 |
||
 |
 |
 |
   |
||
 |
||
Sunday Sermon
Lake Grove Presbyterian Church - All rights reserved
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Sunday Sermon |
|
||||||||||||
 |
To download the text and/or audio file for this week's sermon, please go to the "Sermon Archive" page and follow the instructions you'll find there. For a study guide to prepare for next week's sermon, please click HERE Standing Firm in the Lord Paul’s First Letter, Part 3 I Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 January 21, 2007 Pastor Libby Boatwright
I Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 (Today’s New International Version) But brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person but not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you — certainly I, Paul, did again and again, but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain. But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. This is the word of the Lord! Competing in the Race I spend at least three days a week in a gym; not by choice but because I have to keep my physical body in shape. I go to a place where there are lots of really buff body types who stare at large portraits of Lance Armstrong that hang overhead staring down at them looking like “You’d better do this or I’m coming to get yah!” Like he could make me look like him! How did he know about that bag of cheetos! But what it reminds me of is that we are all in some kind of race; a race to stay ahead, a race to be fit, a race to stay alive in a competitive world. And sometimes we feel like the object of ridicule, an outsider, as if we don’t belong, or have been abandoned. Paul had these same feelings for he declared that he was like a child who had lost his parents, a forced and unnatural situation. He is, after numerous attempts, unable to go to Thessalonica because of the evil people and circumstances that blocked his way; actually drove him out of town. The word in Greek is (enekophen) 1, which means to break up a road to render it impassable (something like Highway 26 on a bad snow day), or in an athletic sense, like someone cutting in on someone during a race. We heard last week from Bob about the lies and smear campaign comparing Paul to the charlatans of his day. But Paul was a person of integrity and truth. He was able to battle those lies with his transparency and honesty, coaching his new converts, being authentic by giving away his heart and loving these vulnerable baby Christians with immense compassion and encouragement. To Paul, these new believers were his precious children and represented his hope, his joy, and his very crown before the Second Advent when Christ comes in his glory to take his family home to heaven. Who in your life represents this kind of joy? Who have you coached or defended? Is it your children, students, mentorees, co-workers, or trainees? For me, along with my own son who worked his way through a tough time of divorce, it’s those single parents and their kids who survived hardships, the ridicule and criticism and recalibrated their lives, got back in the race and never gave up. They’re ones who give all the glory to God. Paul Sends His Best And so when the separation becomes too much for Paul, he makes a plan to send one of his personal team, Timothy, a brother and co-worker in God’s service with credentials equal to Paul’s, sending his very best. And Timothy was a perfect candidate for the job. The son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father, 2 his cultural background was representative of the struggle going on in Thessalonica; of the Jews who were fighting back for their power in the synagogue and the new gentile believers who longed to know fresh faith. Paul could not afford to go back for fear of both the continuing anger and resentment and fear of death, and because he was already in Athens encouraging new churches. Timothy was sent to strengthen, to pour courage into them for the continuing battles, to hear of their faith, of their growing community of caring for one another and bring back that news to Paul. How easy it would have been for these new believers to succumb to the mounting criticism and persecution, as Paul had faced. Timothy was Paul’s hope to keep the church from falling apart under pressure. We hear stories all the time of churches that struggle to survive with poor leadership, financial or internal setbacks and changes in personnel, with moral lapses, and lack of vision. Weary from outside criticism, they implode from the inside from warring factions that eventually take down the church. Timothy was not about to let this happen. He would be their coach and cheerleader, their trainer. When the Thessalonians were beginning to feel weak in the knees, Timothy arrived to mend their hearts. We try to do this same thing here at church. When people are young in their faith, it’s inevitable that they are going to feel some opposition or imbalance; perhaps their family won’t accept it, their job starts to feel uneasy, there’s a relationship that’s failing, a medical challenge. And these new Christians need someone or ones to come alongside; a mentor or discipler, a small group leader, prayer partner, a retreat to strengthen their faith. And the word that Timothy brought back was good news. 3 The longing from both parties is mutual and there are pleasant memories of Paul’s visit— a welcome consolation for the distress and persecution they were suffering and a complete reversal of their history. First, Paul was the equipper and teacher, now they would be his encouragers. He could endure the trials of this life because others remembered him; he could finally live again, because his life has been inextricably bound up with theirs 4 and the Thessalonians are standing firm, steadfast in the Lord. Paul cannot say enough of what this resilience meant, for it brings him joy and he prays night and day so that he is able to come again and be their teacher, supply what is lacking - the gaps in their faith. Paul sees their next visit as an opportunity to put all the pieces together to make them complete, like restoring a fishing net, or setting a bone in place, as the Greek implies 5— to make them mature Christians. A Prayer of Blessing So Paul finishes this section of the chapter with a benediction said in the form of a prayer, a three part blessing. God and Jesus will clear a way and patch up that road that Satan has torn down in previous times; they will love each other just as his love for them; and their hearts will be strengthened for the battle ahead. They are no longer orphans; Paul is drawing up the adoption papers, calling us to be part of God’s own team, inheritors of the kingdom. Emmanuel’s Gift About a year ago, a documentary film, Emmanuel’s Gift, depicted how one man could be a blessing to many who felt they’d been kicked off the team forever. 