A Thanksgiving Passion

 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

Psalm 7:17

 

A Christian friend of mine told me the other day that she just could not take one more list of “what I am thankful for” on Facebook. It’s not that she isn’t thankful, or even that she minds other people being thankful. I am not sure exactly why she doesn’t enjoy them, perhaps because sincerity is hard to communicate via social media.

I breeze through these lists and am often impressed with the depth of feeling some people seem to have in gratitude to God. I tend to be more matter-of-fact and so am impressed when there is a list of deep spiritual gifts the person sees in their life. I confess that I am a little jealous of this depth of feeling.

Last week I was at a prayer meeting at my church. My Pastor showed us an eight minute video of C.J. Mahaney answering the question, “Why do we sing so many Cross centered songs?” He answers the question passionately about our need for a mediator before such a holy God. He reminds us of the grace of God in sending Christ as our Mediator. (It is a video well worth the eight minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGLrzyOY1SA) He communicates his gratitude for Christ and the cross passionately.

I have known and believe that Jesus is our Mediator, but I do not have, or speak with, the depth of passion with which C.J. Mahaney delivered the message about why our worship must be cross-centered. He understands the mercy of God poured out on us by the sending of His Son, only so He would be crushed for my sin so He would die in my place, taking the wrath of God meant for you and me.  I “understand” these things, too. It seems like C.J. Mahaney feels things at a deeper level than I do. What a gift from God!

I have met several Christians like this. I envy them but I am also thankful for them. They remind me that faith is not all about the concrete truths of the scripture and nothing else. I am one who sees clearly, when I read the scripture, that I cannot always rely on my feelings or emotions. They can lead me astray. What I remember when I hear men like this speak is that I cannot discount my feelings either. The passion that he speaks with is inspiring to me, even though I know I may never feel with the depth of emotion he does.

As the video came to an end and he continued to talk about the singing and what it does for us he made an excellent point. He said, “Most unhappiness is due to the fact that you listen to yourself  far more than you speak to yourself. Singing is a means of Biblically speaking to yourself.”

He went on to explain that more than we listen to our complaining and whining (our own sin), we should be preaching the truths of scripture to our hearts so that we do not fall into unhappiness. Though we enter a worship service facing unhappiness, discouragement, or even anger, after we sing the truth of the Gospel a few times we will leave edified. This is true and we know it.

So, all of this has made me thankful, thankful first of all for a friend who is willing to admit that not all things spiritual are that fun to read, so that I started to examine why we feel that way because I shared her sentiment.  I am thankful that God did not create us all alike. Though I do not have the passion or the depth of feeling that C.J. Mahaney has, I can see that sincere faith, with knowledge of the Gospel, affects people at the deepest levels, and his communication of truth affected me.

I am also grateful for the habit of regularly attending worship services where we sing. There are some weeks that I have to talk myself into getting up and getting ready and going. But, because it is a commitment, something I want to do to please God, then I go. Most weeks I leave much better off spiritually and emotionally than when I went in. The truth has been sung and spoken over me until my emotions agree that God is bigger, and greater, and more holy, than any problem or person I face on earth.

I am thankful for all these things, and more, but I won’t give you the whole list!