THE GIFT OF A GREETING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Philippians 4:21-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever sent someone a card?

I think most of us will say we have.

Cards are great because they cover almost any situation a person might want to address.

If a person is celebrating a birthday, there are cards for this and these cards are further specialized if you are sending to a relative or to a child by their age. There are even birthday cards for those times when you may be late in sending wishes.

There are cards for nearly every holiday out there. Of course, Christmas is the most prominent and I’m pretty sure everyone has received at least one of the cards to mark that special day.

When people get married, there are cards congratulating the groom and bride. Afterwards, you can by anniversary cards to pay special tribute to each year of that marriage.

People get ill and in those instances, we can purchase a get well card to wish them healing and a speedy recovery in cases where surgery has occurred.

When death occurs, we often want to send a sympathy card to the family with the hope of bringing them comfort during their time of loss.

Yes, there are cards for almost everything but did you know we have actually shortened the formal title for these messaging tools. I say this because they are actually known as greeting cards. Maybe you have heard this before.

It’s sad to me that we have seemed to drop the word “greeting” because it is the word that underscores the essence of the card. Look at the definition of the word “greeting” and you will find this:

“a formal expression of goodwill, in a written message”

The “greeting” in greeting cards shows the true intent of the card itself, the intent to express goodwill toward the person or persons the card is sent to. Where the card is the paper the words are printed on, those words, the greeting, is what gives the card its meaning and personality.  

In other words, there is a gift found in a greeting.

A greeting on a card lets a person know that you are thinking about them and we all want to know that we are thought of by others.

A greeting on a card lets a person know that the sender cares and we all want to feel as if others care about us.

A greeting on a card lets a person know they are valued. Just knowing they are thought of and cared for leads to this further feeling of valuation.

And so greetings are really important and as we look at the final verses of Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, we see him gifting the Christians in Philippi with them. Look again at these words:

Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.  Vv. 21-23

First, Paul encourages the Philippian Christians to use the power of greeting when they encounter others who are “God’s people” and to do so “in Christ Jesus”. In other words, the believers in Phillipi were to bless others with greetings grounded in the love and Spirit of Jesus Himself. This would ensure they would always extend the proper greeting to someone else.

Then, we find Paul extending greetings from “all God’s people” in Rome, where he wrote while in prison, and note this included “those who belong to Caesar’s household”. The latter part of his statement shouldn’t get glossed over as it’s obvious that the Gospel had spread into the very dwelling place of the Roman emperor. This could have included family, working staff, or even slaves but nonetheless, it’s obvious the Gospel had made its way inside Caesar’s domain and taken root. This would have served as an additional encouragement for the Christians in Philippi and showed the continuing power of the good news found in the message of salvation through Jesus.

Usually we think of a greeting being at the beginning of a conversation with someone but here we find the greetings at the very end of Paul’s letter. Nonetheless, his words intended to show the Philippian believers that they were thought of, cared for, and valued...and that they were expected to use the gift of greeting themselves in the way they interacted with others.

How will we use this same gift, the gift of greeting, to bless someone today?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com