01 Advent 3rd Sunday in Advent
My friends, I greet you this morning in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our lesson for today comes to us from the 5th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. Beginning with the 16th verse. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Rejoice always. What? Yeah right. I mean come on Paul. Really? Rejoice Always? I mean isn’t it more realistic to say rejoice most of the time. That would be hard enough. But always? I just don’t know about that. What do you think? Do you rejoice always? There are certainly many times to rejoice in life; the birth of a baby, a baptism, a marriage, graduation. Life is full of blessings and happy times. Life is full of moments to rejoice in. But it’s not always that way. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I don’t want to rejoice, I want to retreat.
I was on the phone earlier in the week. “You know,” the voice on the other side of the line said, “with all the stress of shopping and paying the bills, it is just too much. It really makes me hate the holiday season.” I was blown away. I mean if there is a season to be rejoicing it is certainly this season. And yet somehow the voice, perhaps overwhelmed by the media’s unrealistic portrayal of the holiday season and the pressure of living up to that, had grown to hate the season. Rejoice? Not this time. Retreat seemed more like it.
What do you think? Rejoice always. Personally I think Paul means it. He is telling the Thessalonians to rejoice always. And this is a group of people who are not having the easiest time being Christians. They are suffering from persecution. They are suffering from false teaching. It is no small or easy matter to be a Thessalonian Christian. And yet it is in this context that Paul instructs them to rejoice always.
You and I live in a different world. But it is one that is no easier to live in. There is no lack of pain, suffering and injustice in our world. We deal with sickness and debts and rising expenses. There are so many expectations that are placed on us between work and school and home and sports and all the things that we do, that we can’t fulfill all of them. It is no small or easy matter to be a Christian today. And yet it is in this context that the instruction comes to you and me. Rejoice always.
And let’s face it. We all know that even if things seem to be going along fine now, there will come a point in time when something happens that will make us want to retreat, and rejoicing will be the last thing we feel like doing. So what about those moments when I don’t want to rejoice? What about those times when all I want to do is retreat?
Personally, I have never met a wemmick. But they are a peculiar bunch of little wooden people. Max Lucado tells us all about them in his book You are Special. Wemmicks go around their little town and they stick stickers on each other. If you are a good wemmick, and you do something extremely well, then you get a star sticker. If you are less than the best, if you make a mistake then you get a dot placed on you. And this is what they did day in and day out.
Punchinello is one of the wemmicks who was plastered with dots. Wouldn’t you know it, he was walking and fell down and scratched his paint and someone came up to him and put a dot on him. It was terrible. It was certainly not something that brought about rejoicing. Punchinello wanted to retreat.
You heard the story. He happened upon a wemmick who did not have any stars or dots. Someone would place a sticker on her and the sticker would fall off. It would not stick. Punchinello inquired about this curious occurrence and he was informed that the reason the stickers did not stick was because she spent time with Eli, the creator of the wemmicks.
Buried under a bunch of dots, not a time to rejoice, Punchinello decides to retreat. And when he leaves, he goes to his maker to Eli. There he learns that he is indeed special. He discovers how much he is loved and valued. It is there, in the arms of his creator that Punchinello is able to rejoice.
For you and me. When we are burdened with dots in our lives. And rejoicing seems rigorous. It is in those times that we need to retreat. But not out in the middle of nowhere, though sometimes quite is nice. Not into ourselves, though sometimes understanding our thoughts and feelings is helpful. Rather when we want to retreat, we retreat into the arms of our God.
These arms are strong and comforting. You look down at the hands and see the scars from the nails. These arms are loving. These arms bring good news to the oppressed. The bin up the brokenhearted, they proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners. They comfort all who mourn. The give a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. They give a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
Our God was not content to allow us to be lost and separated from him by our sin. So through the death and resurrection of his son he has restored us to himself. Which means that we have everlasting life. And in that everlasting life we have hope. So that no matter how bad things may be, we know that when all is said and done, they will be perfect. And so we look for that day when he will return. Because it is on that day that there will be no more pain or sickness. There will be no more sin or death. There will be no more tears. This is what Advent is all about. In this season we are not just looking for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming as a baby in Bethlehem. But we are also looking for his return.
