We urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak,
be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do
good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
Collect – (pronounced kol-ekt with emphasis on the first syllable) is a brief, structured prayer or meditation that gathers and expresses the intentions of the congregation. A collect prayer/meditation is often used in the beginning of a worship service, while also suitable as a transition prayer within the service or a reflection.
Today I am trying to collect my thoughts in a collect (kol-ekt) meditation. It’s a struggle as I am a bit overwhelmed by the sweeping and harmful executive actions in our country to immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized communities. In fact, most mainline Christian denominations are suing the government for its undignified and inhumane actions against these populations.
As related by Diana Butler Bass in her recent Substack posting, the question we should be asking is: O God, what would you have us do? No surprise, scripture provides guidance to our collective response: “rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstances.” But really,
God? Really? Even in these circumstances?
1 Thessalonians is considered the first letter written by the Apostle Paul. It’s the oldest document we have of the NT,
written around 50c. It’s a pastoral letter and a thank you note, written in a time of great political upheaval and uncertainty. The Roman emperor Claudius was rapidly approaching death. His heir was Niro, under whom an era of
Christian persecutions began.
The people of the church in Thessalonica were anxious and confused over the political turmoil and the foretold apocalyptic end of the world. Why did the Roman empire continue to exist at all? Didn’t Jesus say he was coming back and bringing the Kin-dom with him? It had been twenty years, and they were still living under the oppressive power pyramid of Roman rule.
While scholars believe that the apocalyptic verses were a later insert into the epistle, 1 Thessalonians begins and ends as a super-giant pastoral discourse on gratitude and giving thanks in all circumstances.
Let me be clear, 1 Thessalonians says to give thanks IN all circumstances, not FOR all circumstances.
We do not give thanks for evil in any of its forms.
We don’t give thanks for violence and terror.
And we don’t give thanks for loss and grief.
The Greek word used in 1 Thessalonians says to give thanks in, with, or through all circumstances to God. Paul’s letter sought to encourage Christians then and now—to give thanks always and especially in times of political upheaval, when anxious, and when confused. Does this sound familiar to our country’s current socio/political circumstances?
So be encouraged and give thanks, for a heart of gratitude for what God is doing in seen and unseen
ways to transform our world will make a difference. To help you collect your thoughts and as a collect (kol-ekt) meditation, I leave you with this to ponder from Dr. David Steindle-Rast, a renown Benedictine monk:
If you're grateful, you're not fearful,
and if you're not fearful, you're not violent.
If you're grateful, you act out of a sense of enough
and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share.
If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people.
You are respectful to everybody.
And that changes this power pyramid under which we live.
― David Steindl-Rast
Love fearlessly in Christ Jesus,
~ Pastor Becky
