abundant God!

So that my whole being
might sing praises to you and never stop.
Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
(Psalm 30:12)

An earlier version of this article appeared in Light Magazine.