9 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? 10 Night and day we pray most
earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us
to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for
each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 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.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
As you were settling in today you would have noticed that the altar paraments are blue. Christians, on the other hand, are anything but. Because today we enter into the season of Advent, a period of time that is marked by joy, anticipation and introspection.
What is Advent all about? The word itself means "coming," with the reference being to the coming of Jesus Christ. During Advent it is customary to talk about the various ways that Jesus comes to us. In the past He came to us as the Babe of Bethlehem. In the present He comes to us through Word and Sacrament. And in the future He will come to us on the Last Day as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One who will judge the world. The weeks ahead have been set aside by God’s people as a period to prepare and reflect on His various "comings" and the impact they have on our lives. If there is one word more than others that describes Advent, it would be the word "prepare."
How do we go about this preparation? There are a number of different ways. As a body of believers, we will notice some changes in our House of Worship. I’ve already mentioned the color change in the paraments. Many of us may remember that the liturgical color for Advent used to be purple, the color of royalty, which turned our thoughts to the coming King. In recent years, perhaps to set this season apart from Lent, the color has become a beautiful blue. It has been suggested that blue is the color of hope, as well as the color of the sky. Combining those two thoughts makes a lot of Advent sense – it is from the sky that Jesus will come again the second time to take us to be with Him forever; and that fills us with a sure and confident hope.
We also have an Advent wreath that appears only at this time of the year. Each candle has special significance and is explained in the weekly service folder. This Wednesday we will hold the first of three special midweek Advent services. All these are tools to help us in our anticipation and preparation.
On a personal level, there are additional things we can do. Many families hold Advent devotions around their own Advent wreath. Some of us may have grown up with Advent calendars, opening a new little door or window each day, or Advent chains made out of construction paper, tearing one off each night before bedtime.
You get the picture. Advent is a time for watching and waiting and preparation. Our text suggests an additional way to spiritually prepare ourselves. The Apostle Paul talks to us about the importance of prayer. From the words of our text we can learn specifically
WHAT TO PRAY FOR WHILE WE ARE WAITING
1. That we ATTAIN an ever-increasing Christ-likeness
2. That we RETAIN a flourishing faith
3. That we MAINTAIN both until Christ comes again for us
Before we get to the specific words of Paul on prayer (which we find in the last verses), let’s set the stage by working through the opening words of our text. They are both instructive and interesting. The first thing that strikes us is how intensely personal and heartfelt they are.
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? The Christian congregation in the bustling and large Greek city of Thessalonica was a joy to Paul. The Lord gave Paul the privilege of founding this mission congregation during the second of his three extensive missionary journeys. But Paul wasn’t able to be with them very long at all. In fact, he was there for approximately only three weeks before Jewish enemies of the Gospel initiated such a persecution against him that he had to flee for his life.
From a reading of the first chapters of this letter, it is obvious that the limited amount of time Paul spent with them weighed heavily on his mind. Had he been there long enough for the Gospel to take root and grow in the hearts of these young Christians? Consequently, when he "couldn’t stand it any longer" (those are his own words), Paul sent his young colleague-in-the-ministry Timothy to check up on the Thessalonians. There were a couple of questions he needed answered.
First and foremost, were they remaining steadfast in the faith? The belief that Jesus Christ is mankind’s Savior from sin and the only way to eternal salvation brought bitter persecution upon Paul, and now had spread to Paul’s followers. Were they holding up in the midst of their faith being under attack? Related to this, had their closeness to Paul turned into animosity against him because their newfound Christianity now put them in harm’s way?
Timothy came back with the report that all was well. The Thessalonians were standing firm in the faith. They also longed to see Paul as much as he longed to see them. So Paul begins our text by telling them how thankful and joyful he was because of them.
He continues: Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Paul’s desire is evident. He wants to see them again. He could then give them further instruction. Three weeks of study, intense as they may have been, undoubtedly left some gaps – especially for those who had no knowledge of the Old Testament. Paul wanted to fill them in. And so he prays: Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.
That being said, Paul offers up a specific three-pronged prayer for the Thessalonian Christians. This is how it begins: May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. Keep in mind the strain these people were under. The persecutions were real, and the enemies were using live ammunition. Tense situations often provide for the possibility of quarreling and in-fighting, but that wasn’t happening.
