Be
Encouraged…. through the Church!
I Thessalonians 5:12-15
Introduction: As this pandemic lingers we’ve seen some
glimmers of hope in that the vice-president this week made a statement that perhaps
by Memorial Day this COVID-19 crisis will be largely behind us. Be encouraged,
each week that passes brings us one week closer to meeting together again! We’ll
be monitoring the situation with the leadership team, and doing our best to
discern what the “new normal” is for the future. Whatever happens, right now
we as the church can offer hope to a hurting world. Could it be that God
will use this time to turn the hearts of struggling people to Himself? Let’s
not waste this experience, let’s learn from it and grow through it. Let’s not be
content, in our church and in our individual Christian lives to return to the status
quo, but let’s seek God, and try to learn what He would teach us. Let’s listen for what He is saying even now as we turn
for a few minutes to His word…
Context (5:10-11): The previous passage ended with an admonition given in the
light of the promise of the Parousia…
God has
not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live
with Him. Therefore encourage one another, and build each other up, just as you
are doing.
God has a plan for humanity, and ultimately those who trust
Him, and entrust themselves to Him, have the promise of forgiveness and peace
and restoration – the way life should be! That is not just wishful thinking, it
is God’s promise to us, stamped by the historical truth that Jesus died for our
sins, and rose again on the third day. The question for us to consider in this
final part of I Thessalonians is, how then shall we live? Paul says in 5:11, “Therefore
encourage one another, and build each other up, just as you are doing.” We
serve others with the abilities and gifts God has given us. Paul underscores
that in these verses.
The series of
imperatives at the end of this chapter, I think there may be around 15 or so,
are practical admonitions that show us how this “encouraging and building
each other up” can look in the church.
Today we’ll look at only four verses, 5:12-15. Let’s read the passage:
12 We ask you, brothers, to respect
those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly
in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that
no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one
another and to everyone.
We see here relationships in the church between the people
and their leaders, our relationships with one another, and finally our
relationship with the world, the unsaved people in our sphere of influence. So…
The Maine* Idea: Let God’s grace toward us motivate us to love and encourage
one another. Three “r’s” outline the passage: 1) Respect our leaders, 2) Reach out
to others, and 3) Remember to do good.
I. Respect our teachers and leaders (12-13).
12 We ask you, brothers, to respect
those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly
in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
The ESV
translation is interpreting the first verb a bit in v.12, the word usually has
the idea “to know.” Perhaps “recognize” or “acknowledge” would be better. Who
has God placed in your life to encourage you and to admonish you, to hold you
accountable in your spiritual journey? There are leaders in the church, the
pastor and elders, there are Sunday School teachers, there are fellow believers
who have taken an interest in us to encourage and admonish. Paul’s primary
emphasis here may have been on pastors and elders, since he refers to those “who
labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish
you.” “Labor” is a word that is used to express hard work, “toil.” That
leaves out the pastor right? After all, he only works one day a week! I think you
know better! That might be true in some cases, but not most! Ministry at every
level is hard work. Not physically, usually, but mentally and spiritually. As
we bear each others burdens we make some else’s lighter but at the same time we
share the weight, we take part of those burdens to heart.
We are to acknowledge, recognize, those
who are described in v.12. Paul uses three phrases, not to describe three
different people or groups of people, but one specific group to whom all of these
phrases apply: 1) who labor among you; and 2) are over you in
the Lord; and 3) admonish you… This last word, “admonish,”
has the sense of gentle correction or warning. When Paul was describing his
previous work among the Ephesians, he said in his farewell to the Ephesian
elders in Acts 20:32, “Therefore be alert,
remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish
everyone with tears.” The idea seems to be heartfelt, persistent, consistent, teaching of the
truth, even when it wasn’t easy. The “tears” here seem to be Paul’s, as he
struggled to confront the people who he loved so deeply. By the way, if you remember that scene in Acts
20, at the end of the chapter, we read in Acts 20:36-38,
And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them
all. And there was much weeping on the
part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all
because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And
they accompanied him to the ship.