6 Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah from Ghana, West Africa, was destined to be shoved out of the race of life. Born with a severe disability, with the use of only one leg, he was considered in his culture a curse, a punishment, and normally would have been left to die in a field. His father abandoned the family a few days after he was born. His mother, who was ill most of the time, did all she could to support the family of ten in a large compound in his humble village, and Emmanuel shined shoes for $1.00 a day to support his family. Convinced he would have to leave for the big city and earn more money to pay for his mother’s medicines, this brave 13 year old walked the hundreds of miles it took on one leg and crutches to find better work at $2.00 a day and sent all the money he could back to his family. While he was gone, his mother passed away, with a blessing on her lips for her son who had given up so much. She prayed that he would never have to beg and would stay focused on the things he could accomplish; that he had wonderful gifts and was special. Now an orphan, and head of his household, Emmanuel was convinced that he needed to make the plight of the disabled known in Ghana, a country where 1 out of every 10 people is a beggar because of disabilities. And so he begins to set goals and raise money for the impossible; a 600 KM bicycle race across the entire country of Ghana, on one leg, in order to change his country’s negative perception of the disabled. He writes a letter to the Challenged Athletes Foundation asking for a mountain bike, and goes before tribal chiefs and ministers of the government to find support; he makes speeches in community centers and before faith leaders. And when all his support is found, and he’s learned to ride the bike, he begins his journey. His courage attracts the attention of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and he’s flown to America to race in a special competition. Most miraculous of all, Loma Linda Medical Center examines him and finds him fit for prosthesis; he receives medical care and new leg without charge, with his family praying thousands of miles away. He returns home to Ghana a hero, forgiving his father who returns to his village, declaring that his mission is to bring people together and not tear them apart, and building 100’s of wheel chairs out of kits and white plastic lawn chairs. But he’s not finished yet. After his story is made known to more corporations, Nike honors him with the Casey Martin Award for most inspirational athlete, with $25,000 award, that’s matched with another $25,000 from the Challenged Athletes. He meets with the committees from both foundations and decides that he will provide scholarships for disabled children to go to school, wheelchairs for athletic teams he will form, additional monies for medical assistance, and he begins a campaign for new legislation for employment programs for disabled. Kofi Annan, also of Ghana, meets with him at the United Nations; Robin Williams honors him with Most Inspirational Athlete at the San Diego Triathlon. Finally his fervor and encouragement finds its way to the King of Kibi, who invites him and hundreds of people who are disabled to the palace — the first time in the country’s history a monarch has honored the disabled in such a way. They award the children with their scholarships, and the athletes with their special wheelchairs who are chosen for the Paralympics in 2008. And those who will finally have the medical attention are honored, because their disabilities will not be an impediment. They are no longer orphans, but adopted by the King. After a lifetime of ridicule and scorn, the forgotten are the honored guests in a palace. And all because one man was encouraged by a few coaches who in turn brought recognition and positive change to those who had been abused and forgotten. Living out the Blessing Emmanuel lived out God’s blessing. The challenge is, can we do the same? Are we able to clear the way, to make it possible for those who are hampered not just by physical, but emotional and spiritual roadblocks, to come to new life? Can we be the catalyst that mends hearts so there is a clear straight way for God to get through? Paul was able to do that. He saw beyond the roadblocks and lived for others, prayed for his children, made his own challenge the motivating factor to help his fellow disadvantaged brothers and sisters to see him again. He instilled hope in their lives. Can we do the same? And are we able to increase in love, not with a small amount that we give from the top, but the Lord’s love, his agape, that spills over, the extra, overplus of love? 7 Paul is moving from his desire to see them, to encourage their growth with God in the faith — to love one another within this brother and sisterhood selflessly, but also to love those outside the circle. Emmanuel had to begin to love those that no one else would even recognize as human; the street beggars, the people who had been tossed by the side of the road as worthless. His heart had to expand to the size of God’s. Finally will we be able to strengthen our hearts, and hold ourselves blameless and holy in the presence of God? In this part of the prayer, Paul is thinking of the Second Advent when we will appear before the Lord in heaven. Will we be looking behind our backs or will we stand before God, as the untouchable, the person who is the same on Sunday as they are on Monday at 10:30 AM? Will we be standing firm in the Lordwhen the criticism and ridicule come from our co-workers and family who don’t agree with our spiritual views, ethics or morals? That’s the foundation God is calling us to have — a sure footing in the highest of standards— who you are when no one is looking. For we are his benefactors, the subjects of the King, chosen, holy, set apart. Our passage in Psalm 112 confirms this; “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.” 8 When we stand firm in Christ, we will, like Emmanuel, have tenacity and endurance and a strong heart. We will, as it says in Hebrews 12: …throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of the faith… 9 No one will even have a chance to cut into our race again. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
|
|
 |
|
 |
© 2004 Lake Grove Presbyterian Church, All Rights Reserved. | Site Map | Site Policies | |
||
