Ephesians 5:15-20
Practical Thanksgiving

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New Revised Standard Version

The context of this scripture passage is interesting, in that Paul is giving very practical, specific advice to the followers of Christ in Ephesus and the surrounding towns of Asia Minor. Don't worship idols, he writes in the preceding verses, and recognize that the greedy are serving the idol of wealth. Don't get drunk, he writes in this passage, for that is wasting your time, and the days are short. In the passages that follow, he tells husbands and wives to subject themselves to each other out of reverence for Christ in order to have a healthy marriage.

And there, in verse 20, he gives practical advice for living a fulfilled life by giving thanks, all the time, and for everything. "Practical" advice from a human perspective would be to give thanks at meal times, and on special holidays, but there's something that seems impractical, even absurd, about giving thanks for everything all the time. Combine that thought with an understanding of the lifestyle of the Christians to whom Paul was writing, who at best of times were in the lower rungs of society, and at worst of times were persecuted for their beliefs, and we might wonder if Paul truly meant what we are reading.

But Paul was serious about giving thanks continually. Centuries before the Seven Dwarfs taught us to "Whistle While You Work", the early Christians understood and lived out positive affirmations of how real God was in their daily routines. We too often consider "church" separate from "world," Sunday vs. week days, but Paul encourages us to worship wherever we are and in whatever we are doing, so that we would recognize God as a part of every day.

Paul was serious about giving thanks for everything, too, in spite of, and even because, the early Christians had so little. We have distorted the Holy concept of giving thanks in our society by considering "thank you" as nothing more than part of a social transaction--we receive a gift or a kind deed, we say "thank you", and the giver says "you're welcome." If the gift or deed is not worthy, though, we may not feel compelled to continue this exchange. If the gift or deed is smaller than we believe it should be, we might even retaliate in sarcasm as we offer up the litany of "thank you." If "thanks" was only a social transaction, then it would follow that we who have been blessed with so many gifts would be phenomenally more expressive in our thanks than the early Christians in their poverty. Of course, we see this is not true, and it even might appear that our prosperity builds our arrogance rather than building our gratefulness, as we convince ourselves that we "deserve" our possessions, opportunities, and blessings.

Clearly, Paul was not talking about a social transaction. He writes the word eucharisteo not as an action, and certainly not as a response to an action, but as a state of mind, of being always thankful, that in turn produces the action of giving thanks in all things. Paul wants us to be thankful not just for what we are given, and not even for what we continue to possess. The Greek word pas, translated as "for everything," can also be translated "in every way" or "in all respects." We are to live in thankfulness because God IS, not because of what God does. We are to live in thankfulness just as much for what God will do as for what God is doing or has done. It all means the same to Paul!

It is good to approach this Thanksgiving season with praises to God for how God has blessed us. Just don't stop there! In all seasons, live in a spirit of thanksgiving and worship for the God who was, and is, and is to come--and make that heart of gratitude the theme of your Thanksgiving season.