All things that happened in redemptive history from Genesis to Revelation and all things that occur now, are disposed toward the good for his Church. All of creation is ordered this way, Scripture has revealed it to be so, and Church history and our experiences prove the goodness of God.

Thanksgiving is not just a yearly celebration, where we eat entirely way too much, watch football, and sale-out to the American way of consumerism. Giving of thanks, rather, is a way of life for the Christian–its structured ethos. The apostle Paul reminds us to, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:17-18) .As Christians we should live and move and operate in giving thanks to God, always.

Paul agrees. Elsewhere he says we should be, “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20). Thanksgiving as a national holiday comes and goes, so once a year we give thanks as a whole people in some form or another. But for Christians, our lives all the year long should be ordered in a continual mode of giving thanks.

Two Ways

How we continually give thanks to God will look a little different for all of us, but it should lead us all to worship.[1] Our culture likes to order things differently. In terms of Thanksgiving nowadays, the culture is ordered towards Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The same can be said of other yearly events such as Amazon Prime Day or various end-of-the-year sales events. These are some examples of nationally and culturally-shaped days, that, for better or for worse, have been ordered for us.

If you’re thinking is geared towards these kinds of events, for the sole purpose of acquisition or self-improvement, you’re thinking is wrong. This is what disorder looks like.

Each year it comes earlier and earlier. You start to see it and hear it as early as August, in malls, Targets, and Costco’s. A new season of which we have our days ordered in our society at large. Our western culture at Christmas is driven by product, structured by online sales’ countdowns, and the filling and emptying of shopping carts, real or virtual. (You will notice an abundance of pink and red hearts suddenly appearing at the turn of the year.) It’s Disorder. The Church, though, has also ordered its calendar year by marking the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, including the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Ordered Thinking About Giving Thanks

For the Church, each year goes by ordered by the redemptive-historical revelation of God’s mighty works and words.

The indicative Redemption-act of the Father through Christ Jesus the Son by the Holy Spirit is preached and believed upon in the world, which then leads to the imperative working out in love for our great God and our communities.

This is the Christian’s ebb and flow of an ordered life. Your life is ordered––ordained––by God. And the redemptive work of God was ordained before the very foundation of creation. (Go look at the first chapter of Ephesians).

Now notice this ordering of things for us: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5).

Now here in this Galatians passage, Paul refers to the contextual time and place of the Incarnation: he calls it completely perfect. It had to be at this time; at the height of Hellenism–Greek culture, and Pax Romana–the peace of Rome in the Mediterranean world, born of a woman (recall Genesis 3:15 and the first promise), born under the law, to redeem. Talk about order! And this grand ordering is for us! How could we not give thanks!

The Reformed churches have seen the liturgical flow of our Christian lives in the number fifty-two, for there are fifty-two Lord’s Days, or Sundays, in the year. There are fifty-two days in which our lives are ordered, and that to the Christian Sabbath.

The liturgy in the church reminds us of our structured time, ordained of God for our great benefit, which is worshipful rest. We take in this God-given day of rest in worship of the Giver, and then we ready ourselves to be faithful witnesses the remaining days of the week. More on this later.

Structure and Thanks in Church History

Theologians have attempted to dive deep into Scripture for centuries through a variety of disciplines: Systematic theology, an ordering system of Christian doctrine; biblical theology, an ordering and linking of the redemptive story revealed; exegetical theology, describing and understanding the biblical languages; historical theology, working through the Church’s proclamation of revelation.

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