In All Things

I asked Pat to share her testimony today because she is able to illustrate so beautifully our sermon text today.

Our text is from:  1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Every year when we get to Thanksgiving time, we come to the theme of thankfulness.  When we gather around the table on Thanksgiving, our family talks about the things we were thankful for in the last year.  We might say things like, work, house, family and friends, stuff like that.  These are things that are easy to be thankful for.

But what about the things in our life that are more difficult?  What about the “all circumstances” in the text?

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November 24, 2013
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18, In All Things
Pastor Mary Scheer, Brewster Baptist Church
[vimeo 80276326 w=500&h=375]

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As we approach Thanksgiving, I was thinking about the devastation in the Philippines, where so many people lost loved ones, villages, homes, churches, jobs and more.

In our own church we have folks who come to this thanksgiving experiencing loss, hardship and grief.

How do we hear Paul’s words to the Thessalonians to, ^“Rejoice always, pray continually,give thanks in all circumstances?”

When the Apostle visited Thessalonica, it was the largest city in Macedonia, there may have been as many as 200,000 people living there in Paul’s day.  He planted a church.  But before he could grow the tiny church or teach the new disciples fully, he was driven out by those who were opposed to the gospel.  Though Paul had been pushed out of the city, Silas and Timothy were still there and continued the ministry.  By the time Timothy returned from his trip to Thessalonica, Paul had traveled to Corinth.  When they met up, Timothy told Paul that the believers in Thessalonica were enduring hardship, persecutions and that some had died for their faith.  This prompted Paul to write this Thessalonian letter encouraging believers to endure.  (1^st & 2^nd Thessalonians Paul’s Letter To The Churches.  Zondervan. 1995)

*He starts with “rejoice always.”  I wonder if they were startled when they got to that part of his letter.

Paul knew what the were going through.  Paul Knew.  His life had its share of difficulty.  Some estimate he spent between 5 ½ -6 years in prison.  Some of that time, beaten, starved and shackled.  The book of Acts tells of a time when Paul and Silas were arrested, stripped, beaten with rods, severely flogged and thrown into prison.  The guard was ordered to watch them carefully, so he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying, and singing hymns to God and praising God.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  All at once all the prison doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.” (Acts 16: 25-27)  In the midst of suffering, Paul and Silas worshipped.  And in that moment they were freed.

That is true for all of us. Whether it’s a prison of walls, or physical or emotional pain, grief and more, there is a place that opens up in us as we worship.    A place where the Intensity of fear and worry and pain, melts away.  There is a connection with God that happens as we lean on him.  When we are weak, he is strong.

King David said, “I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.”  (Ps. 59:16)

Within the word rejoice is the idea of being joyful and rejoicing.   “To celebrate, delight, exalt and to cheer.  It’s an act of praise and worship.  It’s part of the sacrifice of praise.  When we rejoice out of obedience, even when we don’t feel like it, it is a sacrifice.

In the book of Hebrews, Ch. 13 it says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” (13:15)

“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”  (Rom. 5:2-4)

I recently read how one family was encouraged in the midst of tragedy.  Carisa Gourley wrote, “Just a few days ago, my 26 year old cousin lost her husband in a fatal vehicle accident. She instantly became a young widow with 4 little children, six and under, the youngest being only two weeks old.

We don’t understand what good could possibly come out of this situation. To look at this it seems so unfair. But before he died, he had downloaded a ring tone on his phone of a man preaching and it was saying how the Lord says to, “Trust Me.” So every time his phone would ring it said, “Trust Me, Trust Me.”  When family went to gather belongings from the car, the man’s cell phone began ringing. “Trust Me, Trust Me.” (blessesmomm.hubpages.com)

We touch the heart of God when we praise Him really trust Him in the midst of trouble. Praise is an act of trust.

The New Testament believers encountered trials common to life, and they also suffered persecution for their faith.  The Apostle Peter offered encouragement saying.  “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Pet. 1:6-7)

*Then Paul says to, “pray continually.”

Joni Eareckson Tada, was paralyzed from the shoulders down following a diving accident in the 1970’s.  Recently due to some fractures in her lower spine she has been in unending pain.  She wrote, “Pain is a bruising of a blessing; but it is a blessing nevertheless. It’s a strange, dark companion, but a companion—if only because it has passed through God’s inspecting hand. It’s an unwelcome guest, but still a guest. I know that it drives me to a nearer, more intimate place of fellowship with Jesus, and so I take pain as though I were taking the left hand of God. (Better the left hand than no hand at all.) (Kindle loc. 548-551)  Yes, I pray that my pain might be removed, that it might cease; but more so, I pray for the strength to bear it, the grace to benefit from it, and the devotion to offer it up to God as a sacrifice of praise. (loc. 561-563) So for all the concentration I can muster in prayer, I must not dissipate it in seeking physical blessings only. Rather, I must spend a good portion of it seeking spiritual growth and praying for Christ’s kingdom to go forth into this dark world. For such prayers are a way for me to know God and to know Him deeper, higher, richer, wider, and fuller…The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.”[i] (563-569)

And so we are encouraged in 1^st Peter to, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7)

This is prayer with assurance that what concerns us matters to God.  When we believe this, we are more likely to pray continually, knowing He hears us.

