Psalm 138 (from The Message)

1 Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!” Angels listen as I sing my thanks.

2 I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: “Thank you!” Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word.

3 The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.

4 When they hear what you have to say, God, all the earth’s kings will say “Thank you.”

5  They’ll sing of what you have done: “How great is the glory of God!”

6  And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

7  When I fall into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes. With your other hand save me.

8 Finish what you started in me, God. Your love is eternal – don’t quit on me now.

REFLECTION:
Expressing thanks is a tricky business. I guess we all learn this from an early age.

“What do you say?” mother would ask me, when I was a child, when someone gave me a gift or a compliment. “Thank yew.” In elementary school I learned to express my thanks in notes written to far away relatives in the days following Christmas. This is when it became a real challenge. How was I supposed to give thanks when my Aunt Bonnie sent me some tasteless fruit cake cookies? They were disgusting. They must have been made from lard. They were bite sized hockey pucks, hard enough to break a tooth. It was during that time that I learned that sometimes, in our thanks, we have to become complete hypocrites. “The cookies were so delicious. Thank you.” Really?

It didn’t get any better in high school or college, or even when Laura and I married. Some of the wedding presents were, how shall I say this, just awful. The ugly, plastic wall sconces, with dangly, tacky crystals hanging off of them were unforgettable. But there they were, sitting alongside the gleaming silver and beautiful china. Nevertheless, they generated a lovely thank you note from Laura. My wife is a magician. You would have thought these sconces were solid brass straight from Williamsburg.

And guess what? We taught all three of our children how to say thank you, whether completely sincere or not. And they have passed this down to their children. A couple of months ago our daughter Martha sent us a video that still has us laughing. She had come back into the dining room where the family was eating breakfast. Bryant, the two-year-old, was in his high chair and obviously unhappy. He was mumbling under his breath. 

“What? What’s wrong?”
“Daddy wocked my wheels!”
“He did what?”
“He wocked my wheels!” 

Bryant had been pushing his high chair away from the table and Whit had locked the wheels on it. “Well,” Martha said, “Don’t you think that will help you eat better?” Without missing a beat he looked up and said, “NO TANK YOU.” Polite, but oh, so sincere.

So, this begs a question. As we process the blessings that God continues to shower on us, are we perfunctory with our thanks? Thank you for this, thank you for that, without really giving thanks from our whole being. What is our response to be? Are we, like the psalmist, to express or even shout, “Thank you.” “Let everything in me say thank you.” Or do we say, “No thank you?” It’s our choice. Let’s get this right.

CLOSING PRAYER:

Loving and Eternal God,
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.