Alba 11-23-2024
THANSGIVING MEMORIES
Philippians 1:3-8
Jeanne Newby had an article in the Webb City Sentinel last year (published on November 29, 2023) about Thanksgiving. Here is some of what she wrote:
“Thanksgiving… just the word conjures up memories! When you hear the word Thanksgiving, your mind often jumps to food or family… a perfect combination. Now in years past, let’s go back all the way to the 50s, Thanksgiving was a holiday on its own. Thanksgiving did not have to share the weekend with Black Friday or be the beginning of the holidays. The only thought that went with Thanksgiving was stuffing ourselves with Turkey, taking a nap, and enjoying the company of family. Everyone tried to make it to the family dinners. The question was always on the tip of the tongue, “Where are you spending Thanksgiving?”
“The Thanksgiving menu was adapted to each family according to tradition, heritage, locale, and favorites. The common food theme included the old Tom Turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
“Activities ranged from napping to telling favorite family stories to looking at old family photos. We only had two television stations so there was only an occasional football game on the tube.”
She says, “So let’s think of an old fashioned Thanksgiving and pull out the photo albums, family movies and memories that are laying somewhere deep in our thoughts waiting to escape! And when one person starts in with 'Do you remember the time…?' it will open a memory for someone else, and what fun and laughter will fill the house. We have lots of things to be thankful for, but it is up to us to count them and make them memorable.”
So, do you have some good Thanksgiving memories that keep coming back, year after year? Hopefully you do. But even if you do not, are there any memories in your life that cause you to be thankful? Maybe there is someone that you know or have met at sometime, and memories of them give you reason to be thankful. Such was the case with the apostle Paul.
While he was a prisoner in Rome for preaching the gospel, he wrote to the church in the city of Philippi in Macedonia Greece. Paul was the first to bring the message of the gospel to people in that city. And he had fond memories of them. Which is clear because he starts his letter in Philippians 1:3 this way: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”
At any time that these people came to mind, it gave him a reason to be thankful. Now that may seem strange when you think about it. Oh, I am sure that he had a lot of good memories when thinking about the Christians in Philippi. But it isn't like everything had gone smoothly when he was there.
Because if you go back and read in the Book of Acts about Paul’s first visit to Philippi, you’ll find that some very bad things happened to him while he was there. He could have said, "I remember Philippi and that demon possessed slave girl who followed us around and harassed us. I remember how they arrested us, and beat us, and put us into chains, and then tossed us deep into that dark and dirty dungeon. Oh yes, I remember the terrible experiences we had in Philippi."
"But no," instead he would say, "I remember Lydia and how she and all her household became Christians. I remember casting a demon out of a slave girl and seeing her set free. I remember the Philippian jailer and his family, and all those other people who are now followers of Jesus. And when I remember, I thank my God for you."
Like Paul, we all have a choice. Positive and negative things happen every day. You can focus on the negative and become an unhappy grumbler if you want. But if you’ll focus on gratitude, wonderful things can happen in your life. The apostle Paul focuses on two main things in the first verses of this letter that give him thankful memories; fellowship and affection. So lets see what he says about...
1. Fellowship
In verses four and five Paul says he thanks God “in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Thankful for fellowship. What does this mean? Much more than cookies and Kool aid, or coffee and donuts. The Greek word (koinonia) means a joint participation. The New International Version has verse five thanking them for their “partnership in the gospel from the first day until now”.
Paul is writing this letter while imprisoned in Rome under what we would call "house arrest." Today, courts enforce "house arrest" by attaching electronic monitors on the wrist or ankle of prisoners. But back then, they simply chained the prisoner to Roman soldiers 24 hours a day. Now that was usually better than being in a dungeon, but Roman soldiers could be cruel, and "house arrest" was not something to desire. Yet, Paul’s letter is filled with thanksgiving because of the fellowship between himself and the Philippian church.
What kind of fellowship or partnership did they have with each other? First, they had truly experienced God's saving grace through Jesus Christ. The grace they have been given in Jesus (verse 4) means that despite their many weaknesses, they are in fellowship with the Lord (Verse 9). They are sons and daughters of God. That means they are Paul's brothers and sisters in Christ.
The “partnership” that Paul had with with the church of Philippi also refers to the hospitality and the material help that the Philippians gave him ever since they met. This church had “partnered” financially with Paul starting with the first day until the present time of sending this letter.
Though Paul preferred to earn for his own needs rather than depend on the church for his livelihood, due to his close friendship and mutual love with the Philippians he allowed them to financially support him (4:15), first in Thessalonica (4:16), then in Corinth (Acts 18:5; 2 Corinthians 11:9), and now most recently in Rome.
In verse seven he says that “both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.” So, as they were helping to support him, they shared in Paul’s work to advance the gospel which he did wherever he was. Even when Roman guards were watching Paul, they were stuck with this prisoner. And he took advantage of it by sharing the gospel with them.
Being a prisoner was perhaps a most unlikely place for Paul to give thanks. But it shows being thankful does not always flow from a heart that has no problems. Our thanksgiving should be an expression of joy to God. Because God can take the worst of events and turn them to good for us. The subject of Paul's thanksgiving is somewhat different than ours. For what do we usually thank God? Health, family, home, or job?