*The next part can seem impossible sometimes.  He said, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”

This can be especially hard when we are suffering.

In her talk on gratitude, Joni said, “When trials sandblast you to the core and your bruised feelings scream, Forget God!  Or your weary mind is too clouded to see through the fog, this is the time to express gratitude to God.  True, such gratitude involves cost and sacrifice.  It costs your logic and you sacrifice your pride.  But your thank offering is glorified as you push through the pain to present gratitude to God for his blessing.” (Joni Eareckson Tadda)

Psalm 50:23 says, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”  Gratitude requires grace.  God’s grace is love in action and ready to meet us where we are.  Sometimes when we are going through a hard time, it can be tough not to dwell and dwell and dwell on the problem.  But in doing so it can grow bitterness.

Hebrews 12:15 cautions, “see to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”  The Bible describes bitterness as a root.  Because once inside our heart, it can take hold and grow and become fierce obstacle in our life.

Maybe know someone whose heart has been hardened by it.  It can destroy relationships and put distance between us and God and pose a challenge to prayer, gratitude and joyfulness.

Instead Paul says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (col. 3: 15-16)

Ephesians 5:20 says, “we are always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  When I think of this Scripture, I always think of the book, The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom.  I read this book as a young teen and its impact has stayed with me.

In her book, Corrie relates an incident that taught her to be thankful for things we normally would not be.  Corrie and her sister, Betsy, prisoners of the Nazis, had just been transferred to the worst prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and infested with fleas. Their Scripture reading from their smuggled Bible that morning in (the same text we are using today from 1^st  Thessalonians 5:16-18, had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances.  Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. Corrie finally agreed to somehow thank God for even the fleas.  During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings in their barrack without guard interference knowing that having a Bible could cost them their lives.  Several months later they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.

To be thankful “in all things,” includes the spiritual blessings we have in Christ.  Our adoption as God’s children, heirs to eternity, joined with a Christian family around the world, unlimited access to his forgiveness and grace, his open invitation to come to him with our problems and his faithful promise to be with us in whatever we go through.

In Luke 14, Jesus quoted Is. 61 saying, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to

• bind up the brokenhearted,
• to proclaim freedom for the captives
• and release from darkness for the prisoners,
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and
• the day of vengeance of our God,
• to comfort all who mourn, and
• provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty, instead of ashes,
• the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of his splendor.” (Isa. 61:1-3)

These are gifts from a God who is good, and has our good at heart.  Gratitude is the perception of good. It’s a way of seeing things.  For the Christian, gratitude begins with the understanding that God is good, always good, and that he loves us.  When we get this deep into our core, we will approach our problems with an increase of courage and confidence that God’s love for us with help us to face any challenges we encounter.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss said, “Choose gratitude, because it is the only fitting response to a good and gracious God who has delivered us from our guilt…

to a significant degree, your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, as well as the health and stability of your relationships with others,

will be determined by your gratitude quotient.  Cultivating a thankful heart is a safeguard against becoming bitter, prickly, and sour.  A grateful child of God can’t help but be a joyful, peaceful, radiant person.”  Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Praise and gratitude also helps us to, Focus our attention upon God.  It helps us to recognize God’s power.  We remember other stories of His help and power in the past.  When I’m going through something tough, it always encourages me to remember the ways God helped me in the past.

We can rejoice, pray and give thanks in all circumstances, and God assures us in Rom. 8:28 that, in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to His purpose. We are told to give thanks “In all things,” and reassured that God will be with us “In all things!” He doesn’t say that all the things that happen to us are good, but that even in the midst of the most difficult things, God is on our side, and can work for our good.

Is there anything beyond God’s reach?  No, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither high nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Rom. 8:35; 37-39).

During this Thanksgiving season, and all year, may we be aware of opportunities, particularly during difficult times to grow in our faith, and in our expression and obedience to God’s will for us, through;

A Constant Attitude of Joy

A Continual Attitude of Prayer, and

A Consistent Attitude of Thanksgiving