Thanks-Living

November 23, 2025 homily on Colossians 3:15-17 for Thanksgiving Sunday

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  -Colossians 3:15-17

The Boy Who Never Spoke

You’ve probably heard the joke about the boy who went his entire childhood without speaking a single word. His parents were worried and took him to see many doctors, but none could find a reason for his silence. 

One morning, at breakfast, the boy suddenly looked up and said in a clear voice, “This toast is burnt.” His parents were completely astonished and ecstatic to finally hear him speak. They said, “Son! You can talk! That’s amazing! Why have you never spoken before?” The boy replied, “Up until now, everything has been fine!”

This is, of course, just a silly story. But I have to wonder if this is how many of us relate to God. How many of us only talk to God when we need something, or when something’s wrong? After all, isn’t that what prayer is all about? Coming to God with our requests and complaints?

Be Thankful

Well, prayers of supplication — asking God for what we need — and prayers of lament (mourning, complaints) are valid forms of prayer. God does indeed want us to bring our burdens and requests to the Lord, as we talked about last week. But throughout the Bible, we are also commanded to praise the Lord, as we read this morning in Psalm 103. And the Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Colossae, said that, We should be thankful (Colossians 3:15), and sing to God with gratitude in our hearts (Col. 3:16) and that whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we should do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, “giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17)

So, unlike the boy who only spoke when he needed something or when something was wrong, we should talk to God about everything, including giving God our thanks and praise. We should praise the Lord continually. We should sing songs of thanksgiving and praise, and whatever we do, we should give thanks.

The Ten Lepers

In the Bible, in the Gospel of Luke, there’s a story about ten lepers who came to Jesus and asked him to heal them. Leprosy was a terrible, incurable skin disease that was believed to be highly contagious, and so when someone contracted leprosy, they had to live separately from their friends and family for the rest of their lives. No doubt the social isolation that they experienced was as bad as the disease itself. No wonder these ten lepers asked for Jesus to have mercy on them and to heal them! (Luke 17:13). 

Jesus did indeed have mercy on them, and told them to go and show themselves to the priests at the temple, because it was only the religious leaders who could declare that someone was no longer “unclean” and that they could reenter society. In faith, the lepers left and went toward the temple to show themselves to the priests, and sure enough, while they were on the way to the temple, they were healed!

But one, when he saw that he was healed, turned around, and before going to the temple, he went back and found Jesus, and fell at Jesus’ feet, thanking Jesus for healing him. Interestingly enough, this man was a Samaritan, a member of a people group that was generally despised by the Jewish people of Jesus’s day. But he was the only one who came back and thanked Jesus. Jesus noted this, saying, “‘Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well’” (Luke 17:17-19).

Ten were healed, but only one returned to give thanks. All ten of them came to Jesus when they needed something, but only one of them came back to say “thank you.” Sounds a lot like the boy who only spoke when the toast was burnt. Sounds a lot like us!

Thanks-Living

However, giving thanks to God should be more than just an afterthought, something we do more than occasionally. And Thanksgiving should be more than just a holiday that we celebrate once a year. 

What we see in Psalm 103 and in Colossians 3 and throughout Scripture is that thanksgiving should be a way of life. It should be who we are, and what we do! Our lives should be marked by gratitude. Indeed, rather than Thanksgiving being just a holiday that we celebrate once a year, what we’re really talking about is “Thanks-Living!” Living lives that are filled with praise and gratitude for our Creator, who has given us so much more than we could ever ask or deserve. 

Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

So if our prayer life is meant to be more than asking God for things, or telling God when something is wrong, and if we are called to praise the Lord and give thanks in all things… The natural question is How? How do we cultivate hearts that praise? How do we train ourselves not just to notice the “burnt toast moments,” but the thousands of ways God is present and gracious every day?

Well, there are many small, daily habits that can reshape our spiritual posture:

1. Start the day with gratitude.
Before checking the phone, before planning the day—offer one sentence of thanks. “Thank you, Lord, for this breath.” “Thank you for this new day.” It doesn’t need to be fancy; it just needs to be honest.

2. Practice noticing blessings.
Throughout the day, pause and name the good: a warm conversation, a moment of peace, a meal prepared, a kindness from a stranger. These are small sparks of God’s grace. When we begin noticing them, we realize they’re everywhere.

3. Pray short breath-prayers of praise.
Something simple like, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” or “Thank you, Jesus.” These tiny prayers can re-anchor us in God’s presence.

4. Replace complaints with gratitude.
Every time you catch yourself grumbling, try pairing it with something to be thankful for. This doesn’t ignore life’s challenges—but it keeps them from defining us.

5. End the day with reflection.
Take a moment to look back and ask, “Where did I see God’s goodness today?” Make that your bedtime prayer.

And when we start living this way, when gratitude becomes the rhythm that shapes our days, something begins to happen. Our faith moves from Thanksgiving—a holiday or a moment—to Thanks-Living—a way of life.

Thanks-Living is the posture Paul is talking about in Colossians:
“Whatever you do… give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.”
Not just in the big moments, not just when something goes wrong, but in the ordinary, everyday living of our lives.

Thanks-Living means choosing gratitude as a spiritual practice.

Thanks-Living means letting praise color our conversations, our decisions, our relationships.

Thanks-Living means seeing every part of life as a place where God is present and worthy of praise.

And the beautiful thing is this: when we practice gratitude, we don’t just speak differently—we become different. Our hearts soften. Our outlook shifts. Our joy grows. We begin to reflect the character of Christ. We become people who don’t just give thanks—we live thanks.

Conclusion

So friends, as we step into this week of Thanksgiving—and even more, into the lifelong call to “Thanks-Living”—may we remember the ten lepers. All were healed, but only one returned. Only one recognized that gratitude is not an obligation but a response. A response to mercy. A response to grace. A response to the God who meets us, heals us, sustains us, and walks with us.

And may we remember that little boy with his burnt toast—how easy it is to speak only when something is wrong. But God invites us to something deeper. Not a life of reactive prayer, but a life of constant awareness. Constant gratitude. Constant connection with the One who is always faithful.

This week, and every week, may we choose the path of Thanks-Living.
May we start our days with gratitude and end them with reflection.
May we notice the blessings we usually overlook.
May our small breath-prayers of praise rise like incense before the Lord.
And may the peace of Christ—the peace Paul says should rule in our hearts—shape every word we speak and every step we take.

Because when we practice gratitude, we don’t just say “thank you”—we become thankful people.
People whose lives shine with the goodness of God.
People who reflect Jesus in the ordinary moments of ordinary days.
People who live their thanks.

So whatever you do, in word or deed, may you do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus—giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection in Response to Today’s Sermon:

1. When do I most naturally talk to God—only in crisis, or also in moments of gratitude and praise?
2. What is one complaint I find myself repeating? How could I pair it with a word of thanksgiving instead?
3. What relationships, opportunities, or gifts have I been taking for granted?
4. If my life reflected “Thanks-Living,” what would look different—my conversations, reactions, priorities, or habits?
5. What is one concrete step I can take this week to practice gratitude more intentionally?