15 You Philippians know from the time of my first mission work in Macedonia how no church shared in supporting my ministry except you. 16 You sent contributions repeatedly to take care of my needs even while I was in Thessalonica. 17 I’m not hoping for a gift, but I am hoping for a profit that accumulates in your account.
Reflection
You know how they say that one small person can make one really big difference? I’m hoping you can think of a time in your life when that was really true: whether it was something you did that yielded huge results, or something seemingly small that someone did for you that had a huge impact. Either way, in today’s continued look at the last chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he is thanking them for their support of him in his ministry. Even when Paul was ministering to others, like the people of Thessalonica, and not the Philippians themselves, they continued to support his work because they believed in what he was doing.
Notice his closing line in this pericope, “I’m not hoping for a gift, but I am hoping for a profit that accumulates in your account.” He’s not asking them for further finances, though they possibly will continue to support him, what he’s hoping for here is that their generosity becomes contagious, that wealth is spread, that others who are positively impacted by his ministry will say, “yeah, I want to support that too!”
That’s one of the beautiful parts of a community: alone perhaps we can’t make a big impact, but we can inspire and influence others to join and together we can make a huge impact.
By Rachel Callender
For Pondering & Prayer
What’s something seemingly small that you can offer someone today? Maybe you won’t see the lasting impact of it, but we can have faith that the goodness we offer others can build on one another.
Prayer: Generous God, your blessings are overwhelmingly abundant. Your Spirit provides for us even when we don’t deserve it. Work through us, Lord, so that others may experience your goodness through our kindness. Amen.
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