I Thessalonians 5:16-24
Paul is concluding a letter to a band of Christians who had expected a different future than they were experiencing. For some reason, they believed the Second Coming would have already taken place and they would be living in a time of peace and safety. It didn’t happen. So Paul wrote to assure them of God’s care and that God’s plans were still on track and were still God’s plans.
His final counsel speaks to people at the beginning of a new year.
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“Rollover.” What might have once be reserved as a command for a dog means something different in the age of mobile phones, investments, and such.
For example, in some mobile phone contracts you’re limited to a certain number of minutes per month. Let’s say your contract allots you 500 minutes. Use more than 500 and you pay extra; used fewer and you’re fine. But what about those minutes you didn’t use? In most plans they’re lost, like they never existed.
But, in some plans, those minutes “rollover” to the next month. So, if you use only 475 minutes one month, the unused 25 minutes are added to your next month’s minutes.
Rollover minutes can be a good thing. This morning I want to talk about some things we ought to rollover into this New Year. Be let me begin by talking about some things we ought to leave behind.
Don’t rollover old animosities. No doubt during the past year you were hurt, mistreated, "dissed" by someone—maybe a co-worker, maybe a friend, maybe a family member—and the wound was real and hard to take.
No matter how much you’d like to repay that person, don’t roll that anger and bitterness over into the New Year.
Remember how Paul told the Ephesians they were not to “let the sun go down” on their anger? Paul would certainly have reminded them not to carry those feelings from one year to the next.
Don’t rollover old failures. It’s easy to let the memory of failure keep us from trying again. The truth is, history is filled with successful people who began as failures. Westminster Chapel stands in the shadow of both Westminster Abbey and Parliament; it is one of the most influential churches in the UK. For many years, the pastor of Westminster Chapel was G. Campbell-Morgan. During the early twentieth-century, his preaching was known throughout the English-speaking world. But in 1888, when he preached his “trial sermon” to enter the Wesleyan Methodist ministry, he failed so miserably that he was rejected. If he had rolled over that failure into the rest of his life, he would have never stood up to preach again.
I could probably speak of other attitudes and actions we shouldn’t rollover into the New Year but I want to move on to other issues.
What are the qualities we ought to rollover into the New Year? (And, if we can’t roll them over because we don’t possess them, what are the attitudes we ought to develop so we can properly begin this year?) But I’m going to begin on an optimistic note and say we already possess these qualities to some degree so I’ll shape what I say on that note.
As we begin the New Year, may each of us rollover an attitude that says, “I’m going to keep on rejoicing.”
These were tough demands for the Thessalonians and they are tough demands for us. Crime seems rampant—especially crimes against the most innocent. We all have loved ones, family or friends, who are out of work. How can we rejoice?
We need to remember that joy transcends circumstances. Joy, unlike happiness, is unrelated to our circumstances. Davis explains:
[Joy is] a delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure. From a biblical perspective it is not limited by nor tied solely to external circumstances. Joy is a gift of God, and like all of his other inner gifts it can be experienced even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.
This is why Paul, writing as a prisoner of Rome, could tell the Philippians of his great joy. His situation was tough but it couldn’t touch his joy.
Keep something else in mind. God intended the assembly of believers, the congregation, to be a place where we share our lives. In the profound twelfth chapter of Romans Paul says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” When we’re going through a rough patch, we often resent being around those who are rejoicing in one of life’s special moments. When we’re on top of the world, we don’t like being around those who are facing problems—we don’t want them to dampen our enthusiasm, to bring us down. Yet, we’re not to allow what is happening in our lives to determine how we respond to what is happening in the lives of others.
When Paul says “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep,” he’s reminding his readers, “Not everything is about you.”
Rejoicing at the good happening in the lives of others takes us, at least momentarily, outside ourselves. It allows us to think about something positive for a while, to nurture hope for the days to come.
As we begin the New Year, may we each rollover an attitude that says, “I’m going to keep on praying.”
Many of us know prayer as a mystery. We don’t fully understand it. I used to ask myself, “How does prayer work?” Lately, I’ve begun to wonder if prayer doesn’t work; or, maybe, prayer isn’t about getting something done, but about relishing a relationship.
If we think of prayer only as a practice that ought to “work” when we need something, we may be disappointed when the process doesn’t seem to work when we’re facing tough times.
There’s nothing wrong with asking God for things when we pray. Jesus taught us to pray for “daily bread.” But is prayer no more than asking and receiving?
When we were in England we visited the world famous British Museum. You could go there every day for a week and still not see everything on exhibit. I still remember standing before the Rosetta Stone, the tablet that gave scholars the clues needed to understand hieroglyphics. I remember thinking, “This isn’t a copy—this is the Rosetta Stone. “
Well, the museum also has a store where you can by all kinds of souvenirs. Imagine going to the British Museum, only visiting the store, and leaving with the idea that it was just a good place to get a bagful of colorful pencils or key rings. You have your trinkets but have ignored the opportunity to gaze on the many icons of history in that museum.
Now, I imagine thinking that prayer as a good way to get a square meal, all the while ignoring the possibility of being transformed by standing in God’s presence, is a little like that.
I found this anonymous description of prayer.
