THE PRELUDE

THE MESSAGE

            The Gospel of John is one of the Bible's most beloved books.  Christians worldwide consider John 3:16 the most beloved verse.  “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

            The Gospel of John tells Jesus’ story through several themes.  For example:

• John wrote of “signs” Jesus performed to show forth his glory, from turning water into wine to healing people.
• Water features prominently in John’s account with Jesus’ baptism in Chapter 1, the woman at the well in Chapter 4, healing people in the bathing pools in Chapters 5 and 8, walking on water in Chapter 6, and washing the disciples’ feet with water in Chapter 13.
• John wrote about Jesus’ “I am” statements: “I am the light of the world,” “I am the gate,” I am the true vine,” “I am the Good Shepherd,” “I am the bread of heaven,” and “I am the resurrection and the life.”

We could explore more themes, but I would like us to continue with the one we started with last week: using food and drink to bring forth Jesus’ story.  Last week, we spoke about drink, specifically, Jesus turning water into wine to show forth to his disciples his glory and to strengthen their faith. Today, I would like us to turn our attention to the food theme in the Gospel of John, which appears prominently throughout Chapter 6.  One thing we discover is that the gospels don't include any simple meals with Jesus. Every meal involves a divine revelation. Let’s look at parts of that chapter today.

            Chapter 6 begins: “1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias” (John 6:1). This opening verse should immediately stop us in our tracks because no one would expect a new chapter to begin with the phrase, “After this…”  “After this?”  After what? And so here we need to remember that John’s original writing was not parsed into chapters and verses.  John wrote one continuous story.  Chapters and verses of the Bible did not come until hundreds of years later.  To understand the opening of Chapter 6 and its awkward start, “After this…,” we need to go back a bit into Chapter 5.

            A quick look back shows that Jesus had been arguing with the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders.  The authorities would not even consider the possibility that God sent Jesus.  John said that the scene ended with Jesus saying, “45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:45-47).  The end of Chapter 5, with the people focused on hope found in the monumental figure of Moses, is important for understanding the action in Chapter 6.

            Chapter 6 then begins, “1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand” (John 6:1-4).  This chapter begins with imagery associated with Moses, now enacted by Jesus.

• After this, Jesus went across to the other side of the sea.  Moses had crossed the Red Sea.
• A large crowd followed Jesus because they saw the signs he was doing (healings).  The Hebrew people followed Moses because they saw the signs he was doing (plagues).
• Jesus went up on the mountain.  Moses went up on the mountain to talk to God.
• The Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Moses received God’s command to celebrate the Passover.

John’s readers would have recognized two things.  First, the unmistakable allusion to Moses, whom the Jewish religious leaders had placed their hope in.  Second, Jesus sat down with his disciples.  Jesus sat in a posture to teach, and his disciples in a posture to receive.  When we see this painted for us, then it is safe to assume that whatever follows would be for the benefit of his disciples.  The disciples are clearly now a group.  They will be the first group in this story.  We will call the disciples the “us” group.

            John wrote, “5 Lifting his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’ 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do” (John 6:5-6).  Jesus had decided it was mealtime.  Not just for the disciples, but for the crowd that followed him.  The crowd is the second group in this story.  We will call the crowd the “they/them” group.  So Jesus turned to Philip and asked, “Where are we (the first group) to buy bread, so that these people (the second group) may eat?”  Why Philip and not any other disciple?  John said Jesus wanted to test Philip.  Again, this alludes to Moses.  The Hebrew people had followed Moses into the wilderness and now were hungry and without food.  They complained to Moses, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).

            Knowing the crowd following Jesus was in a remote area, Jesus decided to test Philip with the people’s hunger, like Moses was tested.  How will the people be fed?  But why Philip?  There are likely two reasons.  First, Philip’s hometown, Bethsaida, was nearby.  He seemed like a logical choice to ask about a location with enough food to meet the need.  This is the practical side of Jesus’ question, but it is not the purpose of the test.  The test comes in the second understanding of the question.  Namely, we first met Philip in Chapter 1 of John’s Gospel. There we would read, “43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph’ (John 1:43-45).  Philip saw Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel through Moses.  So here we are in this scene steeped in allusions to Moses, coming from a hot debate with the religious leaders about placing their hope in Moses, with a hungry crowd, and Jesus chooses to test Philip and his understanding of who Jesus is by asking Philip, “Where are we going to buy food for the crowd?”  We can now see that the story at the beginning of Chapter 6 continues the same tense argument from Chapter 5 and is the second part of the same story.

            John wrote, “7 Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little’” (John 6:7). Somehow, I don't think Philip passed the test.  Philip didn't even answer Jesus’ question about where to buy bread because he knew that even if there were such a place, they wouldn't have enough money to give everyone even one bite of bread.  Philip had become fixated on the crowd, not on Christ, whom Philip said was the prophet Moses promised.  This was a test of faith.

            Then another disciple, Andrew, stepped up.  “8 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9 ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’” (John 6:8-9).  Andrew brought to Jesus a boy with a small amount of food and acknowledged that these provisions alone were no match for the hungry crowd.  What is unspoken is what these provisions can do in the hands of Christ, who turned water into wine, freed people from demonic possession, and healed people of lifelong illness.

            “10 Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number” (John 6:10).  The crowd, the second group, had 5,000 men, a total that does not include the women and children.  This is a large group.

            John wrote, “11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted” (John 6:11). The crowd following Jesus was fed.  This part of the story, again, alludes to Moses.  In Exodus 16, we read, “11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat (quail), and in the morning you shall be filled with bread (manna). Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God’” (Exodus 16:11-12).  The crowd before Jesus had been fed meat, in this case fish, and bread, and they were filled.  What was the purpose?  So that the disciples would know that Jesus was the Lord your God.  In Exodus, the Creator, God, multiplied the substance of quail and manna.  In John, the Creator, Jesus, multiplied the substance of fish and bread.

            John then wrote, “12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, 'Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’ 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten” (John 6:12-13). Jesus shifted his attention from the crowd to the disciples and directed them to go among the people.  He told the disciples, tasking them to gather up the leftover pieces, to ensure that nothing was lost.  Jesus’ words here are not accidental.  They are the final part of the story’s teaching.

