Deo Gloria
November 27-28, 2024
Thanksgiving Sermon
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Philippians 4:10-20
Theme: Thanksgiving – A Time to be Thankful!
- For Christian friends who care
- For a gracious God who will meet our every need
Thanksgiving is a popular, national holiday. They say it’s the single, most-traveled holiday of the year. People travel hundreds and even thousands of miles in order to get together with family and friends and celebrate Thanksgiving. But what is Thanksgiving really all about? Is it the turkey and the cranberry sauce, the mashed potatoes and gravy, the pumpkin pie? Is it traveling over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house for a festive gathering with family and friends? Is it kicking back in the easy chair in the afternoon and watching football? Is that what it’s all about? No, all of those things have become part of the Thanksgiving tradition here in America, but that’s hardly what Thanksgiving is about. Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks. Thanksgiving is a time for remembering the many blessings God has given us and thanking him for those blessings. In short, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful! Today in the verses of our text the apostle Paul reminds us of two of the blessings for which we can be thankful not just on Thanksgiving Day but every day. We can be thankful, first of all, for Christian friends who care and secondly, for a gracious God who will meet our every need.
When Paul wrote these words, he was not sitting in a La-Z-Boy recliner watching football on a giant screen TV after feasting on a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner. No, Paul was living under house arrest in Rome, as he waited to stand trial before Caesar. Now granted, living under house arrest was far better than being locked up in a dungeon. And yet, it still was a rather difficult way to live, often involving hardship. Paul was not free to leave the house where he was staying unless his Roman guard consented and went with him. Obviously work was out of the question, which meant of course that Paul had no income, no means of providing for himself. So Paul had to rely on others to provide for him. He had to rely on the generosity of others, particularly his fellow Christians in Rome. He had to depend on them to provide for him, to bring him food and other daily necessities. And I’m sure they did their best. One day someone probably brought him stew. Another day maybe it was spaghetti. Another day maybe leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. And still another maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You see, when you’re depending on the generosity of others, you have to take what you can get. One day you might have plenty: three hot, hearty meals, with leftovers too. The next day you might be lucky to get one meal: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for supper. Paul talks about that in these verses, doesn’t he? In v. 12 he writes: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.” Living under house arrest was a struggle for Paul, a struggle just to get by.
But then one day Epaphroditus showed up. Epaphroditus did not live in Rome or one of the surrounding suburbs. No, Epaphroditus was a member of the church in Philippi, a city located in Macedonia, in northern Greece. He had come a long way. He had traveled hundreds of miles. And he hadn’t come to ask Paul some important doctrinal question or ask his advice on how to handle some problem in the congregation back home. No, he came to bring Paul gifts, gifts the Christians in Philippi had sent with him: food perhaps, clothes, and more than likely a fair amount of money—gifts to help Paul, to provide for him and his needs. And this wasn’t the first time either. Years before, when Paul first started preaching in Macedonia, after he had left Philippi and was preaching in the city of Thessalonica, they had sent him gifts then too, on more than one occasion. They sent him gifts to support him and provide for his needs while he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus to others.
Naturally, Paul was moved by the gifts that Epaphroditus brought. He was moved to give thanks to God for such caring, Christian friends. Back in v. 10 he writes: “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.” And then in v. 18 he adds: “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”
Can you relate to Paul? Do you have friends like that, Christian friends who care about you, who show their love and concern for you in concrete ways? I know I do. I have friends like that right here in this congregation, people who pray for me every day, people who encourage me, people who support me and my family with their gifts so I can keep on preaching the good news about Jesus, people who went out of their way to encourage me and help my wife and me when I had my cancer surgery a year and half ago. I’m thankful for friends like that. They are among the many good gifts, the wonderful blessings God has given me.
How about you? Do have friends like that, Christian friends who truly care and show it in concrete ways? Maybe they sent you a care package when you were away at school. Maybe they came to visit you in the hospital following your surgery. Or maybe when you got home, they brought over meals for you and your family. When you’re hurting, they call and check on you. They send you a card, just the right card, to give your spirits a lift. When you need help fixing your car or repairing a leaky faucet or replacing the siding on your house, they’re always ready and willing to help. When you could use a few extra prayers, they’ll come over and pray with you even if it’s the middle of the night. What a blessing caring, Christian friends are! They’re one of the truly precious blessings God has given us, one the blessings you and I can be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
While Paul certainly was thankful for his caring, Christian friends, he was even more thankful for something else: a gracious God who had met his every need. He expresses this even in the midst of his thanking the Christians in Philippi for the gifts that they sent. Take another look at the first verse of our text. “I rejoice greatly in the Lord,” Paul says. Paul knew who was behind the gifts the Philippians had sent him. He knew who was ultimately responsible for their kindness and generosity: the Lord was. It was he who had brought these Christians in Philippi to faith in Jesus, not Paul. It was he who had changed their cold and selfish hearts into hearts filled with faith and love, not Paul. It was he who had put in their hearts a love and concern for Paul and the desire to support his work. It was he who had moved them to take up a collection for him. Paul hadn’t asked for one. And it was he who had brought Epaphroditus safely all the way to Rome for Paul’s benefit, so that he might receive these gifts in a time of need. Paul knew who deserved the ultimate credit and praise: the Lord. “I rejoice greatly in the Lord.”
