It’s a crisp late autumn morning! Yellow rays of sunrise peak through the pine trees! The only sound you hear is a chipmunk scurrying across the fallen leaves making its preparations for winter. The ice cold steel of your rifle wears through your wool gloves and begins to numb your fingers as your eyes continuously scan three directions while you wait for a white tail to emerge from the brush.
By noon, you walk through the back door. As you hang your camouflaged coat on the hook, your senses are immediately aroused by the familiar aromas of moist oven roasted turkey, seasoned cornbread stuffing, creamy garlic mashed potatoes drizzled with golden gravy, and crunchy pecan crusted sweet potato casserole! And as you bend down to untie your boots, you hear a gentle rumble from somewhere in your mid-section as you think about how chilled whipped cream perfectly complements the warm spiciness of pumpkin pie!
As your skin is refreshed by the steam of a hot shower and a soft flannel shirt, your mind turns to the precise angles of comfort you experience when you raise the footrest on your leather recliner. Even though you hate the Dallas Cowboys and could care less about the Detroit Lions, you still whisper a quiet prayer to God thanking him for football. And as the ladies in the other room argue about what ungodly hour they are going to begin their shopping spree the next morning, you don’t even care; because the turkey is beginning to take effect, your eyes slowly close, and just before your mind drifts off into a wonderful dream about…well, I better not say; you say to yourself, “What a day!”
What day is it? Thanksgiving, of course! Isn’t it wonderful that we have a whole day set aside to give thanks? Whether your family formally takes turns sharing what they are thankful for at the dinner table, or you just a few minutes and privately think about the history of Thanksgiving or reflect on the blessings in your life, there are many reasons to be thankful: We have a God who has given us life, health, family, friends, a free country, a place to live, a job, food to eat, and the list could go on and on. What are you thankful for today?
Well, the first thing Paul does in his letter to the Colossians is offer thanksgiving. He was suffering in a prison cell in Rome awaiting his day in court before Caesar. His freedom was stripped away from him and he faced an uncertain future. Most of the churches that he planted were struggling and needed his help. Even though his personal circumstances looked bleak, he was thankful! In this opening section of Colossians, Paul lists three reasons why he was thankful and they all rooted in the gospel of Jesus.
1.) Thanksgiving for Transformation through the Gospel (3-6a)
Paul begins his letter by offering thanksgiving for the transformation that the Colossians had experienced through the gospel. He expresses his thanks to God for how the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection filled them with the three cardinal virtues of faith, hope, and love. The presence of these virtues was evidence that the Colossians had undergone a complete spiritual transformation. It profoundly affected their character and conduct.
The “hope” mentioned here is the hope of eternal life. Since Christ rescued them from bondage to their sins, they could now look forward to a glorious existence in heaven after they passed away from this earth. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead has made this possible
From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him.
Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. “Stay in school,” he admonished, “and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.” At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.” Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.
The faith that Paul commends in verse 5 is not faith in general but faith in Jesus Christ. It refers to the belief that Jesus died on the cross to atone for their sins and that God raised Jesus from the dead and that he secures this same promise of life for all who put their trust in him. It is not a static faith that is simply reproduced in a creed or ritual; it is an active faith that is expressed in the way Christians live.
The “love” that Paul refers to here is a supernatural God-given love. In verse 8 he calls it a love “from the Spirit.” It is a selfless and sacrificial love that honestly seeks the benefit of others over personal interest. The Colossians were exhibiting their hope and faith in the way that they loved each other.
Just as Paul thanked God for the way he had already transformed and was currently transforming the Colossians, we can be thankful for the way God has transformed and is transforming us through the gospel. Through the gospel, God has given us faith, hope, and love. He has enabled us to believe that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. He has given us hope, that no matter how bad life gets here, we know that he will one day liberate us from all emotional pain and physical suffering. He has given us the supernatural ability to love each other—even our enemies!
This transformation doesn’t just happen once. It continues through our Christian lives. As the gospel continues to work in our lives, our faith grows stronger, our hope gets brighter, and our love gets deeper. If you are not a Christian today, would you like to experience this transformation? Embrace the good news of Jesus Christ and you can! If you are a Christian today, are you thankful for the transformation you have experienced and are experiencing now?
