Bible Talks - Traditional Church (Sunday 8am)
Christian Hope
Sunday, 29 October 2006
This morning in our examination of the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the fledgling church at Thessalonica, we turn first to that subject that has vexed most Christians from the time Jesus ascended to heaven. When will he return and what will be the manner of his returning? In Acts 1:6-11 we read, “When Jesus and his disciples met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
In that passage that was read to us from 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul addresses two aspects of Jesus’ return:
1. The status of those Christians who die before Jesus returns.
2. When will Jesus return.
For starters the Thessalonian Christians had no doubts that Jesus would return. Paul refers to Jesus’ return as the parousia which in normal Greek usage means the coming or the presence or even the visit. This letter is the first record we have of parousia being used to refer to the second coming of Jesus. But the Thessalonians had a problem. Even though it was only a few months, definitely less than a year, since Paul had been with them and first told them about Jesus, some of their number had already died. Paul had told them that they would all see the parousia but how could this be? And of course for those still alive, what if they died before Jesus returned, would they see the parousia ?
Paul reassures them that Christians are fundamentally different from all other people because all other people have no hope - no hope of the resurrection to eternal life - but Christians will rise again with Christ. At the command of Jesus, at the voice of the Archangel, at the sound of the trumpet, those who have died in Christ will rise and after them those who are still alive will join them to meet Jesus in the clouds and be with him forever.
The hope of the resurrection to be with Christ for eternity is for both those who have died in Christ before the parousia and for those who are still alive in Christ at the parousia. The resurrection to eternal life is for Christians only and we are told to encourage each other with these words. The Bible is quite adamant that you and I, brothers and sisters who are in Christ will one day rise to be with the Lord for ever. But there will be many, including many whom we love, who will be left behind because they are not in Christ.
Do you love someone? Then tell them about Jesus and, that unless they have faith in him they will be left behind to the awfulness of eternity without him. As awful as it may seem, God is warning us through his word that that is how it is going to be. The motive for spreading the Gospel is love. You want what is best for those you love, don’t you. Then tell them about Jesus for the very best there is is eternal life with Jesus and the alternative is too awful to contemplate. If you have eternal life you’ll want it for your loved ones, your family, your relatives, your friends.
Next Paul says, 1 Th 5:1-3 “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” The return of Christ will be totally unexpected or better totally unpredictable but it is totally certain that it will come. Jesus himself said that not even he knows when it will be. Only God the Father knows when.
I mentioned last time a lady some years ago who was involved with one of the more way out Christian groups. They were absolutely convinced that Jesus would return on the 9th of October that year and that they should sell everything and turn it into cash so they’d be ready on the day. What they intended to do with all that cash wasn’t explained but many sold their businesses and their homes. And of course Jesus didn’t come then and there was a lot of distress as you can imagine.
Back in the 1930’s, which was before even I was born, there was a guy who claimed that Jesus was going to return and come walking on the water through Sydney Heads on a particular day. He had a grandstand built at Balmoral Beach and thousands of people paid good money for a seat to be there when Jesus arrived. I don’t know what the outcome was except that Jesus didn’t come then either.
Every few years you find someone starts predicting Jesus’ imminent return, but he doesn’t.
Jesus’ return is fully expected, it’s definitely going to happen, but just as definitely we don’t know when. Paul warns the Thessalonians and us to concentrate on the fact that Jesus is going to return and to be prepared. Don’t be caught out and unready. Jesus told a parable about the foolish bridesmaids who weren’t ready when the bridegroom arrived. Paul uses the illustration of a pregnant woman’s labour pains. They’re definitely going to come but you don’t know exactly when.
Paul warns that many people will think everything’s OK, that they don’t have to worry until later in their life. They’re at peace with the world, they’ve got it made then suddenly out of the blue, to them at least, the Day of the Lord will come and they’ll be facing judgement.
Jesus told the story of the farmer who, having a bumper crop one year, built bigger and better barns to hold it all then sat down on his verandah and thought he had it all. Jesus said “You fool! Don’t you realize your life is required of you tonight.”
Jesus wasn’t condemning prudence and sound business sense but the attitude that success in this life is all that matters.
A popular saying is that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. The bible points out that the only really sure things are the return of Christ and judgement. Judgement is coming either when we die or when the Lord returns. And we don’t know when either of these are coming so we’d better be ready.
Paul says, 1 Th 5:4 “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.” We are children of the light and of the day. Because of our faith in Jesus we are ready and prepared. We are not worried about what the future holds because we have made the best preparation possible. We are protected by faith and love and the hope of salvation.
Are you ready for the parousia, the return of Jesus or without being morbid, your own death? Will either of these events catch you unprepared and unready. Or are you standing firm in your faith in Jesus, sure of the fact that “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”
Next we turn to the closing paragraphs of this letter and see that the Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians How to be a gospel church.
Paul has always cherished high ideals for the Christian church. At the beginning of this letter he calls it a community loved and chosen by God, drawing its life from him, and manifesting this divine life in the basic Christian graces of faith, love and hope. Such a community can justly be called a 'gospel church', both because it has been brought into being by the gospel and because it is continuously shaped by the gospel.
