Joy And Thanksgiving
JOY AND THANKSGIVING
PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11
Paul prays, with confidence to God, for his friends.
These verses reveal the depth of the personal relationship which existed between Paul and the believers at Philippi. The apostle warmly acknowledges his readers’ earnest participation in his work (1:3-5). As he thinks back to the early days of the mission, he thanks God continually for every member of the church.
Among the first members were Lydia and her household, and the burly Roman jailer who had fastened Paul’s feet in the stocks (Acts 16:14-24). Paul refused to think long about the scars incurred from the beating with rods. God had brought deliverance to himself and to the jailer (Acts 16:25-34). How could he exclude this man from his prayer of thanksgiving and joy? It is clear that Paul was far more sensitive to the mercies of God than to human antagonism.
The apostle’s thanksgiving is couched in intimate terms: “I hold you in my heart … I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (1:4,7f.). The language is striking precisely because Philippi was almost exclusively Gentile in character. In a city of a quarter of a million inhabitants there could not be found ten Jewish men who were heads of families, the minimum for the establishment of a synagogue. In 3:5 Paul reminds the church of his Pharisaic background. No Pharisee would have embraced a Gentile with the affection Paul here expresses for his converts. This radical change of attitude reflects the transformation of character and perspective which Paul experienced when confronted by Christ.
While Paul’s confidence for the steadfastness of the believers rested on God (1:6), he prayed regularly that their love—for himself and for each other—might increase even more, equipping them to participate in the full harvest of righteousness which God calls for through Jesus Christ (1:9-11). One by one Paul touches on the themes developed throughout the letter: his thanksgiving and affection for the Philippians, his confidence in God’s control of all circumstances, the necessity for an increase in love and Jesus Christ as the source of life and fruitfulness.
Thought Look again at 1:9-11. What would happen if our prayers were more like this?