Thank You

Thank you!

 - a study of Colossians 1:1 – 6 -

My three oldest grandchildren still often have to be reminded to say ‘Thank you’ when they receive something, and it made me think about how often adults and children forget to say ‘Thank you’ to God.

I grew up in a home where we always used to give thanks for each meal, and it’s something we continue to do today – even if we are out at a restaurant – but I wonder how many families or individuals have given up that practice?

Here are some samples of ‘graces’ before a meal:

“Lord, bless the bunch that will crunch this lunch.”

And I’m told that one of the theological colleges used to have a grace like this:

“Lord, if I get this lot down, will you help me to keep it down!”

More traditionally, there are graces like this:

“Bless the food before us; the family beside us; and the love between us.”

I was very surprised one year at a Boys’ Brigade Camp to hear one of the leaders say; “We must give thanks at the meal table”, only to discover he didn’t do it at home. When I asked him why he thought we should do it at camp, he said: “To give the boys a good example.”

Well, what sort of example is it to do it when you’re at camp and not do it when you’re not at camp!

The Apostle Paul gives us a very good example to follow. He often says in his letters ‘Thank you’ to God. It’s here in Colossians:

“I always thank God.”  Colossians 1:3

You’ll also find it in Romans 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:4; Philippians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:3; and Philemon v 4. However, in Thessalonians he changes it slightly, and says:

We ought always to thank God for you.”  2 Thessalonians 1:3

Then he goes on to explain what he’s thanking God for. What is interesting to notice is that these “thank you’s” come at the beginning of his letters, just after the formal greeting.

I wonder how many of us do that? We say ‘Dear so and so’, and then go on to say to them that we thank God for that person or group of people? I’m guessing that not many of us do that, but I wonder why not? Is it an out of date expression – appropriate to the early Church, and maybe up to a previous century – but not for us in the 21^st century? Maybe it’s a practice we should think about adopting again – especially if we are writing to another Christian.

OK! We know that less and less people use traditional letters to communicate with each other, but couldn’t the same principle apply in e-mail or a text message or however else we get messages from one person to another?

How would it make you feel if someone wrote to you and near the beginning of their letter they said that they thanked God for you?

Now let’s look at what the Apostle Paul actually thanks God for. Look at verse 4:

^“ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people”  Colossians 1.4

He and Timothy had heard about the faith in Christ Jesus of the Colossian Christians. What a great reason for giving thanks to God, because of their faith, trust and commitment to the Lord Jesus.

Turning this round a bit, do you and I ever give thanks to God for the people who influenced us, and/or led us to Christ – whether that was recently, or a long time ago, or somewhere in-between? What a great reason for thanksgiving, to acknowledge before the Lord those who helped to make you what you are now, in Christ, if you are already a Christian. If you’ve never done it, I encourage you to start soon; and if you used do it, but have got out of the habit, why not start again?

Who would be on my list: obviously my Parents; then my little Sunday-School teacher; as well as the leader of the Junior Christian Endeavour; and of course the Minister of the Church where I grew up, to name just a few.

But Paul not only thanks God for the Colossians’ Christian faith in the Lord Jesus, but for the love they have ‘for all the saints’ (v 4). Let me just explain the word ‘saints’ here.

Nowadays it usually refers to someone who is dead and has a white plate behind their head! But Paul uses the word ‘saints’ to talk about living Christian believers: Saint Malcolm! Got a ring to it, hasn’t it?!

But that’s what Paul is saying here. He gives thanks to the Lord for the love that the Colossian Christians have for each other. The passage implies, although it doesn’t actually say it, that their love for one another was tangible, obvious, real, and authentic. Paul was so impressed by this genuine love that he thanks the Lord for it.

I wonder how true it is of the local Church? That the love we have for one another is so obvious that people thank God for it. I’d have to say that in my experience many churches have got a long way to go.

Have you ever been told that you’re sitting in someone else’s seat? It certainly has happened to my wife and I too many times! And what about rivalry between different churches of denominations? Like one Church that announced that We care for you” and the church next door said: “Yes, but we have better music!”

Far too many Christian no longer go to Church because of the way they were treated or because another Christian hurt them.

You will hear people say: “I haven’t fallen out with God, only the Church.” How sad, and how far away from the church that Paul is writing to in Colossae.

Would he, if he was on earth now, thank God for the faith we have in Christ Jesus, and for the love we have for each other?

I can’t answer that for you, but I doubt he would do it for some of the churches I have known or been part of. But it shouldn’t be like that! If the Christians in the Church aren’t loving each other, then how will we ever win the world for Christ? If they see how some Christians behave towards each other, why would they want to be part of it? I don’t think the Apostle Paul could even think that such a church existed, but sadly they do.

One writer has said that never was there such love within the Christian community as there was in the early Church – certainly for the first three centuries of its existence.

When those outside the church used the phrase “See how these Christians love one another” it wasn’t in a sarcastic or derogatory way, but because the reality was true.

Acts 2:42 onwards expresses this well and you may like to read that well-known passage, but Romans puts it this way:

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  Romans 12: 9 – 13

What a great reason for thanksgiving to God and to Jesus Christ, for a Church that is lively, loving, making a good, or maybe even an excellent impact on society. No wonder the early Church kept on growing!

I wonder what that says about the church in the west today that in many areas is declining? Many Churches now closed or soon to be? But where did this faith and love come from? Look at verse 5:

“- the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven..” Colossians 1:5

It comes from their Christian hope. Let’s look at verses 3-5 again:

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— ⁵ the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel..”  Colossians 1:3-5

Now this hope was not a negative hope (e.g. I hope the bus comes soon; I hope it stops raining, etc.), but it was, and is, a positive hope, “stored up in heaven for you, that you (the Colossian Christians, and by extension, us, today) have already heard about in the word of truth, the Gospel.”

Gospel means ‘Good News’ – that is, the Good News of Jesus Christ, who lived, who died, who rose again, and who lives for ever in the glory of heaven with Almighty God.

Such was their hope in spending eternity with the Lord, that they were able to give themselves fully to living and loving in ‘the now’. And what was the effect on society around them?

Look at v 6:

“All over the world this Gospel is bearing fruit, and growing, just as it has been doing among you, since the day you heard it, and understood God’s grace in all its truth.”   Colossians 1:6

It’s no wonder that Paul was so full of thanksgiving. He had plenty of reasons for it, didn’t he?

If Paul were here now, what reasons would he have for thanksgiving in your church? Would they be the same as they would have been for the church in Colossae? Don’t answer now, but maybe it would be good at some point to consider how you would respond.

Would the Apostle Paul be able to say that all over the world the Gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it was in the days of the early Church?

In some areas ‘Yes’ – apparently there are more Christians now in China, than in the whole of Western Europe put together! That’s amazing. Think of other countries where the Gospel is transforming lives, the Church is growing and the Kingdom of God advancing.

But what about Milford, Derby, the East Midlands, the UK and Europe? Could it be that if Christians loved each other more, we would impact society more and we would all have more and more reasons for thanksgiving to the Lord?

May it be so for the honour and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father. AMEN

Rev Malcolm Brown

Malcolm Brown is a retired Baptist Minister. He has served and led Churches at Hanley in Stoke on Trent, Bilston in Wolverhampton, Saffron Walden in Essex and Rastrick in West Yorkshire. His ministry has involve work as Chaplain for Hospices in Cambridge, Halifax, and Huddersfield. He currently is serving as a Volunteer (Spiritual Well-Being) in Derbyshire.
Married to Colleen, and currently members of Woodlands Evangelical Church in Derby. Together they enjoy four adult children, and five grandchildren.