            Jesus did not say, “Gather the fragments so that nothing is wasted,” as we might say after a fellowship dinner.  Jesus said, “Go among the people and collect the fragments so that nothing is lost.” It is that last word, lost, in the Greek, apollymi, ἀπόλλυμι, that gives Jesus’ words the context.  Whenever John uses the word apollymi, he uses it to mean perished as one lost forever.

• “15 That whoever believes in Him should not perish (apollymi) but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish (apollymi) but have everlasting life. (John 3:15-16)
• 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose (apollymi) nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. (John 6:39)
• 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (apollymi). I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
• 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish (apollymi); neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

There are other such examples.  The point is that Jesus' command to the disciples foreshadowed his commissioning of them.  The time would come when Jesus would commission his disciples to go among the people and gather up the faithful, so that none would be lost but would have eternal life in Christ.  What was the result of Jesus' task to his disciples, the first group?  John recorded it for us: “13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten” (John 6:13).  The twelve baskets, perhaps each one representing a tribe of Israel, were full.  It foretold what the completed work of the first group, the disciples, would look like – none of the faithful will be lost.

            This scene ends with a postscript note from our narrator, John.  “14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”  15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:14-15).  The second group, the crowd, believed Jesus was the prophet Moses promised.  But they thought it best to force a violent confrontation to make Jesus an earthly king.  Jesus would have none of it.  Instead, the story ends with the crowd left to consider the miracle, the disciples left to consider Jesus' teaching, and Jesus left to spend time alone with the Father.

            I love this story for two reasons.  First, this story relates so perfectly to the Old Testament that we come to realize that God does have a plan, the best plan, even if we don’t always see it as we live it out.  The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament is the same.  Secondly, we learn that one God wants one thing: that none be lost (apollymi).  No matter your life circumstances, God is pursuing you.  Even if you don't always feel at peace in this moment, you are not lost. God wants you to be part of his family. He sent his Son to show you that. And his Son sent his disciples to continue that work.  Each one of us is here today because one of those disciples collected a fragment- a believer standing alone- and brought them into the collective basket of the faithful.  From there others went out to do the same again so that none, including you, may be lost. It is your responsibility and mine now to keep going among the crowd and gather others so they may not be lost.  We shall not perish (apollymi) but have eternal life.  Amen and Amen.

THE PRELUDE

THE MESSAGE

            When I began attending Baptist churches in 1985, I was told that Baptists do not recognize the authority of the Pope, but they do recognize a good casserole when they see one. Sharing food at fellowship meals or potluck events is a big part of the Baptist experience.  Sharing food and drink is a major theme in Jesus’ story, particularly in the Gospel of John.  So Baptists may be demonstrating some theological insights through fellowship meals and potluck dinners.

            Biblical scholars have concluded that Christianity spread primarily through sharing testimony, gospel accounts, and New Testament writings at communal meals.  Even from my own childhood, I can recall two things about mealtimes.  First, no one ever ate alone.  My father always prepared breakfast for each person in the household and sat with them while they ate.  My mother made lunch for the family every day, and everyone ate together.  The same was true for dinner.  Meals together were a time to share what was going on with each person and to talk about history, values, and beliefs.  In the United States, family meals began to decline in the mid-1970’s and accelerated into the 1990’s.  Even now, when people dine together, they may not share as much with each other as they do with their Smartphones.  That is not a good thing.

Biblically, family meals, communal meals, feasts, and festivals played a central role in sharing God’s Word, deeds, and promises.  When we look at the formation of the Hebrew people, as chronicled in the Old Testament, we see that food was enormously important to that process.  The Torah, the first five books of the Bible, lays the foundation for the Hebrew people's dietary laws.  The Torah contains between 80 and 100 verses that define the Hebrew people's dietary restrictions.  These laws set the Hebrews apart from the surrounding peoples.

Now, almost every group of people, ancient and modern, shapes its culture and identity through its choices of food and drink.  It becomes part of that group’s identity.  Not sure what I mean? Look at the types of food and drink people consume, and it will likely tell you something about their homeland and history.  People in Italy and people in China consume very different food and drinks.  In America, which has incorporated many cultures, people enjoy and celebrate those different cultural food selections.  So the Hebrew people, moved from Egypt by the hand of God, became an identifiable group, in part through the dietary laws God set forth.  We should not be surprised, then, that food and drink would be a theme or vehicle for telling Jesus’ story.  Over the next few weeks, I would like to use the food-and-drink theme woven into the Gospel of John to strengthen our faith journey, starting with a familiar story of a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

In the opening chapter of John’s Gospel, we find that Jesus had been baptized by his relative, John, who called Jesus, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b).  We find that Jesus then met his disciples Andrew, John, Peter, James, Philip, and Nathanael.  Andrew, after meeting Jesus, told his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ)” (John 1:42b).  Philip shared with his best friend Nathanael, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45).  Nathanael, upon meeting Jesus, said to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel” (John 1:49).  Clearly, Jesus’ first disciples were immediately overwhelmed by the person and the teachings of Jesus believing God sent him in fulfilment of God’s promises in the Hebrew scriptures.

After meeting Nathanael, Jesus decided to leave the River Jordan, the place of his baptism, and go to Galilee, about 75 miles away.  John wrote, “1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples” (John 2:1-2). The opening words of this passage show that John intended to narrate Jesus' story through a gathering involving food and drink, specifically through a wedding celebration.  We never learn the identity of the wedding couple or their families, but clearly Jesus and his family knew them.  The text implies that Jesus’ mother was at the wedding venue as a guest when Jesus and his disciples arrived.  John's details matter because this is the first time Jesus and his disciples, along with Jesus’ mother, are identified as a group.  Up to this point in Jesus' story, John treated each character separately.  Now, Jesus, his disciples, and his mother form a group.  John’s identification of this group at the beginning of the story means whatever follows will be done for this group's benefit.  Any other characters we may encounter or dialogue they offer ultimately serves to reveal something to this group.  And since we are reading from John’s Gospel, anything about food or drink in this story serves to tell Jesus’ story and strengthen this newly formed group's faith journey. 

