December 14, 2008
Third Sunday of Advent
Rejoice! Pray! Give Thanks!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Three Crisp Imperatives
Rejoice! Pray! Give Thanks! Three crisp imperatives cry out the Christian life in all its joyful splendor. Rejoice in the Lord always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks to God in all circumstances of life.
This evening at our Advent dinner we will have “The Decking of the Dads.” The dads will sit in chairs. And then, the rest will decorate them like “Christmas trees” with lights and ornaments. Come, it will be a blast! This happened to the Hull family a number of years ago at McKinley School, where Greg & Karen teach. And as they did, the students sang, Deck the Hulls with Boughs of Holly.
Well…this is the adornment of the Christian life. This is God’s will for us in Jesus Christ. It is what God wants people to see when they look at us: Rejoice in the Lord always…Pray without ceasing…Give thanks to God in all circumstance of life.
Paul’s Happy Letter
Modern city of Thessaloniki
This is Paul’s happy letter. Although these folks were just a brand new church which Paul had just founded…and although Paul had to leave them sooner than he really wanted…and although Paul had some anxious nights and moments worrying over them like a newborn’s mother as he sent Timothy from Corinth up the coast of Greece to see if they were still okay, he was thrilled and he was ecstatic when Timothy came back with the good news: They were okay. They were “hanging in there.” There were still “steadfast in the faith.” There were no major problems in this congregation.
And so Paul gushes with relief. And waxes on about Jesus will come again with triumph and with trumpets. And on how no Christian will be left behind. And then he closes with three imperatives. Three gospel imperatives. Fantastic words of hope and encouragement: Rejoice in the Lord always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks to God in all circumstance of life. For…this is the will of God…in Christ Jesus…for you. How could we say it any plainer?
Tune Into the Good News
And what a contrast that is from a world which is down, depressed, deflated and despairing. I have a nephew Josh, who is a real go-getter. He works for Edward Jones as a financial advisor. And he is sharp and savvy. In fact, he is the go-to-guy that headquarters invites in from the field to help train the new recruits.
And through the family network, I asked what advice is Josh giving to his customers these days. And my sister Ellen reports that it is very simple: “Turn off the TV & don’t open any of your financial statements.” Stop listening. Stop listening to the bad news.
And I as a pastor, would add one more thing to Joshua’s excellent advice, “Stop listening to the bad news…AND tune into the good news.” Do not only “tune out” the bad, but rather ALSO “tune in” to the good. The good news God has for you in Jesus Christ.
Quite frankly I am tired of the bad news. I find it gets me down and depressed, especially since I am prone to S.A.D. anyhow. Seasonal Affective Disorder. I don’t like cold, dark nights. I like the light. And I am sick and tired of living in a greedy and short-sighted culture that trades long-term health for short-term gains. I am weary of the politicians who buy votes with other peoples money, especially mine, when I would like to do other things with those dollars—like Christian ministry. That’s what turns my crank. Using dollars for Jesus. It makes me angry to think of the retirement dollars & health care benefits that have simply vanished because those entrusted with public responsibilities were sleeping at the switch.
It makes my stomach turn whenever anybody gets on TV and measures how good or bad Christmas is because of retail sales. My word, what in the world does Christmas have to do with “retail sales!” Those two words do not belong in the same sentence: Christmas & retail sales. And I am especially sick and tired of CEOs and politicians who point the finger of their blame at other people, when all along their own finger has been stickin’ in the pie.
Sanctified by God
Do not we know that there is a God who has “sanctified us entirely” by our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection? Have we not heard that it is God, and not us, who keeps us sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? Did we not see and hear that LOUDLY on the cross?
And so, we test the spirit of our times. And we hold fast to what is good. We tune into the Good News. We come to worship weekly. And we engage in the classic Christian disciplines of regular reading in the bible and of prayer. And we turn off the bad. And we abstain from every form of evil, including getting caught up in the despair and depression of these current days.
This does not mean that Christians stick their heads into the sand. Sad things happen to us like everyone else. We lose our pension money. Ours jobs are insecure. Nasty illnesses hit us like it does non-Christians. We struggle with our ex’s and our in-laws. We worry over the kids at night. And we have our share of gut-wrenching losses—just like everybody else.
Called to a Baptismal Life
Immersed in Baptism
And the bottom line is this: we seek to do good to one another and to all. And we rejoice always…no matter what happens in our life. And we trust that somewhere, somehow, God will work something good out of it. Like, let’s say, a death and resurrection. And we pray…without ceasing…knowing that God has the answers even when we do not. And we give thanks to God in Christ Jesus…in all circumstances of life.
Three crisp gospel imperatives cry out the Christian life in all its joyful splendor: Rejoice! Pray! Give Thanks!
© 2008 Pastor Paul Jaster