PASTOR’S COLUMN – December 2024
Jesus said:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
“I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14
What will we give thanks for this year?
It is rather sobering to discover that the one person Jesus mentions as going to the temple to give thanks is singled out not for praise but for censure. Why? I mean, he’s giving thanks to God, what could be wrong with that? And he’s obviously seeking to lead a truly righteous life, why is Jesus so bugged?
Well, notice what this very good man is giving thanks for:
That he is “not like other people.”
That is, he’s thankful for what lifts him out and above the lives around him; rather than for what draws him into other lives.
Without consciously being aware of it, could this perhaps be the unspoken prayer we all pray each Thanksgiving Day? And if so, how might it be hindering the real blessedness God seeks for us all?
Do we generally give thanks for what separates and differentiates us from our neighbor – what keeps us from them: for the blessings we have received which others have not, for an experience of Jesus Christ that others as yet do not know? Or do we give thanks more for what joins us to them – for how God has called us to them: that everything we have received is not our possession but is given only that we might know the joy of sharing it with others, and that our need for grace and the availability of that grace in Jesus Christ is equal to all our brothers and sisters?
It has been said that “the real joy in life is not to be blessed but to be a blessing.”
In this spirit, as we give thanks to God this year, let us also each ask God also to reveal the ways we are living separate and above others – individuals, whole groups; and then pray to be shown how we can be drawn into such lives – in compassion, in sacrifice, in love – that our thankfulness might truly honor God… and not simply celebrate but generate blessing.
“Two people went up to the church to pray…”
What will we give thanks for this year?
In Christ,
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender