Jesus told the disciples to travel light. He instructed them to take no extra bag, no gold, no silver. Perhaps you might try that while going on vacation. How long do you think you might last? Likely not long, before we are reminded how attached we are to snacks and phone chargers and all of our favourite luxuries! When I travelled the Camino pilgrimage in my 2023 sabbatical, this was my pack that I carried. They advise you to only take the bare essentials in your pack. A change of clothes, toiletries, a luxury item like a book. And I quickly realized how attached I am to ‘things’. Yet, over the course of the month, I realized (as many Camino pilgrims do) how little we actually needed them.
One thing, however, that we do need on the journey is Thanks-living. We, as followers of Jesus, all walk the Kin-dom journey. We pray “thy kingdom come” and we are called to walk in ways that allow that Kin-dom to further unfold. And as we wrap up our Thanks-living conversation, one essential way we walk the path of the Kin-dom of peace is by walking with Thanks-living. Thanks-living is a significant part of the path of the Kin-dom of peace.
Backing up a little, we have touched on many significant parts of the Thanks-living journey. We pondered Thanks-living as holy remembrance. Remembrance connects us with the our ancestors in faith. We re-membered (made memorable) the earliest faith journey of Moses and Israelites towards the Promised Land. Remembrance is a core part of Thanks-living as it connects us through our faith story to the depth and meaning of life. Shifting the following, we considered God’s presence through the storms, the challenges, we inevitably encounter. Ironically, we looked at this on Thanksgiving Sunday! We pondered the disciples on a wind-swept sea who had forgotten that Jesus was with them the whole time. The journey continued as we pondered Thanks-living as a calling into action. Considering the story of the thankful leper, we saw how more than his leprosy was cured, he was fully restored with a full awareness to see God’s grace alive and at work and he began to live in an entirely new way. And last week, we considered Thanks-living as a sacred trust. Recalling the story of Israelites being fed in the wilderness by manna, we pondered how we might more fully remember to trust that God is good, that God ill provide, and to live into that trust with Thanks-living.
We come to the end of the journey now as clocks have been reset and we shift into the new month of November. And we end our personal journey as we align ours with God’s larger purpose…the building of the Kin-dom. To a large extent, the earlier conversations have been about faith growth, resilience and strength. And these are wonderful and important conversations as we further shape our own faith. You may have even enjoyed reading through some of the articles that I posted alongside the sermon notes about how Thanks-living enhances physical and mental health. But, this all leads towards the larger conversation. That we are part of the body of Christ. And that body’s purpose is be part of the unfolding of God’s Kin-dom, which is that sense of God’s peace continuing.
Both Paul’s letter to the Philippians and his letter to the Colossians remind us that Thanks-living is a way of aligning our hearts, our actions, and our relationships with the very peace of Christ. In the Philippians letter, Paul writes from prison, yet he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” He isn’t writing from comfort or security. He’s writing from confinement. Joy radiates through his words. Because his joy is not rooted in circumstance. Joy is rooted in trust. Despite prison chains, he has discovered a peace that “surpasses all understanding.” A peace not dependent on things going right, but on being rightly connected to God. This peace, Paul says, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
That’s a fascinating image when we think of peace. Peace, not as a passive calm, but as an active guardian. Peace that stands watch over the anxious heart. Peace that keeps out the noise of fear and despair. And how does one live in that peace? Through prayer, through thanksgiving, through an intentional turning toward all that is good, just, pure, and lovely. When Thanks-living becomes that lens, it changes what we see.
When we give thanks not for all things, but in all things, the heart learns to trust that God’s goodness is still unfolding—even in uncertainty. The most informing part of the text, in our inquiry into peace, comes at the end. When we do these things, “the God of peace will be with you.” The reference to “you” is the plural form. It could equally be written ‘everyone’. When you do these things, the God of peace will be with everyone, with the community, with the world. When you do these things, the God of peace will unfold into the cosmos! In the Colossians passage, we see a similar building towards peace. Paul gives us the image of clothing ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. He writes: “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” When we begin to imagine what the world might look like if we dressed ourselves each morning in these garments of grace, we see further images of God’s Kind-dom of peace. If, before we left our homes, or even before we opened our mouths, we asked: “Am I clothed in compassion today?” “Am I wrapped in kindness?” “Does peace rule in my heart?” This is what allows for the Kin-dom of peace to unfold in neighbourhoods, in community, into the world.
This is the essence of Thanks-living. A daily, embodied gratitude; a lived expression of Thanks-living that radiates through our words and actions. And notice what Paul says next: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.” The practice of Thanks-living is where God’s Kin-dom of peace slowly, patiently, and surely WILL unfold.
Thanks-Living, then, is countercultural. It is odd and it (often) is in opposition to the rules values of the day. It refuses to be shaped by scarcity or fear. It looks at what we have, and says, “It is enough.” It looks at the stranger, and says, “You belong.” It looks at creation, and says, “We are stewards, not owners.” It shapes communities of reconciliation. It nurtures forgiveness. It restores dignity.This way of living is not naïve; it is transformative; it allows God’s Kin-dom, the way of peace to unfold.
And so, we we live with a deep remembrance of the journey, live with an inner knowing that God accompanies us through the storms, live actively in Thanks-living, and continue to embody thanks-living as a sacred trust…a way of being that allows the God’s Kin-dom of peace to further unfold.
Amen.