This morning we continue our very timely and helpful series from Paul's letter to a little church in Thessalonica. And this is a letter where Paul, along with his companions, Timothy and Silas, have been challenging us on how to lead lives that are honoring to God. And particularly these past two weeks we have been reminded of, with renewed clarity, how practical, how applicable the Bible is for us today. You may remember a two weeks ago we looked at the importance of encouragement in our relationships. And we're reminded of the power of our words. And Sandy called to mind the verse that actually comes from Ephesians 4, where Paul says, do not let any unwholesome word come out of your mouth. But only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it will benefit those who listen. And I know after that particular message it was a very quiet week for some of you. As you considered the weight of that message and thought about your words, Paul says, if you want to lead a life that is honoring to God, you have to give attention to this aspect of your words and their power. And then last week we moved in the chapter 4 and here Paul returns to the overall theme and purpose of his letter. If you have the Bible open, let me just call out a phrase that will get us into what we're talking about today. First phrase there in verse 4, Paul says, finally brothers, we instruct you on how to live in order to please God. And we focus then on what Paul had to say about this very important area of our lives, of our sexuality. And we acknowledge that there is just so much wrong thinking of both inside and outside the church today that pertains to our sexuality and purity. And so whether you're in junior high or high school and you're trying to grapple with issues of dating, boundaries or maybe you're just recovering from a recent divorce and you're trying to get wisdom and insight from God on how to build godly steps in your life using his wisdom for right parameters regarding your sexuality or maybe you're married and as you assess your relationship and maybe you would acknowledge that there is a drift in this particular area of your life as it relates to your spouse. And I would encourage you if that is where you are and maybe a struggle that you're faced with right now, you may want to get the tape from last week because Sandy walked us through some very challenging insight that related to a biblical understanding of sexuality. Well this morning in the section we're giving ourselves to Paul moves from addressing the issue of our purity to now addressing the issue of our pace. And once again he says that if you're going to live a life that is honoring to Jesus Christ, you're going to have to bring that particular area of your life under his lordship, under his control. And this morning we're going to seek his wisdom and his insight on how we might do that in a more god-honoring way. Before we look at our text this morning let's pause to pray and ask God to bless to our hearts of the ministry of his word, let's pray. Lord we are glad for this moment in our worship together. We thank you for the gracious provision of your word which is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. In our prayer that you would use the truth of your word to reshape and remold and redirect us this morning, we ask that as we receive it it would be like new life for us. And so we ask word for you to speak to us for your servants are listening. Amen. Again this is first Thessalonians chapter 4 and I will be reading verses 9 through 12. Now about brotherly love, we do not need to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other and in fact you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. We yet we urge you brothers to do so more and more. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands just as we told you. So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anyone. All men are light grass and all of their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of our God stands forever. Our text today is really comprised of two primary themes. The first theme is given to us in verses 9 and 10 and the second in verses 11 and 12. I plan to spend the bulk of our time this morning on that second part but before I do I would like to offer a few insights about what I see Paul teaching us in this first section because Paul as he does so often in speaking to these young churches returns to a theme that he never seems to get tired of talking about or writing about and that of course is this theme of love. Over the years scholars have wrestled over how to interpret a verses 9 and 10 because Paul begins by saying basically about this issue of brotherly love. I don't even need to mention it to you because you're doing so well in this particular area. You've got that down. You won't even mention it. It's basically what he's saying. And not just with those in your community there in Thessalonica but throughout all Macedonia you're loving one another with genuine brotherly love and I commend you for that he says. And we must remember that this quality was vital to the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. It was vital and central to the teaching in life of Jesus. Jesus who gathered his disciples together in the upper room and he said to them a new command I give you that you love one another is I have loved you so you must love one another. And then Jesus went on to say those words that have both challenged and maybe it's sometimes haunted the church for over 20 centuries now by this all the world will know that you are my disciples if you love one another the whole message of the Bible Jesus says if you forget everything else that I have said just remember those three words love one another. And then Jesus is ascended into heaven and the Apostle Paul then who had experienced first hand this outrageous forgiving love of God picks up the torch and begins to weave this theme into all that he says and all that he does love God and love one another. He says you're doing so well with his I don't even need to mention this to you but then look here at the end of verse 10 and this is why scholars have a difficult time grappling with this having said what he just did he goes on to say yet we urge you brothers to do so more and more scholars have wondered I have wondered is Paul like one of those parents that is impossible to satisfy you know those kind of parents that was really good honey but next time you need to get an A plus is that what Paul is doing here many of you are familiar with garrison