But even if Ephaphroditus had not arrived with those gifts, it would not have changed Paul’s attitude. You see, it’s not like Paul was grumbling and complaining before Epaphroditus came. Oh sure, it was a struggle at times. And yet, Paul was content. And now that Epaphroditus had come, Paul wasn’t dissatisfied or worried about what he was going to do if the money he had received ever ran out. Again, Paul was content. He was satisfied. He was happy with what he had. And as for tomorrow, Paul was confident that the Lord would continue to provide. Again he writes: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength”(vv. 12-13).
Paul could be so confident because God had already provided for his greatest need, his need for forgiveness and salvation. If ever anyone was aware of his sins and his shortcomings, it was Paul. If ever anyone deserved to be locked out of heaven and banished from God’s presence forever, it was Paul. I mean, look what he had done! He had persecuted God’s people. He had killed the followers of Jesus. Could there be anything worse in the eyes of God? And yet, God had had mercy on him and on all people. In mercy God had sent his Son Jesus to be his Savior, to suffer and die on the cross for his sins, yes, for the terrible things he had done. And because of the sacrifice Jesus had made for him, his sins were all forgiven, completely taken away, and eternal life in heaven was his. For that Paul was thankful, eternally thankful.
On top of that God had also provided for Paul throughout his life. When Paul was at home in Antioch, God provided. When Paul was out on the road doing mission work, God provided. When Paul was arrested and put in prison for preaching about Jesus, God provided. When Paul was shipwrecked on the way to Rome, God provided. Yes, Paul had learned a very important lesson over the years, a “secret” he calls it, the secret of being content. Whether he had an abundance or whether he was living day to day off the generosity of others, Paul was content. He always had enough, because he had Jesus. Jesus would be his helper. Jesus would be his strength. Jesus would be his provider in every circumstance.
You and I can have the same kind of attitude, the same kind of confidence and trust in the Lord, because the Lord has done the same for us. He has provided for us faithfully throughout our lives. Like Paul there may have been times in our lives when things were pretty tight, when we got to the end of the pay check before we got to the end of the month. We may have wondered how we were going to make it, but we made it. God provided, perhaps he even provided through the generosity of a friend or a relative, but he did provide. On the other hand, I think many of us would have to admit that God has blessed us with an abundance. We have all we need and even more than we need. We have plenty of food on our tables and plenty of clothes in our closets. We have two or three cars and a pickup truck and a motorcycle. We have comfy couches and La-Z-Boy recliners. We have video games to play and iPods to listen to and movies on Netflix to watch. God has been so good to us. He has truly given us an abundance.
And yet, sometimes we’re still not satisfied. The food we have isn’t good enough. The clothes we have aren’t nice enough. The cars we drive aren’t new enough or fancy enough. The house we live in isn’t large enough. The salary we make isn’t big enough. The computer we use isn’t fast enough, and on and on and on. God has poured out his blessings on us. He has given us far beyond anything people like Paul could even imagine. And yet somehow we still aren’t satisfied. Paul was aware of his sins. Are we aware of ours: our greed, our selfishness, our lack of being content even though God has given us everything we need? We need forgiveness too, don’t we, just as much as Paul did? We need forgiveness for our sins or we too will be banished from God’s presence forever.
And we have it in Jesus Christ our Savior. The one who gave his life for Paul gave his life for us as well. The one who shed his blood on Calvary’s cross so that Paul might be forgiven shed his blood on Calvary’s cross that we might be forgiven too, that all our sins might be washed away and that eternal life in heaven might be ours. And if God was willing to do that for us, if he was willing to provide for our greatest need, our need for forgiveness and salvation, will he not provide the rest as well, what we need day by day to support ourselves and our families? Of course he will. Paul assures the Christians in Philippi of that, and he assures us as well: “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”(19).
What are you thankful for this year? Are you thankful for another year of good health? Are you thankful for your school and your teachers at school? Are you thankful for a steady job or a successful business? Are you thankful for your spouse and your children, your family and friends? Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks. And among the many blessings you and I have to be thankful for are the two Paul mentions in these verses. We can be thankful for our caring, Christian friends, and we can be thankful for our gracious God who will meet our every need. Amen.