The Senior Associate Minister at my church is a kindly, colorful gentleman who has been preaching longer than I've been alive. He is extremely well educated and wise, but he can be very funny and entertaining as he preaches and teaches. He is especially given to quaint expressions like "May the Good Lord take a likin' to ya," and "I feel a sermon creepin' 'round the corner of my soul." But my favorite expression of his is one he sometimes uses toward the end of altar prayer. When he has finished his petititions, in closing his prayer, every now and then he simply says to the Lord, "Much obliged to Ya."
These words are very sweet and genteel to me. They hearken back to a time when people were kinder and more courteous, smiles were a bit more sincere, and the pace of life was slower. Gentlemen stood when a lady entered the room, young men removed their hats when they came indoors, and old men tipped their hats during the Veteran's Day parade.
I don't hear people say "much obliged" very often anymore. Maybe it simply passed from common usage with the passage of time. Perhaps people don't say it because of its implication: "Thank you, and I am now in your debt." To be honest, it seems to me that it is hard enough for people to get through the "thank you" part these days. By the time that part gets out, the "I owe you one" may have no significance whatever.
I wonder if we offer our thanksgiving to God in the same way we ration out our "thank you's" to one another? I think of the little hymn, "Count Your Blessings," but if I sit and actually attempt to do that, I am quickly overwhelmed by a sense of humility and shame. A mere "thank you" is not enough.
I find that it takes some discipline and a bit of effort to develop a true "Attitude of Gratitude." I can buy a
T-shirt with these words on it. I can be very vocal about my thanks to God, or I can be inwardly contemplative. But it still is not enough. What I am learning daily is that this attitude of gratitude --- the true spirit of thanskgiving --- is something that must be cultivated. It must be sincere and from the heart, but it is not static. It is an evolving way of life. It involves a spirit of yieldedness and a willingness to back it up with our actions (II Chronicles 30: 8). It requires the presentation of our very selves back to God as "a living sacrifice" of thanksgiving (Romans 12: 1).
Consider all that God has done and continues to do for you...from your soul's salvation to the very next breath you draw, and every good and perfect gift in between (James 1: 17). Surely it occurs to you that you should give thanks to God (I Thessalonians 5: 8). But if you are honest with yourself, you will also realize that you owe God far more than your thanks. You and I owe God everything, though ours is a debt which can never be repaid (Psalm 116: 12; I Thessalonians 3: 9). Ours is an obligation to live for Him, walk with Him, and be what He would have us to be through Him.
So the next time I hear Reverend Jones say "Much obliged," I will smile to myself, and I will look forward in faith to the day when I can see my Father face-to-face and say for myself, "Much obliged, Lord...Much obliged."