keeler he describes a lick wobagon character who wrote of his staunchly religious parents he says for fear of what it might do to me you never paid me a compliment when other people did you beaded away with a stick actually I'm star for a good word but after the long drought of my youth no word is quite good enough under this thin veneer of modesty lies a monster of greed I drive away faint praise beating my little chest waiting to be named sun god king of america idol of millions bring her a fire sunbar the boy giant I don't want to say thanks glad you liked it I want to say rise my people remove your faces from the carpet stand and face me it's interesting some of you understand that because maybe you were raised in the kind of family where encouragement was rarely shared and when it was it was usually attached with a qualifier that was really good but and you you grew up hearing that message in spades I don't measure up I'm not good enough I can't please him and just on this point parents I would say to you this morning that there are few things that will destroy the spirit of a child like that does and maybe what your prayer needs to be this morning is that god would do some holy editing from your mind and from your lips so that your children will now begin to grow up in homes where they feel treasured and accepted and nurtured nurtured rather than the kind of homes where they feel like they can never please their parents some of you have parents in your sixties and you still struggle with that same dynamic and the question is is that what Paul is doing you know about this issue of brotherly love you're doing so well but it's not quite good enough and clearly the answer to that is no what Paul is saying here is you are giving and serving and caring and loving one another and I'm so proud of you just don't quit just don't give up loving one another keep it up keep up the good work that's what he's saying it's actually happened in the church in Brazil it was a large church the pastor got up to preach one Sunday morning he walked to the pulpit looked out on the congregation and said these words love one another and then he went and sat down people didn't know what to do they just stared at him and he stared at them after a few moments he got up to the pulpit again and said love one another went and sat down they thought it was a pretty short message and then after a few other moments he got up once more and said love one another and then he sat down and over time over the next few minutes people began to catch on turn to the person next to them and ask how are you doing where are you hurting is there some area of your life where you need some encouragement how could I pray for you and on that particular morning a whole new church learned that commandment in a new way so Paul says about this quality of love keep it up and friends as I address you this morning and it's interesting I just recently actually Friday night I mentioned this to a new inquire class that this is not just a phrase on our mission statement to demonstrate God's love to all people I believe it's one of our core values to love each other deeply authentically and I just want to say to you this morning don't give up keep it up because loving each other sometimes it demands a lot of time maybe a heroic effort that maybe it involves resolving a difficult conflict it involves walking with humility and I'll just say to you this morning whatever costs just keep it up don't give up on this on this quality of loving one another Jesus says it's it's the main way the world will know that you really belong to me by the way you love each other that's Paul's primary message in verses 9 and 10 and now in the time we have left this morning I'd like to focus our attention on this remaining section verses 11 and 12 11 and 12 and I'd like to break it down this way because I see Paul giving us one guiding statement two applications and two results and being daylight savings time I thought that was pretty simple that I wouldn't lose you on that one statement two applications two results here's the first here's the statement get this make it your ambition to lead a quiet life you may relate to this modern day parable it was emailed to me it's from the Washington Post had to the bastard how never intended to go for an evening run but had no choice when his owner strut his leash in the car door and took off for a drive picture this now a motorcycle officer named Terry Filber was driving about 725 on Wednesday when he noticed a vehicle that appeared to have something dragging from it as the officer passed the vehicle he noticed that the dragging item was a basket hound on a leash picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could Filber gave chase as the car turned east on north 23rd and finally stopped but not until the poor dog reached the speed of 23 miles an hour the car's occupants a man and a woman jumped out when Filber told them that they were dragging the dog the couple became distressed calling tattoo tattoo tattoo eight months old appeared uninjured but Filber suggested that they take into the animal clinic to be checked out turned out he was fine why do I mention that because friends I'm convinced that that is a very descriptive picture of your life and mine every day that that's that's your routine you pick it up and you put it down as fast as you can and there is good reason that a particular friend used to be a friend friend of mine sent me this email because that's me I mean I read books like the contemplative pastor or how to balance competing time demands and I agree with every single thing that the officers are saying I really do but as I seek to make that work in my life I find that I have far more failures than successes maybe you can relate but then it is from the chaos that got offers these these wonderful words of instruction words that are filled with life and hope make it your ambition to lead a quiet life of course what's interesting to me is that a Paul gives us this challenge in a day where there are no Nintendo's or TVs no Game Boy cell phones Paul pilots computers no emails faxes no voicemails overnight shipping microwaves no drive through anything no walkman's car stereos no cars no express instant anything isn't it just a little ironic that Paul in a day where there is there is no such thing as a machine or electricity or any of those gadgets that sometimes speed up and clutter up our lives says to us make it your go make it your ambition to lead a quiet life I wonder what he might say to us today