Pastor Dan Eddy
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
Rejoicing: Joy in Action
12-11-11
I.
Introduction – Joy, joy, joy (what is true joy)
When I was going up I learned this song in Sunday School. See if you know
it:
(Singing)
I've got
the joy, joy, joy, joy
Down in
my heart (Where?)
Down in
my heart (Where?)
Down in
my heart
(Go ahead and sing along)
I've got
the joy, joy, joy, joy
Down in
my heart
Down in
my heart to stay
And I'm
so happy
So very happy
I've got
the love of Jesus in my heart
Why aren’t you singing
along? Why aren’t you smiling? Where’s your joy? Clearly not in my singing.
(Pick up Advent faith gift box)
But what is true joy? It’s
part of the gift of grace, the faith, God gave you and me at our baptism. It’s
a way to live our faith in Christ.
Joy in action is rejoicing. And it’s more than
singing loudly in church on Sunday morning. It’s a way of life. That’s what verse 16 of our text from 1
Thessalonians is saying, “Keep rejoicing
always.” That’s the sense of this text, originally written to this Greek
congregation.
But how do we live a life of joy, rejoicing
everyday?
Based on this text here’s
how the Lord is moving us to live joyfully. Please pull out your bulletin
insert and fill in the blanks as you follow along with this morning’s message.
II.
Believers in Christ live true joy everyday by:
“Really, Pastor Dan? That doesn’t sound very
exciting, very joyful.”
Joy comes in learning more
about our Advent King. It’s part of knowing our Savior better for a more joyful
walk with Him.
And one of the best ways
to do this is following God’s Commandments. As our confirmands have learned and
as you have heard me say: Commandments aren’t just God’s law that we break, but
are expressions of love in how we live by faith for Christ.
And specifically following,
what we call, the Third Commandment is a great starting point for experiencing
joy in action.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Luther says, “What does this mean? We should fear (or have respect) and love
God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly
hear and learn it.”
In our text Paul says in
verse 20 (ESV), “Do not despise
prophecies.” The sense from the original Greek text is more of “Stop despising prophecies.” And
prophecy here refers to the proclamation of God’s Word as you are hearing now,
not so much the prediction of future events.
Think of it this way: This
Christmas you may get a gift that requires you to read the instruction manual in
order to enjoy the present, an electronic device or appliance. There are hobbies
we love that require us to constantly learn so we can get the most of out it.
When you are an artist you are always looking for better ways to express
yourself with different media, brushes, paints, canvass, and that involves
reading, listening, and learning. When you do those things, you experience more
joy.
It’s no different when it
comes to worship, hearing God’s Word, and meditating on it daily…except that
affect your whole life, because our rejoicing ties to the everlasting life benefits
Christ gives you and me because of His sacrifice from the Cross…which was not
seen as a joyful event until He arose from dead in the flesh three days later.
Believers in Christ live true joy everyday by:
B. Rejoicing in praying
“Your kidding, right Pastor Dan? Joy in praying?”
Joy comes in having a
better relationship with our Lord and Savior. Verse 17 says: “Pray without ceasing.” The sense from
the text is “Keep praying for your own
benefit without stopping.”
God knows everything. Your
prayers do not tell Him anything that He doesn’t already know. But, He wants
you to know that prayer is there to help you. When you express your thoughts,
feeling, anxieties, and passions to Jesus…He
uses them through God’s Word to show you His answers.
The joy comes when you
really believe we have the God who wants a personal relationship with you…and
in that relationship He gives you joy…in answering your prayers and in
conveying His will.
And part of rejoicing by
praying is as verse 18 says giving thanks in all circumstances. I can’t tell
you how many times I have talked to people, and after days or months or years of
praying for something or someone, God answers their prayer requests, but
they’ve moved on to the next thing before giving thanks to the Lord.
So I will say, “Hey, God answered your prayer with a yes.
He gave you more income, restored your health, helped your friend.” And
sadly many times people have responded with two dangerous words “Yeah, but.” “Yeah, but…I didn’t get the amount of money I wanted” “Yeah but I have other health problems. Yeah
but now my friend needs help in another area of his life.”
