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PHILEMON 4-5
(Reading: 1 Thess.3:6-4:12; Ps.111)
Thanksgiving Is The True Response To God’s Giving
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ...
Doesn’t our text seem a little contrived?
If we didn’t know any better we’d say that Paul was really trying to curry some favour with Philemon.
This could be taken as a bit of political spin.
You know - when you’ve had someone gush all over you!
Didn’t you straight-away wonder what they wanted?
Could this be the approach of the apostle to not only open up this letter but butter up Philemon?
Those titles he uses - “our dear friend and fellow worker”, “our sister”, “our fellow soldier” - could be just smooth talking.
Don’t we see it with the style of his other letters?
Aren’t they all trying to begin with the subtle sell?
He’s one of the leaders, after all!
Even prayer can be used in a manipulating way.
Imagine that - the language of love itself!
And yet who could forget the Pharisees on the street corners giving those long shows of how pious they were?
Maybe you’ve heard or read about people who are praying virtually all the time?
They say they become so moved, in the words of one song, “When I went down to the valley to pray, my soul was blessed, and I stayed all day.”
Though instead of keeping it private with the Lord, as Jesus said, they feel they have to share it with everyone!
Isn’t this what Paul is doing here?
“I always thank my God,” he writes.
You what?
That can’t be true.
It’s physically impossible to pray all the time.
But he’s not.
This is actually not what it appears to say it is.
Rather, reading the whole of verse 4 tells us, “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers.”
Congregation, it’s when he prays that his words also include Philemon.
That’s how close he is to Paul.
These words speak of “my prayers”.
This is very personal for Paul.
The situation of Philemon, and the whole church at Collosae, is something he’s a part of because he helped to bring some of them to faith, and he gave many of them solid instruction in the faith.
So he’s no fly-by-night salesman.
They know Paul and who he represents very well.
Because it’s the Lord Jesus Christ who has made all the difference to their lives!
That’s what Paul is so rich about in these highly praiseworthy words.
He’s not trying to grease up to them – he’s actually appreciating who is underneath and behind and in them all!
In verse 3 he gave them the Lord’s greeting.
These are the words from above.
And having received those words from on high, the Lord’s apostle keeps them in that frame.
It’s this Triune God - the mighty and marvellous One - whom he knows!
Congregation, the title for the sermon is exactly this: THANKSGIVING IS THE TRUE RESPONSE TO GOD’S GIVING!
That’s what being grateful is all about.
So, dear friends, in this prayerful perspective let’s see first of all, that... BEING THANKFUL IS MORE THAN A FEELING.
You see, a feeling is something that changes.
So you don’t always feel the same way about something or someone.
One time you feel really positive about getting up and going off to work.
Another time and it feels a bit of a drag!
This is quite different to verse 4 when Paul is describing his praying all the time.
He isn’t suddenly moved so that he’s spending every moment in specific prayer.
But what he does do is to pray regularly.
Like Daniel who bowed his head toward Jerusalem three times a day, and like our Lord Jesus who set aside a daily time, so Paul is at prayer all the time.
Not a day goes by when he won’t be in communion with his Lord several times, and for more than a few minutes!
We can know that he talks quite a while with his Heavenly Father because of all those people in his letters he says he’s praying for.
So, together with his praise for the Lord, and his own confession, he trusts the Lord for the whole of what his ministry, and others, touches.
In fact, this contact with his God is so intimate and involved that BEING THANKFUL IS MORE THAN A FEELING!
Congregation, it’s like how we love our children to be.
You know how they can be when they receive presents from family or friends.
There they are - so engrossed in that wrapped-up gift - they don’t even say “Thank you!”
“Well Johnny, what do you say?”
And even with such a huge hint, how often doesn’t your child look wonderingly up at you, and say those all-embarrassing words, “What mummy?”
Aren’t you quite let down?
You see, as an adult you’ve learned to see beyond the gift to the giver.
You realise who gave it to you.
You appreciate them.
But a young child often only sees and feels for what this present is.
And that’s exactly how it is for many Christians.
All of a sudden they’ll be gripped by what’s happened.
Then they’ll be all gushing out about the Lord and how good he is, and so on.
But as quickly as that thanks came, it went.
And then it’s on with the drudgery of everyday life.
Until the next present!
Just like our youngsters can count down the days till their birthday or Christmas.
And just like them Christians keep talking and walking right past the One who gives them their present anyway.
And they both have to learn otherwise.
Congregation, Paul is not waiting for something special to happen for him to pray.
He’s not hanging out for something to grab him!
This is what he does every day!
You see, Paul is taking the time to talk to the Giver.
He knows what is confessed in Lord’s Day 45 of the Heidelberg Catechism.
For there the believer declares, “God gives his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking him for them.”
Psalm 111, verse 1, showed David with the same spirit, “I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.”
And then David goes on to bring out what the Lord has done and still does.
Not hanging out for what he’s got to do next!
For as he ends this psalm David bring this point home.
He sings in verse 10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
“To him belongs eternal praise.”
Now - how about that?
We don’t have a thing!
But he is everything!
Congregation, that’s when the Lord is in you.
The reason Paul thanks his God in his prayers for Philemon is “because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus.”
BEING THANKFUL IS MORE THAN A FEELING.. because, in the second place... BEING THANKFUL IS ACTUALLY CHRISTIAN BELIEVING!
