Alba 2-18-2024
LIVING WELL WHILE WAITING
I Thessalonians 5:12-22
A man named Ed Watt was visiting a local department store with his wife. And they had just purchased a piece of luggage and a cooler. As Ed browsed in the shoe department waiting for his wife to finish the rest of her shopping, a clerk asked if he could be of assistance.
“No, thank you," Ed replied. “I’m just waiting for my wife."
At that point, a man behind him said, "I’m waiting for my wife, too, but I never thought to bring lunch and an overnight bag."
Waiting for something that you know is going to happen, but you don't know just when, can be a difficult period in your life. So what do you do? Twiddle your thumbs? Do you not start to do something, afraid that there won't be enough time to finish it? It can be a quandary.
That was the problem for some in the church in Thessalonica. They were new Christians who were taught the gospel. They learned that Jesus had died on the cross to take the penalty for their sins. That He rose from the dead, and then ascended into heaven. And that He has promised to come back again!
But they didn't know when! They were a little bit like the man with a suitcase. They were packed up and ready to go. So they sat around waiting for Jesus to return.
The apostle Paul writes his first letter to them to correct their mistaken ideas, and to tell them that there are things the Lord wants us to be doing while they wait. So as he closes his letter he gives them a list of what they need to do so that they will be living well while waiting.
We find it here in I Thessalonians 5:12-22. Let's read:
“12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”
That is a list of things to do that I think would keep them busy. But it is not just for them, it is for us as well. We also look forward to the return of Jesus for His own. But while we wait, we are to be actively living out the Christian life.
There are some words in these verses that stand out to me. It is that we should be at peace, be patient and be in prayer. Peace, patience and prayer. If we do just these things it will keep us busy being what we need to be as representatives of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to those who need Jesus.
1. Be at Peace (vs. 13). This command is in the context of our fellowship with one another and with those in spiritual leadership positions. A church that has problems in this area will not give a good or proper presentation of Christianity to a lost world. If there is constant squabbling and contention between members of the church and the leadership, such a church will not accomplish the goals God has for it.
Too many church members go home from their Sunday morning meeting and have “roast preacher” for dinner. I hate to admit it, but that happened at times in my home as I was growing up. So one might think it is surprising that from age eleven it was my plan to go into ministry.
Personally, I think it prepared me for some of the ups and downs of ministry. Overall, I am thankful that my years of serving churches has been blessed with many good things. But that kind of talk in a home could be at least one reason why children of church members eventually leave the church when they are on their own. Because why would the kids listen to the preacher preaching God’s Word when all they heard from their parents was criticism and cynicism about him every Sunday.
There are two temptations people have with leadership in the church. A person can be elevated above his status. And equally a leader can be shot down below his position. As Christians we are called to respect and esteem the leadership as laborers in the kingdom of God. The result of this will be peace, and not tension in the church.
2. Be Patient (vs. 14). This is something that the church is exhorted to do. To exhort means to strongly encourage or urge someone to do something. Back in verse 12 where it speaks of holding leadership in highest regard, in some translations it has the church simply being “asked” to do it.
In other words, now the pressure is on. Better do well with these things! We can't just sit around while we wait for Jesus to come. We are told to take care of some things, to take care of some people. Even some people that may not be that easy to deal with. We are to care for unruly people, fainthearted and weak people. And do it patiently.
A. The unruly people are described in other translations as lazy, idle and disruptive. It is not easy to get along with people like that. This attitude shows a lack of discipline in the life of the believer.
A Lutheran minister, Joel Pankow, told about visiting a member of his church who was a shut-in. He says: “This may sound bad, but I couldn’t stand visiting this guy.
He had been in a nursing home for years. He had all kind of health problems. That’s not what bothered me. It was this guy’s attitude. He was one of the crabbiest men I ever knew. Every time I went to visit him he had a terrible attitude. I’d knock on the door, and he’d yell out, 'What do you want!'
“As hard as I tried, I did not enjoy visiting with this man. He was cranky with me and with everyone else. I tried to put myself in his shoes and understand his attitude, but I could not, and I still cannot understand being that angry and disgusted with life.” But still, he did make continuing visits. He was exercising patience. But it says that this is an area where we as Christians are to admonish, to warn, each other so that we can we live well.
B. The fainthearted are those who are timid or disheartened or afraid. These people do not need warning but encouragement and comforting. They do not need correction, they need to be built up. And that is what Paul has been doing in this letter.
We are to be their means of support. Not so that they become dependent on us, but it is being the accountable friend. We are to be like the person who walks beside us in life and encourages us when the going gets tough or when we feel afraid. But this also takes patience.
C. The weak are those who struggle, perhaps in areas of faith and obedience, or perhaps with limited understanding of Scripture. We are called to help them to be strong.
We are not to let the weak fall. We need to hold them up. Romans 14:1 says we are to, “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.” In other words, be patient with that person, help them, but don't get mixed up in their areas of weakness.
Being patient with each other can be difficult. But I read where one minister had shared with a friend how in his long ministry he had noticed that some of the biggest rascals in his Bible classes turned out to be missionaries and ministers later. Be patient. Isn't that what it comes down to?
Scripture tells us that God is patient with us and Romans 15:5 offers this prayer: “The God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus.” If we allow that kind of patience to be true in our lives, we will not render evil for evil. But we will pursue what is good for everyone.
