The Truth about Giving Thanks
In the Bible, giving thanks is always a response to truth. Truth that is demonstrated by God. Truth that is believed and enjoyed by God’s people. When a much needed and sustaining reality comes our way, we give thanks to the one who made that truth known.
Consider Psalm 100 …
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
The psalmist instructs readers to give thanks because of the reality of God and their status with him. The Lord is God and he is good. His affection is eternal and he is faithful to his word and his people. Not only so but he made them and they belong to him. That’s the reality. That’s truth. And the appropriate response to such beautiful truth is to make a joyful noise to the Lord.
Giving thanks is a response to truth.
This is what makes the story of Thanksgiving in our country so problematic. When a fanciful day, recalling a fiction of racial harmony animates an entire country’s self-concept we create a culture where nice ideas are celebrated regardless of their veracity. Left unchecked a society grows comfortable not only celebrating things that aren’t true, but even disguises injustice as virtue. That’s not okay. In fact when we celebrate untruths, deeper falsehoods seep into our consciousness and lead to moral decay. This is why many fail to see things like systematic racism today; it started by washing it out of our history books.
Many of us may be weary of this annual reality check. After all, what’s wrong with watching some Thanksgiving football, being with friends and family (albeit with masks, testing, and social distancing this year), and going around the table sharing things we are thankful for? Well, according to the Bible a lot. Of course, not in and of themselves. But when suffering and lies persist the people of God don’t just go about their business. If giving thanks is a response to truth, then ignoring truth makes biblical thanksgiving impossible.
Giving thanks isn’t just about speaking either, it’s also about action. In Psalm 100 the writer began by calling for his readers to do something. He told them to make a joyful noise, serve the Lord, and come into God’s presence. Giving thanks is a response to truth, and that response is not mere sentiment. Our response of thankfulness always includes loving our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, our thanksgiving is never just a joyful noise, it’s also obedience.
