Thanks Be to God for Scripted Gratitude | Coming Home

Thanks Be to God for Scripted Gratitude

"This is the Word of the Lord," says the pastor after reading a passage of Scripture.
"Thanks be to God," the congregation replies.
This brief liturgy is part of many church services each Sunday. The evangelical subculture that Kaitlyn Schiess grew up in didn’t practice it, though. So when the church she began attending during her doctoral program included those 11 simple words, they stood out to her.
"In those two short phrases," writes Schiess in a recent CT article, "I have found a rich theology of Scripture that directly addresses our anxieties about how to use the Bible in a theologically and politically fraught world."
Schiess points out that when we thank God for His Word, we are reminded of its value and authority. But not only that, she observes. "’This is the Word of the Lord’ [also] roots that value and truthfulness in God’s decision to communicate and create a community."
Many of us will spend time today talking about the things in life that prompt gratitude in us. Whether we’ll attend churches on Sunday that speak the short liturgy before and after reading Scripture or not, may we take a moment during the weekend to be thankful for the Word of the Lord and all that it reveals about God’s great love for us.