Finally, we want to keep in mind that wedding scenes are used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament, as a symbol of God’s covenantal relationship with Israel and the coming of the Messianic age and salvation.  Therefore, John’s original readers would likely have expected something significant about God’s promises to follow during the wedding scene with Jesus, with the backdrop of Jesus’ baptism and the announcements of different disciples that Jesus is:

• John the Baptist - “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b).
• Andrew - “The Messiah” (that is, the Christ) (John 1:42b).
• Philip – “The one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45).
• Nathanael - “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel” (John 1:49).

And so, let’s look into this scene and experience what God intended.

             John wrote, “3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine’” (John 2:3). We quickly learn that the wedding celebration was apparently going just fine.  Plenty of food and wine were provided for all the guests. But Jesus’ mother reports that the wine was all gone.  “They have no wine.”  Interestingly, John did not write that Jesus’ mother said, “We have no wine,” or “There is no more wine.”  Instead, Jesus’ mother said, “They have no wine.”  Her expression conveys two things.  First, practically, if anyone is looking for wine, there is not a drop to be had.  Secondly, her expression separates Jesus, her, and presumably his disciples from the rest of the guests.  There are two groups.  In Jesus’ mother’s view, there is the " us " group: her, Jesus, and his disciples, and the “they/them” group of everyone else.  “They have no wine.”  This helps John’s readers stay focused on that newly formed group and what makes it different from everyone else.

            Jesus, hearing his mother’s words, “They have no wine,” used those words to take the conversation in a different direction.  This may be the first time Jesus took someone’s statement and shifted the conversation from human experience to divine revelation, but it would not be the last time. Jesus replied, “4 And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come’” (John 2:4). The first part of Jesus’ response, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me?’ plays out in two ways.  First, the lack of wine at this gathering did not concern Jesus. His mission was not about wine to quench a physical thirst.  But wine was nevertheless an important symbol in this story and in Jesus’ mission.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, wine symbolized God’s relationship with His people.  The absence of wine, 'They have no wine,’ would have been seen as a sign of God’s disfavor.  Here are a couple of Old Testament examples.

• 10 And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting. (Isaiah 16:10)
• 11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished. (Isaiah 24:11)
• Though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them. (Zephaniah 1:13b)

The message that “They have no wine,” while referring to the lack of wine to drink at the wedding, also refers to their separation from God's presence.

This leads us to the second part of Jesus’ response to his mother’s statement.  Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4), meaning the time for Jesus to reveal himself to the other group as the “Lamb of God,” “The Son of God,” “The Messiah,” and “The Prophet” had not yet come.  Timing mattered, and symbolism mattered.  Jesus intended to use the lack of wine to show this new group God's presence by changing the situation from no wine to an abundance of wine.  Why?  Because the Hebrew Scriptures also said that the abundance of wine would symbolize God’s blessing and the coming of the Messianic age.  Again from the Old Testament:

• 6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. (Isaiah 25:6)
• 18 And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine. (Joel 3:18a)
• 13 The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.  (Amos 9:13a)

Jesus’ response, “My hour has not yet come,” conveyed that now was not the moment for him to reveal to the others the presence of God’s blessing and salvation-in a word, the Messiah- but it was time to confirm the testimony of his own disciples.  His mother’s reply, perhaps without knowing it, was the perfect reply for the newly formed group and those who would seek to be part of it.  She said, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5b).

            John, our narrator, interjected, “6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons” (John 2:6). In this scene, John pointed out to his readers that there were stone jars able to hold between 100 and 180 gallons of water.  These jars tell us something about the other group of people, the “they/them.”  “They” were observant Jews who followed dietary and cleanliness laws by washing their hands as well as their eating and cooking utensils.  It was to these jars: “7 Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.’  And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now’ (John 2:7-10).

            The water of purification had now been transformed into abundant wine of the finest quality.  The wedding festival could continue.  This is the practical side of this event.  More importantly, the water of purification had been transformed in a way human desire could not.  In fact, water is not directly used to make wine.  Wine is 80% to 90% water, but that water comes from the crushing of grapes.  So changing water into wine represented a change in God's creative process.  No one in the “them/they” group knew where the wine had come from.  They only knew that they were out of wine and now were not.  And for this story, that was fine because the actions weren't for them. The story was always for another group's benefit.  We see that point being made as John finished up the story this way: “11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11).  And so we see that the food or drink in this story serves to tell Jesus’ story and strengthen the faith of this newly formed group of disciples.

            What then do we do with this story?  I would like us to consider one thing.

            This account of the wedding at Cana is less about the miracle of turning water into wine than it is about affirming that God is a God of promises.  God promised to send the unmistakable Messiah to inaugurate the new covenant.  It would be a covenant in which God would not just be a presence but would live within the believer.  The wedding party and the master of the wedding were observant Jews using their purification practices as a means of seeking God.  The new group under Jesus would have the Holy Spirit within them to guide their inner thoughts, not just their outer behaviors.  Symbolically, the water of purification would no longer be needed because God’s presence would be poured out into the disciples like huge amounts of the highest-quality wine.

The Gospels are describing the formation of a new people group. They are the people of the new covenant. They are the people who have come to believe that Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” “The Son of God,” “The Messiah,” and “The Prophet.”  They are people saved by faith.  The earliest among this new group were Andrew, John, Peter, James, Philip, and Nathanael.  And now this group includes you and me. 

If you have accepted Christ, then you are part of Jesus’ group. You have been called out of the world and into God's presence.  You can come to God’s table because he has forgiven your sins.  We know this to be true because Jesus would later say, “20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).  We were never designed to eat alone.  God always intended that we would dine with Him and with other believers.  Since we are now part of Jesus’ group, let us then “Do whatever he tells you.”  Amen and Amen.            

THE PRELUDE

THE MESSAGE

This week our nation will pause and observe the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  In some ways, it does not seem possible that it has been 25 years since that fateful and terrible day.  I have shared in the past that a friend of mine from college was murdered that day.  His name was John.  He was the pilot of the first aircraft hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center.  I was working for the US Government at the time and was responsible for the security of many militarily sensitive facilities across the country.  Every day for many years after John’s murder, I started my day remembering John.  Doing so helped motivate me to be relentless in making my facilities as difficult to attack as possible.  I did not see another way to personally make sure that John’s death was not in vain.  I kept that approach to work until I retired 13 years later.

