Note: the following is the manuscript the message and will not match exactly the recorded message above.
Introduction
Those Winter Sundays Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather
made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
This poem is a part of a collection gathered by Malcom Guite in his book, Waiting on the Word, which contains a poem for each day in Advent. Here is what he says about this particular poem:
Robert Hayden (1913–80) was brought up in an impoverished household in an African-American district where his father worked for a pittance as a manual labourer.
It was not an easy childhood, and the house was filled with the tension of a breaking marriage and the suppressed anger that so often accompanies oppression.
Hayden alludes to this in ‘fearing the chronic angers of that house’… it is for this very reason that we can credit the depth and reality of the hidden and practical love, in spite of all, to which this poem witnesses.
Today, we begin a new year with the first Sunday of Advent. The church calendar begins this way each year and then takes us through the events of Jesus’ life, with its climax at Easter.
Advent invites us to step back, beyond the birth of Jesus, into the ancient story of God’s people—back to Abraham and his family.
They were chosen as the beginning of God’s rescue mission for a broken world and a humanity lost in chaos.
We trace the thread of Israel’s hope through the centuries, a hope that persisted through exile and oppression, through silence and suffering.
The first Christians saw that hope take flesh in Jesus, born as a baby in Bethlehem.
That first Advent made one thing clear: God’s rescue operation had taken another big step, but it wasn’t yet complete.
Jesus inaugurated God’s kingdom “on earth as in heaven” through his teaching, his death, and his resurrection.
But the nature of this kingdom meant it would advance differently than anyone expected. It would not be through power and conquest, but through the humble, self-giving service of his followers, until the day Jesus returns to complete what he started, to set all things right, to abolish evil and death forever, and to unite heaven and earth fully.
We celebrate Jesus’ first coming during this season, and as we do so, we let that fulfillment kindle our hope for his return.
It is hope which empowers us to embody his kingdom here and now. We live in the space between the first Advent and the second. This is what it means to follow Jesus.
This Advent, we’ll explore what it means to live faithfully in that space. It is all about the postures we adopt as we wait, work, and worship between the “already” and the “not yet.”
Why did I choose “posture” as the focal point of this series? I’ll use a golfing illustration to answer that question.
Does anyone here golf regularly? Anyone taken golf lessons? Many years ago, I decided I wanted to learn how to golf. It was mainly because the company I was working for provided golf passes for the sales people so we could take our clients out golfing.
I learned that someone from our church was selling a set of golf clubs. I knew he was an avid golfer, so I asked him if I could buy his clubs and if he could show me how to use them properly.
We got out to the driving range, and he told me to hit a few balls. He watched me closely, which made me feel really self-conscious because I had no idea what I was doing.
Every so often, he would come over and adjust my posture and show me how to grip the club properly. He told me to slow down my swing and pay attention to the position of my feet, knees, hips, chest, head, and arms.
He told me where to look and when. With every swing came a minor adjustment. He would tell me to stand still at different points of the swing and then what to shift in my posture at those different points.
There are other skills like this, that require a proper posture. Our posture matters because it affects how we perform whatever we are trying to do.
Of course, anyone can pick up some clubs and hit a golf ball. But, if you want to do well, it’s best to learn a proper posture. And this takes time.
My golf instructor and I spent many hours together in those early days and weeks. He was patient with me and I had to be patient with myself as we focused on the basics before we got to an actual round of golf.
In many disciplines, like golf, correct posture often feels unnatural at first. A wider stance than seems necessary, weight is shifted in counterintuitive ways, looking down when you want to look up.
You’re training your body to hold a position that doesn’t produce immediate results but prepares you for the moment of action. These postures are about readiness, about shaping yourself for something that hasn’t happened yet.
This naturally raises the question: What does it mean to hold the right posture while we wait for Christ’s return?
Not anxious straining forward, not lazy indifference, but something more like that of disciplined readiness. A way of positioning our entire lives that looks, from the outside, like it might be for nothing but is actually preparing us for everything.
As we enter the Advent season, we have an opportunity to take time for the basics, to slow down and adjust our posture. Many people find this to be the busiest time of year. I wish that wasn’t the case.
But I hope at least during our time together on Sunday mornings, that you will be patient as we focus on four elements to the posture of waiting for Christ’s return.
We begin today with the posture of thanksgiving, with 1 Thess. 5:18 as our central verse. It is one of the few statements in Scripture that literally tells us what God’s will is for us.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
As will be the case for all our Advent messages, we will look at the what, why, and how of this posture.
Let’s start with clarity on what is meant by thanksgiving in Scripture.
What is thanksgiving?
It might seem unnecessary to define thanksgiving. We all know what it is, don’t we? To give thanks is a fairly simple idea. But it is often the simplest things about our posture that get neglected.
When you are sitting for a while, how often do you catch yourself slouching? We all know that slouching is bad. Yet, it is an aspect of our posture that is often the first to fail. The same is true for thanksgiving. So, we need to get to the basics.
The Oxford dictionary defines thanksgiving as the expression of gratitude, especially to God.
The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology describes thanksgiving as a motive for Christian life and conduct, a general attitude toward both the blessings and trials of life, a central component of prayer, and the context for the proper use of material things.
I really like that definition of thanksgiving, particularly the last statement. Thanksgiving is the context for the proper use of material things.
