Spirituality Column #785

November 30, 2021

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Thanksgiving Leftovers

By Bob Walters

- “… give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

- “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man.” – Jesus to the Pharisee Nicodemus, John 3:13

- “The time came when the beggar [Lazarus] died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side …” – Jesus to the Pharisees, parable of Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31

- “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” – Heavenly host, praising God, Revelation 7:12

‘Tis the latter season of thanks, and I’m praying I’ve not now put more on my plate than I can digest.  But I had a thought recently that gave me pause:

When we get to Heaven, will we be thankful to be there?

I’m serious.  “Thanks” is the humble and relational coin of our earthly realm; might relational currency in Heaven be vastly different?  Will we still be “thankful” in Heaven – once we’re there, saved and serving – or just absorbed into the glory and praise and peace of eternal life in God’s presence, knowing Jesus, and living in the Spirit among the saints?

Might “thanks” no longer be necessary due to the absence of envy, strife, turmoil, confusion, sickness, and alternatives in a perfect paradise?  Is thankfulness in this fallen earthly life merely a condition ordained by God as a coping mechanism for fallen humans to connect with Him and nurture hope?  I see nothing about gratitude in Genesis 1 or 2.

I ponder this because in life today, the glory and joy I have in Jesus is the gratitude I feel now for His truth, love, presence, promise, reality, forgiveness, etc.  Nearing His own end, Jesus didn’t pray to thank God; He prayed to glorify God and himself. Perhaps that’s a model to heed.

The above four perhaps seemingly disjointed scripture bits might lend some clues …   

-       1 Thess 5:18 – Paul knows we won’t always be happy in this life, but that our joy in Jesus comes from always being thankful in Christ, no matter our circumstances. 

-       John 3:13 – Jesus is saying to Nicodemus that no one has been to Heaven yet except Him, Jesus, who came from there (and the Spirit, I’d presume); so it’s all new for us. 

-       Luke 16:19-31 – Jesus, to be specific, doesn’t say Lazarus is in Heaven; Lazarus is wherever Moses is, and those tormented in hell can see them.  We read only of the Rich Man’s hellish lament, nothing of Lazarus (who has no lines) being thankful.

-       Ahhh … but in Revelation 4:9 (and 7:12, 11:17), the heavenly host of worshipers – angels, elders, and the “living beings” – attribute the quality of “thanks” to God along with His glory, wisdom, honor, power, and strength. So, “thanks,” in Heaven is, maybe, a purely God thing?

I used to sit with a friend, minister Russ Blowers, over lunch and occasionally we’d ponder, “What would not be in heaven.”  And not the easy stuff like sin, war, fear, envy, illness, deceit, and so forth.  Marriages are apparently out (Matthew 22:30). Will there be competition?  Fun? There were labors in Eden; will we have jobs?  Bosses? What about competition, success, winners, losers, sports fans? What about artists? Aspirations? Challenges? Is justice an issue?

Minus any challenge, will thanks be necessary? Justice? In Heaven?  It’s fulfilled. 

Whatever it is that comes next – Heaven, rewards, eternity, a perfect Earth, whatever … as my minister friend Dave Faust likes to say, once there, we won’t be disappointed. 

I suspect we may discover that thankfulness is what we do in this fallen life to recognize the great gift of new life now, and perhaps we’ll be thankful to a greater degree then.  Still, I cannot imagine being anything but forever grateful to Jesus … even in Heaven.  But maybe … ?

A simple “thanks” doesn’t cover it.  Perhaps expressing joy in our thankfulness – now – does, or comes as close as we can on this side of life.  Heaven will be all new, not leftovers.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes: Don’t worry about Heaven; love God and trust Jesus.