Sermon at Grace Episcopal on December 14. 2008 by Lynette Schaefer

1 Thessalonians 5:11, 15-24
Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing… See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
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A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communication equipment. Due to the clouds and the haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position and course to fly to the airport. So when the pilot saw a tall building he flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it to his window. The pilot's sign said, "Where am I?" The people in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it to the window. Their sign read, "You are in a helicopter!" The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course and steered to the airport and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked how the "You are in a helicopter" sign helped him determine his position. The pilot responded, "I knew it had to be the Microsoft building because they gave me a technically correct, but completely useless answer."

Time is short. I don't want to waste it giving you a technically correct, but completely useless answer today. So I want us to look at the excerpt that Cindy read from Paul's first letter to some new Christians in Thessalonica (he called them his hope and his joy). These folks really had it going. They were definitely on the right track, living in such a way that God could do some powerful and incredible things through them.

So instead of telling you some worthless information, like, "You are sitting in church right now," I will give you a reminder of practical value from a letter Paul wrote to another church. "God is able to do FAR MORE than we could ever ask or even dream of - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes..." (Ephesians 3:20) One of the keys to growing in your relationship with God is to always remember that God is capable of doing more than you can ever imagine.

Back to the Thessalonian Christians: Paul wanted them to keep on growing. He wanted them to keep on living the kind of lives that God can really bless and use. And to keep them on track, Paul concludes this letter by reminding them who they are. And this information is technically correct and valuable to us today.

And who are we? "We are the family of God. Yes! We are the family of God…" That is what Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christians so that they won't give up when things get hard. He wanted them to grow deeper in Christ AND he wanted them to grow as a family.

Paul really wanted to talk about family matters because… family really matters. Whether it's your family of origin, your hanai family, or your church family, family is important. And for a family to function well, it takes teamwork. And in a church family with all kinds of different people and with people at so many different places in their Christian life, we need patience as we work together.

Another thing we need as we work together is appreciation. We need to be cheerleaders by encouraging each other. In the family encouragement is like peanut butter on a sandwich: the more you spread it around the better things stick together.

In my family members not only have responsibilities that make us stick together but we also have to abide by certain rules that help us function smoothly. Here are some examples: clean up after yourself. No name-calling or put-downs. If you got it out - you put it away. Knock before going into someone's room. Pray before you eat your meal. And don't put clean folded clothes down the laundry chute!

I think that's kind of what Paul is saying. No, not about the laundry chute, but "Here are the directions for all the members of God's family. If you guys in Thessalonica do this then your church family will grow and your time together will also flow smoothly."

It starts with having a good attitude. Paul reminded them to Encourage each other. Be a cheerleader and support your brothers and sisters. That means more than just being patient. It means more than just holding back from giving someone a piece of your mind. It means to actively go out of your way to seek the good in each other and to help each other.

I heard a great illustration of this recently. At the cross county meet in Kalae, 2 girls from Maui ran away from the pack. The lead girl did everything she could to shake the girl chasing her who was from another school. But the 2nd girl kept pushing and wouldn't give up. It made the leader run harder and faster. This went on for almost 3 miles. At the end, the leader crossed in first place and went straight to the water table where she grabbed 2 large cups of water. Then she ran to the finish line and gave a cup of water to the second place girl who was just finishing. They toasted each other and drank their water together. There was every reason to be competitive and hostile, but instead they recognized that they had made each other better. In a simple gesture, they were no longer rivals from competing schools. They were sisters.

If we want our family to grow we should take thoughts of getting even when we don't get our way out of our vocabulary.

Although I heard a story about two rough & tough looking bikers eating in a truck stop. They spotted a rather small truck driver sitting alone, and they began to pick on him. Since the guy was ignoring their taunts, one of the bikers walked up to the man's table and dumped his food on the floor. The man said nothing just quietly got up, paid his bill and left. The bikers said to the waitress, "He sure wasn't much of a man." She paused looked out the window and said, "He isn't much of a driver either. He just ran his rig over 2 motorcycles on the way out." They sure weren't family

Proverbs 15:8 tells us that "A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel." I think that all of us could grow better if there were less quarreling in our lives. And having an encouraging attitude that seeks to be a blessing is the start of growing together as God's family. The next direction is a bit of a surprise.

Be joyful always." Now that's a tall order. And the word "always" doesn't leave any room for debate. How in the world can we be joyful always? How can Paul expect joy to be commanded?

