The Christian life is an experience and expression of gratitude, but Christian worship is an engagement in the corporate expression of thanksgiving. A person can be grateful without giving thanks. He may feel gratitude in his heart, but if it is not expressed, it does not glorify God. We may safely assume all ten lepers whom Jesus healed were happy to be delivered, but only one gave thanks to God. Worship is not about what you feel but what we say to God in response to his glory, goodness, and grace.

The Christian life is an experience and expression of gratitude. That is the basic theme of the Heidelberg Catechism’s discussion of the believer’s duty, and if it is not the only thing that ought to be said about our lives, it is certainly a significant part. Everything that we have, we have by grace. Even what we worked hard to accomplish and obtain was only possible by the grace of God. We are recipients of pervasive, abundant, and undeserved grace, and therefore we ought to be grateful.

Creation is gracious; the Lord did not need to create or anyone to love; he is self-existent, dwelling in perfect love and communion as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Covenant is gracious; God condescends to enter into relationship with Man, sealing his promise by oath and blood. Our election unto salvation is gracious; Yahweh did not choose us because we were better in any way than our neighbors; he chose us because he is good, not because we are. Our redemption is gracious; we are bought with the lifeblood of God’s Son, cleansed of our guilt, clothed with the righteousness of God so that our shame is covered, and accounted as law-keepers through the obedience of our Representative. Our adoption is gracious; we were by nature the sons of Adam and children of wrath, destined for judgment and condemnation, but in Christ by the Spirit of adoption we have been made heirs in the family of God.

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