Their love for one another is evident in that emotional scene! Similarly,
he uses the same word, “admonish,” in 1 Corinthians 4:14, “I do not
write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my
beloved children.” What a beautiful expression of the Apostle’s heart: as a
parent correcting a child out of love Paul describes his motive in writing to
them.
These words seem
to be describing our spiritual leaders, pastors and elders certainly, but perhaps
someone else as well who is specifically discipling us. I think it could apply
to those who are teaching us in the Lord, that is, our spiritual
mentors. “Know” them, recognize them, acknowledge in your own heart the impact
they are having on you. And Paul says, “…and to esteem them very highly in
love because of their work.” The idea seems to be appreciation and
respect because of the work they are doing, in the church and in your life. Someone
shared the following legend about a king who decided to set aside a special day
to honor his greatest subject…
When the big day arrived, there was a
large gathering in the palace courtyard. Four finalists were brought forward,
and from these four, the king would select the winner.
The first person presented was a wealthy
philanthropist. The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the
honor because of his humanitarian efforts. He had given much of his wealth to
the poor.
The second person was a celebrated
physician. The king was told that this doctor was highly deserving of the
honor because he had rendered faithful and dedicated service to the sick for
many years.
The third person was a distinguished judge.
The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his
wisdom, his fairness, and his brilliant decisions.
The fourth person presented was an elderly
woman. Everyone was quite surprised to see her there because her manner was
quite humble, as was her dress. She hardly looked the part of someone who would
be honored as the greatest subject in the kingdom. What chance could she
possibly have, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much?
Even so, there was something about her the look of love in her face, the
understanding in her eyes, her quiet confidence.
The king was intrigued, to say the
least, and somewhat puzzled by her presence. He asked who she was. The answer
came: "You see the philanthropist, the doctor, and the judge? Well, she
was their teacher!"
That woman had no wealth, no fortune,
and no title, but she had unselfishly given her life to produce great people.
There is nothing more powerful or more Christ-like than sacrificial love. The
king could not see the value in the humble lady. He missed the significance of
the teacher. Often, we miss the value of those around us.
Appreciate those who teach you in the Lord. Finally, in v.13,
“Be at peace among yourselves…” This seems to transition into v.14 where
we go from our attitude toward our leaders, to our responsibility for each
other… Remember the Maine* Idea: Let God’s grace toward us motivate us
to love and encourage one another. So we respect those who lead and teach us,
and we also…
II. Reach out to our brothers and sisters (14).
14 And we urge you, brothers,
admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with
them all.
…we urge you brothers… The
verb used here is once again, parakaleo – “to encourage, to
comfort, to come alongside to help…” The ESV translation, “we urge
you,” is legitimate, it seems to be the sense of the word as it is used in
this context, but we don’t want to miss the connection to it’s repetition
through this letter, as the same word is translated with four different
English words in this short letter! We’ve called this series in First
Thessalonians, “Be Encouraged!” I believe that conveys the overarching theme. Look
at the use of the word so far…
*1 Thess 2:12 …we exhorted each one of you and encouraged* you
and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own
kingdom and glory.
1 Thess 3:2 …and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's
coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your
faith…
*1 Thess 3:7 …for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and
affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
*1 Thess 4:1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in
the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live and to
please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.
1 Thess 4:9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for
anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one
another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout
Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more…
*1 Thess 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thess 5:11 Therefore encourage one
another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
So, we see four different English words used in the
ESV, depending on the context: exhort, comfort, urge, and in the two
uses we saw in the last two messages (4:18; 5:11) are translated “encourage.”
The ideas overlap, and certainly Paul means for the theme to carry through the
letter. This is part of God’s design for the church, we need the encouragement and
exhortation and admonition of our brothers and sisters. In this way we
provoke one another to love and good works. The final use appears in v.14
and it is then followed by a series of short exhortations. We urge you
brothers… To do what? The three following imperatives in 5:14 verse seem gentle,
and seem increasingly so, “admonish… encourage… help…”
“…Admonish
the idle…” (or lazy, or possibly “unruly”). This may be a reference
back to what Paul had said in 4:11-12,
“Make it
your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with
your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life might win the respect
of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anyone.”