It can because joy comes from the inside. Joy is different from being happy. Happy is what we feel when we get good Christmas presents. It is temporary and depends on outside influences. Joy is independent of any outside circumstances. Joy is something that starts deep within us and comes from the presence of Christ in our lives. Joy can overflow to even the worst circumstances. It doesn't deny trials, or temptations, or even troubles. Joy overcomes them.

And joyful people are just fun to be around. The story is told of a woman who once showed the famous art critic John Ruskin a costly handkerchief on which a blot of ink had been dropped. The handkerchief was ruined, complained the woman, and nothing was left to do except throw it away. Ruskin said nothing, but took the handkerchief with him. Not long afterward, the woman received it back, but it was so changed she could hardly believe it was the original. Using the blot as a basis, Ruskin created around it a beautiful and artistic design, changing what was ruined into a thing of beauty and joy.

By the way, to rejoice is linked to the next directive, which is to Pray continually. Now this does not mean we must always be mumbling prayers. This type of prayer is to be constantly linked to seeking the Lord.

All of a sudden something comes up. You're worried or you have a question or concern. Or you want to say thank you for something that's just happened. You don't have to close your eyes. You don't have to fall to your knees, (which could be a problem if you're worried or thankful in a crosswalk in the middle of town). You don't even have to bow your head or close your eyes. You don't even have to talk. All it takes is to say, "Lord, this concerns me." Or, "Father, thank you for" followed by the thing you want to say. And of course the most direct and focused prayer in the Bible shows us how easy it is to pray. Peter finds himself sinking in the waves and he yells out, "Lord, help me!" And Jesus instantly grabs him, not letting go.

Steven Curtis Chapman has a song about prayer that sums it up pretty well. "Let us pray, let us pray everywhere in every way. Every moment of the day it is the right time. Let us pray without end and when we've finished start again. Like breathing out and breathing in oh let us pray."

When we pray breathing in and out we get hooked up to God's power. When we develop that good attitude, praying at all times, we will find that we are suddenly changed from the land of dreariness and darkness to being in His presence. We will discover that we will have joy and we can learn to give thanks in all circumstances.

A few years ago, young woman was working on Molokai and took a day off with her husband who had flown here to surprise her during her last week here. Their flight was cancelled due to weather like we've had these past few days, so they were stuck here. She called home and made sure that the people taking care of their infant son wouldn't worry. Then she decided that since they were stuck here, they should go to the beach. He didn't want to go and she really had to work it, almost getting into a fight to get him to break down and go with her to Papohaku Beach. Only one of them made it out of the water alive that day. Her husband drowned in the surf. Now how in the name of Jesus could I tell Catherine Clay to be thankful in those circumstances? Many from our church surrounded her and her family with love. And we said that although we couldn't understand why God took Daniel's daddy away, all we knew was that God loved her. With nowhere else to turn and with nothing else to lose in deep grief, she decided to turn her life over to
Jesus.

Catherine recently wrote me an e-mail. Her life is full of joy and thanks. It wasn't an easy ride, but she hitched her wagon 100% to Jesus. Catherine realizes that the gut wrenching pain she had in losing Scott was the experience that led her into growing with Jesus. She knows that God can do more than she could ever imagine if she would just put her trust in Him. She has remarried. Their son is growing and so is their family. She's leading a women's bible study at her church. And the Lord has used her pain to bring love and comfort to people around her, and used her to bring others into the family of God.

The next thing Paul tells us is don't let evil put out the fire that the Lord has started in you. Grab on tightly to the good things. Don't mess around with evil: avoid it. There are certain things we shouldn't do, places we shouldn't go and people we shouldn't be with. And when we are growing in Jesus, individually or as His family, you can count on Satan showing up with a new batch of Round Up trying to kill all the new growth. And it isn't just when we go out and do something we know is wrong. Sometimes we can smother the Holy Spirit without even knowing it. It can be by trying to justify our actions, blaming others, speaking bad words with our mouths, or just being distracted by other things. There is a simple thermometer to know how we're doing. Are we joyful? Are we thankful? Are we constantly praying? Are we actively seeking to live God's way or are we cruising along in our own direction and in our own power?

Whether the fire of the Holy Spirit is burning or smoldering within us today, Paul gives his family one last rule and one last promise to live by. Rely On God. "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it."

So I made a simple acrostic to help us remember the directions and promises of God. The first word across the top is "joy." Underneath it is "DEPTH" one letter under the other. And below it, in big letters write RELY ON GOD. So

JOY

Depend on God
Encourage each other
Pray without ceasing
Thanks always
Hold tight to what is good

RELY ON GOD

So here is our practical message for this week: we will have joy and depth and when we rely on God, amen? Amen.

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