November is a month when we naturally think about gratitude. Thanksgiving is approaching, and many of us will pause to think about the people, experiences, and gifts for which we are thankful.
“Count your blessings” is an old phrase, but it is still good advice. There is something healthy about paying attention to what we have received instead of always looking toward what we wish we had.
But I wonder if there is another question worth asking.
What happens after we count our blessings?
Gratitude does not have to stop with noticing what we have been given. Sometimes gratitude begins to move. Something we have received becomes something we can share.
A meal becomes an invitation to the table. A free afternoon becomes time spent helping someone. A skill we have developed becomes a way to serve. Money in our hands becomes food, ministry, or an unexpected kindness for someone else.
And somewhere along the way, generosity has a way of bringing joy.
That is something we are exploring at First Lutheran this fall through our Joy of Generosity stewardship emphasis. Last Sunday, we began with a little experiment. People received envelopes containing $10 with an invitation to use that money in some act of generosity. During the weeks ahead, we will hear a few of the stories about what happened.
I suspect the most interesting part will not be what happened to the ten dollars.
It will be what happened because someone started looking for a way to give it away.
Once we begin looking for opportunities to be generous, we may notice things we would otherwise pass by. We notice a person who could use some encouragement. We see a need we can help meet. We think of someone who might be surprised by a small kindness. Generosity can change not only what we do with what we have; it can change what we see.
And once our eyes are opened that way, generosity begins to shape more than a single act. It shapes the kind of community we become and the ways we join in God’s work for the sake of others.
That seems especially fitting as Thanksgiving approaches.
Of course we can count our blessings. We can name them, remember them, and thank God for them. But perhaps we can also wonder what those blessings might become.
Some may become encouragement, a meal, a visit, an offering, or an act of service. Some may travel much farther than we ever expected.
God has been generous with us in more ways than we can count.
And one of the joys of gratitude is discovering what can happen when that generosity keeps moving.
Thanksgiving Blessings,
Pastor Mark
