A Special Thanksgiving Message from President Moreno-Riaño
“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”
— Luke 6:35 (KJV) —
God — the Highest and Almighty — is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. The word Jesus uses to speak of God as kind is the Greek word chrestos. Chrestos is the same word used in other parts of the New Testament to denote God’s graciousness and goodness in bringing us to repentance and salvation. It is the word used to speak of the light burden of Christ in comparison to the heavy burden and labor of sin. It is the word used to denote how we, as members of the Body of Christ, should treat one another given how kind God has been to us.
Jesus’s admonition to his followers is sobering — God is kind to the unthankful and evil. Be like Him.
Jesus’s admonition silences my heart and mouth. God showers the unthankful and evil with kindness, goodness, and graciousness. God showers me with kindness, goodness, and graciousness, and He does this despite my ingratitude and vileness.
It is no wonder then why both the Old and New Testament are replete with admonitions to give thanks unto the LORD. These admonitions are not just reminders given our propensity to forgetfulness, ingratitude, and sin. They are a call for us to return continually to God in humble and penitent recognition that He is the source of any kindness, goodness, and graciousness in our lives.
The chrestos of God — the kindness of God — so writes Paul, is what leads us to repentance.
Gratitude and thanksgiving are not just antidotes to ingratitude. Gratitude and thanksgiving are opportunities for us all to return continually to God in repentance and adoration (Romans 2:4), opportunities for us all to return continually to one another in kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32), and opportunities for us all to return continually to those outside of the Body of Christ in sacrificial love and charity (Luke 6:20-49).
Thanksgiving — one of the most important of our nation’s holidays — is an opportunity for us to return fully to God and to one another.
May this coming Thanksgiving bring about in each of us a great turning to God, to each other, and to all around us.
May we all live as children of the Highest. Amen.
Gerson Moreno-Riaño, Ph.D.
President
Cornerstone University
