17As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. 18For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again—but Satan blocked our way. 19For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20Yes, you are our glory and joy! 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 (NRSV)
Paul had plenty of troubles. In the journal account of some of the missionary endeavors in which he participated, you read that he almost drowned in a shipwreck; he was beaten and left for dead, and he faced strong opposition wherever he went. Paul even had trouble seeing enough to read his own handwriting.
An Army chaplain had a sign on his door that read:
If you have troubles, come in and tell me all about them.
If you don’t have troubles, come in and tell me how you do it! [1]
Not many people I know fall into that second group! There are, however, Christians who have more than their share of the load to carry, yet they seem happiest and most willing to help others shoulder their burdens. These folks are the ones who have learned the “Jesus secret” of a lifestyle of loving others. Here’s the way Jesus put it:
39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39 (NRSV)
When you spend all your time on yourself you eventually find out there’s not much of a life in self. When you lose your thoughts, your desires, your rights in the process of helping others in Jesus’ name, you find a life that surpasses all the things you thought you wanted. We will see that as we look at the life of Paul and his relationship to the church folks at Thessalonica. We will see what you can expect when your lifestyle is built on loving others, as you invest yourself in others’ lives by serving them in Jesus’ name.
I. Expect Heartache brought on by Circumstances
17As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face.
Paul had a great love for the folks at Thessalonica. He had personally won many of them to faith in Christ. He had a great desire to see them. Due to some circumstances which are unclear to us, Paul was not able to go there; he missed them intensely. There are times when the circumstances of life throw us a curve; all the things we wanted to do, planned to do, are put on hold; heartache becomes our newest “best friend”.
Mr. Holland's Opus is a movie about a frustrated composer in Portland, Oregon, who takes a job as a high school band teacher in the 1960s. Although diverted from his lifelong goal of achieving critical fame as a classical musician, Glenn Holland (played by Richard Dreyfuss) believes his school job is only temporary.
At first he maintains his determination to write an opus or a concerto by composing at his piano after putting in a full day with his students. But, as family demands increase (including discovery that his infant son is deaf) and the pressures of his job multiply, Mr. Holland recognizes that his dream of leaving a lasting musical legacy is merely a dream.
At the end of the movie we find an aged Mr. Holland fighting in vain to keep his job. The board has decided to reduce the operating budget by cutting the music and drama program. No longer a reluctant band teacher, Mr. Holland believes in what he does and passionately defends the role of the arts in public education. What began as a career detour became a 35-year mission, pouring his heart into the lives of young people. Mr. Holland returns to his classroom to retrieve his belongings a few days after school has let out for summer vacation. He has taught his final class. With regret and sorrow, he fills a box with artifacts that represent the tools of his trade and memories of many meaningful classes. His wife and son arrive to give him a hand.
As they leave the room and walk down the hall, Mr. Holland hears some noise in the auditorium. Because school is out, he opens the door to see what the commotion is. To his amazement he sees a capacity audience of former students and teaching colleagues and a banner that reads "Goodbye, Mr. Holland." Those in attendance greet Mr. Holland with a standing ovation while a band (consisting of past and present members) plays songs they learned at his hand.
His wife, who was in on the surprise reception, approaches the podium and makes small talk until the master of ceremonies, the governor of Oregon, arrives. The governor is none other than a student Mr. Holland helped to believe in herself during his first year of teaching. As she addresses the room of well-wishers, she speaks for the hundreds who fill the auditorium:
"Mr. Holland had a profound influence in my life (on a lot of lives, I know), and yet I get the feeling that he considers a great part of his life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his, and this was going to make him famous and rich (probably both). But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous. At least not outside our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure, but he'd be wrong. Because I think he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame."
Looking at her former teacher the governor gestures with a sweeping hand and continues, "Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each one of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. And we are the music of your life." [2]
Mr. Holland wasn’t the first to throw his life into serving others. For him, it happened accidentally, he was teaching while waiting for his dreams of composing to arrive. For Paul the Apostle it was an intentional decision to serve. Paul was not about to let his heartache take him out of the game. He could not go to Thessalonica to serve and worship with his beloved in person, so he stepped-up his prayers for them, and wrote letters of encouragement to them.
