Affliction

Before we begin this morning. I have a simple announcement about our time following worship. Covid has been a difficult time for all of us and in the height of covid. We lost our beloved Natalie Lagoni. I was there at the graveside service and we've been and done that Memorial time. But Natalie had a strong imprint on so many of our young people and certainly many of us who worked in the Christian education, part of the ministry here at Second Reformed Church. And so today, following worship, outside We're going to unveil a portrait that will be hung in the Christian Ed Wing. And there's also cake for you as well. So, I just want to encourage you to make your way outside and have that time of appreciation with us All.

We've been journeying for a number of weeks now, in a study of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Or what it means to disciple someone else to follow Jesus.

Our method of doing this has been to be working through a portion of Paul's first letter to the church, in thessalonica, or thessalonica, depending on how you would like to say it. And in that letter, we have been discovering unearthing different aspects of what it looks like to be a disciple. Now last week we took a slightly different direction in that we pulled away from that first letter of thesalonica and we journeyed back into the Acts of the Apostles and we emphasized our missionaries that we support globaly three different missions that we lift it up. We spoke of the Fords who are in Beirut and of the hollanders who are in Borneo. And then also of the Janssens who are in Tokyo, Japan, And we lifted up each of them and got to see a little different aspect of what it means to be out in the world in mission to be a disciple of Jesus as well as to be discipling others. What does that look like? And each of those missionaries Lifted up, a particular need that we could help support. I think the Fords in Lebanon, lifted up that they need more books as the economy has crashed in Lebanon, and the cost of books has skyrocketed. The Hollanders in Borneo, Lifted up the need for our support of a home. That is available for when patients Christians, who are brought into the hospital that the families have nowhere to go. They need somewhere to stay at something similar to our Ronald McDonald house, but with a Christian thrust and the Janssens lifted up that bill, there's a wonderful new dorm has been built in the Seminary at which Wayne teachers. The Wi-Fi is less than good. And we have students who are having to go into a closet to get a good signal in order to do their work. So there was a need for addressing the Wi-Fi there. You all have responded graciously, last count, I think it's well over $7,000 that's been given to these three projects. Well, done. And so as we journeyed through this time of discipleship and taking that off ramp to look at our missionaries here, what happens this week, but when we get an emergency email sent out from the Fords who are again in Beirut Lebanon because you if you were watching your news you knew that a big Skirmish happened right there in Beirut and pretty awful event and the Fords. Let us know that they are Okay. And they are safe and they are not near that. But it reminds us of the difficulties of what it is to be out in the world. And it reminds us also that where we've been lifting up these many traits. These many aspects. He's many different views what it looks like to be a disciple that there is yet another one that we have not yet addressed and it's probably not our favorite and simply this in one word that view that aspect that we have not yet looked at is simply this. Affliction. Affliction.

We're going to encounter this word as we read and pick up our reading in the letter to the church, in thessalonica and 1st Thessalonians. The second chapter beginning at verse 17 and read the end of chapter 3 again. Second chapter beginning at verse 17. Let us pray. Oh, Lord. May you guide us in your word?

May your spirit be with us in this time. For you know what you want us to hear. You know what you want us to take in. You know what you want to press into our Minds and hearts.

So help us. Oh Lord this day this morning and through this week to not only hear your word but act upon it. We pray this Jesus in your precious name. Amen.

Remember now, Paul has been making a defense of himself and now he moves into the second chapter verse 17 when he says this, but since we were torn away from you, brothers and sisters for a short time in person, not in heart, we endeavored, the more eagerly. And with great desire to see you face to face. Because we wanted to come to you. I Paul again and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is Our Hope or Joy, or crown of boasting, before our lord? Jesus at his coming, is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Therefore when we could bear it, no longer we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy our brother in God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you in your faith. That no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer Affliction just as it has come to pass. And just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted. You and our labor would be in vain. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Affliction, it's not a fun word. It's a challenging word and it even challenges What we put on the front of our bulletin. David strand has graciously been putting these bulletins together for us on Sunday Mornings was eager to come back to and show to me the picture that he thought should be on the front cover. He showed me, the picture of the the painter, Edvard Munch the Norwegian, painter Edvard Munch. He showed me a picture of the scream.

He had me almost in tears, but it didn't make the cut.

Affliction. Affliction. This is not something we are eager to talk about. It's not something we're ready to lift up. And and and say, hey, this is what it means to be a disciple.