Why not? They had learned about the love of Jesus Christ toward them. They had come to know the depth of Christ’s love toward sinners. And they were reflecting that love not only to each other, but to everyone with whom they came into contact.
Paul prays that this would not only continue, but that they would ATTAIN an even higher degree of Christ-likeness.
But how? How could they become more Christ-like? By going down to the local bookstore and picking up a self-help book on how to become a better Christian? No. The Christian life doesn’t come through our own efforts. It comes through being connected to Jesus Christ through faith. And faith, in words Paul would later write to the Romans, "comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Paul knew that the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to create and sustain faith. Therefore when Paul prays for the Thessalonians that he [God] may strengthen your hearts. he is at the same time encouraging them to stay close to the Word.
Paul’s second desire for these Christians: Stay close to Christ so they may RETAIN a flourishing faith.
Paul’s third and final petition for the Thessalonians is that they would, with God’s help, MAINTAIN this life of Christian love and faith up until the very end. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy (meaning: forgiven) in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. The reference here, of course, is to the Second Advent of Christ when Jesus will arrive not as the Babe of Bethlehem, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords for the purpose of judging the living and the dead. Those who remain in Christ – those who maintain the faith that God has given them through conscientious use of the means of grace – have nothing to fear on that day. Washed clean through the blood of Christ, believers will be viewed by God as blameless and holy and heirs of everlasting life.
Paul’s Advent prayer and counsel for Christians who await the coming of Christ: Attain greater Christ-likeness, Retain a flourishing faith, and Maintain it all until he comes again. Let’s briefly apply this Advent prayer and these Advent principles to ourselves. We can put it in the form of our own three petitions.
#1: May God help us attain an increasing life of Christian love and good works. In doing so, we will be imitating what Paul spoke of so highly in the Thessalonians. We will also be carrying out the desire of Jesus who, in His Sermon on the Mount, asks us to "let [our] light shine before men that they may see [our] good deeds and praise [our] Father in heaven."
Some time ago I came across a prayer that is entitled, "My Neighbor, My Self." I think it fits in well with the point being made here. I’d like to share it with you:
Today, Lord, my life will be touching other lives, and my prayer is that no one I meet will be damaged by the meeting.
No one, because of me, will have more despair and less hope.
No one, because of me, will have more sadness and less joy.
No one, because of me, will have more sickness and less health.
No one, because of me, will have more doubt and less faith.
No one, because of me, will feel more of life’s chill and less of life’s warmth.
There are only a few lives so close to mine that I have the power to make a lot of difference, but there are many lives in which I can make a little difference, and part of my service to you is to pay enough attention to even the day’s briefest and most casual encounters so life will seem a bit better and brighter to all whose paths intersect with mine.
May they see in me goodwill and kindness.
May they see in me humor when humor is fitting.
May they see in me honesty.
May they see in me a respect for them.
Without saying a word about faith, my manner can make its witness to the faith I hold. And should the witness of my words be called for, help me to speak with clarity and grace about the faith that is in me. Amen. (Author: Richard Lancaster, Day by Day)
That is how we present ourselves before a watching world while we are waiting
#2: May God help us to retain a flourishing faith. How do we do this? Through contact with the means of Grace. That’s how our faith grows and flourishes.
Ever seen in pictures or on TV a professional body builder or a finely tuned athlete? How do you think they got in that kind of shape? By wishing it? No. They work at it.
So must we. Christian study and daily Bible reading is a joy. But it is also a discipline. Paul uses athletic imagery when he talks about the Christian life. The point: It takes some work. But the results are magnificent: a finely tuned spiritual body that can withstand trials and temptations.
That is what Paul prayed for in his people. That is what we, as God’s people, must pray for in ourselves. And then, with God’s help, we must act on our resolve while we are waiting.
#3: May God help us maintain all to the end. We must recognize that the Second Advent of Christ is not a dusty doctrine but a present reality. And we must live with it in mind. More than 1500 years ago the church father and pillar of early Christianity, Augustine, wrote: "He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near. It is he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with a sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love."
His suggestion is a valid one: let us adopt a spirit of anticipation, expectation and preparation while we are waiting.
Because that is what the Advent season – and the entire Christian life – is all about. May God grant each of us a blessed season – no, a blessed life – of preparation. A life in which we attain, retain and maintain all that God desires and has worked within us. Amen.