“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20. In recent months, my wife and I have found ourselves noticing the strange absence of gratitude in daily life. More than once we have given something unexpected, even substantial by our modest means, only to find it entirely unacknowledged. Two of these were wedding gifts for ceremonies to which we were not even invited, gifts given freely, yet never so much as acknowledged. And as we spoke about this last night, we realized there were half a dozen other instances in just the past month where kindness seemed to vanish into silence. Even one of our daughters left us puzzled, as my wife had to reach out three different times just to confirm whether something we had mailed to her ever arrived, especially since we had already been billed for it. We were not looking for recognition or trying to display our kindness, yet it still amazed us to see how widespread unthankfulness has become. The smallest expression of gratitude, a word of thanks, is strangely missing in so many places?
And yet, when I pause, I am reminded that this same spirit of ingratitude is found in us all by nature. What we criticize in others is but a shadow of ourselves, for if their silence is painful, how much more does our own neglect of gratitude toward God reveal the unthankfulness of our own hearts, and how much more should that ingratitude lead us to marvel at the grace that covers even this sin. Micah 7:18. Our voices fail and our minds stray; we can’t even begin to render to the Lord the glory due unto His name, nor give Him true thanks, except through Christ who stands in our place. “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Ephesians 2:18. Here is the glory of the gospel, our unthankfulness has been met with Christ’s perfect gratitude. Where we have failed to honor the Giver, Christ honored Him in all things. Romans 5:19. Where we have received mercies without acknowledgment, Christ blessed His Father for daily bread, Matthew 15:36, for answered prayer, John 11:41, for the gracious unveiling of divine truth, Luke 10:21, even for the cup of suffering placed before Him. Matthew 26:27-28. Our silence is answered by His thanksgiving; our neglect is upheld by His faithful intercession. And if this is true even in our thanklessness, how much more in every aspect of our lives, where Christ’s mediatorial work stands as our only sufficiency. Hebrews 9:24. MPJ