“In praying, we must not forget that our prayers are to be answered. Some are answered just as we wish; some are answered in a way different from that we wish—in a better way! Some are answered by a change in us; some by a change in others. Some are answered by the giving of a greater strength to bear trials, and some by the lifting of the trials. Some at once; some in years to come; and some await eternity.”
Continual prayer, despite our circumstances, allows us to remain in touch with the One who can change our circumstances or change us.
Part of that change in us may be a deeper appreciation of our need for God’s grace. It shouldn’t happen, but when things go well for a long time, it’s easy to begin thinking that we can handle everything on our own. Paul would have us recall that we never outgrow our need for prayer. Genuine prayer helps us live in light of our dependence upon God for direction and protection. That’s a good way to begin a year where nothing seems certain.
As we begin the New Year, may we each rollover an attitude that says, “I’m going to keep on giving thanks.”
Instructions like this make us want to say, “Paul, you’ve got to be kidding.”
Perhaps the toughest thing Paul asks is for us to give thanks in all circumstances. Maybe that’s why he underscores what he asks by saying, “this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Remember what Paul is asking us to do “… give thanks in every circumstance.” Montgomery’s translation is important. In fact, English translations almost universally see that the thanksgiving is not "for" the circumstances but "in" the circumstances. (NJB and Williams are exceptions.) The difference may be small but it is important. This allows us "no matter what happens" to be thankful because God is God, unchanged by the event which assault us, and continuing to work out his will in our lives as Christians.
This understanding keeps us from the foolish suggestions that we ought to give thanks for cancer, that the believer facing tragedy or loss ought to give thanks for the learning experience, or that wishing things could be different is somehow an affront to God.
At the same time, there is a place for thinking through a tough situation to discover grounds for maintaining “the habit of giving thanks.” There’s an Indian proverb that says, “Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank him for not having given it wings.”
Such an attitude of habitual thanksgiving keeps in mind that “God is with us whatever befalls us,” as A. T. Robertson says.
As we begin the New Year, may we each rollover an attitude that says, “I’m going to keep on discerning.”
Look again at verses 19 to 22. I’m not going to try to explore everything they imply but, instead, focus on the gist of Paul’s instructions.
These instructions are based on the remarkable fact that God speaks to us, that he does not leave us to second-guess what he would have us do. He does this through his Word and through his Spirit who is active in the church.
At the same time, Paul knows that there are people who say, “This is what God wants us to do…” but who really don’t have a clue. They may be deliberately misleading the church or they may be so sold on an idea that they unconsciously imagine God has given it his approval.
These two facts: the fact that God still speaks to us and the fact that we can get it wrong leads to two options. The first option says: it’s too dangerous to listen to anything anyone says comes from God. For some folks, this is especially true if it involves doing something in a new or different way. This seems to have been the Thessalonian response. They became guilty of treating what God was saying to them with contempt, despising it.
The second option says: what God says to us is important, it is a reflection of his grace; we need to hear it while making sure he’s really speaking to us.
This second option is the one Paul was advocating. It involves discernment. It involves weighing and considering what anyone claims to be God’s instructions.
If someone brings an idea to us, whether they say it’s from God or not we need to evaluate it in light of the Scripture, our Christian worldview, and, frankly, common sense.
If we determine the notion is valid, we ought to act on it. If not, we are to avoid it.
Peterson’s The Message seems to underscore this meaning and application. He paraphrases verses 21-22: “On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.”
This is not always easy. If a member of a church like ours said, “I think the Lord would have us engage in witness and evangelism,” we could agree that such counsel squares with Scripture and might be a valid challenge from God to us. But, what should we do if that member said, “I think the Lord would have us engage in witness and evangelism by pooling all our resources to buy a television station?” For a church like ours to assume such a debt would be foolish and harmful.
Most of the decisions we have to make won’t be so easy but we still have to make them.
And let me apply this call to discernment to the larger world outside the world of the church. This is an election year. In the year to come, there will be voices telling you this is what Christians must do. In the year to come, there will be voices telling you this is the sure fix for this or that problem.
We’ll need the same kind of thoughtful discernment to keep from being gullible.
As we begin the New Year, may we each rollover an attitude that says, “I’m going to keep growing.”
This beautiful benediction contains a reminder and a promise. It reminds us that we’re not all we might be, that there are areas in our life where we need to grow if we are to be more Christlike.
The much-joked-about tradition of New Year’s resolutions confirms this. But New Year’s resolutions are rooted in self-reliance. We believe we must win the victor over some habit on our own or we must attain some new level of spiritual growth by our own efforts.
Paul doesn’t deny we have a role to play if we want to grow, but he reminds us that God is the guarantor of our growth.
Paul says, God is faithful.
This is reminiscent of Paul's promise to the Philippians, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:6) The God who called us to salvation would not leave the work half-done. It would be a reflection of his character, for he is faithful (trustworthy).
Paul would remind the Thessalonians of God’s faithfulness again when he wrote his second letter to them. “But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3) In the faces of challenge, it was important for them to remember that. It’s important for us to remember it as well.
Leon Morris wrote, “It is not in the unstable qualities of men that trust must be placed, but in the eternal faithfulness of God. It is profoundly satisfying to the believer that in the last resort what matters is not his feeble hold on God, but God’s strong grip on him.”
Can we hope to grow during the coming year? Only if we rely on God’s grace and power to change us.
Conclusion
Let’s begin the New Year with some goals. The ideals Paul lists here is a good place to start.