Let's remember where we are in our journey as a disciple. Paul has planted a young Church in thessalonica. He was there. We know, at least three weeks. Maybe a few weeks more. And only that links. It's a young recently established church. And Paul has been kicked out of that Community. Not the people of the church, but the others in the community have kicked him out. He's got great concern, for how that church is doing, how it was developing and now he's received word. That his very person is being undermined by the community. So that that young Church might be convinced to leave behind the teachings of Paul has shared with them, how better to undermine, but to attack the character of the person who first shared the good news. And so for weeks, now, we have been journeying through Paul's defense because it's given us a window and how Paul behave when he was among them.

First thing we looked at was his position. He lifted up an understanding that his position. Is that as a child of God that his position before God as he once saved by the grace of God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to forgiveness that he lives in allows him to be a child of God. And for that reason, he's bold his position, allows him to be bold. He then moved us into a discussion of what motivates him. What is his motivation? What's his reason for acting the way he does? It's like an actor. What's my motivation in this scene? And his motivation in each and every scene of life was to give pleasure to God to, please God. What does it look like to be a disciple? But to be bold. And because we're now in the presence of God, we are the children of God and to do everything we can to give God pleasure. And then Paul didn't stop there. He started to lay out for us. What that looks like. What was his manner, his behavior. And he gave us three separate images to help us and the church there, remember how he behaved when he was among them. He gave us an image of an infant that is to say that he was innocent when he was among them and that he was with Integrity. He was innocent in his behaviors. He gave us an image of a nursing mother to say that he was so caring of them. So invested in them that he would give everything for them. And then he gave an image of a father, a father in that Greco-Roman World, who's responsible for everything that comes out of the household. That image of a father who encourages challenges exhorts.

These were the images he gave for us as Disciples of Jesus. To be innocent in our behaviors. To be caring like a nursing mother for everyone around us and to exhort and encourage and challenge one another. In the faith. All these are just some of the defenses that Paul made of his character so that the church might be reminded who he was among them and that they need not start to abandon their faith because of who he was. That what was being said, about him wasn't true and that they were being reminded of how he behaved when he was among them. In other words, no matter what is being said. Look at what I've done. This is the comparison, he gives them. And in that we get to look over the shoulder as if through window through time and see the behaviors of a disciple of Jesus.

Now in the letter though, we're undergoing a shift. We're moving away from a discussion of Paul that never really was about Paul. And now, moving to the church itself. We're moving to some of the very reasons that Paul is now writing this letter. Not writing a letter because he wants to defend himself, but writing a letter because he's desperately concerned about the church that he had to leave fairly early in its infancy.

He's concerned about whether they are sticking with the faith. He's concerned that they're going to lose the faith because the afflictions are not just that Paul was under attack, but that they too are under attack. They're going through afflictions. Now, I've said a few different times through the study of What does that look like? We say that they were persecuted, that the church was persecuted and most of us get in our Mind's Eye. The idea that they were being chased with torches or they had to Hideaway in corners and for fear that their lives might be taken. That may have happened on some occasions.

We know of burning at the stake and things of that nature. But more likely the persecutions that they were undergoing and that Paul is speaking to is the persecution of what it is to be ostracized from society to be harassed. To Follow Christ in that day, in other words to follow one God and not many gods was to step outside of the cultural norms. And it wasn't just well you worship who you worship. And I'll worship who I worship this kind of plethora of Hey, you go your way. I'll go my way. It was an understanding that if you step outside of the cultural norms of worshipping, the gods that those many gods might bring judgment on the community such that. If anything went wrong in the community, people looked for a reason. They looked for who was not following in the path of the Gods. Which made these Christians? An easy mark. Remember years ago? A powerful storm came through in the community that we were pastors and we had this beautiful 1884 I think it was church and it's incredibly tall steeple, and the storm took the steeple, popped, it off, turned it upside down, and made it pierce through the roof like a pencil through paper. It was an incredible sight.

What was amazing was the number of people that came to us that week and confess their sins believing that that steeple, went through that roof because of what was going on in their lives. So the moment we start to think, while that was just an ancient superstitious Society. Let us remind ourselves that we too often wonder, is this happening to me because of something I've done wrong.

So the persecution this church was experiencing was a persecution that ostracised that's kind of turned away from them and and didn't let them participate. Think of Rudolph for example and reindeer games. And also harassed them at every chance.

This was a difficult time.