That’s quenching the
spirit as verse 19 warns against. It’s sapping your joy in action; your joy in
Jesus, because we fail to be truly grateful.
When we walked the Earth, Jesus
prayed to His Heavenly Father and that helped Him live joy as He ministered and
loved the people around Him, even though people didn’t love Him, didn’t always
do what He wanted them to. Jesus gave thanks to His Heavenly Father anyways,
and He gives thanks to Him for you.
Believers in Christ live true joy everyday by:
Look
at Verse 15:”See that no one repays
anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to
everyone.”
This can not be done
without having a forgiving heart.
Recently, a
So let say you were a
student who was penalized in his class for saying, “God bless you” would you pray for him? Would you do something nice
for him? Ask him about his family? Write him an encouraging note? Buy him a
thoughtful gift?
Jesus does not repay us
for the evil we have done, but instead continues to shower you and me with His
grace. He is the proof of your forgiveness.
Evidence of forgiveness on
our part is seen in our good thoughts, good words, and good deeds toward those
who have hurt us. And when we can do that…there’s a joy in action no one can
take away from you.
Believers in Christ live true joy everyday by:
One of the main reasons
that the Epistle to the Thessalonian church was written was that there were
people literally waiting around for Christ to come back in the flesh to End
time. And so they were not seeking work, and they were relying on the
generosity of the congregation and were becoming lazy.
So in verse 21, Paul
states to “Test everything, hold fast to
what is good.” The idea here is to
keep examining what is good service to others in God’s eyes.
And here’s the test to
serving others. (Show graphic) It’s living true joy by thinking of Jesus first, others second, and yourself
last. You’ve heard this before.
But consider this: (Show graphic.) If you think of yourself first, others second
and Jesus last, notice others are still second. When we come first, serving
others becomes a burden, a drag, an inconvenience. They get what’s left over
with our time, talents, and treasures.
However, when Jesus is
first, others are viewed more favorably because we are serving them as a way of
thanking Jesus for what He did to us. And there’s real joy in that.
III.
Rejoicing like Kevin
Are you seeing how the joy
Jesus put in your heart can be lived everyday?
Joy is not always happy,
clappy, pleasurable or giddy. True joy is not shallow. True joy is genuine
happiness in living your faith in Christ Jesus as God’s child.
Perhaps this closing story
will into perspective all I have proclaimed this morning when it comes to
joyfully living your faith in Christ. This was an email my dad received that he
forwarded to me a couple of months ago. Maybe you’ve heard of this story: It’s entitled
God
Under the Bed.
I envy Kevin. My brother, Kevin
thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night.
He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, “Are you there, God?” he said. “Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the
bed...”
I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives
are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered inside
of me long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different
world Kevin lives in.
He was born 30 years ago,
mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size
(he's 6-foot-2); there are few ways in which he is an adult.
I wonder if Kevin realizes
he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to
walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for
dinner, and later to bed.
The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly
over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child. He does not seem
dissatisfied.
And Saturdays - oh, the
bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a
soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculates loudly on the destination of
each passenger inside. “That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!” Kevin shouts as he
claps his hands.
His anticipation is so
great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights. And so goes his world of daily
rituals and weekend field trips.
He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple.
He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care
what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats.
His hands are diligent.
Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher
or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.
He does not shrink from a
job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But
when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.
He is not obsessed with
his work or the work of others.
Free from pride and
unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt. He is
always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.
Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a
child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is
difficult for an “educated” person
to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my faith, I envy the security
Kevin has in his simple faith.
It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge
that rises above my mortal questions.
It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My
obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities
when I do not trust them to God's care.
Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent
his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the
goodness and love of God.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at
how close the Lord really is to our hearts, I'll realize that Jesus heard the
simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
Kevin won't be surprised at all!
God’s blessings as you
live joy in action by rejoicing in God’s Word, rejoicing in praying, rejoicing
in forgiving, and rejoicing in serving others, because of the everlasting joy
Christ has put in your heart by faith. Amen.