I share that story not to use the sermon as a tribute to John and the other 2,957 innocent people killed that day or the nearly 7,000 people who have died since that day due to toxic exposure from that day.  I share that story to say something about what it means to remember.

God has given humanity a unique capacity to remember.  Yes, the animal kingdom has the capacity to remember.  Animals can remember smells, sounds, and visual images that help them navigate their lives. Still, an animal’s memory is limited and focused, stimulated by recognition of something familiar in its environment, whether pleasant or threatening.

When it comes to memory, what sets us apart from the animal kingdom is that God gave us the ability to bring something from the past into the present at will.  By bringing that memory into the present, humans can relive it as a recollection or bring it to life.  That capacity of remembering, to relive or give life to memory, is unique to humanity because it is an attribute of God.

What then is it that we can say about God’s attribute of remembering? To say that God remembers is a way of describing His faithfulness toward those He has called.  Phrases in Scripture such as “God remembered” therefore use human language to highlight His attentiveness, faithfulness, and intervention on behalf of His people.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word zakar is used not merely to describe a mental recollection, but it means to bring someone or something into the present for action.  I did not know it then, but I now know that when I would daily recall John’s memory, his life and his death, I was practicing Biblical remembering.  I was remembering something from the past to prompt me to act in the present.  I was not remembering for historical purposes; I was remembering constructively, in a way that prompted my hands, feet, and lips to act on my memory.

Therefore, God’s remembrance almost always results in concrete action, such as deliverance, provision, judgment, or the fulfillment of a promise.  God’s remembrance is often tied to His covenants and his commitments, even when His people feel forgotten or when circumstances appear hopeless.  Consider a few examples:

• In Genesis 8:1, after the flood, “God remembered Noah… and God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” God had not forgotten the ark; He now acted to end the judgment and preserve life.
• In Genesis 30:22, “God remembered Rachel… and opened her womb,” and she gave birth to Joseph.
• In Genesis 19:29, God remembered Abraham and rescued Lot from Sodom.
• In Exodus 2:24–25, God heard the groaning of the Hebrew people and “remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,” and freed them from the Egyptians.

In each of these circumstances, we see that God remembered His people and acted to provide for or save them.

            Now, because we are created in God’s image and share God's attributes, God expects us to remember as He remembers.  Staying with the Old Testament for a moment, God repeatedly commands His people to “remember” key aspects of His character, actions, and covenant—not as mere mental recall, but as an active, ongoing response that shapes identity, obedience, gratitude, and ethical living.

• In Exodus 12, God commands that the Hebrew people shall place the blood of an unblemished lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their homes so that when He entered the land to impose the tenth plague upon Egypt, God would pass over the homes of the Hebrews.  God also commanded that, every year thereafter, the Hebrews were to observe the Passover as a means of remembering that God led them out of Egypt and to recommit themselves to worship of God.  The Hebrew people were to remember God’s past actions by living them out in the present.
• The fourth of the Ten Commandments says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). This is the only one of the Ten Commandments that begins with “remember.” 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates” (Exodus 20:9).  Again, the Hebrew people were called to remember what God had accomplished for them and to live that memory into the present.

We could go on with other examples.  I think it suffices to say that there are many Old Testament references to God calling His people to remember His deliverance and provision in the past, and to do so in a living and loving way in the present.

            From this quick review of the Old Testament, we learn that God remembers and calls His people to remember.  Not just to remember historically but to remember actively.

            But.  There is always a but.  But God’s capacity to remember is paradoxical.  While God has an infinite capacity to remember His people, God also has an infinite capacity to “remember no longer” the sins of His people. That is the paradox of God’s memory. He has an infinite capacity to remember His people and, at the same time, has an infinite capacity to no longer remember their sins.  We see the latter part in Isaiah.  “25 I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25).  In Jeremiah, we would find similar words.  “Declares the Lord, ‘For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more’” (Jeremiah 31:34b). And so we learn that God’s attribute of remembrance includes the capacity not to remember sin.

God’s capacity not to remember sin is what we call “to forgive.”

            The Hebrew word “salach” means to forgive or grant a pardon, and it is always attributed to God’s forgiveness.  God’s forgiveness is a particular type of forgiveness in which not only is the offense forgiven, but the offense is no longer remembered.  This is where God’s attributes of remembrance and ours diverge. We may forgive someone for an offense, but it is almost impossible for us to forget it.  Oh, certainly, an offense may fade from our memory.  But a fading memory is still a memory.  To forget completely as though the offense never happened is a sign of God’s perfection.

            The paradox of God’s capacity to remember His people and to forget their offenses is a sign of His faithfulness in commitments.  Once God commits, He holds to it and does not forget.  God’s capacity to remember is a sign of His capacity to grant mercy.  In one case, He remembers and rescues, delivering those who are oppressed, lonely, and forsaken from circumstances they cannot escape on their own.  He also grants mercy by forgetting sins that cannot otherwise be wiped away.

We see the attributes of God’s remembrance and remembering play out in the person of Jesus, God’s Son.  Jesus was sent to earth as the Messiah, a promised Savior.  The mere fact that Jesus came was evidence that God remembered His people and his promises.  God did not remember those commitments in a historical sense, but in the present, prompting His hands, feet, and lips to act on His memory.

Virtually everything Jesus said and did came as a fulfillment of God’s Word, the Old Testament.  Why? So that the people would remember that God was a God of His Word.  The entirety of Jesus' life is about remembering God.  To make that latter point about Jesus, we learn from the Gospel of Matthew:

• Birth in Bethlehem — Micah 5:2 (combined with 2 Samuel 5:2; Matt 2:5–6). 
• biblia.com
• Flight to and return from Egypt — Hosea 11:1 (Matt 2:15; typological, originally about Israel). 
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• Massacre of the infants — Jeremiah 31:15 (Matt 2:17–18). 
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• John the Baptist preparing the way — Isaiah 40:3 (and elements of Malachi 3:1; Matt 3:3). 
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• Ministry in Galilee — Isaiah 9:1–2 (Matt 4:14–16). 
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• Healings — Isaiah 53:4 (Matt 8:17). 
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• Gentle servant ministry — Isaiah 42:1–4 (Matt 12:17–21). 
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• Teaching in parables — Isaiah 6:9–10 (Matt 13:14–15); Psalm 78:2 (Matt 13:35). 
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• Triumphal entry on a donkey — Zechariah 9:9 (Matt 21:4–5). 
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• Betrayal/price of 30 pieces of silver — Zechariah 11:12–13 (attributed to Jeremiah in Matt 27:9–10). 

