A Colossians 1 Thanksgiving

Many who grew up in the church probably remember the ACTS method of praying, in which ACTS functions as an acronym for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Clearly, that method stuck with me, though I no longer use it in my own prayer life. One vivid memory stands out from using this method as a child: I never knew what on earth to be thankful for. It was not as if I did not have anything to be thankful for. With a family, nourishing food, reliable transportation, and so much more I had, and still have, much to be thankful for. But are these really all that Christians can be thankful for? Of course, to have these things is much better than not and so we are to be grateful, but is this a full picture of Christian gratitude? What exactly makes Christian thankfulness unique?

When the Apostle Paul wrote to Christian communities under his pastoral authority so many centuries ago, he began his letters with praise and thanksgiving. “In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” is how Paul begins his pastoral letter to the Christians in Colossae. And this is so because Paul knows of their faith in Christ Jesus, love for one another, and the hope laid up for them in heaven. Paul speaks of faith, hope, and love elsewhere, telling us that the greatest of these things is love and that all are commendable markers of Christian life and fellowship in community. So too it is for these things that I am expressly grateful, as we near the conclusion of our liturgical year and look forward to the Advent season, during a week calling us to thankfulness. Here is the content of Christian thankfulness, the hope given to us in the faithful life of Christ because of His love for us.

Accept O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. Amen.

In Christ,

Fr. Matt

 

Artwork: “Old Man Praying” – Julian Falat, 1881. Public Domain