1 Th 5:12-28

11 December 2005

3rd Sunday of Advent

“Gaudete”

            Here’s a test of your awareness.  Did you notice anything different as you walked in the church door this morning?  Maybe something overhead?  Maybe a large banner that says, “Rejoice”?

            Today, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, has traditionally been known as Gaudete Sunday.  That’s “rejoice” in Latin.  That’s what the pink candle symbolizes.  The idea has been that halfway through Advent—meant to be a season of penitence and reflection while awaiting the coming of Christ—there needs to be a time of encouragement and reassurance.  One of the scripture readings usually includes some word about rejoicing, such as today’s epistle reading.  In verse 16, Paul exhorts the Thessalonian church to “rejoice always.”

            Still, the apostle’s words might seem quaint to we task-oriented Americans.  We’re too busy to mess around with preparing for the coming of the Lord.  Rejoice always?  Who needs that kind of advice?  Doesn’t he know that the reason for the season is to…(remember last week?)…pamper ourselves with random acts of bling?  [See the sermon for Ps 85; 4 Dec 05; "Make Some Noise!"]

            It’s important to understand that Advent is at least as much about the second coming of Christ as it is about the baby in Bethlehem.  So with that in mind, Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5 present us with a nice little guide on how to do Advent.  Maybe a better way to put it would be:  how to be Advent people, how to be people who look for the Lord.

            At first glance, it may appear that our epistle reading is just a mish-mash of miscellaneous meandering.  It looks like a scattershot approach with words of wisdom a plenty.  The apostle seems to have some kind of attention deficit disorder.  Still, one can discern some method to the madness.  In verse 13, he tells his readers, “Be at peace among yourselves.”  Then in verse 16, as I’ve already mentioned, there’s the reminder, “Rejoice always.”  Living together in peace and joy tie together these apparently disconnected ethical imperatives.

            Last month I preached on the first part of chapter 5, in which Paul stresses the need to stay awake and build up each other, in view of the Lord’s return.  He now turns his attention to these closing comments to his friends in Thessalonica.

            The first thing we see, in verses 12 and 13, is a word about church leadership.  “[W]e appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

Different traditions have different types of government.  Presbyterian polity deliberately emphasizes joint clergy and lay leadership, at all levels—session, presbytery, synod, and General Assembly.  What we lose in efficiency, we gain in participation.  That is, we gain if we’re willing to help.

            After that, the apostle immediately says, “Be at peace among yourselves” (v. 13).  If there is turmoil at the local level, how can we bear witness to the peace of Christ to the world at large?

            One writer has noted, “Living for peace is central…[but it doesn’t] mean avoiding conflict or trying to be ‘nice and Christian’…It means engaging and confronting as well as comforting.”[1]  Look at verse 14:  “admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, [and notice this] be patient with all of them.”  When I think about that, I realize I am so far from where I want to be!  Still, if we have the desire to get to that place, God won’t drive past while we’re looking for a ride.

            We then come to the part of the chapter I mentioned at the beginning.  “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (vv. 16-18).  This isn’t “about endless prayers, lives filled with liturgical mutterings, or thoughts and conversations punctuated with ‘dearest Lord Jesus.’”[2]

            I’m reminded of a fellow student I knew at Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God in Lakeland, Florida.  (His name now escapes me.)  He was a really nice guy; I liked him a lot.  But sometimes, he gave me the creeps.  He had a tendency to conclude his sentences by adding, in a lower voice, “Praise God.”  It didn’t seem to matter what the situation was.  “Praise God.”  Maybe that was his way of interpreting Paul’s words.

            We worked together in the library, and one day, one of the librarians asked him to do something; I think it was go and shelve some books.  By this time, his response didn’t surprise me.  “Praise God.”  However, the librarian looked at him in a way I can best describe as quizzical.  I don’t know if she thought he was being funny…or being sincere!  (I’m not sure which would be worse.)

            Anyway, these verses have less to do with whatever elements of God-talk we sprinkle in our speech and “more to do with connectedness.  Elsewhere Paul speaks of walking in the Spirit.  It is about sharing the life of God, who might…interrupt our words and ask us for a hand to [actually] do something here and there.”[3]

            Among the advice the apostle dispenses is this little jewel:  “See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all” (v. 15).  That sounds suspiciously like that “love your enemies” stuff Jesus was known for.  I wonder, does Paul realize just how crazy that sounds?

            Right now in Iraq, there are many hostages being held, both Iraqi citizens and people from outside the country.  Four of them are with the group Christian Peacemaker Teams.  They’re being threatened with execution by some characters who call themselves the Swords of Truth.

