A THANKFUL LIFESTYLE

Introduction

-{1 Thessalonians 5}

-One of my areas of interest in Christian academics is apologetics—the defense of the Christian faith in the face of opposing worldviews. One of the critiques that our faith often faces is in the area of the existence of evil. The argument normally goes along the lines of this: if God is all-powerful and all-loving, there would not be evil. But since there is evil, then there is not an all-powerful, all-loving God. While I don’t have time to give a full fledged rebuttal to that argument, the truth of the fall of humanity with it’s introduction of sin into creation along with the truth of God’s love demonstrated in the cross of Christ are more than adequate to account for the reality of evil and the solution to evil.

-But this is not a subject that is merely isolated to philosophical discussions in the classroom. It is a subject that is lived because evil affects everybody and every aspect of life. And Christians who know the truth are not immune to its reach. And so there is an existential crisis that Christians go through because their lived experience seems to be at odds with their faith or with their theology. We often refer to it as bad things happening to good people. And so we might struggle with living a faithful Christian life in the face of this seeming disconnect.

-And yet the Bible tells us to expect suffering, to expect trials, to expect opposition. And at the same time it tells us to live faithfully to the Christ who bought us through His own blood. How can we get to that point—some theologians call it suffering well. That almost sounds like an oxymoron because suffering is the opposite of being well. How can we develop faithfulness in the midst of hardship?

-I want to consider that today in the scope of thanksgiving. I am doing a short series on the subject of thanksgiving—the characteristic, not the holiday (although there is obviously a tie-in there). Specifically, having an attitude of thanks which leads us to more giving toward others. Last week I talked about the spirit of thanksgiving which was more about our inner attitude, our inner disposition. Today I want to talk about developing a thankful lifestyle—living in a way that demonstrates the spirit of thanksgiving.

-In the small passage that we are looking at today, Paul gives several exhortations toward a faithful Christian life in the midst of hardships. It teaches us that because of what we have received in Christ, we are able to develop the lifestyle of thanksgiving. So, I pray it is an encouragement for you that no matter what you are facing, the thankful lifestyle is something that can shine through you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 LSB

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

-{pray}

-To give some context, Paul had planted a church in Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. Almost immediately Paul and the church faced opposition and persecution. The church leadership was dragged in front of the local authorities and were treated very abusively, and Paul had to be smuggled out of town for his own safety. And the hardships for the church did not stop after Paul left. Not long after, probably while he was in Corinth, Paul wrote this letter to help the church face persecutors, false teachers, and many other issues.

-And near the end of the letter, Paul gives several instructions to exhort the church on how to live faithful lives. It’s almost like getting hit with birdshot—Paul just shoots out all these seemingly scattered instructions that kind of hit you all over the place. But the section talks about how to have a healthy faith. Part of the lessons include living a lifestyle of thankfulness. And in context the three verses that we read this morning are grouped together, and seems to show a progression of lifestyle choices that can get you to that thankful lifestyle. So, let’s consider what each verse tells us. First, we are told to:

1) Find our joy in the Lord

-Paul is writing to a church that is going through some hard times, and he just lays it our there: Rejoice always. From an uninformed, merely human standpoint this can almost seem like a slap in the face, or it might seem like a condescending platitude. When you are going through trials, the last thing on your mind is rejoicing. Frankly, when you are going through hard times, and if someone would come up to you and say REJOICE ALWAYS without having a deeper theological context, you’d feel like slapping them upside their head.

-But that’s why we need to consider the fuller context. Paul is not saying rejoice because of your hardship or rejoice because you have a trial. It’s not like you’re going to say, “THINGS ARE ROUGH! MY LIFE STINKS! YAY!” It’s more of a rejoice in spite of your hardship. But it’s not one of those pep talks as if Paul were saying: Look, you just got to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get on with it. Rather, Paul is pointing you to the One who is your ultimate source of joy for all times. As he tells the Philippians:

Philippians 4:4 (LSB)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

-He’s saying that wherever you’re at in life you can rejoice, not because of your circumstances, but because of your Savior. You rejoice in Him because of who He is and because of what He has done and because of the eternal impact of it all. Paul doesn’t say rejoice in your own strength or rejoice in your stick-to-itiveness or rejoice in your perseverance. You can rejoice always because you can rejoice in the Lord.

-Now, he’s not trying to minimize or negate someone’s pain. You can experience and express what you are truly feeling and experiencing, and yet maintain your joy. Elsewhere, Paul said:

Romans 12:15 LSB

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep,

-This isn’t a call to deny your circumstance, but to transcend your experience. You can weep and rejoice at the same time. You weep because of the evil, and yet you can rejoice in the One who ultimately has defeated that evil. So, as Paul says elsewhere, you can live a healthy, faithful Christian life in this way:

2 Corinthians 6:10 LSB

10 as sorrowful but always rejoicing, as poor but making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

-It almost seems like a contradiction or a paradox—I am sorrowful and poor and lacking, and yet at the same time I can live in joy, as if I am rich and possessing all things, because I have a Savior who has overcome. And because I am in Him, I too will overcome—if not on this earth, then at least in eternity.

-That is why Jesus Himself can say things like:

Matthew 5:11–12 LSB

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

-For this specific instance, if your hardship involves suffering through persecution because of your faith in Christ, you can rejoice because it is further confirmation that you belong to Christ, Christ will reward you for your faithfulness, and you join the company of some of the most famous saints in history: the apostle Peter, the apostle Paul, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, William Tyndale, among many others. My joy is in the Lord, not because of what I am experiencing, but because I know to whom I belong for eternity and there is nothing that can change that fact.

-And that might be a big help for us here in this progression—joy is based on fact. Too often we relegate joy to a feeling—I have joy when I feel joyous (meaning I am stress-free, overwhelming happy, almost giddy). But joy has nothing to do with feeling. My joy is based on the fact of Christ being God the Son who died on the cross, who rose again, who has given me eternal life, and who has endowed me with His Holy Spirit. And because of these facts, I can rejoice always.

-I find my joy in the Lord. I rejoice that He has a perfect, holy, loving character. I rejoice because He paved the way for my eternal salvation and security. I rejoice because I am filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I rejoice because God is always sovereign no matter what is going on around me. And I am able to rejoice in these things because these things won’t change. No matter the trials I go through here on earth, I lose none of my eternal blessings in Christ. So, my reasons for joy are unchangeable. This is the first step toward healthy Christian living and developing a thankful lifestyle. Then, secondly, Paul tells us to:

2) Find time to commune with the Lord

-When something is a source of joy for you, you desire to spend as much time with that person or thing as possible because they feed into your joy. Well, the Lord is our ultimate, eternal source of joy, so it would only be fitting that we would desire to spend time with Him. If Christ is the One in whom we can rejoice always, we would want to bring ourselves close to that source of joy as much as possible.

-So, Paul says to pray without ceasing—or some translations might say pray constantly. Constantly and consistently go to your source of joy and seek Him for the strength you need to keep going. Instead of sulking in your sorrow and looking inward for some sort of relief, you look out and up to the One who is your joy. The word for prayer means a worshipful approach to God to petition Him for our needs. I am going through hardship, if for some reason I decide to stay away from the Lord instead of seeking the Lord, my joy diminishes because I am staying away from my source of joy. So, instead, I go to that source of joy to seek Him about everything that’s going on in my life.

-When Jesus taught about prayer, He taught to be consistent and persistent in it, and then you will see God work in many ways. In Luke, this is what He taught:

Luke 11:5–13 LSB

5 Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot rise up and give you anything.’ 8 “I tell you, even though he will not arise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 “But what father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 “Or, if his son asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

-You notice in what I just read, it literally could be translated constantly ask, constantly seek, constantly knock. And that fits in with Paul saying to pray without ceasing. But that sounds like an impossible task—how can we pray without ceasing. We have to sleep (so we can’t pray then). I can’t pray all the time at work, otherwise I’d get nothing done. If I’m sitting in class, I have to pay attention so I can pass the test—I can’t pray and pay attention to the teacher at the same time. So, it must mean something other than be in a constant state of prayer 24/7.

-It means that you go throughout your day just communing with God as time and circumstances allow. This doesn’t mean that we neglect those specific times of prayer where we spend an extended time with God. There is definitely a time for that. But when you are just going about life, you keep an awareness of God. And as something is brought to mind, or as maybe your circumstances are obsessing your thoughts, you go to God in prayer right where you are. It doesn’t have to be some long theological dissertation, but just a pause in what you are doing for a moment to lift this request up to God.

-So, you’re walking down the hallway of your school, on your way to class. You see a fellow student who has had something tragic happen in their life. At that moment you can’t stop to pray with them, otherwise you’ll be late to class. So, what do you do? While you’re walking you lift that student up to God in prayer, asking God to work in their life, help them in their need. You have an awareness that you are always in God’s presence, and you can commune with Him at any time and at any place.

-You’re working on a project at your job, and God brings to your remembrance that a member of your church family is going through a medical procedure that day. You can’t leave your post and find a prayer closet to spend an extended time in prayer, so what do you do? You pause a moment at your desk and you lift that brother or sister up in prayer, aware that God is always present with you, and you can commune with Him at any time and at any place.

-But, considering the specific circumstances of the church in Thessalonica, when you are going through hardship or a trial, you remember that you can commune with God any time and any place, and as your heart is burdened and heavy for yourself and others, you can immediately lift that burden up to God in prayer right where you are at. There is no need to let it linger. There is no need to allow the pressure to consume you. You can find time to commune with the Lord right then and there.

-John MacArthur gave a list of motives to seek this type of communion with God that includes prayer. First, because you want to see God glorified in your every circumstance. Second, you desire a close fellowship with God at all times. Third, we are dependent on God to meet all of our needs. Fourth, God alone is the fount of all wisdom for living. Fifth, God alone can deliver you from your trouble. And sixth, God alone can relieve you of your fear and worry because of your trouble.

-So, the progression in this healthy Christian lifestyle is that your rejoice always in the Lord. And because He is the source of your joy, you commune with Him, especially in times of prayer. And the next verse is closely tied to this because if you read Paul’s epistles, his prayer is consistently tied with thanksgiving. For example, Paul tells us:

Colossians 4:2 LSB

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving;

-So we find our joy in the Lord, we find time to commune with the Lord, and thirdly we:

3) Find reasons to thank the Lord

-Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. When you rejoice always and pray constantly, you are reminded of many ways and reasons to give the Lord true thanks. This is not merely some interjection you spout out when something seems to go your way, so it just kind of slips out: OH THANK GOD, or, THANK THE LORD. That’s not really recognizing God’s work in your life with true thanks. Those kind of sayings are more like just relief that you seemed to have gotten some good luck in your life. Although, we know theologically that there is no such thing as luck.

-True thanksgiving is a recognition that my source of joy, the one with whom I can commune at all times, has sovereignly and providentially worked mightily in my life. There is nothing in my life that is left up to chance. There is nothing going on in my life that God is unaware of. I can thank Him for what He has done for me in the past, I can thank Him for what is, and I can thank Him for what will be. A healthy Christian lifestyle is one where God’s person and works are constantly appreciated.

-Paul says in everything give thanks. Notice, it doesn’t say give thanks FOR everything. It says to give thanks IN everything. What he is driving at is that you might be going through a mess, but even in the middle of the mess you can find things to be thankful for. So, it’s not thanking God for everything including your trials. It’s not saying things like: I CAN’T PAY MY BILLS, THANK YOU LORD. I’M GETTING EVICTED, THANK YOU JESUS.

-But, I am thankful even in the midst of my trial. Along with rejoicing always and praying without ceasing, this thankfulness centers me on my Sovereign instead of on myself or my circumstances, and allows me to see how He is actually working in my midst. And we find that even in trials there are still good things that are happening that I can be thankful for.

-But even when the trials seem overwhelming, we can be thankful for theological truths about God and what He is able to do through the trials. For example, we can be thankful for the truth found in:

Romans 8:28 LSB

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

-At very minimum we can always rejoice that Jesus is our Savior, pray to God through that Savior, and thank Him that He has saved us from the coming wrath. But when we rejoice and commune with God, we really prime the pump of thankfulness so that we are more aware of God’s work around us, that even in the midst of everything we still find so many reasons to thank God because He is working everything for good. This is a healthy Christian lifestyle. The world, the flesh, and the devil will try to get you to concentrate on yourself and your problems. But in Christ you truly can rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. That’s God’s will for our lives.

Conclusion

-Maybe a biblical illustration of this comes from Paul’s own life. According to the book of Acts, during his second missionary journey before he came to Thessalonica, he started mission work in Philippi. He got some folks mad and he and Silas were thrown in the bowels of the prison, with hands and feet locked in chains. Instead of complaining about the injustice of it all, they found their joy in the Lord that saved them, they communed with the Lord knowing He was right there in the prison cell with them, and they were able to be thankful for the blessings the Lord provided despite their circumstance. That was their lifestyle. It showed through as they sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving.

-Paul lived that lifestyle, and we can too. Christian, how is your thankful lifestyle progressing? Maybe you want to come to the altar and ask God to help you develop this lifestyle, or come just to thank Him for something.

-But there may be some here who cannot rejoice because you do not know Jesus. Jesus died on the cross and rose again to give you eternal life. If you place all your trust in Him, you have everything you need to rejoice, commune with God, and give eternal thanks...