THANKSGIVING IN THE NEW TESTMENT LETTERS

In an earlier post entitled “New Testament Letter Format” I described the five usual elements present the epistles of Paul and others.These, in the usual order in which they appear, consist of:                         I = Opening Greeting; II = Prayer; III = Thanksgiving; IV = Special Contents; V = Conclusion The last element contains special greetings and/or a prayer or benediction. Usually, the “thanksgiving” section can be located in the first few verses of each letter. And there are seven additional, but much shorter, letters in the New Testament which can be found in Revelation 2-3.

One of the usual customs many families have at Thanksgiving time is to go around the dinner table and list the things which we are grateful for God having provided us. The usual candidates are family, job, and comfortable circumstances. I thought it might be instructive, by contrast, to consider what the NT authors felt they were the most thankful for in the behavior of the congregations they were addressing..

Romans

Paul praises the church in Rome for their well-known abiding faith.

I Corinthians

Paul is thankful for God's grace which was given to them so that they have been amply enriched in both speech and knowledge.

II Corinthians

Paul thanks them for their patient endurance under suffering.

Ephesians

This church is praised for their faith in Christ and demonstrated love shown towards other Christian congregations.

Philippians

Paul is quite effusive in praising and thanking this congregation for this unwavering support of him and his efforts in spreading the Gospel.

Colossians

There are many things Paul has to be thankful about in regard to this church. They include their ever increasing faith, hope, and love as well as the fact that they truly understood the concept of God's overwhelming grace.

I Thessalonians

There is a whole list of reasons for Paul to be thankful for this church. The famous triad faith, hope and love appears here just as it did for the Colossian church. But in addition, their example of joy in the face of persecution had spread to other congregations, who were greatly strengthened by it.

II Thessalonians

As well as repeating his thanks for their perseverance in the face of trial, Paul notes that both their faith and love for one another were growing daily.

II Timothy

Although I Timothy did not contain any specific thanksgiving section in it, in this second letter to him, Paul expresses his gratefulness to God for Timothy's sincere faith, which he had shown from an early age.

Titus

This is a very short letter and so is the thanksgiving section in it, which consists of the simple statement in v. 4a: “To Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share.”

Philemon

Paul expresses his thanks to Philemon for the joy and encouragement he has received from his love for the saints and faith in Christ.

I Peter

The apostle praises his audience for their love for and belief in Jesus Christ with glorious joy, even they had never personally seen him.

II Peter

Peter encourages the intended recipients of this letter by reminding them that they, as well as himself, have already been given through their faith all they need in terms of knowledge of Christ to escape the pitfalls of the world.

I John

John is thankful that those he is addressing already have an anointing from God that is abiding. (2:27)

II John

In this short letter, John expresses his joy in finding out that some of the “elect lady's children” are walking in the truth. The exact meaning of “elect lady” and “children” has been much debated since these terms can be taken literally or may refer to the members of the congregation.

III John

The author is filled with joy at the news of the recipient's faithfulness to the truth.

Revelation 2:2-3,6

Christ characterizes this church as hard workers who possessed patience under trial and were discerning enough to see through evil men in their group, and hated heretical works.

Revelation 2:9

This congregation was in a state of material poverty and yet possessed spiritual riches.

Revelation 2:13

Although this church was located in a very pagan environment, it refused to deny its allegiance to Christ even under threat of death.

Revelation 2:19

The church was praised for its love, faith, service, and patient endurance – all of which were increasing with time.

Revelation 3:8

Christ expresses thanks that this very small and weak congregation had nevertheless kept His word and refused to deny His name.

Note that not all of the NT letters are represented in this quick review. There are various reasons for this. For example, Hebrews is more of a sermon in the approximate form of a letter; there was nothing regarding the Galatian churches for which Paul was thankful (The letters to the churches at Sardis; Rev. 3:1-6 and Laodicea; Rev. 3:14-19 also fall under this category); and Jude perhaps excluded the thanksgiving section due to the brevity of his letter.

One thing to point out regarding these expressions of thanks is best explained by their similarity to an end-of-year report card at school or, in the business world, an annual performance appraisal. Although both of these metrics are intended to be top-down assessments of students or employees, in a strange way they are also a reflection in the opposite direction. In other words, schools generally employ a curve to assign grades. However, if they used some absolute basis of grading instead, it would also clearly identify a teacher's ability or inability to instruct others. In the same manner, an employee's performance also indicates the effectiveness of his or her superior's ability to motivate and provide good working conditions which enable the employees to work at their optimum efficiency.

Apply those examples now to the thanksgivings found in the epistles. Although it is rarely expressed directly in the above-cited thanksgiving statements, these not only convey authors' thankfulness for the actions and beliefs of the audience being addressed but also reflect the way God has blessed them in those same ways.