The Power in the Words “Thank-You”

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
November 23, 2008

The Power in the Words “Thank-You”
1 Chronicles 16:8-13

Meister Eckhart was a Dominican monk and theologian
whose writings spanned the late 13th and early 14th centuries,
some 700 years ago.
His writings endure today for their simplicity, their spirituality,
and their deep faithfulness.
Among his pithy quotes that have stood
as testimonies to faith over the centuries
are these two, so short, so powerful:
“God is at home,
it's we who have gone out for a walk.”
and
“To be full of things is to be empty of God.”

The quote I like best is this one, though:
“If the only prayer you ever say
in your entire life is, thank you,
it will be enough.”

Now I have a quite a few books in my library,
including some by Eckhart and others about him,
but I cannot find that quote anywhere.
I stumbled across it, in, of all places,
a Sunday comic strip some months ago!
I keep the comic on my bulletin board.

If the only prayer you ever lift up
is one of thanksgiving, of gratitude,
it will suffice.

Yes, we have prayers of praise,
prayers asking for help for ourselves,
or for loved ones.
We lift up prayers of confession every Sunday in church.
But I’m inclined to agree with Eckhart:
if you have no other prayer on your lips,
make sure yours is one of thanksgiving.

Words of thanksgiving can be so powerful:
When we say thank you to someone,
we are turning from ourselves,
and turning to the person to whom we are giving our thanks.
We acknowledge a gift and
we acknowledge the act of giving --
the generosity of the spirit of the one who gave.

The grandness of the gift doesn’t matter;
it is the act that we acknowledge.
It may be cliché, but it's true:
it is the thought that matters.
Someone thought enough of you to give you a gift,
a small gift, a large gift,
something tangible,
something you cannot see or touch,
perhaps just a few words…
it does not matter --
someone thought of you
and gave you something,
and in the process gave something of herself or himself.

When we lift up our voices to God in a prayer of thanksgiving,
we are recognizing God’s thoughtfulness.
We recognize that God is always thinking of us,
even when we are not thinking of him;
God is always present in our lives,
loving us, nurturing us, feeding us,
guiding us.

The writers of the Psalms understood this so well,
which is why we find thankfulness in so many Psalms:
“O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.”
(Psalm 95)

David’s prayer of thanksgiving we find
in the often-overlooked book of Chronicles
comes from Psalm 105:
“O give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him
tell of his wonderful works….”
(1 Chronicles 16:8ff)

David got it, that everything he had came from God,
that everything he was, everything he was yet to be,
was all from God.
He knew it,
he felt it.
And he wanted everyone else to feel the same way he did:
filled with thanksgiving,
filled with joy.

The root of the word “thanks” comes from the same root
as the word, “think”,
and that makes sense, doesn’t it:
when we thank God,
we are thinking of God.
And when we are thinking of God,
we should be thanking God.
When we think of God
we should remember that everything we have
comes from God, given us by grace,
given as gifts grounded in love,
love personified in Jesus Christ.

We are at the start of “thank-you” season.
It will begin on Thursday as families and friends
gather around tables
and express thanks for so many things,
and it will continue through Christmas
as we give and receive gifts.

The other day I had Chapel Time with the children
in our Early Learning Center
and I asked them to tell me some of the things
they are thankful for;
There were as many different answers as there were children.
Each child had something different, something wonderful
and something heartfelt he or she was thankful for:
Parents, grandparents,
homes, clothes, pets,
sisters and brothers,
school,
a full tummy,
a cozy bed with a warm blanket.
Four-year olds got it, just as David did.

Jesus understood the importance of giving thanks
to his Father in Heaven.
When he gathered with his disciples in that Upper Room
for the Passover Supper,
his final meal with his friends,
he knew what lay before him:
he knew he would shortly be betrayed and arrested,
and then beaten and killed.
Still, as he took the bread, he offered thanks to God.
And then as he took the cup,
he again offered thanks to God.
Thanks to God.
Thanks to his Father in Heaven.
Thanks to our Father in Heaven.
In an evening so heavy with emotion,
Jesus did not forget to lift up his words of thanksgiving.
The Bread of Life understood the importance
of saying thank you for the bread on the table.

Our lives should be prayers of thanksgiving,
and not just on one day,
or even over the course of one month,
but at all times.
Our every act should be accompanied by the phrase,
“after giving thanks to God.” --
I had my morning cup of coffee
“after giving thanks to God.”
I sat down at my desk and got to work,
“after giving thanks to God.”
I put the groceries away in the cupboard,
“after giving thanks to God.”
I fed the dog and then took him for a walk,
“after giving thanks to God.”
I fluffed up my pillow and turned out the light,
“after giving thanks to God.”
How easy is that?

What are you thankful for?
The warmth of the morning sun?
Family? Friends?
The people with whom you work?
This church and the saints past and present
who have been part of this community of faith?
The laughter of a child?
The wag of a dog’s tail?
The colors in the autumn leaves?
The sheer silence of a snow-covered neighborhood?
Love?
Goodness?
The feelings of kindness and hope
that come with the season that lies before us,
the season of Advent that begins next Sunday?

The Psalmist teaches us well:
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright,
in the congregation.”
(Psalm 111)

Let us do just that: let us give thanks to the Lord
with our hearts, minds, and voices,
all together, in the congregation,
with the litany of thanksgiving that’s printed in your bulletin:

Gracious God, whose love and goodness extends throughout the earth,
and even to the farthest reaches of the universe:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For the richness of creation, the beauty of the earth,
for crashing sea and towering mountains,
for bountiful fields ready to harvest,
for majestic trees, the birds of the sky,
animals of every size and shape :
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For the love of family and friends, for the laughter of children,
the energy of youth, the strength of adults,
the wisdom of elders, the comfort of community:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For the nurture of a mother’s love,
the compassion of a father’s care,
for every expression of grace, tolerance, justice, and mercy:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For the church where our faith is nurtured,
for your Holy Spirit who calls us to praise and worship you,
for the ministries you call us to,
for the brothers and sisters we work with as we share the gospel:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For your Son Jesus Christ, who calls us to follow,
fills us with hope, and graces us with your love:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For your constant and abiding presence,
and your overflowing blessings:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For your overwhelming goodness and love:
We lift up our voices in praise and
thanksgiving to you, our Lord, our God.
AMEN