A Theology of Gratitude

When the Bible speaks of memorials, it doesn’t mean God is absent-minded; no, God delights when his children remind him of who he is.

The Science of Gratitude

How do we remember as a people? We experience certain events and then move on without much reflection. We act as if moments of celebration should be just one thing following another. We don’t ponder, meditate, or centralize these things, then move on as if we can. And then later, we are the first to manifest our disdain for life; we park in the ungrateful lot and pretend that everything that has happened, all those conversations filled with glory, is just something we can forget. If gratitude is the slow savoring of the good thing, ingratitude is the easy overlooking of all things good.

Let’s apply it more directly to how the Bible thinks of remembrances. Remembrance events develop the rationale for gratitude. The Scriptures views remembrances as “memorials.” When we remember, we are memorializing something or someone; we are sealing our past in the act of gratitude. The Biblical events from the Flood to Pentecost were acts of memorials. Memorial events (or remembrances) were events that reminded God of the promises he made to us. We remember because it glues us to God’s promises. God is the one who remembers us; therefore, we remember to renew our covenant with God when we come to worship.

When we renew the covenant, we remind God in our acts that He has promised to save us from our sins and restore unto us the joy of our salvation. When the Bible speaks of memorials, it doesn’t mean God is absent-minded; no, God delights when his children remind him of who he is. All moms know the feeling of having children reminding them of who they are. That’s why they say, “Mom, mom, mom, mom!” you may get frustrated with how often they remind you of your title, but you also know that when they call out to you, they are affirming a relationship and are reminding you of who you are.

Gratitude is a memorial function. It reminds us who we are and our dependence in God’s covenant promises. Peter Leithart once noted that “Our minds are darkened, and divided, unless we are filled with thanksgiving. Gratitude is an epistemological virtue.” It’s an epistemic duty to remember and memorialize the good; that instrument is the mechanism of gratitude.

The Gift of Gratitude

If gratitude is an epistemic virtue, then it should also be reflected in nature. The grace of gratitude spills over into the common grace of gratitude. In fact, secular psychology departments are developing entirely new areas of study on the little-known fact of gratitude. According to Robert Emmons, author of “Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier,”

“Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change people’s lives.”

Linked to this discovery is the helpful suggestion made by Michael Hyatt that keeping a gratitude journal can be immensely beneficial as we build an arsenal of gratitude pages. Ending the day by listing the reasons for thanksgiving, however small, can actually serve as a rich spiritual exercise.

Of course, we are aware that psychological journals are behind the times. Gratitude has always been a Christian virtue. St. Paul had already broken the news. Later, in the 20th century, Bonhoeffer alluded to this in his remarkable little book, Life Together. He takes us back to the glories of gratitude in community life. For Bonhoeffer, if you don’t know where to start in the gratitude journey, start by thanking God for your community. He writes:

“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”

The Christian faith is a food religion. Or, to harken back to the original note, we exist in a memorialist universe rooted in the death/resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Memorials are sacramental means to build a historical consciousness of thanksgiving. It’s for this reason that the faith is both heard and consumed. The faith accentuates these memorials of thanksgiving in our lives.

The Gospels teach us that Christ became the bread of life. This bread then becomes the food for hungry souls to feed. In the Christian tradition, it is articulated most clearly in the table of the Lord. The table is a table of joy and gratitude; so much gratitude that it is usually referred to as the Eucharistic Table. The word “eucharistia” means “thanksgiving.” Emmons says that “when we feel grateful, we are moved to share the goodness we have received with others.”

This sharing of food forms this table of thanksgiving and provides ample opportunity to grow in gratitude habits. Gratitude is how we remember as a people. Those who don’t treasure forget and subside in anger and unbelief. But those who are grateful build memorials of praise to the Triune God.

Gratitude builds us in love and compels us to share in the shalom of God with others. To whom much is given, much is required. To those of us who partake of God’s goodness often and daily, we are called then to compel others with our own lives and words to share in this community of gratitude formed by the God who gave us His own life. That’s what memorials are for. So, remember well.