Life in the overflow of God’s goodness.
R. C. Lucas and the native language of grace.
A couple of months ago, I began preaching a sermon series on Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae. I spent nearly a half-dozen messages expressing the all-surpassing sufficiency of Christ alone, as it is found in Chapter 1 of the epistle. Integral to the apostle’s understanding of the gospel is the way in which it imbues the believer with a staggering sense of gratitude for all that the Lord’s Christ has done on their behalf. This theme appears twice in Paul’s introductory remarks (Col. 1:3, 12) and sets the tone for the most pivotal discussion of the letter, which comes to the fore in Chapter 2. “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord,” Paul says, “so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6–7, emphasis mine). The crux of the life of faith, therefore, is thoroughly “eucharistic” (eucharisteō), downstream of the announcement of free and abundant grace in Christ alone. In his commentary on Colossians, Anglican cleric and Proclamation Trust founder R. C. Lucas offers, perhaps, the best encapsulation of what the “eucharistic life” looks like — with the exception, of course, of Scripture itself. He writes:
To be bursting with thankfulness is a true witness of the Spirit within us. For the voice of thanksgiving speaks without ceasing of the goodness of God. It claims nothing. It sees no merit in man’s receiving but only in God’s giving. It marvels at his mercy. It is the language of joy just because it need look no longer to its own resources. It is an expression of dependence on another. It is the speech of the Psalmist and is the natural tongue of the apostles. It is also heard on the lips of the ‘weakest Christian on his knees’ . . . To be ‘filled with gratitude’ is to be ‘filled with the Spirit of Christ’. The Christian rejoicing in this blessing of a thankful heart will have his eyes fixed upon the right person and the right place, Christ at God’s right hand. He cannot be taken up with himself without being immediately reminded that everything he possesses is the gift of God. The only thing which he can claim to be filled with, which comes from himself, and which he can offer to God, is gratitude. (93–94)
Living faithfully is nothing more or less than living thankfully under the auspices of God’s goodness and grace as revealed in Christ’s person and work. There is no boasting about one’s spiritual caliber or religious performance here. There is only rejoicing at the performance of the crucified and risen one, whose infinite blessings are bestowed upon those who believe in his death and resurrection as the only means of absolution. Insofar as the gospel is heard and re-heard and put on continuous repeat, the soul of the sinner is suffused with the prodigality of God’s mercy, filling them with the vocabulary of grace and voice of thanksgiving. This is the scandal of the gospel — namely, that it leaves us with nothing to prove or boast in, save for a love so extravagant that it gives everything and asks for nothing in return. All that’s left for us to “do” is say thank you.
Grace and peace to you.
Works cited:
R. C. Lucas, The Message of Colossians & Philemon: Fullness and Freedom, The Bible Speaks Today Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020).