Considering the context, “the idle” may be those who,
in the light of the promise of the imminent return of Christ, had neglected
their livelihood and had become a burden (or even a nuisance!) to others around
them. I had one brother call this week and tell me that one lesson that he has
learned from the temporary lay-off is that he is not ready for retirement! One
thing is certain, we never retire from the Christian life until God calls us
home. He has us in this world for a purpose.
The Bible has many
warnings about indolence, drifting through life without purpose. We need to
stay engaged and redeem the time! Whatever we do, we should do it as unto
the Lord. I have a little cross-stitched sampler in my office that Mary Ann
made me maybe thirty years ago, three questions I need to regularly ask myself:
“Is the work well done, was the Word well used, is the Lord well pleased?”
Important questions! Here is an excerpt from a devotional I received this
week…
As productivity leads to
provision, so laziness leads to impoverishment. This is true in the spiritual
realm no less than it is in the physical realm. Whether we are diligent or
negligent in our work, study, management of our homes, devotional lives, physical
care, and care for others, we will inevitably reap what we sow. God calls us to
diligent labors. This present circumstance is an opportunity for us to
diligently carry out the many responsibilities the Lord has given us.
So, we admonish
the idle, and “…encourage [or “comfort”] the
fainthearted…” The word translated “encourage” is another
word, used in parallel to parakaleo in 2:12. It only appears two
other times in the NT, in John 11:19,31, where it is used to describe the
Jewish mourners “consoling” Mary and Martha after the death of Lazarus. It may in
our context have a similar force, as Paul had just encouraged the Thessalonians
to mourn, but not as those who have no hope. The greatest consolation in
the face of death, the most effective and true comfort, is the promise and assurance
of the resurrection. Paul may have been alluding to Isaiah 35:4, “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be
strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the
recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ ”
Since the
previous verses spoke of coming judgment, and salvation for those who trust in
the Lord, the admonition for the faint-hearted, here in the ESV, “those who
have an anxious heart,” seems contextually close. We can stand firm in
the Lord, we needn’t be anxious or fearful, because God is real, and He is
present, and He is bigger than anything we are facing or will face. “Nothing
can touch us that hasn’t first passed through the hands of our loving heavenly
Father, nothing.” And even what does touch us will somehow be used for our
good, and for His glory. So we can encourage the faint-hearted, and we…
“…Help the
weak…” I like the NLT here, “…take tender care of those who are weak…”
It is not clear here if the “weakness” in view is physical, emotional, or
spiritual. Maybe the ambiguity is intentional, because we need to be sensitive
and concerned about all those areas: spiritual, physical and emotional needs.
We see all of these in this crisis do we not? The older or infirm, who might
need some food delivered to them, some with financial needs, others who are feeling
isolated and alone, those who miss the corporate worship and the interaction in
small groups, even just fellowshipping together after church. We want to
help the weak…
An
American who was walking down the streets of a [third world] city was greatly
interested in the children, many of whom were carrying smaller children upon
their backs, and managing at the same time to play their games... "It is
too bad," the American sympathetically said to one little fellow,
"that you have to carry such a heavy burden!" "He's no
burden," came the quick reply; "he's my brother."
Help the weak! Because in some way, at some time, that is all
of us! Bear each other’s burdens! There is a TV series that features the
director of a hospital who always is asking, “How can I help?” Don’t wait to
be asked. As you call (or from an appropriate social distance, visit!) ask
the questions: Are you ok? How can I help?