Believer, faith grips you in every single part of your life.
There’s nothing anywhere that shouldn’t be affected by our faith.
Otherwise you don’t believe.
A faith without works is dead, rightly says James.
Then we’re being unfaithful.
Dear friend - do you see the connection?
Is there that link that you don’t dare to separate?
You’re in love!
No - not that infatuation we see all around us.
This is not the impulsive, quick-as-a-flash, fall-into-and-fall-out-of-love the world has!
BEING THANKFUL IS ACTUALLY CHRISTIAN BELIEVING.
This is why Paul says in verse 5, “because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus.”
The apostle puts it right up there!
Faith stands out most of all.
So, let’s reflect on the object of Philemon’s faith.
What is this name, the ‘Lord Jesus’?
‘Lord’ means ‘Master’.
He’s the one you serve.
And of all the masters there are, he’s the best!
Dear friend, doing what this Master so much loves us to do doesn’t oppress us.
Rather, it’s as he himself said in Matthew 11, the verses 28 and 29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am humble and gentle in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
And it is!
Though earthly employers need foremen and supervisors, we have our Lord himself living in us by his Spirit.
Now, you might think the office bearers of the church are the directors.
Aren’t ministers and elders the leaders?
But they cannot force.
They can teach, and appeal, and point out to us the consequences of our actions.
If they don’t do this they’ll be judged for it.
But it’s you who has to front up on Judgment Day.
Then you have to speak for yourself.
And that’s when having the divine direction in the Lord will matter.
Next to the word “Lord” is the name “Jesus”.
With the divine side which is in the name “Lord”, there is the human side in “Jesus”.
For the name “Jesus” means “he will save his people from their sins.”
We serve the One who’s above, but we also believe in the One who lived here below the perfect life of love.
Jesus came and lived among us, and did perfectly for his Father what we could never have done.
He is God’s own dear Son.
So from our second point BEING THANKFUL IS ACTUALLY CHRISTIAN BELIEVING we see that this text also says, in the third place, BEING THANKFUL IS TRULY LOVING.
Boys and girls, Philemon is like a ripe pear.
That’s a strange thing to say, isn’t it?
How can you compare anyone to a particular fruit?
But do you know what’s different about most pears than all the other fruit that we eat?
Well, it’s not the colour.
It’s not the softness.
It’s not the beautiful sweet taste either.
Other fruit have these things.
So - what’s different about a pear?
The special thing about a pear, more than any other fruit, is that it ripens just like a Christian should!
Still puzzled?
Well, all fruit - except the pear - ripen from the outside in.
As the sun shines, and there’s rain, and those nutrients coming up through the soil, you’ll see the skin change colour on the outside.
If anyone has ever picked fruit, you know that you look for that colour change on the outside.
Just a slight tint is enough to let you know that it’s beginning to ripen.
That’s when you pick it.
But with a pear it’s quite different.
Only when it’s fully ripe will you notice it on the outside.
So while it might seem quite unripe on the outside it depends on what’s happening inside!
That Paul is being told all these good reports about Philemon, as well as what he knows himself and from Onesimus, really shows the faith from within!
And he wants to remind Philemon of what he is, so that he can also do the same to Onesimus.
Notice how Paul ends verse 5 about hearing of Philemon’s “love for all the saints.”
The purpose of the letter keeps coming through.
As it should.
For he’s encouraging Philemon to be that pear.
“Show on the outside what you are within,” he says to him.
And he knows he will because he’s seen his ripeness already!
He’s known everywhere as a Christian who helps his fellow church members.
He’s living out Galatians 6, verse 10, about doing good to all people, especially those of the household of faith.
That’s who these saints are.
They’re no special pious people he’s helping.
They’re believers just like you!
All kinds of believers - rich and poor, Jew or Gentile, male or female, and especially slave or free!
BEING THANKFUL IS TRULY LOVING!
Because when we live out what we are in the Lord, that’s showing our gratitude for what he’s done, and is still doing for us.
Paul writes the nice words of verses 4 and 5 to Philemon because he honestly means them.
It couldn’t be more opposite than how many today talk to each other.
They are only looking for what they can get out of it - whether it’s that sale, or the favour, or simply to avoid the truth.
Paul looks to what God gives.
THANKSGIVING IS THE TRUE RESPONSE TO GOD’S GIVING.
Congregation, can we take what Paul says here about Philemon and say the same to our brothers and sisters in the Lord?
You know you should.
That’s why praying thankfully for them makes the difference for the life of the church.
But it’s not only making the difference in the church.
Because, friend, do you really want to know where you’re going?
Would you love to have life spelt out for you?
Then, be thankful, all the time!
Really put things in God’s light, because he has so much lit up your life already!
Then his Light will shine in you.
Thank you Lord!
Amen.
PRAYER:
Let’s pray....
O Lord God, you have made it all come true!
Even though there is so much lostness and loneliness, for us - your own dearly loved saints - you gave your own Son.
We’re so rich in you.
And we can live in everything out of you!
Do bless us to do exactly that.
Help us to live thankfully, because of the Greatest Gift that you gave.
In Jesus’ precious name, we pray, Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Sjirk Bajema, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
The source for this sermon was: www.rcnz.org.nz
(c) Copyright, Rev. Sjirk Bajema
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