Serving as conference pastor of Rosedale Network of Churches, I am frequently asked the question “What are you seeing and hearing across our network of churches?” I often respond, “It’s a good season, there seems to be a commitment to the mature and multiply mission and a desire to grow in our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.” I am grateful for that reality in our churches in this season of celebrating the harvest and Thanksgiving.
I also have a growing awareness across Rosedale Network in this season of cultural and political polarization—and at times, even divisiveness in the church—that our thoughts and conversations can reveal different fountains that indicate the true source from where our gratitude flows.
Jesus told a little story in Luke 18 to some people gathered around Him who seemed to be quite confident of their own righteousness, good standing, and deservingness of blessing. Jesus told this story to those who looked down on and distanced themselves from the people around them—the “others”:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14 NIV).
This story is not primarily about thankfulness and gratitude, but it is telling. One person, in his pride, is thankful that he is not like all the other people around him. In fact, Jesus says the man “prayed about himself,” which literally means “to himself.” The Lord is not the recipient of this person’s thanks and gratitude.
The second person understood that to even approach God, he was completely dependent on His mercy. Jesus essentially says, “Because this man was aware of his needy condition and relied on the deliverance that only God could provide, he was justified, declared righteous, and deserving of blessing through the mercy of God.”
Two thankful people, two different hearts, two differing fountains of gratitude; one self-dependent and thankful for self, the other thankful for the mercies and kindness of God.
What is the fountain of your gratitude this Thanksgiving season?
As the people of Rosedale Network, I find myself asking, Are we at times confident in our own righteousness? Are there “others” we are thankful we are not like? “Others” include people or groups we have decided are not as righteous as we are, people we should be suspicious of, or those we talk about, but not with.
The “others” we may be thankful we are not like could be from different church denominations or theological streams. They could be people from the other political party, or, just like in the story Jesus told, those other groups of people whose sins we consider to be worse than our own.
What is the fountain of your gratitude this Thanksgiving season? A heart of gratitude and thanksgiving is stirred by remembering the faithfulness and mercy of the Lord, our neediness, and the joy of our salvation when Jesus rescued us.
A heart that forgets that we were once sinners, had no relationship with God, and were once needy tends towards ungratefulness and pride.
Gratitude is the fruit of remembering and honoring God’s faithful mercies and provision. Gratitude will move us to engage with the “others” and give testimony of the transforming work of Jesus to make us new and the mercies of the Lord.
Photo credit: AI-generated