2.) Thanksgiving for the Spreading of the Gospel (6b)
The second reason why Paul offers thanksgiving is because the spreading of the gospel. He is thankful for how the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection reached the town of Colosse and was expanding all over the earth. He wanted the Colossians to know that this gospel was not just another local mystery religion isolated in the Lychus River Valley, but it was a worldwide movement that crossed over geographical and racial barriers and was having universal impact.
By most accounts, however, the world had not yet recognized the spreading of the gospel. First century historian’s barley used any ink on the Christian church, but Paul could see what they could not see. Like a plant that takes over the whole garden, the Christian church started small with only 12 disciples, but it was quickly expanding to the major metropolitan centers like Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus, and was even reaching rural towns like Colosse—this caused Paul to be thankful!
Like Paul, we should be thankful for how the gospel continues to spread throughout the world today. The message of God’s love for all mankind and Jesus’ sacrificial death to redeem us from our sins speaks in any language or culture. It speaks to the universal conditions facing every human being regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or location.
Like the Colossians, it doesn’t appear that the Christian church is expanding today, but it is! Even though the church is declining in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, it is literally exploding in South America, South East Asia, and Africa.
Listen to what Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of Religion at Penn State University says in his book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity: “The figures are startling. Between 1900 and 2000, the number of Christians in Africa grew from 10 million to over 360 million, from 10% of the population to 46%. If that is not, quantitatively, the largest religious change in human history in such a short period, I am at a loss to think of a rival…we can predict that by 2050, there should be around 3 billion Christians in the world, of whom only around 1/5 or fewer will be non-Hispanic whites.” (p. 9)
Even though we live in the least religious state in the least religious region of our country, I am still thankful for how the gospel is spreading here in Vermont. Sure, the numbers are nowhere near what they are in Africa, but I see the gospel going forth from our church and it is transforming many lives. Every time someone makes a commitment to Jesus Christ or becomes a member of our church or even walks through the doors of our church, the gospel of Jesus Christ spreads.
Think about how the gospel has spread to you! Are you spreading it to others? Are you thankful for what God is doing all around the world and right here in our own community?
3.) Thanksgiving for Faithful Ministers of the Gospel (1, 7-8)
The third reason why Paul expresses thanksgiving is for faithful ministers of the gospel. Paul was himself a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he was now suffering in prison. He was unable to start any new churches or even visit the ones he already started, but he was thankful for others who were faithfully ministering on his behalf. In verse 1 he mentions that Timothy was there with him. He was one of Paul’s converts from the town of Lystra and was one of Paul’s most faithful missionary companions.
In verses 7-8 Paul gives thanks for Epaphras, the man who planted the church in Colosse and continued to teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ. When a number strange philosophies and heresies began to infiltrate the church, Epaphras went to Rome to seek Paul’s advice on the matter. While he was in Rome, he somehow became imprisoned with Paul and was unable to return to Colosse. Instead, Paul sent this letter back to the church with a man named Tychicus (4:7) Paul calls Epaphras “a dear fellow servant” and “a faithful minister of Christ.” He was willing to stand for the truth and continue to minister the gospel in spite of adversity.
Just as Paul was thankful for these faithful ministers, we should be thankful for faithful ministers of the gospel today. We should be thankful for those ministers that stand for the truth of God’s Word, preach the true gospel, and who minister the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Can you think of a minister that has had a profound effect on your life? It may be a pastor or a lay person that either introduced you to Jesus Christ, helped you grow in your faith, or who ministered to you in a time of need. Are you thankful for that person? Can someone else be thankful for your faithful ministry to them?
Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today! Warren Wiersbe tells the story of a ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois, who was part of a life-saving squad. In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
A woman named Erma Bombeck says, “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!” The kid is right.”
We don’t want to be like any of those 17 passengers. We want to be like this 8 year old girl. As we go through life, we want to be thankful for all of God’s blessings to us, especially for transformation through the gospel, the spreading of the gospel, and for faithful ministers of the gospel! Go ahead and save your turkey and trimmings for late November, but let’s make every day a day of Thanksgiving!