Cultivating A Community of Gratitude

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of doing birthday blessings at Northbrook Preschool Chapel. It is such a highlight to celebrate with these young disciples as we sing and dance in our beloved sanctuary. During chapel, the talented Leslie Bowers led the children in a fun chanting song about being thankful. Part of the song was call-and-response, and it went something like this:

Thankful that He died for me
Thankful that He set me free
Thankful that He helps me grow
Thankful that He loves me so

We then practiced adding different things we might be thankful for, such as turkey on Thanksgiving Day or restful naps for parents. It is a simple but essential task that we, as the church, must cultivate an attitude and discipline of gratefulness with our young people. This is not a practice endorsed by our political or economic system. The cyclical beast of materialism--of consumption and disposal--is not fed by contentment but by discontent, greed, jealousy, and the fear of scarcity.

We must teach our children and remind ourselves to be thankful. We must cultivate the spiritual discipline of Thanksgiving. Waltar Bruggaman argues that "Gratitude is an act of subversion.... In missional and liturgical ways, the church in its gratitude witnesses to 'a more excellent way,' a way that corresponds to God’s good intention for God’s world."

Cultivating a community of gratitude and thanksgiving might seem like a monumental task. There are so many challenges we must face while pursuing it. “Gratitude is an act of rebellion towards the powers that govern our world. Thanksgiving is an attitude antithetical to the culture and disruptive to the systems of commerce. It is not nature, as evidenced by Jesus' experience in Luke 17:11-19, in which he healed 10 people suffering from leprosy, and only one turned back to thank him—and he was a Samaritan."
 
As daunting as the task may seem, cultivating a community of gratitude is as simple as singing a song. Being a thankful person means you take time regularly to verbally and physically express your thanks. In small, regular ways, thanksgiving becomes less of a one-time holiday and more of a spiritual discipline that reshapes a person's heart to be more receptive to the blessings of Jesus. May we all take time to express our gratitude to God each day, remembering that it is a small but mighty act of rebellion in this world. 
 
In gratitude,
Kena Newkirk, Associate Pastor
Discipleship & Connections