From the Gospel of Mark:

• Parables and hardness of heart — Isaiah 6:9–10 (Mark 4:12).
• Triumphal entry — Psalm 118:26 (“Blessed is he who comes…”; Mark 11:9).
• Rejection of the cornerstone — Psalm 118:22–23 (Mark 12:10–11).
• Shepherd struck, sheep scattered — Zechariah 13:7 (Mark 14:27).

From the Gospel of Luke:

• John the Baptist — Isaiah 40:3–5 (Luke 3:4–6).
• Jesus’ synagogue reading — Isaiah 61:1–2 (with elements of 58:6; Luke 4:18–21: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”). 
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• Counted among the transgressors — Isaiah 53:12 (Luke 22:37).

From the Gospel of John:

• John the Baptist — Isaiah 40:3 (John 1:23).
• Zeal for the temple — Psalm 69:9 (John 2:17).
• Triumphal entry — Zechariah 9:9 (John 12:14–15). 
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• Betrayal by a close associate — Psalm 41:9 (John 13:18).
• Hatred without cause — Psalms 35:19 / 69:4 (John 15:25).
• Garments divided / lots cast — Psalm 22:18 (John 19:23–24).
• Thirst / sour wine — Psalm 69:21 (John 19:28–29).
• Bones not broken — Exodus 12:46 / Numbers 9:12 / Psalm 34:20 (John 19:36; Passover lamb typology).

These are just a few examples to show that the life of Jesus was about remembering God and God’s commitments in the Scriptures.

            But we need to remember that God’s capacity to remember is a paradox.  God has the infinite capacity to remember His people and the infinite capacity not to remember their offenses.  The Greek word aphiēmi [G863] is used more than forty times in the Gospels to speak to the unconditional release from sin and offense.  The word is used in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for forgiveness of our sins.  When Jesus said to someone, “Your sins are forgiven,” the context was aphiēmi, meaning “sins that are no longer remembered.”  The context of aphiēmi, total forgiveness, was also shared by Jesus as a warning.  Jesus said, “32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven (aphiēmi), but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (aphiēmi), either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32).  While God possesses the capacity to forget our sins, He chooses to limit that capacity by remembering the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, that is to ascribe to God the work of Satan or to ascribe to Satan the work of God.

            Why is God’s capacity to forget our sins so important?  It is for this reason.  The standard for heaven, the standard to be in God’s presence, is perfection.  Sin is the ultimate imperfection.  But if our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God, then our image before God is perfection.  What must we do to be forgiven?  We must repent and believe in Jesus Christ.  It sounds almost too simple, too easy for something so monumentally important.  Repent and believe in Jesus Christ.  But that is what God asks us to do.  Because in repenting and believing, in placing our lives in Jesus’ hands, we must take on the posture of humility and surrender.

            This brings us to our final point on remembering.  Jesus commanded us to remember not in a historical way, but in the present moment, and to recognize, in that moment, his humility and surrender.  He commands us to remember and to be humble and surrendered in spirit before Him.  Paul wrote most descriptively about this occasion.  Paul wrote, “23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).  Jesus commanded that we “do this in remembrance” of Him.  We are to take the bread and the cup.  The bread and the cup are symbols of Jesus remembering many things from God’s Word.

• The bread and the cup are symbols of Jesus remembering the Passover, in which the blood of the unblemished lamb was shed so that God’s people would be spared death.
• The bread and cup are symbols of Jesus, the great high priest, acting in the present to offer bread and wine as God’s priest Melchizedek offered to Abraham.
• The bread is a symbol of Jesus remembering God’s provision of manna from heaven, with Jesus acting in the present to remind his apostles that he is the bread from heaven.
• The cup is a symbol of Jesus remembering that God sealed his covenants with blood, as He would with the new covenant.

We are commanded to remember by acting in the present.  In a few moments, we will have the opportunity to follow Jesus' command and remember.  To take the bread and cup properly is a moment of humility and surrender. It will be our time to remember that “God is not a God of punishment, but a God of forgiveness. God is not a God who records all wrongs, but a God who washes them away. God is not a God who demands perfection from us, but a God who asks for a contrite heart when we can’t measure up. God is not a God who gives us only one chance, but a God who gives us infinite chances. God is not a God who waits for us to come to our senses after we have fallen, but a God who comes searching for us, full of understanding and care” (Bruised and Wounded, Rolheiser).

            Come, let us remember. Amen and Amen.

THE PRELUDE

THE MESSAGE

            “The end is near! The end is near!”  Street preachers frequently cry out the prediction of the world's end.  Poets, politicians, and priests have been predicting the end of the world for centuries. One man, William Miller, calculated the end of the world would happen on October 22, 1844.  In case you were wondering, the world did not end on that day. Miller later concluded that the end did not happen on that October day because Christians had not properly observed the Sabbath.  That day's disappointment led to the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist movement, beginning in Albany, New York.

            “Is the end near? Is the end near?”  This was a question that weighed heavily on Jesus’ own disciples and upon the early church.  One time when Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jerusalem, one of his disciples said, ‘Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ 2 And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down’ (Mark 13:1b-2).  To Jesus’ disciples, the destruction of the Temple would be the end of the world.  For the rest of Chapter 13 of Mark’s Gospel, Mark records a monologue essentially by Jesus on the end times.  Jesus said:

• 9 “But be on your guard… 10 The gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations” (Mark 13:9a, 10).
• 14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand” (Mark 13:14, 23a)
• 26 “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:26, 27)
• 32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake” (Mark 13:32-37).

Jesus pointed out to his disciples that the world would come to an end was known, but the specific day was unknowable, as such knowledge was God’s and God’s alone.  The day could not be calculated and would come without warning.  Therefore, the most important thing Jesus’ apostles could do would be to be ready, always, to be awake always.

