Do you remember the last time you sent someone a thank you letter? I’m not talking about snapin’ “big-ups” to your bros, or texting someone a praying hands emoji, or posting a Snoopy ecard on your Facebook page. I am talking about an honest to goodness thank you letter; you know one with sentences and stuff. I honestly can’t remember the last time I wrote a full length thank you letter. I have written many thank you cards, I regularly send out thank you texts and emails, but, now that I think about it, I am not sure if I have ever put enough ink on a piece of paper to be considered a thank you letter. Maybe one of you old timers have busted out parchment and quill to write one, but I don’t think I have and I would guess most of us haven’t.
I came to this odd realization after I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The letter is basically a four page thank you. It is addressed “1:1… To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.” To them Paul writes, “1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.” Paul and the Philippians go way back. They met on Paul’s second missionary journey. You can read all about it in Acts chapter sixteen. From the meeting of a godly woman named Lydia who hosted the missionaries in her home to the miraculous deliverance from prison and dramatic conversion of a jailor, Paul’s first visit to Philippi made an impression. Such an impression that Philippi has the distinction of being the first Christian congregation on the continent of Europe and the launchpad for mission work to other European cities like Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, and Rome. Their shared experiences and mission zeal created a special bond between Paul and the Philippians.
We get a better understanding of this bond with the Philippians, and the reason Paul wrote an entire letter to thank them, when we focus in on the closing comments Paul writes in Philippians 4:10-20. What you are going to notice in these verses, and what I pray you will be able to put into practice in your own lives, is how Paul thanks God for the Philippians and how the Philippians thank God through Paul.
But so that we don’t miss the motivation behind all this thanksgiving, let’s start by rereading verse 20. Almost the last thing Paul writes to the Philippians is, “20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Paul concludes his thank you letter to the Philippians with a reference to “our God”. It wasn’t just shared experiences and mission zeal that Paul and the Philippians shared. By the grace of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit (and in the case of both Paul and the Philippians a dramatic working of the Holy Spirit) both Paul, a former persecutor of the church, and the Philippians, most of whom were former pagans, had come to know Jesus as their savior. As former persecutor and pagans, they, better than most, appreciated God’s grace. They considered the sins of their past and clung to the perfect life Jesus lived in their place. The contemplated the damnation they deserved and hugged the cross upon which their salvation was won. Both Paul and the Philippians lived lives of gratitude for the grace of God.
Their gratitude for God’s grace showed itself in the way they interacted with each other. Paul expresses his gratitude for God’s grace by writing a letter that recognizes what the Philippians had done for him. In verse 10 Paul writes, “10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” In English these words lose some of their poetry. In English it almost sounds like Paul is complaining, as if Paul were saying something like, “finally you care about me!”. But in truth when Paul writes about a “renewed concern” he has the image of a blooming perennial in mind. Whenever the weather conditions were favorable, whenever there was both a reason to be concerned and the resources available to address that concern, the Philippians bloomed; they were ready, willing, and able. Paul tells the Philippians their attitude causes him to “rejoice greatly in the Lord”.
After a brief digression on personal contentment, Paul recognizes not only do the Philippians have a great attitude, but he also recognizes them as people of action. In verse 14 Paul writes, “it was good of you to share in my troubles.” The trouble Paul faced when he wrote those words was imprisonment in Rome. The Philippians found out about Paul’s imprisonment, so they sent him a gift of money and a personal attendant to support him financially and physically during this difficult time. “15 Moreover” Paul writes, when I set out for Macedonia “…not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;” “16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.” Paul recognizes the generous gift he had received from the Philippians was not a one-time action. Paul tells the Philippians their repeated generosity to him and others “was good”.
The first thing we notice as we reread these verses is Paul is thanking God for the Philippians. Paul gives recognition where recognition is deserved. He recognizes the attitude and the actions of the Philippians and tells them how thankful he is for them. You have people like the Philippians in your life. Some of you have a whole bunch of people like them, others might have only one person, but you have people in your life who reach out to you when times are tough, people who make your troubles their troubles, people who help you solve your problems. For those of you who are still living at home those people are called parents. For those of you who are in the prime of your life those people are called friends. For those of you enjoying your golden years those people are called children. We all have people like the Philippians that God has brought into our lives. This Thanksgiving, take some time to thank God for them. If writing a letter seems too intimidating, then snap them, text them, DM them on Facebook if you must. But make sure you recognize them as gifts of God and then write, snap, text, DM, or tell them you are thankful for them.
Permit me just a moment to practice what I preach. You deserve at least a four page thank you letter from your pastor, but, for the sake of brevity, I will quickly express my appreciation for the concern you show to me and my family. Rarely does a week go by without one of you asking about the boys, Michelle, or some other aspect of my personal life. Your concern for the welfare of my family makes it a joy for me to serve as your pastor. Moreover, the house you provide us, the salary you pay me, and the people who stand beside me to do the work God has given us to do are more than good. I recognize that you are all God’s gifts and I want you to know I thank God for you.
So far, we have only talked about how Paul expressed his gratitude to God for the Philippians. Now let’s talk about how the Philippians expressed their gratitude to God through Paul. In verse 17 Paul writes, “17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.” Again, our English misses some of the poetry of what Paul wrote. English gives us the impression Paul is looking for “whatever” may be credited to their account. But Paul knows exactly what he is looking for. He is looking for “fruits”[1] of faith that may be credited to their account. Further the account Paul is referring to is not the justification account; the one that needs to be balanced in order for sinners to be saved. Both Paul and the Philippians were well aware that account had already been balanced by the blood of our Savior Jesus. Paul is talking about the Sanctification account; the account which records our gratitude.
Just as Paul expressed his gratitude to God by writing a four page thank you letter, the Philippians expressed their gratitude to God with their attitude and actions. In verse 18 Paul describes the Philippians’ attitude and actions as “18… a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” Paul was a direct beneficiary of the Philippians attitudes and actions, but he was also an indirect conduit through which the Philippians could give thanks to God. You will recall two days before He was handed over to be crucified Jesus said to His disciples “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”[2] By God’s grace Paul was one of Jesus’ brothers. As a result, the concern the Philippians had for Paul and the gifts they sent him were happily received as fragrant offerings, and acceptable sacrifices given to God.
The Philippians expressed their gratitude to God through Paul. You have people in your life like Paul. Some of you have a whole bunch of people like him, others might have only one person like him, but you have people in your life who are going through a tough time, people who burdened with troubles, people who can’t find a solution to their problems. For those of you who still have little ones at home they are called children. For those of you in the prime of your life they are still called friends. For those of you whose mother and father are entering their golden years they are called parents. We all have people like Paul whom God has brought into our lives. This Thanksgiving, take some time to thank God through them. Reach out to them, make their troubles your troubles, help solve their problems. In this way your attitudes and actions, your fruits of faith, will be happily received as fragrant offerings and acceptable sacrifices given to God.
Today we took the time to notice how Paul thanked God for the Philippians and how the Philippians thanked God through Paul. You have people in your life who care about you and support you. This Thanksgiving take the time to thank God for them. You also have people in your life who need care and support from you. This Thanksgiving thank God through them. This Thanksgiving let us all give thanks to God for/trough the people in our lives. And so that we do not miss the motivation behind all this thanksgiving, lets close the way we began, “20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
[1] καρπός, οῦ m: any fruit part of plants, including grain as well as pulpy fruit—‘fruit.
[2] Matthew 25:40