Thankful or Unthankful

Descriptions That Say It All. Before I heard the commentator mention it, I saw it for myself. It was evident. There was a marked contrast between the two crowds. Strikingly stark: Last week, supporters of Israel rallied in Washington, D.C., in protest against anti-Semitism. The huge crowd was, though passionate, well-manner, peaceful, temperate, and restrained. Two weeks earlier, a crowd of protestors, ostensibly to support Palestinians, but in reality, against Israel and for Hamas, raged throughout Washington as they had in other cities. They were rabid in their hatred and vitriol. That crowd was incorrigible, intractable, and, anything but peaceful. It was paroxysmal. (Of course, in both crowds, there were individuals who were exceptions. But, as a whole, the above describes each crowd.) The difference in demeanor made me think of Thanksgiving this week. Of being thankful. Of gratitude. However, righteous they may believe themselves to be, a crowd that behaves by burning American flags, calling for the death of Jews, and raging about how terrible their country is, is marked by something that goes deeper than its vitriol and vituperation—ingratitude. Those that comprise it are unthankful. Likewise, a crowd that is well-mannered, peaceful, and restrained has an underlying and overarching gratitude. If you knew in advance if a crowd was thankful or unthankful, you could determine what its demeanor and behavior were going to be when it protested. Thankful or Unthankful are descriptions that say it all. It really is that simple. Americans thankful for their country, thankful for their freedoms, thankful for their opportunities, do not act violently incorrigibly. Not as a crowd. Not as individuals. (And, yes, America has had and does have flaws; but despite those, even in protest of them, folks can be grateful or ungrateful.) An attitude of gratitude or ingratitude changes everything about a person, a crowd, or a nation. In any situation, circumstance, and even crisis, how a crowd, how a person, behaves can be precisely predicted by whether it has, he has, an attitude of gratitude or ingratitude. Which attitude one has is both predictive and causal. Insightfully, the Apostle Paul revealed this when he historically described humanity’s turning from worshiping God to idolatry—a transition that led to the corruption and reprobation of humanity. He noted that those who turned from God were not thankful. Not being thankful, they rejected God. Rejecting God, they became filled with unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, etc. Misbehavior and incorrigibility come from rejecting God, and rejecting God comes from and is accompanied by un-thankfulness. This is not just true with a crowd’s demeanor and behavior. It is true on every level. A spouse who is being unfaithful is unthankful. A teen child who is being rebellious is unthankful. A citizen who is haranguing our nation is unthankful. A believer who is maligning his church family is unthankful. And on and on the examples could go. I know, on matters of what is going on in Israel, for example, there are differences of opinion. There are nuances to the arguments. There are real wrongs done. But still, one’s demeanor and behavior in the argument, in his stance, are always consistent with whether that one is thankful or unthankful. It could be argued that the character of a person predetermines whether he will be thankful or unthankful. That may well be true. Yet, I suspect that the attitudes of gratitude and ingratitude have a power of their own. Gratitude is a kinetic force transformative of those who choose it. And ingratitude is likewise transfiguring of those who consent to its advances. Being thankful changes me. As does being unthankful. There may be much for which I cannot be thankful. But there is much more for which I can. Like the two crowds that visited D.C., my demeanor and behavior, my worship or lack of it, my love or disdain to love, will reveal which I have chosen. Whichever describes me, thankful or unthankful, well, describes me. Thankful or Unthankful are descriptions that say it all. --Pastor Clifford Hurst