One account in Acts that has always fascinated me is when Paul and Silas were thrown into the prison in Philippi in Acts 16. What is fascinating about it is what Paul and Silas do in prison and what results from their actions. Paul and Silas pray, presumably aloud, and sing hymns to God. This is not a normal thing one would imagine doing in such a situation. Paul and Silas are chained in the prison. They had every reason to cry injustice and complain! Not only them, but we could imagine the jailer, whose lot it was to execute such a horrid job, also had reason to murmur. But as Paul and Silas prayed and sang, the prisoners are said to have listened, and so did the jailer.
People are always watching and listening. That, too, is fascinating, but also convicting. The jailer did not come up with the words “what must I do to be saved” ex nihilo; he heard them from the song and prayers of Paul and Silas in the midst of their unjust imprisonment. Because Jesus is Lord and has the ultimate victory by the resurrection, Paul and Silas sang in their suffering and injustice; they didn’t complain (or start a hashtag campaign!). And because they sang and prayed, a whole household was baptized and received into the people of God. Gratefulness, with its roots in the assurance of the gospel in the teeth of terribly unjustified circumstances, saved a household and planted roots in Philippi for the Kingdom of God.
I was raised by a dad that lived by the mantra, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” This is not an all too unfamiliar saying too many of you, I am sure. This is a phrase that describes perfectly a messiah complex we all have to a certain degree that can also be stated, “if I am not doing it, no one is.”
When the world is not going the way we want, when there is an injustice, or when we simply feel slighted, we might want to ask, “if I don’t take up the cause or take a stand, who will?” Don’t hear what I am not saying, there is nothing bad about taking up good causes or fighting injustice, but people see and hear how we go about it and will want to know what motivates our actions.
In a divided and deeply confused world, as Jesus-followers, we must be known as those who return praise to God with thankful hearts in all circumstances.
In two places in Paul’s letters to actual historical churches, he exhorts his readers to “be thankful.” In Colossians 3:15 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul speaks into two situations of potential worldly relational conflict that could weasel itself within a church, and his antidote is thankfulness. The word Paul uses in these two contexts is eucharisteō, which is where we get the word eucharist that some of us use in church for the Lord’s Supper. Another much more common word in Paul’s vocabulary is that is in the “gratitude” category is charis, which is where we get the word “charismatic” (that is, “filled with he gifts of the Spirit”), but this word is more normally tied to issues of soteriology. The best work on this word, in my opinion, is John Barclay’s book called Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans, 2015).
But why does Paul commend or, maybe more correctly, command thankfulness in these contexts? I see two reasons for this:
We are forgiven and made one in Jesus
In Jesus, God’s will is to sanctify us completely
I have within myself what I call my inner lawyer. He operates to justify everything I do so that I might stand on the side of the angels and so that the anxiety, shame, and guilt that burdens my heart may be relieved by my self-righteousness if only for a moment. Of course, this doesn’t work. Those to whom Paul speaks in these letters had an inner lawyer too. They had reasons to defend their tribe or their cause, and to claim higher ground. Paul, however, Paul calls them to a different way of living.
In Colossians 3:5-17, Paul contrasts the way of the world with the way of God’s chosen ones. The world’s way is one that is marked by egotism and hedonism that ultimately leads to division and guarding “what is mine” (Col. 3:5-11). Instead, the gospel is not about tribalism and defense of what is one’s own, or what is owed to one, but unity and selflessness (3:11). Paul reminds those who are in Christ how they are to walk (3:12), bearing one another, freely forgiving, loving one another by the peace of Christ that rules in their hearts. As a result of this he says to “be thankful” (3:15b). Most literally, he says “be thankful ones” or “be thankful people.” They are to be unified in their gratitude. He exhorts them to be known as thankful people by those who are watching. “Perception is reality” some say, so let their perception of you be that you are thankful, and this because you have been freely forgiven and joined perfectly in Jesus.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-23, Paul gives final instructions to the church and a benediction. In this section, Paul recognizes that there are common diversions in everyday life that would lead one away from a life of following Jesus. Instead of repaying slight for slight in a type of pride war, Paul exhorts his readers to “give thanks in all circumstances” (5:18). Again, why thankfulness? The reason Paul gives is that it is God’s will in Christ Jesus is that you would be those known, not as those just like everyone else in the world that would pay “an eye for an eye,” but as those who are thankful at all times. Paul makes one of the most powerful statements in his letters in this context, assuring us that God is in control and we can trust that “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely [sanctify you completely, spirit, soul, and body] do it” (1 Thess. 5:23-24). Much like in Romans, there is every reason to find division and plead our cause over another (14:5). But Paul says the chief end is thankfulness for God’s gift, yes in his daily provisions (14:6) in whatever way we feel convinced we might receive or practice those moments (14:2-4), but ultimately in the reality that Jesus is Lord over death and life, the living and the dead. We can be thankful in all circumstances because of Jesus’ resurrectional lordship that carries forward and confirms God’s plan for His chosen ones.
Contrary to being known for thankfulness — thankfulness being the perception that an outsider would have — the world offers division, complaining, strife, anger, victimhood, guilt, shame, and pride. Paul knows that these are all things that Christ-followers could be known for if they are not reminded that they have been given an unmerited gift that cannot be repaid in Jesus. Division and hate stand at the door and knocks for those to whom Paul writes, but they equally stand at our door and knock. How will we be known?
Sure, we would like to imagine that we would not find ourselves in a place of outright hatred or division, but what other fruits of the world might creep in and take the place of thankfulness? Instead of thankfulness we can buy into our messiah complexes and feel in this utterly divided and confused world that if we don’t voice our opinion, and forcibly voice it for that matter, things will never change. But let us not too quickly forget, we have an advocate at the right hand of God who has and is taking up the battle on our behalf. Now, does this mean we do nothing? No. Absolutely not. We do advocate and take up the battle, but not as the world would have it. The battle and repentence, however, comes first from within. We must turn our arrows that are aimed inward after years and years of lessons on entitlement outward moment by moment to express gratitude and charity. Our world should be hearing for Christ-followers a message of resounding thankfulness ringing from our churches, our members, and from us! I have some deep concerns, however, that this is not the resounding message they are hearing from Christians. My question for all of us is: Would those who are listening to and watching you ask, “what must I do to be saved?” by what they have heard you pray, sing, talk, or post about?
Let us have our anxieties calmed by the awesome fact that nothing will dethrone Jesus as Lord. Our challenge as ministers, elders, deacons, Christ-followers, etc., is to be known as “thankful ones.” We can stand steady, assured, and unmoving upon our unity in Jesus and his promise that we will one day enter glory, being brought to life by his resurrection and sanctified completely under his lordship.
This resource is part of the series In All Circumstances – A Theology of Gratitude. Click Here to explore more resources from this series.
Aaron White is the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in South Charleston, OH. He holds a PhD in New Testament Studies from Trinity College, Bristol University. He is the author or editor of multiple books, including Who Created Christianity: Fresh Approaches to the Relationship between Jesus and Paul. Aaron is a member of the St. Basil Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
