Pastor's Message: Moving from Grievance to Gratitude

 It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of 2023, but I am thankful for all the activities still to come
before we change calendars. There are Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas traditions, and opportunities to connect with friends, family, and loved ones. We celebrate special events as a congregation like All Saint’s Sunday, Stewardship Sunday, Giving Thanks, Jingle Mingle, and so many more. It is a time where we need to be grateful, but that’s easier said than done. 

I don’t watch much network television anymore, and, if someone asks about my favorite shows, I generally talk about programs from the 1980s and 1990s. I still love the comedy series, Seinfeld, and my favorite episode is about a made-up holiday called Festivus. One of the families doesn’t recognize historic celebrations, and they gather for this odd observance. I know I am not doing the episode justice in this description, so you will probably need to (re)watch it on your own. When you do, you’ll see the family patriarch sitting at the head of the table saying, “The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances.” It’s a wonderfully silly episode, but, as with a lot of comedy, it provides a prophetic word for our day. We are called to live lives of gratitude, but, too often, we slip into the morass of grievance. 

Gratitude feels like a difficult task when we hear so much negativity in the news and experience cruelty in our daily lives. I have good news for you. Nobody can ever take it away from you; the only way to lose it is to forfeit it willingly. William Faulkner writes, "Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all." We cannot keep it for ourselves or to ourselves. Perhaps, a better way of understanding what this means is to look at the root word of gratitude in Latin; its gratia. It’s grace. If we want to see more gratitude in ourselves and in the world, we need to start with accepting God’s grace and sharing it with our neighbors. The modern world’s currency is grievance, but God’s eternal word for us is grace, and this requires a response. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us” (2 Corinthians 9:11, NRSV.) 

I look forward to worshipping, learning, and celebrating with you over the next two months as we celebrate God’s grace and share God’s love through our gratitude. In Hope and Confidence, Pastor Dave