            I’ve been aware of CPT for several years now.  They send “trained volunteers to the most dangerous spots on the planet, including Colombia, the West Bank, and Congo, to act as witnesses and advocates for ordinary people caught in violent conflict.”[4]  By committing themselves to nonviolence, they seek to take the words of Jesus and Paul very seriously.

            One of the captives is Tom Fox.  He spent two decades in the Marines, but after 9-11, he wanted to do something that he felt was more meaningful with his life.  So he went to Iraq with other Christian Peacemaker Teams volunteers to live in an ordinary Baghdad neighborhood.  As English-speaking Westerners, they’re able to navigate the occupation bureaucracy better than the locals, who often are frantically searching for arrested family members or seeking medical assistance.

            Before leaving the US, Fox issued this statement:  “We reject the use of violent force to save our lives, should we be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a violent conflict situation.  We also reject violence to punish anyone who harms us…We forgive those who consider us their enemies, therefore any penalty should be in the spirit of restorative justice rather than violent retribution.”  All this, coming from an ex-Marine.

            When I hear about people like this, it seems that, if anyone has a right to revenge, they do!  But not according to Jesus, who after all gets beaten within an inch of his life, and then receives the death penalty.  And not according to Paul, who himself is tortured and imprisoned several times, and then is executed by the state.

            And then I think how our squabbles are so much more insignificant.  We argue about stuff, comparatively speaking, that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, as my mom would say.  Am I the only one who thinks about this?

            Still, whether we’re literally dealing with matters of life and death, or if we just act like we are, our conflicts are, nonetheless, about more than meets the eye.  They’re rooted in spiritual struggle, regardless of however it appears in the physical realm.  In verse 23, Paul appeals to “the God peace” to “sanctify you entirely.”  Without spiritual formation, without spiritual development, it’s even more difficult to not play the game of repaying evil with evil.

            In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul is very specific:  “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power…For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (6:10, 12).

            If we can really get a hold on that, it becomes possible, in ever-increasing ways, to be at peace among ourselves…to be patient…to seek to do good to one another and to all.

            Tucked away in our scripture text is a warning about something that can, and does, throw a monkey wrench into the work of the church:  “Do not quench the Spirit” (v. 19).  Don’t quench the fire of God.  Don’t pour cold water on the things of God.  We all do this.  Do not quench the Spirit.  How do we do this?  In what ways do we quench the Holy Spirit?

            One way is by what we tend to call being negative.  But what we consider being negative, the scriptures consider to be sin.  The apostle James says, “Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.  Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged.  See, the Judge is standing at the doors!” (5:8-9).  That’s a perfect message for Advent!

            Paul helps define quenching the Spirit:  “Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil” (vv. 20-22).

            When we consider not despising the words of prophets, we should recall that prophets are those who speak the very word of God.  We can apply that to ourselves by not disdaining, by not disregarding, the word of the Lord when it comes to us.

            I’ve spoken of the Christian Peacemaker Teams.  I’ve sometimes wondered if I shouldn’t do something like that.  Is that God speaking to me?  I don’t know.  Paul also says to “test everything; hold fast to what is good.”

            At the retreat last month in Ligonier, PA, one of the men asked me if I’m a pacifist.  I had to admit that I’m not.  I said that sometimes I think force is necessary, but that we way too easily resort to violence.  The people of CPT are pacifists.  Will I ever be a pacifist?  Again, I don’t know.  Part of not quenching the Spirit is being open to how God wants to change me.

            Jürgen Moltmann has said, “Anyone who repays evil with good is truly free.  He [or she] no longer merely reacts.  He creates something new.  [She] follows nothing but [her] own resolve, and no longer lets the rules of action be dictated by [her] opponent.  Jesus did not die cursing his enemies, but with a prayer for them on his lips.”[5]  What incredible strength!  What awesome courage!  That’s how I want to be.

            Don’t let this season of Advent slip by without considering what it means for you.  Don’t just go with the flow.

            Does it seem impossible to walk the path of joy that Jesus and Paul, and unknown courageous people all over the world, have walked?  Does “Gaudete” seem like a trivial liturgical nicety?  Friends, remember that we are not called to remain at the surface, splashing around in the shallows.  Peace and joy are much more profound than that.  No, we’re called to plunge into the deep, to immerse ourselves in the deep things of Christ.

            If this still seems impossible, remember the apostle’s words to his friends:  “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this” (v. 24).

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