Sometimes, I think we forget. Being in the season of life, that so many of us Are, we forget the difficulty of what it is to live in this culture and be a follower of Jesus Christ. Many of us have already traveled a great part of life's Journey. We've found and lived through our careers. We've had our children and even now are blessed with seeing our grandchildren. We've established Our homes, paid off our mortgage. We've done a number of things in which we've made the many choices in life. And it's not so much that we forgotten is that. We've moved to a point that were not often being challenged with what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and the pressure that even our society can put Upon Us in the day-to-day decisions we've made. Many of us have already established our friend groups in and we're not really adding more to them.

but if we think back, And if we look at our children and our grandchildren, even now.

We remember and we can see the numerous choices that are yet before them. And the difficulty it is to make those choices and still follow Jesus. In a world where so often the world understanding of Jesus and the understanding of what it is to be a Christian is that it's a whole bunch of rules filled of do's and don'ts,

And that if you follow Christ, you don't get to have a fun life.

You don't get to taste the good things.

If you have any question as to whether I'm right or not.

Just take a look at the child in school. For a child in school. Who has experienced so little of life so far? Noah's inherent.

Who is and do the good in following Jesus when everyone else in the classroom isn't? Is the set oneself apart? To kinda stick out.

They know at a young age, the difficulty of what it means to conform. And that to be in The faith isn't necessarily part of the equation of conforming. We've coined a term for that through the many years what we call peer-pressure, right? We can look even into the lives of our children and school and see they inherently know that to follow Jesus completely. Is full of a world of choices in which ostracization and harassment are not far away.

Indeed. We still know that for ourselves, even in the many places that we have established life. We still know when not to lift up our voice. For fear. That it might impact our reality.

Paul is not just speaking to that church in thessalonica but he's speaking truths into the lives of what it means to follow. Jesus Christ. And his concern about these afflictions. Is that as he writes, you, he says that no one be moved by these afflictions. That no one be moved by these afflictions. Moved. It's funny. It's a, it's a word there That appears only one time in the whole of the New Testament and the whole scripture. It's a really rare word used this time by Paul. Now we can go back and read through the rest of our documents that we have the Greek documents through the whole of everything we have and we can find what this word means. Matter of fact, It's kind of funny this word. You'll love the origins. I think you'll remember this it comes from the image of a dog coming up to you with its tail, wagging back and forth. Right now I bet you even have a picture of a certain dog with its tail Just wagging fast. We've got a Schnauzer that doesn't really have a tail but we see that little stub going real fast.

That's where this word comes from. And what it originally was used for this word, was, it was used to express flattery? Because a dog comes with his tail. Wagging all excited, eager to see you. Giving you all sorts of phrase and excitement. Before you've done anything leading to, your just wanting to pet the thing.

The dog comes with a certain kind of flattery.

That was the original meaning of this word. However, another meaning started to arise. Another meaning for this dog, wagging, its tail. And that meaning Took a look at that tail and said, wow, that tail is very unstable. It never stays in the same place. It's always being moved.

So it came to mean an instability or being moved off point. And it is this meaning that Paul gathers that image and drops it in this place in his concern for this young church that they would too quickly be moved. By the afflictions, they were undergoing.

That's our concern. As Disciples of Jesus as ones who are working on what it is to follow Jesus, working on what it is. To remember it. Look at I'm a Child of God. Jesus bought-and-paid-for me. Jesus has died for me, has paid the price. Jesus has overcome my sins to give me a place in my father's house. A child of God. Because of that, I can be bold in life. I can do everything to give God pleasure, and please him. All these different things that we know we should do. We can find the reason and motivation to do. And yet, when we come up against the difficulty of life. Here, the real question. Of what will happen next? Emerges.

So, Paul is struggling. He's struggling and it's easy for him to write to them about afflictions, a subject. We'd rather not talk about, it's easy for him, to talk to them about it, because he himself is undergoing Affliction by the very fact that he can't get back to them. I want to remind you, that Paul's Journey. His very journey to the church when he first came to it was by being kicked out of Philipi. There, he was beaten and and it was awful.

And then when he got to Thessalonica is there for a few weeks before, some of the people there chased him out and the next Community he went to, well the people in Thessalonica found out about that and they came to that community and there again, he was chased out. Paul can't get back to them and it's killing him. He's suffering. And so, he writes. When he could bear it no longer. He determined to be left alone there in Athens, which is where he currently was and to send back his coworker in the faith, Timothy. Timothy is sent back to the church in thessalonica. And Timothy is sent back with two jobs. And here's what I hope us to remember this morning concerning afflictions. If it is true, that many of us have already seen much of life. And wonder what our part is in the church and what we can do next. Maybe it's time for us to take a page out of young Timothy's Journey.

