Introduction: Thanksgiving Day is only two days away as I write this in November 2024! Many have written about the first Thanksgiving Day, in 1620’s colonial Massachusetts and there is much supplemental material. The important thing is that those early Pilgrims knew they could not possibly have survived that New England winter apart from God’s help. For that matter, none of us could survive much of anything without our Lord!
And of course, the Bible has much to say about being thankful. Here’s a message based on a sermon I’ve delivered at a few different churches over the years. Certainly Paul had a lot to be thankful for and he expressed this sentiment in his letter to the Philippians.
1 Paul was thankful for what the Lord had done in the past.
Text: Philippians 1:1-6, KJV: 1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Acts 16 has the story how Paul, Luke, and some others came to Philippi after seeing a vision of the man from Macedonia. A few comments about Philippi are in order: first, as Luke recorded, this city was a “colony”. In this context, Philippi was more or less a home for retired Roman Army veterans. The residents spoke Latin as well as Greek, plus considered themselves Romans as mentioned later in the chapter.
By the way, the typical Roman soldier enlisted for 20 years (!) and was sometimes paid in salt (“salary” or salt money)! As I understand it, once that 20-year enlistment was over, the soldier was given a pension, Roman citizenship (seldom conferred automatically) and the opportunity to reside in a Roman colony or “little Rome”. Philippi was one of these places.
But to return to the original thought. One wonders if Paul and the other believers in that party ever met that person, but one thing for sure: they found some interested women who listened to what they had to say. One of these women was Lydia who persuaded the men to stay in her household for a season (Acts 16:1-15).
The rest of Acts 16 records how Paul and Silas (at the least) were arrested and thrown into a prison after casting a demon out of a slave-girl. Those who punished them didn’t count on God, though, and certainly not an earthquake! The jailer, afraid for his life, then cried out, like many others through the years, “What must I do to be saved?” This man, and his household, believed and were baptized! These folks might well have been the original “charter members” of the First Church of Philippi!
Sure, Paul might well have been thankful for the people won for Christ at Philippi and the new friends he had made there. The whole letter to these saints has that theme or undercurrent, as some might say, of joy and thankfulness. But under the surface, Paul knew there was much more to be thankful for.
He knew, first, that he had been one of the most zealous persecutors of believers when he was still known as Saul of Tarsus. His testimonies in Acts 22 and 26 demonstrate how grateful he was that our Lord reached down to him and chose him to be a preacher of the grace of God! I doubt he ever (could?) completely forget his past, but certainly he knew there was a moment when he met Jesus—and as a result, he, Saul—now Paul—was changed forever!
And besides, Paul knew, that even if he was in jail, the church at Philippi would continue.
2 Paul was thankful for what the Lord was doing at the present time
Several years had come and gone since Paul’s visit to Philippi and when he wrote this letter. When Paul left Philippi, there were really only a handful of new believers including Lydia and those of her household who believed (if any), and the jailer plus those of his household. That wasn’t very many, admittedly, but in God’s eyes, that was enough.
Isn’t it amazing that the Lord does great things with small things? I mean, at best there were maybe a dozen new believers that we can account for, sort of, but they didn’t retreat into a comfort zone or anything like that. No, they did what they could (and only the Lord knows how much from how many) and by the time of the letter, the church at Philippi had grown in terms of size and other things too! There were at least a few people whom Paul addressed by name, and, the church had grown large enough to ordain deacons and bishops (overseers).
That wasn’t all. Paul surely had heard about other churches he had helped found and establish; and he rejoiced in all that the Lord was doing through the believers in these churches. Remember he had written letters to the churches in Colossae and Laodicea (some think that last was a circular letter to include Ephesus) plus a personal letter to Philemon. All in all, the churches were growing and Paul rejoiced, thanking God for what He was doing even in the present time.
As a reminder, Paul was in jail when he wrote these letters! Among other things, this proves that even though the messenger or preacher may be under arrest, “the Word of God is not bound!” as Paul wrote later in 2 Timothy 2:9!
Yet, as grateful and thankful as Paul was at the time, he was still a prisoner, and eventually he would know his days were numbered. One could say 2 Timothy was his last will and testament; at the least, it’s a summary of his ministry. Even so, Paul knew that even when he was gone (and that’s true for every person), the Church will remain.
And Paul was aware that the Church would remain even after he went to be with the Lord.
3 Paul was thankful for what the Lord would do in the future
How much Paul actually knew about the future, i.e., after his death is not certain but he clearly knew the Church would go on. And it did: the various maps showing the Church growing in location speak clearly to this. Even the writings of the Church Fathers (Ignatius, “Barnabas”, Clement, Polycarp, et al.,) speak of this. In addition, Augustine and Tertullian were just two of the leaders of the Church in North Africa!
And grow the Church surely did, from the land of Israel north, south, and west through Asia Minor (Turkey), North Africa, and on into western Europe. Missionaries went everywhere taking the good news of Jesus everywhere they went. This is still going on today, in spite of what seems to be incredible odds.
This also applies to every local church, too. One preacher (maybe many) observed that he didn’t know of any church which came with an expiration date. To be honest, many churches have closed over the years (reasons vary, of course) but many more open and I pray many more will pray to have the Lord renew their mission and vision and live long and healthy lives.
Paul was grateful, and thankful, for what the Lord had done in Philippi in the past, from the first believers to the ones who remembered him even in prison. Paul was also grateful for not only what Philippi was doing in that present day, but also how the Lord was moving and blessing any number of local churches. And he knew, Paul did, that even after he left this earth, the Church would remain. So it is even today.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day this week, may we always be thankful and grateful for what our Lord has done for us: past, present, and future, too.
May the Lord bless every believer, today and every day!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