3. Be in Prayer. As we wait for Jesus' return, we have many things about which to pray. In fact we are told to “pray without ceasing.” So how do we do that? Must we have our heads bowed in prayer continually, with eyes closed? I don't recommend that as you go home today.
And while bowing your head and closing your eyes is an appropriate way to focus your thoughts in prayer, it is not the only way to pray. It is possible to have an attitude of prayer as you go about the common everyday things of life.
Prayer is an ongoing conversation with God. We can be in a constant prayerful state when we have a realization of God’s presence in all that we do. We often can have times of longer dedicated prayers as we speak to God. But other times, a quick “Help me, Lord” gets us through some difficult issues. Prayer can be as much a part of our daily lives as breathing is.
Jesus is our best example of one who prays. He spent hours in prayer, often going by Himself to spend time alone with the Father. He prayed before performing the miracle of feeding the five thousand (Luke 9:16). He prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:32). He spent hours in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was taken and crucified (Luke 22:41).
If we think we face difficulties while waiting for the Second Coming, they are nothing compared to what Jesus suffered for us so that our sins could be forgiven, and so that we can go to heaven dressed in His righteousness. Still we should pray.
When we pray, our prayers should be preceded by a sense of rejoicing that we are in the presence of the Lord. But is verse 16 that says “rejoice always” telling us, or demanding, that we be happy always, live on our knees and act like a group of pollyannas (excessively and irrationally cheerful) and if you don’t, you’re not a “real” Christian?
No. Our prayers should be built on the joy of knowing we can depend upon God, realizing the hope His presence within us offers, and determine to obey Him fully. As a result of this obedience, it becomes natural to pray all the time. Praying and waiting humbles us before God as well as teaching us to rely on His will over our own.
So if someone, who one person described as a “wacked out” Christian, tells you to be cheerful and give thanks on the worst day of your life, remind them that you already have and you look forward to the moment when God either miraculously intervenes, or uses this experience to bring about an outcome we cannot fathom. Prayer is often how obstacles that stand in the way of our joy are removed.
But no matter what happens, when praying, we can be and should be thankful. Verse 18 says “in everything give thanks.” Yet we know that not everything is positive in our lives. So how can we give thanks for problems and difficulties?
Well lets imagine that, simply because you are a Christian, you are arrested, beaten and thrown into a prison where your feet are locked in irons. What would your reaction be? “Let me out of here!” “This isn't fair!” “Let me call my lawyer!”
Well Paul and Silas had that exact experience as told in Acts chapter 16. But they did not let circumstances defeat them. They had such a trust in God's faithfulness that they could pray and sing while in that filthy prison. I would say those were pretty bad circumstances. But it was all for the good. We are told what happened a few verses later. An earthquake opened the prison doors and loosed all the prisoner’s chains.
Paul could have escaped, but he had other things to do. Most importantly, he led the jailer and his entire household to faith in Jesus Christ. And that man and his family were baptized that very night.
It is true that sometimes we have to look and pray really hard to find the reason for being thankful. But we are called to be thankful. Focusing on being thankful will help keep us from feeling sorry for ourselves when things are tough. Giving thanks also keeps us grounded in the good times.
Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The final things in this section of scripture remind us that as we wait for Jesus to come again there are a few more commands that we should follow. We are not to quench the Spirit. In other words, don't let the fire go out.
We quench the Spirit when we refuse to listen to the Spirit's prompting in our lives. There are ways that can extinguish the work of the Holy Spirit. It may be by immorality, or a hardness of heart, or simple carelessness. It certainly means living a life contrary to that which God wants for us.
But God's Word will keep us on track if we “do not despise prophecies.” As we wait for the Second Coming of Christ, God wants us to be sure that we continually receive a steady diet of what His Word says, so that we grow in faith. When we stay in the pure Word of God and avoid every kind of evil, the devil won’t be able to take the joy from our hearts.
God certainly has given us enough to do in the commands in these verses we have looked at today. Doing these things will keep us busy for the rest of our lives.
And doing these things, we will be living well while waiting for Jesus' return.
CLOSE:
There is a story of a young man who during the Great Depression needs to find work. His chosen profession is to be a telegraph operator. He answered an ad in the newspaper and goes to the telegraph office for an interview. He knows Morse Code and is highly qualified, but the large, noisy office is crowded with other applicants.
Customers come and go and the noise of a telegraph clacks away in the background. A sign on the receptionist's counter instructs applicants to fill out a form and wait to be summoned for an interview. The young man does so and then sits down to wait.
With a growing look of confidence, he stands up, crosses the room to the inner office and walks right in. Naturally the other applicants perk up, amazed at his boldness. They talk among themselves and finally decide that the man will likely be reprimanded for not following instructions and be disqualified for the job.
Within a few minutes, however, the young man emerges from the inner office escorted by an official, who announces to the other applicants, “Thank you all very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
They are all confused and one man speaks up: “Wait a minute – I don’t understand. We have been waiting longer than he and we never even got a chance to be interviewed.”
The employer responds, “All the time you've been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message: ‘If you understand this, then come right in. The job is yours.’”
There is a great spiritual lesson in this story. While we wait for the Lord's return, we need to be attentive to those things that will prepare us for His coming.
