Talking Points with Pastor Lucas | Thanks for nothing?

Rev. Dr. Lucas V. Woodford, District President

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. (Philippians 4:4, ESV)

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is marked by our thanks for the many blessings we have received over the last year. It’s often celebrated with a huge spread of food, followed by the traditional ritual of loosening one’s belt, calling dibs on the recliner, and the sharing of family news over boisterous conversation.

What’s the Thanksgiving ritual at your house?

Is it ham, chicken, turkey, or a “turducken” (that’s a chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey)?

Which pie is your favorite: pumpkin, apple, blueberry, or (my favorite) pecan?

Do you go around the table and name something you’re thankful for?

My mother had us do that as kids. And when my two younger brothers and I would give goofy answers one after the other—”I’m thankful for potatoes” and “I’m thankful for gravy” and “I’m thankful for pecan pie”—she would say, “Nice try boys. Let’s begin again.” My mother was persistent in her desire for us to be truly thankful—and not just one day of the year, but every day of our lives.

To be sure, it’s nice to have a national holiday that helps us focus on being thankful. However, the apostle Paul has the boldness to tell the Philippians to rejoice at all times.

Rejoice always . . . huh?

What’s your gut reaction when you read Paul’s imperative to rejoice “always”?

My reaction is that being thankful is not always easy. Sometimes, life circumstances can make us feel more like Eeyore than Christopher Robin.

Paul’s words challenge us.

Whether we receive nothing, have nothing, or come from nothing, Paul says we are to rejoice. The plain truth is that’s often easier said than done.

It is a curious thing to be able to rejoice in the Lord always. Perhaps you know someone who is always choosing to be thankful. Not because they feel they have to, but because they have a truly grateful heart. I’ve always found it inspiring and encouraging to be around such people, particularly because they’re also being intentional and sincere about thanking me for something.

Saying “thank you” goes a long way.

So it is true that Thanksgiving reminds us to give thanks, but should it really take a national holiday for us to be thankful? In fact, should our rejoicing and thankfulness only be limited to the giant spread of Thanksgiving food, our loosened belts, our cushy recliners, and our labor-saving dishwashers?

Paul invites us to know what it is to rejoice in the Lords “always.” He writes the following verses just a few sentences after his command to rejoice always:

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:12-13)

Paul could have very easily and sarcastically said to the Lord, “Thanks for nothing!”

As he wrote to the Philippians, Paul was under house arrest for being a follower of Jesus Christ. But that was just the start of it. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells exactly what he’s endured for being a follower of Jesus Christ:

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)

Despite all of this, Paul still has the audacity to say, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

It seems ironic that Paul endured all of this for the One who, some might say, gave him nothing.

Of course, we know that what Jesus gave to Paul was anything but “nothing.” Yet perhaps that sarcastic phrase might actually be right if we think about the big picture of salvation.

Jesus did give Paul nothing.

That is, Jesus Christ gave Paul (and all believers) “nothing” if we think of it like this:

When God the Father looks at the long list of sins against us—all our complaining, all the things we take for granted, all our selfishness, all our jealousy, our fighting, our lack of compassion, our ungracious attitudes—He sees “nothing” against us.

On the cross at Calvary, Jesus Christ took the punishment we deserved. He took into Himself all of our sin and guilt. He took onto Himself all of our shame and sorrow, and He took upon Himself the wrath of God, taking it all far away from us and burying it in His tomb of death. He endured it all so that we would receive “nothing” as payment for our sins. For this we can indeed say, “Thanks for nothing!”

But that’s just the first half of the story.

Be assured that God does not simply leave us with “nothing.” Rather, God covers us with the everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness of His own Son Jesus Christ.

Now when the Heavenly Father looks upon us, He sees us as His precious and beloved children upon whom He lavishes His love and affection. He sent His Son to suffer and rise from the dead to bring us light and life and to let us know we are His treasured possessions.

Nothing . . . and everything

In receiving “nothing” as punishment for our sins, we were given “everything” in Christ Jesus!

As the Apostles’ Creed summarizes, we are given the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Even more, we are given new life, right here and right now. We are a new creation. The old has gone; the new has come. He gives us a robust and confident hope to greet the burdens of each day—for His mercies are new each day!

What is more, we have a true Thanksgiving meal to partake of in the Lord’s Supper. In fact, it is often called the Eucharist, a title taken from the words of institution, where it is the Greek word for “giving thanks.” (“On the night when he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body given for you.’”)

Yes, the Lord richly and daily provides us with all that we need for this body and life, for which, as the Small Catechism reminds us, it is our “duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him” (from the explanation of the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed).

So join me in thanking Jesus for “nothing” and “everything” all at once and at all times.

I can think of no better way of doing so than by simply using the Words of Scripture:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.