“…Be
patient with them all…” Patience is necessary because discipleship is a
process. It seems to me there is a period before we believe when God is working
on a person’s heart, laying a foundation so to speak, before they are
born-again by grace through faith. Once we are saved, there a process of
practical sanctification that begins, and will continue, until our sin-nature
is finally eradicated, when this corruptible puts on incorruption, this
mortal immortality! So, we admonish, we help, we encourage, realizing that
we are all a work in progress. We can all ascribe to the same motto: “Be
patient, God isn’t finished with me yet!” Remember the Maine* Idea: Let
God’s grace toward us motivate us to love and encourage one another. So we respect
our leaders, we reach out to our brothers and sisters, and…
III. Remember to do Good - We have an assignment (15)! 15 See that no
one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one
another and to everyone.
God will judge
the just and the unjust, as the previous context reminded us, the day is coming
when He will judge the world in righteousness. Therefore, as far as it rests
with us, we seek to be at peace with all, and we keep seeking the good
of others, both believers and unbelievers. There are two sides to this
admonition I want to emphasize, 1) do good to one another, and 2) do
good… to everyone. Paul has in mind here loving each other in the
church, and also loving our neighbor.
“…BUT
always…” It is not just now, during this time of social
distancing, but always, do good! Doing what is best for others, choosing
to love, should be what guides our actions and our interactions with people. We are to “…[keep] seek[ing] to do
good…” We should want what is best for others. “Good” in the Bible
has moral, ethical, and spiritual implications. Remember when the rich, young
ruler called Jesus “Good Teacher,” Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me
good? There is none good but God alone.” Recall in the account of Creation,
God saw what he had made, and said it was “good.” When we truly want “good”
for others, and seek their good, we don’t necessarily approve of their
lifestyle or actions, but we want God’s best for them. I believe that
begins by praying for them.
We know we shouldn’t
harbor grudges or anger toward a brother or sister, right? Because we are still
sinners, albeit sinners saved by grace, we will still hurt or offend each
other. But when we remember how much God has forgiven us, it becomes easier to
overlook an offense and forgive! And so, we pray for “good,” for God’s best, for
“…one another…” If we accept the idea that the church is a
family, that we are brothers and sisters, that God is our Father, loving one
another and seeking to do good for one another ought not be a chore,
it’s a privilege! But Paul doesn’t stop there, he adds…
“…and to
all…” Loving one another is a good thing, Jesus commanded it and said
that it is a testimony to the world. But loving our neighbor will get their
attention! I know some in our church are involved in activities like the
community food bank and Set for Success… these are ways that we can show
our love for our neighbors. In this crisis, what about making a food delivery
to an elderly neighbor, or, if you have a pickup truck, making a dump run for
someone who shouldn’t be out? Are there other needs that you see that we can
address as a church? Let us know! Many people are struggling with loneliness
and isolation, depression is a real issue. A phone call could change a
life, or even save a life. Reach out (virtually, for the time being!) to people
around you, people that the Lord brings to your mind, and let’s see what God
will do!
What is God saying to me in this passage? The Maine* Idea: Let God’s
grace toward us motivate us to love and encourage one another, within the
church, and as we seek to be light in our sphere of influence.
What would God have me to do in response to this
passage? During this
time of isolation we can still encourage one another. Thank God that at this moment
in history we have technology that makes it possible for us to reach out! Someone
who is still busy with work, at our Wednesday night prayer meeting testified
that he had had a tough day and then got a phone call from a sister in the
church, a widow, that really lifted his spirits. I know I have been encouraged
by joining together with some men via Zoom on Tuesday morning at 7am, and then
again with others on Wednesday evening at 6:30 for a prayer and testimony time.
I know some are calling elderly folks and picking up groceries for them. As a
church we’ve been able to extend some help to some folks through the first
stages of this crisis. And I know that we have people who are prayer warriors
in the church – who take our prayer list and pray diligently for the needs
listed. Why not call at least one person a day and pray with them on the phone
about a specific need they have? I
believe that God has given us this moment to refocus on Him, and to remember what
really matters as we live as followers of Jesus in this fallen world. He
saved us for a purpose, let’s use the time wisely, for His glory. AMEN.
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