For all the things that prompt us to our knees in prayer with thanksgiving, this is the first gift He gives: The blood of Christ that identifies those who pray.
We do not do a special service for Thanksgiving with my current congregation, but I have preached plenty at previous ones. I love the pericopes assigned for the National Day of Thanksgiving, because they are all a little jarring (particularly the Luke 17 Gospel). Deuteronomy 8 reminds the children of Israel that they had nothing at all to do with the rich land they are set to inherit. All the work has been done for them already by the great provision of the Lord who has taught them in the wilderness that man does not live by bread alone. Psalm 67 echoes the theme of abundant harvest (“the earth has yielded its increase; God, our God shall bless us”), but has a special emphasis on the nations (the “goyim” in the Hebrew). It is about God blessing the gentiles, and the gentiles praising God (our God!). Luke 17 seems to reveal an offended Jesus (“Did no leper come back to say thank you? Except for this one? And a Samaritan at that?”). Incidentally, this was the gospel lesson back on October 5 just last month, which happened to be Thanksgiving in Canada. It is a little lectionary serendipity that hits every few years for Christians in northern climes.
Let us focus some thought on the epistle lesson for Thanksgiving this year, a Philippians passage that has some doozies in it. Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your requests before God (Philippians 4:6). The thanksgiving reference promotes the pericope for the day’s theme. But there is plenty more to treat in order to focus your hearer’s attention on the gifts for which to give thanks: The peace of God which passes understanding (Philippians 4:7) and the call to set heart and mind on the good and true and beautiful things God has created (Philippians 4:8-9). Verses 10-20 can be conceived of as an extended “thank you” for the Philippians’ generosity towards his fundraising campaign, but it includes the bits of 4:11-13 that climax with: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” It is well worth meditation, memorization, and delivery!
The thanksgiving bit of this Thanksgiving text is worth consideration. Many times, I have heard Philippians 4 referenced as a proof text for prayer, and it goes something like, “Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition present your request, and the peace of God that surpasses...” In other words, I am saying we tend to omit the thanksgiving piece of this. Even if you do not think this is the case, go with me this far: We need to acknowledge a pitfall in thinking about prayer, and that is the pitfall of transactional assumptions. Do not be anxious, just pray! Prayer is the cure for anxiety! And when you pray, God will give you peace, the peace which passes understanding! And that is the cure for anxiety, peace! So, Philippians 4:6-7 becomes a wisdom remedy for worry, some Bible verses to attach to your study of Jesus’ words about lilies and birds (see Matthew 6:25-34).
There is a difference between a piece of deistic therapeutic advice and being faced head-on with the God of the universe. If I had to bet on which one Paul’s got in mind, my money’s on the latter.
The apostle is inviting them to consider that everything – everything – is ripe for bringing before the God of the universe.
In other words, the apostle’s prayer lesson is not a matter of mental health habits or a unit on leadership principles or your best life now. Paul is not telling the Philippians what he does in order to address their stress. The apostle is inviting them to consider that everything – everything – is ripe for bringing before the God of the universe. There is nothing He does not see, nowhere He has not been, and no time He has not been with you, for you, and in you. That immanent presence is a gracious gift, as is every and any circumstance (Philippians 4:11-13) where He has guided you to. Indeed, this is theology of the cross. The apostle emphasizes that he knows what it is to abound and to lack, to rejoice in plenty and to rejoice in need, that he is strong in every way through the one who strengthens him, because this God of the cross, He is the strength of the weak one, the beggar, the little and the low (also see 1 Corinthians 1:25, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Therefore, this fact should remind you that the circumstance you are in is a gift. Are you anxious? God has put you in the position you are in. Receive it as a gift. And what do you do with gifts? You say, “Thank you.” The apostle does not say, “Be anxious about nothing,” as if anxiety is a crime, but as a diagnostic. When you are anxious, pray. And the first way to pray is with thanksgiving for the circumstances that brought you to prayer. Perhaps, you would not have prayed had your symptoms of anxiety not brought you to your knees. See how gracious this God is. He is like a loving parent who attends to the child in distress, even in the middle of the distressing situation, not taking them out of it but promising her attention. Here I am. Let us talk. What are you doing? How are you feeling? What would you like to be able to do? You are not alone.
It is a gift to have a parent like that. I doubt I interpreted the loving intention of tutors, teachers, and my mom and dad so graciously when I felt it was discipline. But I can look back in gratitude that at crisis points, whether a child’s tantrum or an adult’s trouble or trepidation, I was not alone. I had a guide with the gift of grace to hear and help. The parent is trying to grow their child up. The giving and gracious God is simply gifting communion with Him and drawing us to prayer in the midst of tentatio.
“Thank you for the circumstances which led me to prayer, Jesus.” That thanksgiving is where the prayer begins. Are you lonely? Thank God for your solitude. It is a gift. And pray for a friend. Are you burned out? Thank God for your work. It is a gift. And pray for a time of restoration and recuperation. Are you poor? Thank God for the blessing of poverty (the poor are His favorite kind of people; see James 2:5). It is a gift. And pray for the fulfillment of your needs. Are you hungry? Thank God for the blessing of daily bread. It is a gift. And pray He fills you again today with enough. Are you beset by temptation and disappointed by your weakness? Thank God for the struggle (sinners do not struggle; only saints do that) and pray for God’s strength to resist.
How difficult it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, says Jesus. Might as well try to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle. Why? Simply because they can meet their own needs more than other folks, and self-sufficiency forms a habit that harms faith. It is trust and reliance on the giver of all good things. Anxiety is a symptom of not having it all together on your own. What a gift, a prick to the flesh that prompts the bending of our knees. What do we do with gifts? We say thank you... on the Day of Thanksgiving and every time we pray.
Do not fall for the lie that Philippians 4:13 is a theology of glory. It is hard not to in a “can-do” culture of American enterprise, individualism, and success. Read the context. Paul’s optimism is not founded on a prosperity gospel. It is rooted and lived in a theology of the cross, and the God of the cross, Jesus Christ, knows what it is to be hungry, poor, in need, in want, and to suffer. That is what His cross is all about. That is what His wounds, His death are all about. For all the things that prompt us to our knees in prayer with thanksgiving, this is the first gift He gives: The blood of Christ that identifies those who pray. And the same blood of Christ is finally what gives us peace, the peace that passes understanding.
May that blood keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus as you prepare and deliver God’s Word in Christ this week!