In the comic strip “Baby Blues” the Mom says, “This place is incredible! Everywhere I look there are toys, clothes, food, books and kids.” Dad hears her and asks, “Are you feeling frustrated?” She replies, “No, thankful.” We are often impressed with the material and physical things in life more than anything else.
Oh, those things are important, but they fade in comparison to the spiritual realm. In the Bible, seldom is the physical or material ever mentioned as something for which to be thankful. Usually, people in the Bible are thanking God for the spiritual blessings of life. For us, like Paul, among those things is the fellowship we have with brothers and sisters in Christ. Aren't you glad for your friends in Christ? Friends who are there in times of heartache and sorrow, in times of need?
Paul realized just how important the Philippian Christians were to his ministry and his life. They were a constant source of help and encouragement and had stood with him through the struggles of his ministry. We should ask God to help us to cherish our friends in the faith, and remember them. We need to pray for each other. Aren't you thankful for the people who pray for you? When we remember the fellowship we have with each other in Christ, it should cause us to be thankful.
Now lets see what Paul says about...
2. Affection
In verse eight it says, “For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.” In other words he is saying, "I love you as Jesus loves you.” Paul has a longing for these people. He deeply loves them and was missing their actual presence with him. You probably have people like that in your life.
Paul's love for these Christians is even more clear in chapter four verse one where he calls them, “my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown.” These are not just warm feelings, but part of the innermost being, a commitment with love and compassion. It is deeper than human emotion, because it is not a personal love, it is a godly love, a selfless love in Christ.
The feeling is something like the eight-year old boy who to wrote to Judge Archie Gringold of St. Paul, Minnesota. “Dear your honor, I thank you so much for letting my mom and dad adopt me. I’ll be nine soon, and I’m in the Cub Scouts ... Here’s a picture of me. I’m also giving you four cents, because you deserve it.” Judge Gringold told the Chicago Daily News “It makes it all worthwhile.” By the way, he put the four pennies into a children’s fund.
Despite being shackled to Roman guards as a prisoner in Rome, Paul was not depressed and feeling sorry for himself, like most of us might be. But instead, in remembering the goodness and grace of God towards the Philippians, such thoughts led him to thanksgiving and prayer and joy. Because as he says in verse six, he is confident that God, “who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul looks at the people in Philippi and says, “I see great potential there. I see God working in you, and He is going to complete his work.” Paul was confident because he knew what Jesus starts, Jesus can finish. And that Christ was at work in these believers.
Only a few years before, these people had been total pagans. They had been spiritually dead. But now, by the grace of God, they are very much alive. And they, just like we are, were a “work in progress”. For what God began in their lives was not yet finished. The same is true for us.
There is room for improvement in each person here today, no matter who we are. But, I hope that everyone of us who is a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ, is moving ahead, growing to become the person God has called us to be.
One minister said that when he was in college, a lot of Christians would wear a little pin which had on it the letters "PBPGINFWMY." He said, “No, it didn't spell any secret password, it simply stood for, 'Please Be Patient, God Is Not Finished With Me Yet.'"
Paul was thankful, grateful, for the Philippian church because he saw the grace of God at work in their lives. An old southern preacher once told his congregation, "Folks, I know I ain't what I should be, and I know I ain't what I'm gonna be, but praise God I know I ain't what I used to be."
Paul could say the same things about the Christians at Philippi. May the same thing be said about us. That “We may not be all we should be, or what we are going to be, but at least we ain't what we used to be.”
In this Philippian letter they, and we, are challenged and encouraged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (2:12). And to do so with the assurance that those who press on (3:12-14) through submission to God’s will, continue to experience His grace in life and will be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ Jesus” (1:11).
The apostle Paul believed that God would be faithful to the Christians in Philippi. He was confident the Lord would keep them strong throughout their lives. And that when the end of history comes, when the Lord Jesus returns, they would stand before Him, pure and blameless, clothed in the righteousness that was theirs because of God's amazing grace. And as he thought about them and remembered his time with them, it made him thankful.
Not every memory we have will cause us to be thankful. Still, if we will do as Philippians 4:6-7 says to make our requests known to God with prayer, petition, and with thanksgiving, the Lord will continue to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!
So let us be thankful for our friends in the faith, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us be thankful for our fellowship in the gospel as we do our best to honor the Lord in our lives. And let us be thankful for the future we have in Christ Jesus, who by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave has made possible a home in heaven for us. That will give us wonderful Thanksgiving memories.
Close:
Mark it down as an inflexible rule: The person with an ungrateful heart is one who believes that everything God does for him is too little, and anything he does for God is too much. This is not a time for ungrateful hearts.
Do you remember Erma Bombeck, the homemaker who spun humorous anecdotes about suburban family life into a column syndicated to about 700 newspapers, television commentary, speeches across the country and books with titles such as “The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank,” “Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own,” “I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression,” “If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?”
In an interview in Redbook Magazine, October, 1992 Erma Bombeck said, “An estimated 1.5 million people are living today after bouts with breast cancer. Every time I forget to feel grateful to be among them, I hear the voice of an eight-year-old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, 'I don’t know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!'”
Let me put this a different way. If you can say, “I have put my faith in Jesus. I have turned from sin to Him and have been baptized into Christ. I have His promise of a home in heaven when I die”... If you can say that, then you can also say, “Because I have Jesus, I have everything!”
