Grace and Gratitude

It has been an overwhelming fall for me, so I apologize that several months have passed without a post.

I heard a moving sermon at the Georgetown Presbyterian Church the Sunday before Thanksgiving, where my mentor and friend, Dr. Camille Cook Howe, referenced Karl Barth’s assertion that gratitude follows grace. It sparked my curiosity.

Karl Barth is a theological giant of the modern reformed church. He was a Swiss Reformed theologian who rose to prominence in the early 20th century through his commentary on Romans (that I highly recommend!). His writings are the cornerstone of the Presbyterian seminary cannon, and he has influenced every reformed theologian who has followed him. Camille’s reference to grace and gratitude was not new to me, but it fell on fresh ears last week. I dove into Barth’s Church Dogmatics and was moved by this passage:

“Charis always demands the answer of eucharistia. Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning. Not by virtue of any necessity of the concepts as such. But we are speaking of the grace of the God who is God for man, and of the gratitude of man as his response to this grace…

Radically and basically all sin is simply ingratitude—man’s refusal of the one but necessary thing which is proper to and is required of him with whom God has graciously entered into covenant. As far as man is concerned, there can be no question of anything but gratitude; but gratitude is the complement which man must necessarily fulfill.”

Karl Barth (1886-1968) in Church Dogmatics: The Doctrine of Reconciliation

Which line stands out to you?

I’m moved by “Grace evokes gratitude like the voice and echo.” A voice and its echo originate from the same substance and mirror each other’s movement.

The image that has long come to mind as I think about grace and gratitude is that of a child sitting in a doctor’s office as the doctor hits his knee to check his reflexes (do they even still do this?!). There’s an odd feeling when your knee kicks up involuntarily: you watch your body move without the will to do so. To me, grace and gratitude operate similarly: you notice–or perhaps just catch a glimpse of–God’s grace in your life and you have no choice but to respond with gratitude.

When you catch a sunset that takes your breath away, or a friend calls you at the perfect moment, or things in your life seem to align in a way you couldn’t have designed any more perfectly, or life crumbles and someone sits with you to put the pieces back together, or you show up to church and a hymn, sermon, or sacrament moves you to deeper awareness of the divine, you’re witnessing God’s grace and provision at work.

And when you witness and embrace this grace, you become changed so that a life of gratitude and faith becomes instinct. This change is not your own choice, but God’s grace at work in your heart to bring a breath of new life.

Now, this theological concept of irresistible grace is somewhat controversial. Much ink has been spilled over whether we choose faith or if God changes us to inspire faith. I say this not to encourage a particular theological perspective, but to provide context of an ancient argument. Regardless of what you believe, there is room to see God’s grace flowing through you to inspire gratitude. Like thunder follows lightning, gratitude always follows grace.

Text copyright © 2023 Grace Woodward. All rights reserved.