            Apparently, the question of the end times did not end with Jesus’ apostles but was a concern for the early church as well.  The Apostle Paul saw this as a concern among the people of Thessalonica.  Last week, we looked at Paul’s opening words on this matter in the latter half of the fourth chapter of his first letter to the Thessalonians.  Today, I would like us to look at the conclusion of Paul’s thoughts found in the first half of the last chapter of that same letter.

            Paul wrote, “1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2).  Paul began his explanation of the end times by reminding the Thessalonians that they did not need instruction on the coming of the Lord any more than they need instruction on the coming of the next season.  The Thessalonians, as we do, know that our seasons follow the pattern of spring, summer, fall, and winter.  We know that by learned experience.  We do not need someone to write us a letter explaining the sequence of the seasons.  Neither did the Thessalonians need a letter on the seasons.  In a like manner, Paul said, the Thessalonians do not need a letter telling them about the day of the Lord’s coming because they already knew the day would come like a thief in the night.  The latter phrase implies that a thief comes to steal from a homeowner without any advance notice.  The thief arrives at a time of the thief's choosing.  And so the Thessalonians do not need a letter telling them the day of the Lord’s return is unknowable because they are aware of that fact. Paul’s teaching here is the same as Jesus’ teaching to his apostles.  The day of Jesus’ return is known only to God the Father.  So one of the things we can immediately take away from what Jesus said and what Paul taught here is that anyone who carries a sign and shouts, “The end is near!  The end is near!”  is trying to convince others of something only known to God the Father.  We know the end is near, as God perceives the sense of near, and that we cannot know the date and time any more than we could know the date and time a thief would seek to enter our home.  We can, therefore, stop listening to the William Millers of the world who claim they know the day of the Lord’s return, for they do not know because they are not God.

            Paul continued, “3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).  Paul said people are saying, “There is peace and security.”  What people was Paul speaking of here?  Paul was speaking about non-believers.  Nonbelievers were saying to each other, “What a wonderful time we are experiencing because we have peace and security.  We have nothing to worry about and nothing to fear.”  At the time of Paul’s letter, much of the Roman Empire was at peace, meaning there was no war.  Much of the Roman Empire was experiencing a time of security, a law-and-order period. Many people felt comfortable and safe, believing that no calamities could or would befall them.

            But Paul said, from this posture of peace and security, “Then sudden destruction will come upon them” (1 Thessalonians 5:3b). Jesus' return will be to the nonbeliever like an invading army swarming over the Roman Empire and conquering them as an enemy, swiftly and without mercy.  It will be the ultimate “Shock and Awe” experience as Jesus conquers the whole world in an instant.  To make the comparison relate to the individual human experience, Paul said the suddenness will come “as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman,” meaning again, not at a time of her choosing.  Labor pains come with an intensity and persistence that rule over the pregnant woman such that she has no choice but to yield her body to the will of the pain until the pain accomplishes its purposes.  Finally, Paul said, in rather sobering language, “and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3c).  When Jesus returns, the nonbeliever will not escape judgment.

The nonbeliever lives a life of denial, believing that peace and security come from their own efforts, but upon Jesus return they will find out that they are an enemy of God, that they will be pain and gnashing of teeth, like that of a pregnant woman giving natural childbirth, and that though they may think they can avoid the judgement, there will be no escape for anyone. The verse again is, “3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3), is a frightening revelation of the nonbeliever’s future.

Offering relief from this dreadful future, Paul began again with the word, “But.”  We now know that whenever we see the word “But,” it should suggest to us that some reversal of what had just been spoken of was coming.  From the bleak outcome for nonbelievers, Jesus said, “4 But you [believers] are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5a).  Paul was saying to the believer here that while you may not know the day the Lord returns, you will not be surprised by his coming.  You are expecting Him to come. You are excited for Jesus’ coming.  You know that when He comes, the nonbeliever will see Him as King and Judge.  You know that when He comes, the believer will experience him as the long-awaited King and Savior.  It is not going to be a surprise to you, as though an unwelcome thief had come into your house, but it will be a welcome visitation from God.  How is it that the believer knows and welcomes the Lord, and the nonbeliever is clueless?  Paul said this is so because the believer is a child of the light, a child of the day.  Believers are believers because they have moved from death to life, from darkness to light.  People of the light have been saved and exist already in the world of darkness as light. When Jesus returns, He will come as blinding light over all the world, coming for those who are already living in His light.  The psalmist offers, “The Lord is my light, and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1).  That statement is true in life and will be especially true on the day of the coming of the Lord.

Paul concluded his thoughts by reminding the believers in Thessalonica that as new creations in Christ they are different.  And to emphasize this difference, Paul switched language to the plural, “We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:5b-8).  Paul’s was pointed.  Christians live their lives in the light of Christ; therefore, they do not live in the darkness of nonbelievers.  They pursue a healthy lifestyle, believing their bodies are temples of God’s Holy Spirit. And to guard the purity of that life, Christians, Paul said, need to dress in appropriate spiritual armor: a breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 

Paul revealed two themes of Christian theology here.  The first is faith, love, and hope.  This is how Paul opened this letter to the Thessalonians.  Paul said, “2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).  Paul would talk about faith, love, and hope in other letters.  For example, 

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 — The most famous: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
• Colossians 1:3-5a - 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. 
• Galatians 5:5-6 - 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

The second theological theme Paul introduced here was the idea of putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  Paul spoke again of the armor in Romans 13:12, “12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).  And famously, Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”

            These two themes of faith, love, and hope, and spiritual armor lead us to our application of Paul’s words to our life.  First, Christians, Paul said, are to be alert and sober, expectantly awaiting Jesus’ return. We do not know the date, but we know it will happen.  Our view should not be one where, out of exasperation or disappointment in life, we say, “Oh, Jesus, would you please come today.  I am so tired of all this nonsense.”  Our attitude should be one of excited expectation: “Today might be the day. Let me be ready because I can hardly wait.”

