My Morning Meal

I think that, generally speaking, there is a spirit within our culture that values “being true to yourself” above “living to please others”. We celebrate the individual . . . we admire the rogue . . . perhaps, sometimes, there’s even a bit of envy for those who are able to march to the beat of a their own drummer. But what if, for the believer, that “other” is God? I fear that within the family of God the spirit of the world seduces some to be to true to themselves before walking to please God . . . dangerous stuff when we consider that within ourselves is something called “the old man” or “the flesh” which wars against the Spirit of God.

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification . . .   
(1Thessalonians 4:1-3a ESV)

I’ve been somewhat captured by this letter to the Thessalonians. Paul’s intense concern and desire for these believers just oozes from the first three chapters. Salvation without sanctification, for Paul, was failure . . . it would have been laboring in vain. Being born again without showing evidence of being a new creation was as tragic as a still birth. Taking the name Christian without walking as Christ would have walked (or at least stumbling along in a desire to emulate the Master) was to miss the mark. And so Paul sends Timothy to find out how the church is doing . . . the body of believers established after just a few weeks of Paul’s teaching . . . this group of babes in Christ left to deal with the affliction of a pagan and hostile environment . . . Paul wants to know who they are doing . . . and encourage them . . . and exhort them . . . to keep on keepin’ on.

Finally, he pleads here in chapter 4 that they would walk to please God . . . and to do so more and more.

I’m blown away first by the thought that I can please God. He who is holy, holy, holy . . . He who resides in unapproachable light . . . He who is the Sovereign over all creation . . . that anything I could do could please Him kind of separates the head from the shoulders. “Who am I, O LORD?” . . . that I could do anything that would bring You pleasure?

I am a blood bought child of God. Redeemed based on the finished work of Christ on the cross . . . justified and declared righteous as the payment for my sin has been rendered in full by the Lamb of God, come to take away the sin of the world . . . set apart and declared holy, invited before the throne of God as I stand in Christ, robed with His righteousness . . . indwelt, infused, and empowered by the Spirit of God and invited to participate in the divine work of taking sinners-saved-by-grace and conforming them to the very image of the blessed Son of God. That, by His grace alone, is who I am. And in light of that, the Spirit, through Paul, says I should walk to please God . . . and to do so more and more.

That I can please God is amazing . . . that I wouldn’t want to, and would rather “be true to myself”, is bizarre. Obedience isn’t a duty, it’s a privilege . . . faithfully pursuing the ways of the kingdom isn’t about avoiding some heavenly retribution so much as it is about wanting to delight the One who gave of Himself wholly for me. Even if the the flesh is weak (and it is) . . . the spirit should be willing . . . wanting . . . thirsting after walking in a way that pleases God . . . and to do so more and more.

For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.   (1Thessalonians 4:7 ESV)

O that I might be so transformed that “being true to myself” is indistinguishable from “living to please ANOTHER” . . . by His grace . . . for His glory . . .

Paul had been forced to let them solo long before he had wanted. They had just barely gotten on the bike before the apostle was forced to kick up the training wheels and let them sputter and weave down the road on their own. He had only been allowed a few weeks with the Thessalonians to “onboard” them into the kingdom of light and it’s implications for living . . . and then he was run out of town. But though these beloved saints were out of sight, they were far from out of mind. And so Paul, because he could no longer bear not knowing, sent Timothy to the Thessalonians to learn about their faith.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.   (1Thessalonians 3:5 ESV)

Paul wanted to know about their faith. And I think it was less about whether or not they could echo back the teaching they had received during those few short weeks Paul had taught them . . . less about whether or not they still confessed Jesus as Savior . . . but more about whether what they had been taught, and about Whom they had believed, was being manifested in how they lived . . . a lot about, in the midst of the certain affliction they were experiencing because they owned Christ as Savior, whether or not they were “keepin’ on keepin’ on.”

Paul wanted to hear from Timothy that what these Thessalonians had professed to believe was evident in how they went about day-to-day life.

The Spirit makes it so clear through Paul, that the fruit of the gospel goes far beyond the rescue from the judgment of sins . . . though, if that were the gospel’s only benefit, we would eternally thank and praise Him for such a great rescue. But, beyond redemption, the gospel opens the way for living as a new creation in Christ (2Cor. 5:17) . . . for walking in a manner that has eternal significance . . . for doing everyday life in a way that brings the God of heaven pleasure and manifests, in some small way, His glory. Paul wanted to know about their faith.

His fear was that the potential of the gospel might be compromised by the enemy. That the tempter might have have seduced these believers . . . if not to abandon the faith, then to at least go underground and avoid some of the heat. If not to reject Christ, then, in order to take the easy and prosperous way, live as those who had. “After all,” the snake’s voice whispers in their ears, “You’re in . . . but no need to be radical about it. Go with the flow and it will be easier. Look after yourself first . . . pursue the treasure you can see . . . ” If, after receiving the gospel, these believers did not walk in a manner worthy of God, Paul would have considered his labor in vain.

We sell our salvation short if it’s just about a profession and not about a purpose . . . if it’s just about church on Sunday and not about Christ 24/7 . . . if it’s something for our future but doesn’t make much of a difference now.

Oh that we, as God’s people, would live out our faith by His enabling grace. That as we grow in our knowledge of the faith, that the reality of what we believe would be manifest in how we process this world and how we respond to it in our lives. That we would live as citizens of a different land . . . that our values and priorities might be aligned to a different culture . . . that what we do would so backup what we profess.