For Timothy was called to do two things with this young Church.

He was called. As it said there. To establish. And to exhort them in the faith. To establish. and to exhort establish in other words, make sure there's a firm foundation. There's no other Foundation than Jesus Christ, but to go and to remind them.

Of who they follow.

Paul had already warned them when he was with them that they were going to suffer affliction. He appeals to that remember I told you so don't we love it as parents when we're in a position. It's the hardest thing isn't it? When we worn our children, we tell our children. This is going to happen and then it does and there they are before us, isn't it? It's just like delicious meat. They're sitting before us the words. I told you. so,

Paul's already told them so it's not a question and believe me. This is the way we approach it in North America. We hear about Affliction and we think yeah, okay. I know, I know but we hope and we almost have a secret belief in our heart that it won't happen to us. That somehow we will avoid it, or maybe it'll happen to someone else, but maybe we'll be stilled full enough to just simply avoid yet. But it's not a question of. If it's a question of when

And so now those afflictions have come upon them. And Paula sent Timothy to establish and to exhort to establish is to help remind about the foundation.

Think about it for a moment.

As grandparents. As adoptive aunts and uncles. What a position, we have to speak into a young person's life? Oh we know there's times they don't want to listen to us. But you know what, they already know somehow inherently that they got to listen to us. Sure. We might get a few eye rollings.

But we all want that person who has a strong Foundation somewhere in the background of our life. We have an opportunity to speak into lives of those who are on the front end of life.

You can do it in so many ways. You can do it while out with ice cream.

You ever had ice cream before with a grandchild? There holding the cone licking it. Have you ever done that? Where you say? That don't smell right? Does it? And they sniff it. Be a good grandparent. Will you push it right up into their nose?

Okay, you're all thinking. I'm an evil Pastor now, aren't you? Life is hard. Get a helmet, laugh about it, have some Joy with the young person and talk about, you know, sometimes life how it comes in a rough way. How do you handle that? There's so many life lessons right there before us. Okay, fine. You don't have to be the abusive grandparents, but you can drop a note, a car, a sticky note that tells them that you're behind them and encouraging them.

And what's that second part to exhort?

Exhort is also the challenge to push. Push through when it's hard. Coaching isn't so much as just about teaching the right skills and all the proper training. It's really about trying to get the best out of someone to get someone to be their best and to push through the difficult times. We all know what it is to Coast. We know all what it is to take it easy, or to be careful to keep things status quo, but to push through to do that one extra piece. That's hard. And we can do it when there's someone standing behind us, that is encouraging and pushing and challenging us but at the same time loves us dearly. It's going to be there to pick us up when we fall.

Timothy was sent back. This young guy was sent back. Young and self to establish and remember they were based in Christ. And then to speak to the challenges of what that means to follow Christ. And you can do this.

Affliction is a great chance to grow and become strong.

Coaches that win games. That are incredibly lopsided, have very little to go into the locker room and teach their students.

but when they go into the locker room after a hard-fought game where there's been mistakes and struggles, or maybe they won, but not because of themselves, but because of the other teams mistake, there's a lot to teach Afflictions, help us grow.

And Paul is not giving up because of the afflictions. He's pushing into them. And we need to remember in North America were so much of a gospel of Prosperity. Gospel is taught that if you just follow Jesus, everything's going to go well for you and you're going to have everything you want and and life is going to be good. You know what, that leads to that leads to a bunch of Christians, who bury the underside of their lives, the struggles in the pains and what happens if you come together as a church and you talk all nice with one another and everybody, dresses. Nice. We all talk well, but nobody shares All The Incredibles struggles that are really going on at home.

And you know what we become. Incredibly inauthentic.

The truth of the matter is, to be a follower of, Jesus Christ, is a world full of Affliction, because our Lord went to the cross, and we are called to pick up and carry our own cross as well. It is not an easy path. Is a path with a lot of struggle and a lot of strain, but it is a path full of Glory for our God. And the sooner we get to carry one another's burdens.

Establishing Once again, that the foundation is Jesus Christ and not ourselves. And exhorting. One another stronger, we're going to be

And the more we will give pleasure to our God. Let us pray.