            Second, as we wait, we want to be people of the light in the world that is very much held in the darkness of nonbelief.  How do we do that?  We don’t. At least not on our own.  Paul said that to be that light in the world, we need to be equipped with the armor of God.  Now, most of us don’t walk around in suits of armor, and we don't see soldiers on our streets equipped with shields and swords.  So what do Paul’s words mean to us in our context? I think the simplest thing to keep in mind is to ask, “What is the spiritual armor God has given us?”  First, there is salvation.  Salvation is God's spiritual equipping to move us from darkness to light.  We are moved from being enemies of God to friends of God.  Why is that so important?  Because when Jesus returns, he will come as though he comes to conquer enemy territory to gather up His friends.  We need to remember that we are saved even before the battle begins. Second, while we await, we have God’s word in Scripture.  The Bible is God’s battle plan.  God’s Word guides us in how to live as God’s friend while living in enemy territory. The Bible is spiritual armor.  It is the truth, and we need to use it to equip ourselves.  Finally, we have the message of peace, the gospel.  Even though we live in enemy territory, with those who are at war with God, God has given us a peace treaty to make known to others.  It is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  God wants all those who are enemies of his to become his friends before the day of judgment.  And He has given us the task of sharing peace, sharing the gospel that Jesus died for the sins of all, and that, to all who believe, can be saved. And God has said to those who are saved, share this peace offering with God’s enemies.  We are equipped.  We are saved. We have God’s plan.  And we have God’s peace treaty to offer.

            Now, to show that we are equipped by God, God said Live your life with faith, love, and hope. Express your faith.  Show love to God and others.  Live with hope and excitement about Jesus’ return.  For the believer, a life of faith, love, and hope evidences that we are friends of God, equipped and ready to follow his plan.  To the nonbeliever, the lyrics of our open song should speak to you: “One day He'll come.  And we'll stand face to face.  Come and lay it all down.  'Cause it might be today.  The time is right now.  There's no need to wait.  Your past will be washed by rivers of grace.”  Become a friend of God.  Amen and Amen.

            We must start today with some heavy thoughts.  We need to speak for a few moments about death.  Death is not usually a pleasant topic of conversation.  Death has been and remains humanity's most feared enemy. Death is an enemy to humanity because there is not one human being who is not, by bodily nature, predisposed to life. If we try to hold our breath, we can do so for a short while, but our natural bodily instinct is to breathe to sustain life.  This is why I say that, bodily, we are predisposed to life and to avoid death as an enemy.

Surveys show that at least 1/3 of Americans are so uncomfortable with the topic of death and dying that they will not talk about it.  People fear death and dying because of the finality of death and the separation it causes from loved ones.  The fears of people today are not very different from the fears ancient people experienced.  Our ancient ancestors feared death because they believed death led them to a place of eternal emptiness, a forever nothingness.  The ancients believed that nothing in life was worse than death, and that they could not overcome death.  Many people today believe and act as though this is still true.

            But something remarkable, earth-shattering happened.  A man named Jesus was executed in the most brutal of ways.  He was crucified, nailed upon a cross of wood and left there until he died.  To make sure he was dead, a spear was thrust into his side upward toward his heart. Once dead, he was buried in a tomb of rock so that eventually his body would become nothing but bones.  And that is how everyone thought the story of Jesus would end.  They thought he was destined to be just bones, with his spiritual being forever in a place of emptiness, nothingness, and darkness.

            We see this story play out as women who loved Jesus went to his tomb to treat his body with spices. We see this as two of Jesus’ disciples walked along from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus.  As they walked, a stranger, who was Jesus, asked them why they were so sad.  The disciples told the stranger they were sad that “Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him” (Luke 24:19-20).  The worst thing that could happen was that Jesus died and was buried, and with him went their dreams and hopes of a better life on earth because life on earth was the only thing that mattered.  But we know that was not the end of Jesus' story. What looked like the end of Jesus’ story was but a new beginning because, despite all the evidence of human history in which the dead stay dead, Jesus was alive again.  Jesus defeated death.  Jesus did not cheat death as though one who came close to death but did not die.  Jesus defeated death because his perishable body died and then rose to an imperishable life.  Death was defeated.

Jesus' resurrection to new life was the greatest reversal of expectations in human history, and it remains so even today.  And that Jesus ascended into heaven and promised to return, not just as Savior but as King over all the nations, setting all things right, remains the greatest promise yet to be fulfilled.

            But apparently the Christians of the early church in Thessalonica did not understand what was and would be.  We see that in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church.  Paul wrote that he desired to be with this church again so that he could “supply what is lacking in your faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:10b). Paul spent only about 3 weeks in Thessalonica before riots against his presence forced him to leave the city.  And so, knowing there was more to share with this church, Paul wrote, “13We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).  From Paul’s words, we get the sense that the early church wondered what happened to those who were baptized into belief in Jesus but then died before Jesus’ return.  Paul referred to them as sleeping, but the physical reality was that these folks were dead.  The questions that seemed to have been in the minds of the Thessalonians were, “Is the promise of joy and redemption upon Jesus’ return only for the living believers? Did the death of these believers leave them in an eternal state of disappointment, darkness, and eternal emptiness?”

            Paul began to reply to these questions this way: “About those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:14b).  There are two important truths.  The first truth is found in what Paul did not say. Paul did not say to the Christians of Thessalonica, “About those who are asleep, that you may not grieve.”  I have met too many Christians who have experienced the death of a loved one, and they feel guilty for grieving because they have been led to believe that grieving as a Christian shows a lack of faith. Grieving is a natural human response to the death of a loved one.  Grief reflects how deeply we love someone.  To grieve is not a lack of faith.  It is a testimony of love.

            The second truth rests in what Paul did say: “About those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:14b).  There are two truths here.  As to the first of those truths, we need to remember that Paul was writing this letter to those who were “in Christ,” believers in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Therefore, when Paul speaks of “others,” he was referring to nonbelievers.  Paul made clear that nonbelievers grieve those whom they love who have died and do so believing that their loved ones have entered an eternal death that is a place of eternal emptiness, a forever nothingness. As such, in death everything is lost, unrecoverable, and deeply despairing.  And Paul reveals the reason for the nonbeliever’s despair in the second truth—they despair because there is no hope.  Upon the death of the nonbeliever, the door to salvation is closed shut.

            Jesus explained this latter point in a parable.  “22 He [Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ And he said to them, 24 ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out’” (Luke 13:22-28).  Paul was emphasizing to the Thessalonian church that once the door has been shut, and it closes upon one’s death or the return of Christ, then there is no salvation for the nonbeliever.  If there is no salvation, then there is no hope.  That is really a frightening thought.

