Three Things that Are Always Appropriate

Reading:  1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
    
    Paul gives three short instructions that express “the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”:  “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances”(1 Thess 5:16-18).  His language is striking because it is so sweeping:  always, without ceasing, in all circumstances.  As the Thessalonians prepare for the ups and downs of life, these are three spiritual activities that they need to continue.  We rejoice because we remember that we are the recipients of tremendous spiritual blessings.  We pray because we long to speak to God, praise him, thank him, and ask his help with whatever we are facing.  We give thanks because even when things are unpleasant, there is so much good in our lives.

    He also wants the Thessalonians to think rightly about new information that purports to come from God.  “Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil”(1 Thess 5:19-22).  There is a danger that we will refuse to hear messages that challenge and convict us, quenching the Spirit and despising God’s words.  Likewise there is a danger that we will believe every message to the point of absurdity (see 1 John 4:1).  Paul’s solution is to “test everything; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil”(1 Thess 5:21-22).  We compare every message to God’s revealed word.  If it syncs up and agrees with what has been revealed, we accept it; otherwise, we abstain from it.  In this way, Christians are both open-minded (ready to hear messages from God) and closed-minded (ready to reject whatever is not from him).  

    Rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving are three things that are always appropriate.  The Thessalonians have suffered persecution and rejection, yet there is still a place to rejoice, pray, and give thanks.  More than occasional acts, these become disciplines that characterize us and buoy us through whatever circumstances we encounter. 

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One Thing to Think About:   In what circumstances do I find it hard to rejoice, pray, or give thanks?  Why?

One Thing to Pray For:  The discernment to test everything I hear—but only accept what is from God
 

The Wisdom of Different Approaches

Reading:  1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
    
    Paul begins to wrap up the letter by giving some instructions about the local church.  He wants the Thessalonians to “respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work”(1 Thess 5:12-13).  Who these men are is not specified, but they appear to be leaders within the church who have a teaching role.  This suggests elders.  Paul wants them not only to follow their leading, but to appreciate and love them because of the work they do to help the church grow.

    Then he looks more broadly at the church.  “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all”(1 Thess 5:14).  There are three different groups described here and each requires a different approach.  The “idle”(or “unruly”) require strong rebuke and instruction.  The “fainthearted” (those who are tired, doubting, or anxious) need to be helped and comforted.  The “weak” (those who are spiritually immature or physically needy) need our aid and support.  Everyone needs patience.  These approaches are all applications of a broader effort that “(seeks) to do good to one another and to everyone”(1 Thess 5:15).

    There is wisdom in having different approaches depending on the kind of person we are dealing with.  We must be able to discern when someone is defiant and when they are merely weak or discouraged.  Sometimes people need stern challenge and at other times they need an arm over their shoulder.  Everyone needs patience.  

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One Thing to Think About:   How can I tell the difference between someone who is unruly, fainthearted, or weak?

One Thing to Pray For:  Wisdom to know what to say to my brothers and sisters—and when to say it
 

The Sober Life

Reading:  1 Thessalonians 5:7-11
    
    As we wait for Jesus’ return, Christians run the risk of losing sight of the goal and being caught unprepared.  “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep away and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.  But since we belong to the day, let us be sober”(1 Thess 5:6-8).  In Paul’s analogy, those who thrive in the nighttime are those who seek to be inactive (“sleep”) or wicked (“drunk”).  They seek the cover of darkness to cloak their choices.  Jesus’ disciples have no need to hide their deeds; “we belong to the day.”  We do not have to be embarrassed anymore.  Now our aim is to live the sober life.

    Paul elaborates on the sober life.  “Let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation”(1 Thess 5:8).  We focus on what we believe, not what we would like or what we can get away with.  We live from a heart of love rather than selfish ambition.  These motivations are like a breastplate that protects us from inaction or temptation.  Meanwhile we cling earnestly to “the hope of salvation,” reminding ourselves continually that we are still waiting for the culmination of our hope.  Faith, love, and hope make us into different kinds of people and keep our eyes ahead.  We live seriously, determinedly, wisely, and passionately.  This is the sober life.  “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing”(1 Thess 5:11).

    Sobriety is not restricted to alcohol.  It does not mean that we are joyless party ruiners.  Paul wants us to be a people who take serious things seriously and structure our lives around our most important decisions, promises, and beliefs.  

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One Thing to Think About:   Would others consider me a sober person?

One Thing to Pray For:  The desire to “encourage one another and build one another up”
 

Like a Thief in the Night

Reading:  1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
    
    Paul has discussed how the righteous will be raised when Jesus returns and now addresses “the times and the seasons” when that will happen (1 Thess 5:1).  Again, he sees no need to write about when (as in 4:9) because they already know that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”(1 Thess 5:2).  This alludes back to Jesus’ own words (Matt 24:3) and stresses the unexpected nature of his return.  We don’t schedule thieves.  “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape”(1 Thess 5:3).  Convinced all is well—and that no judgment is coming on the world—they are completely unprepared.  They will find that their peace and safety is an illusion.

    Christians are not so.  “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief”(1 Thess 5:4).  We are well aware that Jesus will return to judge the world and deliver his people.  We simply don’t know when.  The challenge is to live in a state of constant preparation—the way we might if we knew a thief was coming—so that the day does not “surprise” us.  “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober”(1 Thess 5:6).  We hold faithful vigil, waiting for our master.

    The picture of the “thief in the night” reminds us that we can never predict the return of Jesus; millennia of failed predictions only reinforce the point.  Paul does not want us to guess, but to prepare.  Meanwhile, the danger remains that we will feel that the “peace and security” of the present moment lulls us to sleep.  We might lose the urgency of preparation and perhaps even forget that judgment is coming.   Paul urges us to “keep awake and be sober.”  And so we hold faithful vigil, waiting for our master.

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One Thing to Think About:   What does “peace and security” look like in our time?

One Thing to Pray For:  The endurance to continue soberly waiting
 

Hope Despite Death

Reading:  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
    
    As Christians wait for Jesus to return, how do we grapple with the fact that we continue to die just as we did before Jesus came?  Do the dead just not get to participate in his return?  The Thessalonians appear to have special concern that they are forever separated from their dead brothers and sisters.  “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep”(1 Thess 4:13-14).  Christians grieve, but they do not grieve like those “who have no hope.”  We are confident because of Jesus’ resurrection that our physical death is not the end of us.

    To reassure them, Paul gives some details about how Jesus’ return will play out.  “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first”(1 Thess 4:15-16).  The focus here is on what happens to those who have already “fallen asleep.”  The living will not go to be with Jesus before them or apart from them.  Jesus will return with great fanfare (cry, archangel’s voice, trumpet) and the dead will be raised.  “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord”(1 Thess 4:17).  While death temporarily separates us from our Christian brothers and sisters, we will go to be with Jesus “together.”  Death is not the end of us, nor is it the end of Christian fellowship.

    Jesus’ resurrection is the key to our hope in the face of death (1 Thess 4:14).  If he is raised, he can raise us as well.  He will return and there will be resurrection, followed by eternal fellowship with him.  This hope makes us grieve differently, because all funerals become temporary partings.  It makes us live differently, because all hardship becomes temporary difficulty.  It makes us encourage one another differently, because God’s last word will be a blessing for us.

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One Thing to Think About:  What will I feel when Jesus returns?

One Thing to Pray For:  The willingness to encourage my brethren—especially the grieving