You can expect heartache brought on by circumstances when you serve Jesus Christ – that’s a promise. The principle antidote for heartache is to keep your heart turned towards serving, rather than towards the aching. Many people get overwhelmed with indecision and paralyzing nostalgia as they look backward to better days and brighter skies. Friend, they were never that good nor that bright.
Always living in the past will cause you to miss the present. Besides, when you’re looking back you are much more likely to bump into things! If you want to serve Christ, learn to love others in the “here and now”, that’s the only way ministry takes place.
2. Expect Hindrances brought by the Adversary
18For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again—but Satan blocked our way.
It’s not exactly clear what “hindered” Paul from going to Thessalonica; it is abundantly clear who did it – Satan, the adversary. He uses many tools. In this case it might have been the opposition of the Jews. They were opposed to Paul’s preaching of Christ. It may have been Paul’s health, that “thorn in the flesh”. Whatever the instrument, we can be certain who was instrumental in causing the hindrance. Ever since the Garden of Eden Satan’s greatest foe has always been those who would spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Satan has always known there would come a deliverer from sin and death – he has always hated man and God…
15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NRSV)
The antidote for hindrance as you serve Jesus is to keep fighting and leave the scorekeeping to God. After all, you don’t really know what the score is. The early church was a dismal failure in the eyes of the world. They preached Christ unashamedly, many of them dying for their faith, and the persecution blood of the saints was the seed of the spread of the Gospel. The score on earth may have been Christians “0” and Lions “many”; but it was the other way around in the Throne room above!
The Dark Ages saw a reversal. The church was infiltrated by darkness and evil; a corrupt clergy would not allow the average man to even see a Bible, much less hear the Gospel. The church was prosperous in gold and silver, but devoid of the Spirit. Then came Martin Luther and the Reformation. True Christians were once again guerillas, outlaws of an apostate church, hunted and poor, but preaching the true Gospel.
Today the church is ripe for another “underground takeover”. With apostates creeping into every denomination, the adversary, Satan is at work obscuring the truth of the Gospel. But we can never tell the score by what some poll says, or who is in the White House, or what programs this or that church uses to draw a large crowd. The score is kept in a different set of books that belong to the Lamb. You keep fighting the good fight – leave the score to the Lamb.
3. Expect Hope brought by being close to Jesus Christ
19For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20Yes, you are our glory and joy!
Paul was the original “Little League Dad”. Any time the thought of Jesus’ second coming, and the throne of rewards crossed his mind, he could just picture all the wonderful brothers and sisters of Thessalonica standing before the throne; he could envision them being crowned by King Jesus. Paul breaks into his doxology – “What’s my idea of glory, a crown? Hey, beloved, it’s YOU! YOU’RE my crown!” Talk about a cheerleader!
Paul understood that souls won to faith in Jesus, and service to Jesus will be the centerpiece of the judgment seat. Now, to make the distinction, remember that there are two judgment seats. One – the Great White Throne is like the Great White Shark – you don’t want to be there. That is the place where God will reject those who have rejected His son, Jesus.
Number Two – is the Bema seat, the judgment seat of rewards, where Jesus will hand out crowns of victory for all those who are faithful to Him. Souls won; faith in Christ, service to Christ – these are the measuring sticks of worth in the Kingdom of God. As such, they are my priorities as a Pastor, charged with the responsibility of helping to equip you to navigate and serve in the Kingdom.
Faith is an internal thing – it has to do with your trust level with Jesus. Service is an external thing – it is driven by your internal faith, but finds its way into the everyday of life, touching others. And so, my priorities are to teach and preach the Word of God so your faith develops around internal allegiance to the King – as well as to organize to serve others, to teach us that we are to serve, not be served. Faith and works; trust and serve!
My crown as Pastor would be to see any faithfulness I exhibit in preaching and leading, grow in you to the point when, on judgment day there are crowns all over your heads for loving Jesus, and loving others in His name by serving them and bringing them to faith and service.
• Do you have any heartache brought on by the conditions of serving? Keep serving!
• Do you have any hindrances brought on by the adversary?
Keep your eyes on Jesus; not on the problems.
• Do you want hope growing in you because of your closeness to Jesus? It is already growing, just because you’ve turned in his direction!
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ENDNOTES
1] Rich Young, Handles for the Hard Times, SermonCentral.com
2] Mr. Holland's Opus, (Hollywood Pictures, 1995), rated PG, written by Patrick Sheane Duncan, directed by Stephen Herek; submitted by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois
