The Gospel in Word and Action

Practice?

Start with Allen Iverson Clip

That’s a press conference that for me ranks right up there with Coach Gundy’s “I’m a man, I’m 40” presser and Jim Mora’s “Playoffs” meltdown- references you get if you are a sports fan and probably don’t if you aren’t. But whether or not you have seen these before, I think there are a few things we can take from the Iverson clip that we just watched that should help set up our lesson today. First and foremost, is there anything in that video that gives you the idea that he cares about anything other than the games? Perhaps most telling to me is that in the middle of the clip, he makes a statement along the lines of “I know I’m supposed to be there, and I know I should lead by example” followed by a “but” statement that makes it obvious that he doesn’t really think that practice matters much in regards to leadership or meaningfulness. It’s “just” practice. I was in high school when this presser took place. I had both baseball and off-season football workouts going on, and every single one of my coaches lampooned Iverson and made sure that we knew that how we practiced definitely decided how we played, and whether or not we played.

And while this clips has obvious correlation to the world of sports, I do think there are some significant implication we can draw for our lives o faith as well. The temptation to create specific worship events and gatherings as the “sacred” moments and isolate them from daily life has been around forever. The most common accusation leveled against the people of Israel by the prophets is not that they eliminated the worship of God, but that compartmentalize it, and by doing so make God a small piece of the puzzle of their lives as opposed to making God the power that their lives fit into. The temptation to make God a piece instead of the whole hasn’t gone away. Even today, it is a very real challenge that we face, especially in a culture that pulls us in so many different directs, a culture who values quantity over quality, a culture that is more than happy to provide gods in our image for us to worship, and so often those are the gods that we pursue, relegating to God of all to a small box, a few hours during our week, and we worship as if Jesus is worth memorializing but our actions make clear that don’t believe that God through Jesus is worth allowing to transform our lives and our vision of the world around us. If the we speak of worship gatherings as game-time and our daily lives as “practice,” then our attitude towards serving God fully in the way we live each day isn’t much different than Iverson’s view of practice. I am reminded of a quote from a daily devotional I read where the author pointed out that Jesus never once said “worship me.” Instead, he repeatedly says “follow me,” suggesting that while times of “worship” are important, it is in the lived lives of followers that Jesus can and should be truly seen. Christian history is full of people arguing over, and in some cases going to literal war with each other over, the right way to organize, implement, and manage a few hours a week of church gatherings, and I probably don’t have to point out to you that if you’re taking a sword to another believer over the right way to “do church,” there are some key biblical principles you’ve missed along the way and yet far more energy has been spent over the last 2000 years on that than developing faithful lives. And I really wish I didn’t have to stand here and say that, but I think that we have to recognize that history has an influence over the way all people, us included, think of, speak of, and approach the christian faith. Jesus own answer in to the question of what defines sheep and goats is rooted in a person’s actions, the daily lives lived by individuals and how they served. In Jesus illustration, the marker of our faith cannot simply be defined by where we worship but is truly stated in how we serve in our community. At its core, our faith is one of words and actions, a life stated and lived. Practice matters.

Paul is

Last week we talked about how Paul celebrated the Thessalonian church’s imitation of him and Jesus. Imitation by definition is not simply shared words, but requires a shared or mimicked way of life as well. Paul is overjoyed that they live their lives the way that he lived while he was among them, because his way of living is in imitation of Jesus. As we move into chapter 2, Paul fleshes out exactly what they are imitating. He talks about how he lived while among them and thats what I want to unpack this morning.

Common English Bible Chapter 2

2 As you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, our visit with you wasn’t a waste of time. 2 On the contrary, we had the courage through God to speak God’s good news in spite of a lot of opposition, although we had already suffered and were publicly insulted in Philippi, as you know. 3 Our appeal isn’t based on false information, the wrong motives, or deception. 4 Rather, we have been examined and approved by God to be trusted with the good news, and that’s exactly how we speak. We aren’t trying to please people, but we are trying to please God, who continues to examine our hearts. 5 As you know, we never used flattery, and God is our witness that we didn’t have greedy motives. 6 We didn’t ask for special treatment from people—not from you or from others—7 although we could have thrown our weight around as Christ’s apostles. Instead, we were gentle with you like a nursing mother caring for her own children. 8 We were glad to share not only God’s good news with you but also our very lives because we cared for you so much.

What Makes Us Different

What Paul is talking about here is how he and his co-ministers lived while they were with the Thessalonians, which means if the Thessalonians have something from Paul to imitate, this is what it is- this is what it looks like. And Paul first states that their time in Thessalonica wasn’t a waste, wasn’t in vain. The better translation here, especially in light what follows, is that their visit wasn’t empty or hollow. Understood this way, Paul is saying that they didn’t come with an empty, hollow teaching- a way false teachings are often described- but instead showed with their lives that their words mattered. They didn’t just come and talk about faith. They lived it out. This spoken way of life is also worth imitating in practice. First and foremost, Paul here talks about living continually in the middle of opposition. They faced abuse in Thessalonica and then Berea in the same way that they had been mistreated in Philippi before they arrived. The recipients of this letter - given that this section starts with “as you yourselves know” - include people who would have seen Paul and his coworkers face that suffering and continue to serve in spite of it. That’s an incredible example that is worth imitating by the Thessalonian believers who are facing the same rejection from the same group that ran Paul out of town when he first came. And the only reason Paul was able to face that suffering, and therefore the only way the Thessalonians can face that suffering, is through courage found only by faith in God, because without that faith there’s nothing to hold on to. And it is God that is their primary motivator, not selfish gain or a desire to deceive. They weren’t moving from place to place teaching this good news for their own benefit. Their primary motivation was the growth of the kingdom, the spreading of the gospel, the good news as embodied by Jesus. And then Paul goes on to talk about how their time among them had not been for personal gain. Now to understand this passage better, you should know that during the first century, “traveling prophets” for lack of a better term were not uncommon. We have new testament references to magicians and teachers who gain followings and they traveled and worked among the people, but these individuals lived off of their followers, expecting and commanding money from those under their influence. When those people were discovered as shysters, they’d move on to another town and repeat the process, building wealth off the generosity of others. Paul here is essentially setting himself apart from those who do that, making it clear that he and his coworkers’ reason for serving is not for their own gain but because God’s love for them drives them to spread the gospel. Its a visible marker of the ways in which Paul and the good news that drives him are so different from what the cultural norm is. How Paul and his coworkers serve is an embodied message of the drastic difference between God’s mission and everything else. Paul doesn’t describe his role as a teacher offering up good information, but as a nursing mother deeply invested in the very lives of his children in the faith. They shared more than the information of the gospel, they share the whole of their lives in word and in actions.

The Importance of How We Live

What if we quit thinking of our weekly gatherings as “the event” and recognize these times together instead as our practice- the safe gathering of believers to build up and encourage each other to have the strength, courage, and desire to live the faithful lives we are supposed to live outside this building as we move through our daily lives. Our time together as believers shouldn’t be the event we spend our time waiting for, but instead should be the event that prepares us for our week so often spent away from encouragement.