That, should Paul have sent Timothy to learn of our faith, Tim could report back, “They’re doing well . . . they’re still on the bike . . . still weaving a bit as they go down the road . . . but their faith’s the real deal . . . by God’s grace . . . and for God’s glory . . . “

How is it that two people can be sitting in the same pew (or row of chairs) . . . on the same Sunday . . . listening to the same sermon . . . and one comes away dry . . . and the other leaves the building jazzed? How is it that some people open their Bible and yawn their way through their daily reading . . . while others enthusiastically engage the Word as if on a treasure hunt? Probably a number of reasons . . . but one jumps out at me as I continue reading in 1Thessalonians this morning.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.  
(1Thessalonians 2:13 ESV)

It makes a difference, it seems, how we approach the word of God. While nothing changes the fact that the Word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12), it does seem that the Word’s effectiveness is related to how the hearer, or the reader, engages with it.

Paul says that the Word “is at work” or “puts forth power” in believers. Believer . . . less, I think, about what someone calls themselves . . . and more about what someone brings to the Holy Scriptures . . . bringing a starting presupposition that to open the Word, or to have the Word open to them, is to stand on holy ground . . . coming to the table with a forgone conclusion that the entirety of the Scripture they are about to receive is God breathed . . . priming the pump, as it were, with seeds of faith, believing that God’s word will accomplish God’s purpose when sown in good soil.

The Word doesn’t become true because we want to believe it’s true . . . it’s already the Truth. But when the power of the Truth gets unleashed is when God’s word is engaged with as the word of God.

Paul brought the living, life changing word of God to the city of Thessalonica . . . material capable of divine combustion. Some in the crowds Paul spoke to brought ears to hear . . . hearts ready to receive . . . an expectation that they were listening to God Himself through the Word . . . they brought faith . . . just a spark was all that was required. Mix the spark with the fuel and you have KA-BLAM! The gospel explodes on the scene . . . “not only in word, but also in power and the Holy Spirit” (1Thess. 1:8). Ordinary people receive the supernatural Word and they become children of God — both in form and in function . . . they become imitators of Christ . . . their faith grows . . . their testimony shows . . . and it all starts with priming the pump with a belief that the word of God is THE WORD of God.

Years and years ago, I was taught the importance of doing my part when it came to the Word of God. When the word is preached, mine is to actively engage with the message and discerningly interact with it as the Word of God proclaimed and explained. When I open my Bible in the morning, I should come expectantly . . . less concerned about making headway in my reading plan, but anticipating a close encounter of the divine kind . . . the psalmist’s prayer should be my passion, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Ps. 119:18).

I prime the pump with expectant faith . . . He fuels the fire with the Word . . . and the Spirit illuminates the secrets of the kingdom with power.

And the outcome, by God’s grace, is a life a bit more conformed to the image of Christ . . .

For His glory . . .

They were examples. They were known throughout the region, and beyond, for their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” When the gospel had come to town, it had come in power . . . and when those in Thessalonica, whom God had chosen, heard the word, the word changed them big time. Though it would come with a certain amount of persecution and affliction, the joy of the Holy Spirit propelled them to dive head first into the implications of the gospel . . . into the realities of the kingdom of light . . . into the world of new creations and new things. And though they were pretty new to the faith and had a lot to learn, they “fast tracked” by becoming imitators of Paul . . . and, as they learned more about Jesus, doing what Jesus would do.

They were an example to all the believers. And I guess I’d do well to heed their example. Paul summed them up this way . . .

. . . you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.   (1Thessalonians 1:9b-10 ESV)

Talk about your revival! Paul had only been in Thessalonica a few short weeks (Acts 17:1-10) . . . but during that the time the word was preached . . . the Spirit descended . . . darkness gave way to light . . . idol worship gave way to idol bonfires . . . and a number of born again people started turning their worlds upside down . . . so much so that their reputation was spoken “everywhere.” And all because the Spirit of God moved in them to determine “to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven.” Serve and wait . . . not a bad motto to seek to live by.

These sinners made saints traded their chains of bondage to the world and to the flesh for a new type of liberating slavery . . . becoming servants of the true and living God and slaves to righteousness. Their Savior was also their Master. Though they had received the free gift of salvation, they also understand that the gift had come at a great cost . . . they had been bought with a price . . . they were no longer their own . . . they were His redeemed possession (1Cor. 6:19-20). And so they would submit and they would serve . . . a work of faith . . . a labor of love.

And all with an eye to the sky. Oh, how they anticipated meeting God’s Son from heaven. They waited for the One who said He was going to prepare a place for them and promised to return for them so “that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3). They imagined what it would be like to have their eyes of faith give way to that first face-to-face encounter . . . to move from sensing His presence through the Sprit to beholding Jesus up close and personal. Having been delivered from the power of sin, they couldn’t wait to be delivered from the presence of sin. And, until then, they would serve.

Encountering the Master as they sought His will and walked in His ways increased the anticipation of being with Him. And the anticipation fueled the desire to be found faithful and to continue to faithfully be about the Master’s business. Heavenly service fed the longing for home . . . expecting Jesus’ imminent return spurred on the passion to lay up treasures in heaven.

Examples to all believers . . . that’s what the Thessalonians are . . .

Serve and wait . . . Wait and serve . . . by God’s grace . . . for God’s glory . . . amen?