Joyfully Giving Thanks
11-25-07
Verna Harelson
When I was a small child, I decided that life was a serious matter: Mom had had polio and suffered from migraines. I remember her saying that one baby took all of her time and what would she do with another. Well…the second one was me….and my younger sister came along two years later: 3 babies in four years. I decided that I had better take care of myself…and Mom while I was at it! She was overwhelmed. I had better figure out what were the "good things" to do and avoid the "bad things" that cause more trouble. Not a very enlightened outlook, but one of survival that made sense in my child mind.
Have you ever made a similar decision in a time of crisis; a time of death, broken relationships, betrayal, or war? When you feel all alone and do what you need to survive this situation and then keep doing it in other situations?
One big problem with making decisions in crisis or as a child is that we often keep the same outlook for many years and don’t look at that decision again later in the light of God’s Love.
After many, many years, I finally came to ask the question: What is this about joy being a gift of God, and why don’t I have it?
With all of my busy-ness and trying to figure out what the "right thing" to do and judging myself and others harshly, I didn’t remember many joyful moments.
In addition to living in a very unsafe time in history, the Colossians were in a much more precarious state than I was. And here comes Paul telling them to give God thanks joyfully for they were to share in God’s kingdom, to go from darkness in to light, and to be rescued from whatever "evil power" that they were dealing with in their lives.
Today’s passage begins with Paul’s prayer for three great qualities which come from God and were demonstrated in Jesus’ life. He prays that his Colossian friends may possess al fortitude, patience, and joy.
The two words fortitude and patience are from two Greek words, hupomone and makrothumia respectively. The Greek words are often used together. While the two words are very similar in English, there is a distinction between them in Greek, especially when they are used together.
Hupomone does not mean fortitude in the sense of sitting down and bearing things, and of simply bowing the head and letting the tide of events flow over us. Hupomone means not only the ability to bear things, but the ability, in bearing them, to turn them in to glory. It is a conquering patience. Hupomone is the spirit which no circumstance in life can ever defeat, and which no event can ever vanquish. The fortitude of hupomone is the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to us.
Makrothumia means patience with people. It is the quality of mind and heart which enables on e to bear with people that their unpleasantness and maliciousness and cruelty will never drive us to bitterness, that their unteachability and foolishness will never alter our love. Makrothumia is the spirit which never loses patience with, belief in, and hope for humankind.
So Paul prays for these two great qualities – the fortitude which no situation can defeat, and the patience which no person can defeat. He prays that the Christian may be such that no circumstances can defeat his strength, and no human being can defeat his love.
An added to all this there is joy. This is not a grim struggle with event and with people; it is a radiant and sunny-hearted attitude to life. The Christian joy is joy in any circumstance. It is easy to be joyful when things go well, but the Christian radiance is something which not all the shadows of life can quench.
So the Christian prayer is: Make me, O Lord, victorious over every circumstance; make me patient with every person; and give me the joy which no circumstance and no person will ever take from me.
Two things come to mind when I hear this prayer: firstly, fiction and entertainment; secondly, real and brutal life.
Pollyanna is a movie about a little girl who survived the death of both of her parents and was shipped off to live with her stern and judgmental, spinster aunt. Through it all she continued to play the "Glad Game" which meant looking for blessings even in difficult situations. Her game even converted the "hellfire and brimstone" preacher into one who looks upon his congregation with love rather than in harsh judgment.
The other recollection that comes vividly to mind is the people and worship services in Liberia. They sing songs of praise with joy, enthusiasm and clapping hands. They frequently say, "God is good…all the time. All the time…God is good." What good role models they are for us.
The people of Liberia lived through a time when they feared for their lives and those of their family and friends. They watched as 10% of their country-folk were murdered and often tortured, and nearly 300,000 people died. Their economy and lifestyle was decimated. They were often betrayed and abused, and faced starvation. Now they face the struggle of repatriation with forgiveness and reconstruction with depleted resources. And yet they still attend church in record numbers, sing joyfully and say, "God is good…all the time. All the time…God is good."
Like the Liberian Christians, Paul turns to grateful and joyful thanksgiving for the benefits which the Christians have received in Christ. God has given to the Colossians and indeed all Gentiles (including us) a share in the inheritance of the Chosen People of God. The Jews had always been God’s chosen people, the peculiar, special, and unique possession of God; but now the door had been opened to all people, not just the Jews. All people of every nation have entered into the inheritance as children of the Living God.
God has also translated us in to the kingdom of his beloved Son. The Greek verb that Paul uses also means to "bring over". In the ancient world, when one empire won a victory over another, it was the custom to take the population of the defeated country and transfer them lock, stock, and barrel to some other land. So the people of the Northern Kingdom were taken away to Assyria and the people of Jerusalem and of the Southern Kingdom were taken away to Babylon.
Paul says that God has transferred the Christians right out of the sphere in which they used to live and into His own realm and His own kingdom. The transference carried out by God was not only the usual transference, but was also a rescue.
It meant transference from darkness into light; into relationship with the Way, the Truth, and the Light of the world; from where they had lived in the shadows of doubt, darkness, and ignorance.
It meant transference from slavery to freedom. Without God, people were slaves to their fears, slaves to their sins, slaves to their helplessness and their faults. In their relationship with Jesus, there comes a liberation in which fear and frustration are taken away.
It meant transference from condemnation to forgiveness. Through the life of Jesus Christ they discover the love of God and they know that they are no longer a condemned criminal at God’s judgment seat, but a lot child for whom the way home is always open.
The writer of Colossians shakes us awake by showing us the reality in which we now live. We are persons whose lives were dominated by destructive patterns or habits of addiction by the darkness of seemingly hopeless situations in which we felt trapped, but a rescue operation has brought us out. We had lived in the grip of a suffocating fear, but we have been ushered into a new realm where we now breathe the fresh air of God’s love. We had been enslaved by guilt and shame, but our freedom has been guaranteed. We have been shown the light and a demonstration or our tremendous worth to God. A new reality characterizes our lives now; an intimate relationship with the living, loving God.
"May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power." The trials we face do not change the truth about our lives but give fresh opportunity for us to demonstrate how God’s living presence in us can enable us to transcend difficult circumstances by being "prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father."
However bleak things may appear on the outside, we realize that our lives are truly in God’s hands so we can now rest, assured that ultimately, all shall be well.