We will come back to that in the why and how sections. Let’s keep exploring the definition of thanksgiving and how it is used throughout Scripture.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew verb yādâ, and noun tôdâ, are both most often translated as “praise,” to convey the concept of gratitude. It is most commonly found in the Psalms and within the context of the sacrificial system. About twenty psalms invite Israel to sing songs of thanksgiving. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good” is a common refrain (106:1; 118:1; 136:1). Some psalms specify a reason, linking thanksgiving with acts of love and worship, exhorting worshipers to glorify God with thanksgiving (69:30), come before him with thanksgiving (95:2), enter his gates with thanksgiving (100:4), sing to the Lord with thanksgiving (147:7). Many cries for aid and laments conclude with thanksgiving (individual cries for help in 7:17; 28:7; 35:18; 52:9; 54:6; 86:12; communal cries in 79:13; 106:47).1
In the New Testament, two Greek words are most commonly used for thanksgiving. The one in our passage today is eucharisteō. It appears about 55 times. A similar and much more common term is charis which is translated grace, favour, goodwill, gift, greetings, rejoice, joy, happiness, delight, thanksgiving, and more. It occurs hundreds of times in the New Testament.
When someone says grace at the start of a meal, it comes from this idea that grace has to do with gratitude.
Why the posture of thanksgiving is important
Prominent social scientist, Dr. Arthur Brooks, recently released a podcast episode titled, “5 Steps to a More Grateful Life,” in which he describes why and how gratitude transforms us.
In the episode, he explains how gratitude boosts your happiness and lifts up others, how it strengthens relationships, and how it protects against burnout.
It’s a great episode that provides a helpful scientific basis for why gratitude is important and how to enjoy the benefits of a more grateful lifestyle.
And while I do not want to minimize the advice given by Dr. Brooks, his list of reasons to have a posture of thanksgiving is not complete.
Being a Christian himself, I doubt he would disagree that Scripture presents thanksgiving as a part of how we are meant to bear God’s image and do his will.
So, in this section of the message, I am more interested in why a posture of thanksgiving is important in our waiting on the return of Christ and how it reflects the character of God.
Tom Wright, in the Advent devotional book which provided the primary stimulus for this sermon series, he writes that thanksgiving is more than just a recognition of the fact that we receive everything from the hands of a loving God. [Thanksgiving] is the fundamental human and Christian stance.2
Remember, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that it is God’s will for us to give thanks in all circumstances. This is the primary reason we need a posture of thanksgiving.
The mental health and social benefits are great, but ultimately, our motive for thanksgiving is grounded in God’s purposes for creation.
The context of this instruction in Paul’s letter is that of how to behave as they wait for the return of Jesus. This is a major concern of Paul’s in the two letters to the Thessalonians that we have in Scripture.
He wrote earlier in the letter:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
In his two letters to the Thessalonians, he expresses a great deal of concern that Christians always have the attitude that Christ will return at any moment. To live in such a way so as to not get wrapped up in anxiety over temporary matters.
He describes how the church should behave while we wait. Much of this instruction has to do with our earlier definition of thanksgiving:
It is the context for the proper use of material things.
If we keep a posture of thanksgiving for all we have, we will be less likely to misuse and be neglectful. We will be more generous when we have a posture of thanksgiving. We will acknowledge that what we have is always more than what we deserve.
This is more than taking a moment before a meal to give thanks, although it includes this habit. It is more than saying thank you in times when we feel particularly grateful, when we have been spared pain or injury, or when we have recovered from sickness.
We may remember to give thanks to God at certain points in our days or weeks, such as meal times or when something particularly good has happened. But those are moments of gratitude and may not reflect our constant posture.
This brings us to how we can have a thankful posture.
How to have a thankful posture
Paul says to give thanks, not for all circumstances but in all circumstances… to find ways to give thanks in every aspect of life and in every age and stage of life.
Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Ephesians 5:19–20 “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
How do we actually do this? I’ll suggest 3 daily practices that take only minutes and can be done several times a day.
These practices are not merely acts of thanksgiving, but they are like small adjustments to your posture, like sitting up straight when you catch yourself slouching.
Over time, with enough continual adjustments, you may find yourself increasingly in a posture of thanksgiving.
Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with thanksgiving. You can simply say, “Spirit of God, fill me with thanksgiving.” We need to do this because of our tendency to rely on our own willpower to make changes in our lives. If we want to bear God’s image well, which includes being thankful, then we will need the power and presence of God in us to do it.
Examine your recent behaviour for anything for which God will have forgiven you. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list or a complete inventory of all your sins. Just bring to mind an instance or two in which your thoughts, attitudes, or behaviour wasn’t aligned with the character of Christ. Rather than dwell on your wrongdoing, turn your reflection toward God in thanksgiving. This will adjust your posture so that you never become so proud and unthankful to forget the grace of God offered freely to you at all times.
This third one will be slightly different for everyone. If you carry a phone with you, take a look at your recent text messages and look at the names. Express your gratitude to God for these people. Maybe send some of them a message letting them know you are thankful to God for them. Perhaps you have an address book or contact list. Maybe a list of birthdays. Find a way to bring to mind the people God has put in your life.
The posture of thanksgiving will take time to become natural for us. Some of you have this posture well-developed. You’ve been doing it a long time. And probably many of us know people who seem to have a naturally thankful disposition.
But, this is anything but natural. It takes discipline, correction, and the power of God in us.
Conclusion
What: thanksgiving is the context for the proper use of material things.
Why: it is God’s will and his design for humans to have a constant posture of thanksgiving.
How: ask the Holy Spirit for help, give thanks to God for his forgiveness, and bring to mind regularly those for whom you are thankful.
As we wait for the return of Christ, in our perpetual season of Advent, a posture of thanksgiving will help us wait well.