One New Testament picture of a gospel church portrays it as the family of God, whose members recognize and treat one another as sisters and brothers. This seems to be the key concept in this second half of 1 Thessalonians 5, since the word 'brothers' (which incidently includes 'sisters', occurs five times. It bears witness to the truth that if through Christ, God is our Father, then our fellow believers are our sisters and brothers. We not only belong to the day of the Lord we also belong to the family of the Lord.
This fact of our mutual relationships profoundly affects our mutual behaviour. Paul has already urged the Thessalonians to 'love one another' with philadelphia -- which has nothing to do with cream cheese -- but means 'brotherly love'. He has urged them to 'comfort one another', to 'encourage one another and build each other up' and he now develops further this idea of the one anotherness' of the members of the church.
He takes up three essential aspects of the life of the local church, all of which are items of contemporary debate or concern, and gives apostolic instruction about them:
First, he addresses himself to the leadership or pastorate and tells us how pastors and people, 'clergy' and 'laity', should regard and relate to each other.
Secondly, he writes about the fellowship of the local church and about the responsibilities of church members to care for each other. And thirdly, he comes to the church's public worship, what should be included in it, and in particular how the Word of God evokes the worship of God.
So making brief observations on each of these three items.
1. The pastorate 5:12-13
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. "Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
Historically speaking, the church of Jesus Christ has oscillated unsteadily between the equally unbiblical extremes of 'clericalism' and 'anti-clericalism'. Clericalism is a situation in which the clergy keep the reins of power in their own hands, monopolize all pastoral leadership and ministry, and, having been put on a pedestal, receive an exaggerated deference, while the so-called 'laity' are well and truly sat upon. Then able men and women are allowed no space in which to develop their God-given gifts or exercise them in appropriate ministries. On the contrary, the only contributions from them which are welcomed are their presence on Sundays to occupy otherwise empty pews, some administrative and practical assistance, and of coursetheir cash in the offertory each week.
At the opposite extreme is the over-reaction called anti-clericalism. This sometimes grows out of Paul's model of 'the body of Christ', in which every member of the local church, like every member of the human body, has a particular and distinctive function. Some Christians overpress the analogy, however, and deduce from it that clergy in any shape or form are redundant. 'The church is better off without them', they cry; 'let's found a Society for the Abolition of the Clergy!' But this extreme position overlooks the fact that, according to the New Testament, the Chief Shepherd delegates to under-shepherds or 'pastors' the privileged oversight of the flock which he has purchased with his own blood.
Paul taught that it is God's will that every local church should enjoy pastoral oversight, but not his will that pastors should dominate and organize everything. They are not meant to monopolize ministries, but rather to multiply them. Paul uses three expressions in verse 12 to describe local church leaders:
First, Christian leaders are those who work hard among you. Secondly, Christian leaders are those who are over you in the Lord. Thirdly, Christian leaders are those who admonish you.
Now what attitude should the local congregation adopt towards its pastors? Paul says that they are neither to despise them, as if they were dispensable, nor to flatter or fawn on them as if they were popes or princes, but rather to respect them, and to hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. This combination of appreciation and affection will enable pastors and people to live in peace with each other.
2. The fellowship 5:14-15
we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Paul urges the people themselves, not just the pastors, to give pastoral care to specially needy people in the congregation, and indeed to each other. The existence of pastors does not relieve members of the congregation of their responsibilities to care for one another.
As we mentioned last week they must warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, and help the weak. One might say that the idle, the anxious and the weak were the 'problem children' of the church family, plagued respectively with problems of understanding, faith and conduct. Every church has members of this kind. We have no excuse for becoming impatient with them on the ground that they are difficult, demanding, disappointing, argumentative or rude. On the contrary, we are to be patient with all of them. of course we don’t fit into any of those categories, only other people.
3. The worship 5:16-22
Be joyful always; "pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.... Then verse 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to att the brothers.”
Ralph Martin one of the great New Testament scholars considers that these short, sharp commands read like 'the "headings" of a Church service'. Public worship is a vital part of the life of the local church. It is even essential to its identity. Yet in the interests of 'spontaneity' worship services often lack both content and form, and so become slovenly, mindless, irreverent or dull. Most churches could afford to give more time and trouble to the preparation of their worship. It is a mistake to imagine either that freedom and form exclude one another, or that the Holy Spirit is the friend of freedom in such a way as to be the enemy of form. This is demonstrated both by the early church's use of the Psalms, and by the many fragments of Christian hymns, psalms, creeds and confessions which are imbedded in the New Testament itself.
The apostle Paul issues four instructions with regard to public worship, which lay down four of its essential ingredients.
a. Rejoice always!
b. Pray continually!
c.Give thanks in all circumstances!
We may not always feel like praising, praying or giving God thanks. Our circumstances may not be conducive to these things. Yet we are to do so all the same. Why? Because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
The prophet Habakkuk wrote:
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Christian maturity is being able to praise the Lord in every circumstance of life. Whenever God's people meet together for worship, and whatever their feelings and circumstances may be, there should be rejoicing in him, praying to him and giving him thanks for his mercies.
There are other points that I could draw out from these last few verses in this letter but I think I should end now. We will be looking at 2 Thessalonians after I get back from holidays.
AMEN.