when's the last time you asked a friend how they were doing and heard this response my life is way too calm I am bored I don't have nearly enough going on in my life I doubt it more than likely what you hear is I am maxed out stressed out burned out I am out of control more likely that's what you hear and I tell you friend in a day where we we're busyness like a status symbol we need to be very intentional about that and here's why here's why because all of this hurrying and worrying and scurrying it stands in sharp contrast to the words of Jesus who said come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you what rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble and heart and you will find rest for your soul you see I'm convinced that we don't experience this kind of life in large part because we don't fully understand what Paul was saying here in verse 11 where he says make it your ambition in other words a you and I are not just going to drift into this quiet existence effortlessly we won't it's going to take thoughtful strategy it's going to take concentrated effort over the long hall many of you are familiar with the author Richard Swenson in a book he wrote some time ago called margins and Swenson highlights for us why this ambitious effort is so necessary it says the average desk worker has 36 hours of work waiting for them on their desk the same worker spends three hours of week just sorting through different piles I do that it's called denial just keep moving them around the average middle manager is interrupted 73 times a day you know why you come home stressed as part of it he says we spend an average of eight months of our lives opening junk mail we spend two years of our lives trying to call people who aren't in or whose lines are busy we spend one year of our lives searching for misplaced objects 20 million Americans are on Prozac 30% of them have misplaced their Prozac and they're even more anxious about that I just made that one up I just made that one up
not 1850 1850 the average person slept nine and a half hours 1850 the average now is seven and shrinking one of the major health problems facing our nation today is sleep deprivation some of you are catching up on your sleep right now and I think that's great maybe the most holy thing you do all day Archibald Hart Christian writer noted one survey where 85% of Christians said basically the only praying that they do is on the run and you begin to think about these words from Psalm 23 and they they feel strangely distant the Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leaves me beside quiet waters he restores my soul and maybe more and more these days you are longing to find that place quiet calm peace it isn't a great that Paul didn't just give us the statement he gave us two very concrete applications here's the first one make it your ambition to lead a quiet life here's the application to phrase to mind your own business some of you have been looking for that biblical principle all of your lives mine's your own business Paul says his concern is very clear people in this particular church in Thessalonica they were overly concerned with the affairs in the news and the goings on of other people to put it in modern terms a bunch of busy body and gassips it's what they were and this we must understand wasn't they're snooping and inquiry wasn't because they were interested in helping or because they wanted to encourage it was all about playing the competition and comparison game you know how that game works I imagine what it was like back then you know I just you know my neighbor I just found out honey my next door neighbor came home with two brand new designer tunics on sale clearance and her husband just leased a brand new luxury cherry y'all to see it is the game is all this time it's the oldest time at deep down you know it's not about celebrating with another person over some blessing or some possession that they have received what makes this whole thing really dark and so destructive is the underlying issue of envy when I put it this way it's not that you want your grass to be greener than your neighbors you want his grass to die and he knows exactly what he's talking about envy destroys community envy poisons relationships and so wise King Solomon said Ecclesiastes four four listen to these words and I saw that all their labor and all their achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor this two is meaningless and chasing after the wind see for now I'm convinced that part at least part of what keeps us from this quiet life the Paul is talking about it's not the external pressure it's not the pressure from the outside it's all this junk on the inside that drives us is that lie that all of us tend to believe from time to time deep in our hearts that who we are is how we look and what we wear and what we drive and where we live and what school we go to and for many of you this morning that's more than any other thing keeps you from a quiet life it's this never ending obsession to compare and to keep up and to compete I just kind of tell you this morning that will destroy your soul because it will breed envy and discontent in your heart it will rob you of joy it's just well and so Paul says if you want to lead a quiet life start by minding your own business learn to be content and thankful for what you have stop playing the comparison game because everybody loses at that game and then the second application flows from this Paul says work with your own hands and here it's important to understand the original context because after the ascension of Jesus there were many young Christians who believed that Jesus was going to return in their lifetime and so in their enthusiasm they sold their businesses and their homes and basically camped out and waited for Jesus Christ to come back and as a result those who remain diligent in their work and in their labor were forced into a very difficult position of providing financially and physically for them they do that for a week or a month that's one thing but this went on and on and on and on and there was a lot of resentment that had begun to build up over this and so while Paul stresses that we must always be ready always have the confidence that Jesus indeed is going to come back we don't know when and so we must live our lives as responsible citizens of being diligent to provide for our needs in the needs of our family until he returns they didn't understand that and Paul is very clear speaking to them work with your own hands don't be parasites don't