And that is not all. We don’t have to just sit around and wait for that end to come. Because in addition to the everlasting life that we have for Jesus’ sake, we also have the gift of a relationship with him. We live in communion with our God. Just as Punchinello went to go see Eli, you and I are able to go to our God. We can go in good times and in bad. He listens to us. He comforts us. He provides all that we need. He comes to us in the hearing of his word. He comes to us in the waters of baptism. He comes to us in, with and under the bread and wine in Holy Communion. When we want to retreat, we retreat into his arms. We retreat into the arms that were nailed to a tree.
It is in those arms, that you and I are then able to rejoice. It is in those arms that we are able to rejoice always. If we were on our own we would certainly not be able to rejoice. But in the arms of our God we can.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that this means that we are to always be happy and to feel feelings of happiness and joy and excitement. We need not be manic. Rather rejoicing in the arms of God is knowing that he is there, right there with you. That he provides and will give you all that you need. And that he loves you so. With the Lord on your side, who can be against you?
“Rejoice always. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus that you do this. Don’t put out the Spirit’s fire. Don’t despise what God has revealed. Instead, test everything. Hold fast to what is good. Keep away from every kind of evil.”
What a list. If it took us this long to get through rejoice. Then you better get comfortable because there are seven more items here. On a more serious note, there is something I want you to realize about this list. This list paints a picture of the Christian life. You want to know what a Christian does? This is it. Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks. Don’t quench the Spirit, Don’t despise what God has revealed. Test. Hold fast. Keep away from evil. These are not here as a checklist. But, again, they are a description of what a Christian is.
We rejoice in the arms of our God. Because of the close relationship that we have with him. Because of the communication that we share, our lives become conversations with our God. So that in all that we do we are praying without ceasing. Knowing God’s great love in our lives and promises to us, we are able to give thanks no matter what. We trust in the work of his Spirit and love the words he speaks to us. Testing what we hear, even the words of this sermon. Holding fast to what is good and staying away from what is not.
And here is thing. And this is so cool. We have this life, this relationship with our God, but the implications of that do not end on an individual level. It doesn’t end with me and Jesus. Rather it carries on into our community here, and beyond that into the community around us.
What a tremendous blessing to be surrounded by people who are living life in the arms of God. Who are able to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and to give thanks in all circumstances. And this is yet another good gift that our God gives to us. He has given you to me and me to you. We are in this life together. We are in this mission, his mission, to go and make disciples together. Though we feel alone at times, we are never really alone. And so we rejoice.
And this is the message of comfort given to the Thessalonians in our lesson. Though they are caught in the midst of persecution and trial, those things cannot separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And so they have hope, they are able to endure, survive and rejoice. And perhaps the greatest comfort comes from knowing that God will indeed see this through.
And this is the message of comfort given to you and me. Though we are caught in the midst of pain, suffering, injustice, sickness, debt and expectations. We know that those things cannot separate us from the love of god in Christ Jesus. And so you and I have hope. We are able to endure, survive and rejoice. And perhaps the greatest comfort comes from knowing that God will indeed see this through.
“May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being- spirit, soul, and body – blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. The one who calls you is faithful, he will do this.”
Our God gives you and me peace. He is the one who makes us holy. He is the one who keeps us so that when Jesus comes we will be found blameless. He is faithful and he will do this. When our God does something he always does it right and so in these words we can find great strength and comfort.
What a picture these verses paint. And in that picture we find who we are. A life that is marked by Rejoicing and Praying and Thanksgiving is one that is also a life of service. For it is a life that comes only from God, and he came not to be served but to serve us. So we are able to go out and be his hands in this world. We lift up our hands in service and sacrifice. We are able to go out and speak his words in this world. We lift up our voices so that the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ might be proclaimed to all.
Rejoice always? Yeah. Right. Because when we are in the arms of our God we are always able to rejoice. And may God bless you and me as we live out our lives in rejoicing, praying and thanksgiving. Amen.