expect everybody else to take care of your needs so if you have kids who graduated from college and maybe that's the message you're going to want to give them around the table today work with your own hands honey pastor told me so Paul says first mind your own business and then he says work with your own hands just as we told you I thought about us I thought about how this might apply to us because you know Paul says not only what we to take our attention and our gaze off our neighbor but on the positive side he says begin to develop and steward those things that God has entrusted to you that God has put in your hands you see if envy has its grip on my life not only does it poison my relationships but it also keeps me from celebrating my uniqueness it keeps me from seeing the many ways that God has blessed me it's a great little cartoon about a little boy says ever since I was a little kid I didn't want to be me I wanted to be Billy and Billy didn't even like me I walked like he walked I talked like he walked I signed up for the high school he signed up for I wanted to be just like him then Billy began to hang around herbie and he started to walk and talk like herbie and it mixed me up so I began to walk and talk like Billy walking and talking like herbie are you still with me then it dawned on me that herbie walked and talked like Joey and Joey walked and talked like Cory so here I am walking and talking like Billy's imitation of herbie's version of Joey trying to walk and talk like Cory and he know who Cory walks and talks like that little pest walks and talks just like me you see you start comparing yourself you start imitating somebody else things tend to get really goofed up here's the thing God has assigned every single one of us a station in life he's giving us gifts a personality he's giving us opportunities that are tailor made perfectly designed just for us and sometimes we're trying so hard to be someone other than the person that God has made us to be and as a result we just we just lead frustrated lives because we've really missed our uniqueness in his calling on us there's no joy in that Paul says make up your mind mind your own business focus on those things that God has put into your hands learn to celebrate your uniqueness make it your ambition make it your goal to develop those things that he isn't trusted to you and these last two results I'm just going to give you briefly here's the first one and it comes from verse 12 Paul says here's the first result so that you may win the respect of outsiders you need to know this morning that there's tremendous evangelistic power in a balanced life partly because it's just so rare it's just so rare and I've been living with that particular result that aspect of this passage asking myself this question and it'll be honest it's a question that has been a little unsettling for me here's the question does my life cause people to want to know and love Jesus more it's pays this complexity does it and more often than I would care to admit the answer is no and I'm asking God to help me with that I ask you the same question does your life it's pays this complexity it's general trajectory does it cause people to want to know and love Jesus more if not why and this is important because this is the major witness that we have of what we really believe about Jesus and his kind of life and Paul would say it speaks volumes to a world it will a wield tremendous gospel power a quiet kingdom centered bounce life and then here's the second thing he says as a result so that you will not be dependent on anyone you see friend once and Paul here speaking about those who've not been working but I think it really has a clear application for our lives because what Paul is trying to do is to convince these young Thessalonian believers that they're free they don't need to be dependent on anybody and again I think about our lives and I'm convinced that until we know to the core of our being that we are secure in the hand of God and that nothing in no one will ever snatch us away from him and until we come become convinced to the core of our being that neither life nor death nor height nor death or anything else in all of creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus and until we really understand that he who cares for the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and the grass in the field will care so much more for us because he loves us so much more than he loves them and until we become convinced that he who began this good work in us will see it through to completion until the day that Jesus comes again and that even as we sit here this morning even as you sit here this morning to know that he has given his angels charge concerning you to guard you in all of your ways lest you strike your foot even against the stone and see because all those things are true in thousands and thousands of other promises are also true of you you're free you don't need to depend on anybody not for their approval not for their acceptance you don't need to go after prestige and power and possessions to prove that you're really worth something you have been given worth because God Almighty has set his seal of approval and affection on you you are treasured by him you are co-air with Christ and one day you will reign with him for all eternity and all this by his grace so what does that mean you know what it really means to me I can lighten up and soaking you lighten up for Christ's sake lighten up if you belong to Jesus you can learn to relax in the Father's care to make a year ambition to slow down and cease striving and to know that Jesus is very strong and in him you have everything that you could could ever need or want or even imagine this morning so lighten up and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life as you rest in his perfect care for you amen let's pray together Lord we thank you and we adore you for your perfect care for your constant attention to the needs of our lives and we know that it must hurt you deeply to see us scurrying and hurrying and worrying as if it all dependent on us please forgive us and build an us a growing trust that because of your competency and your care this world is a perfectly safe place for us to be teach us to be quiet and to learn how to rest in you and this morning Father we would pray for those who may not know you savingly I would ask that you draw them to yourself that they might find for the first time in their life true rest and hope and forgiveness in Jesus and we pray this in his name amen