But Paul said to the church, for those who are “in Christ,” upon their death, they die “in hope” of salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  We read the equating of Jesus as hope in several places in the New Testament.

• 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Timothy 1:1).
• 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
• 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
• 13 Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

Jesus is Hope.  Why?  Because Jesus defeated death.  Again, He did not cheat death as though He had had a close call with death.  Jesus defeated death.  And what is more than that, Jesus, having defeated death, did not do so just for himself but defeated death for all who would believe in Him.  We know that to be true because following the burial of his dear friend Lazarus, Jesus said to Lazarus’ sisters, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).  To prove the power of these words, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and then later Jesus was raised from the dead.  Therefore, Paul confidently said to the Thessalonians that those who die in Christ die in hope.

            So profound is this hope, Paul said, that when Jesus returns, the dead will be the first to experience a bodily resurrection and gathering with Jesus even before the living are united with Christ.  Paul said, “15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Why should it be that way?  Why should the dead experience bodily resurrection and gathering with the Lord even before those who are alive?  I believe it is that way because those who have died, those who are absent from their bodies, are already present with the Lord.  Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).  To the church in Philippi, Paul wrote, “21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:21-22).  Those who die before Christ’s return are now in spirit with Jesus.  When Jesus returns to earth, Paul said, “14 God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14b).  Paul concluded, “18 Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

What then can we take away from these words of Scripture? Let's consider two things: grief and hope.  First, let’s consider grief.

There are many ways to think about grief, but I have found the simplest and easiest to understand is that grief is composed of two experiences: pain and suffering.  When someone we love dies, there is an immediate sense of pain in their death.  The person we loved is no longer with us, and their absence hurts.  Their absence also causes us to suffer.  We have lost part of our everyday existence.  We lost a companion, the love of our life, perhaps a future, perhaps a cook, a handyman, a financial expert, and the list of who that person was to us goes on.  We suffer because our lives have gotten harder. Now with time and support from others, our suffering tends to diminish.  We will establish new routines of life, and we will, as they say, “move forward,” or “move on.”  This is true for all people, whether they are believers or nonbelievers.  While our suffering may ebb, we are still left with the pain.  Others cannot touch our pain because they cannot replace the person who died.  Here is where hope comes in, but only for the believer.  The pain of our loss cannot be relieved by others, but it can be shared.  With whom can it be shared?  It can be shared with Jesus.  Why?  Because our loved ones are with Him.  When we share our pain with Christ, He shares hope in return.

Hope comes first as an understanding that our loved ones who lived in Christ have faced death, a death defeated by Christ, and now live in Christ an imperishable life.  We must consider that thought for a moment.  Our loved ones, as Paul said, are absent from the body, but are present with the Lord.  Our pain eases because we now are assured that our loved ones are not “lost”; we know where they are.  They are with the Lord.

Hope comes second as an understanding that we will again be with our loved ones either when we become absent from our bodies and join the Lord, or upon the return of the Lord.  We have hope in the promise of reunion.  As believers, our pain at the death of a loved one is shared with Christ, who shares hope to sustain us.  So Paul said that, as believers, we can and should grieve our pain and suffering. Other believers should help relieve our suffering, and we should share our pain with Christ, knowing that Christ has received our loved ones, and someday Jesus will receive us and reunite us with them.  For whenever we find ourselves in the presence of Christ, then all pain will be gone, and we will rejoice.  The Apostle John confirms Paul’s words through a vision in heaven where John was commanded to write, “4 He [God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

For the nonbeliever, there is only pain now followed by emptiness, nothingness, and darkness forever and ever.  Believers still feel the real pain of separation, but it is reshaped by confident expectation of reunion and resurrection. 

            The second thing we gather from Paul’s words is the joy of Advent.  By Advent I do not mean our annual Christmas celebration.  By Advent, I mean the joy of Jesus’ second coming. We will talk a bit more about that next week, but for now, we should live in hope of that day.  Every day since Jesus’ resurrection, his return has grown closer to reality.  Jesus return, Paul said, will be unmistakable.  “16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).  Now here is the thing.  When Jesus returns, hope as we understand it will end.  We will no longer be living in a time of anticipating Jesus' return, hoping in all that means.  When he returns, hope is ended because all righteousness and all justice are restored, and the greatest promise of all, Christ’s return, is fulfilled.

            Paul did not want the believers in Thessalonica to grieve without hope as nonbelievers do.  And so Paul used this letter as the vehicle to give them an understanding of the hope, the joy, that can still be held by believers even when a loved one has died.  And this hope and joy are given to the believer as a forever gift because Jesus has defeated death for the believer.  We now are recipients of these same gifts from a God who loves us now and forever.  Let us move forward in hope.  Amen and Amen.

            This coming January, I will be teaching a course on Christian Ethics.  Some of you have taken the course.  I invite others who have not to consider taking it.

            Ethics deals with what is morally right and wrong to do.  Christian Ethics deals with the way Christians ought to act.  For Christians, of course, the moral compass of what is right and wrong comes from the ethos, the character, of Jesus Christ.  It all seems so simple.  But many Christians struggle with making morally correct decisions because Christ is only part of their life, not the center of their life. Much of their life before they accepted Christ remains intact, including the morals associated with the old life. Often, their lives as Christians are not guided by Christ as much as they are guided by the way their parents or close friends live their lives.

            The Apostle Paul saw that ethics was going to be an important matter for the early church. This was a particular concern for Gentiles who had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Why more so for the Gentiles than the Jews?  It is for this reason.  The Jewish people who became Christians had a historical understanding of proper ethics through the knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures, what we would call the Old Testament.  God set the foundation of Jewish ethics.  Throughout the Old Testament, God spoke to set Israel apart from all other nations and to act differently.  The transition to Christian Ethics for the Jewish people would not be overly dramatic. However, for the Gentiles, those who grew up under Greek and Roman influences, ethics were not established as an extension of religious beliefs as was for the Jewish people.  Gentile ethics came from philosophies of man. Philosophies are changeable and influenced by popular beliefs or cultural trends; for example, at the time of Paul, Gentile ethics built upon philosophies that gave fathers absolute life-and-death authority over their wives, their children at any age, and enslaved people. Fathers could take their own babies who were sickly or whom the family could not afford, especially girls, leave them outside exposed to the elements to die, or to be taken by slave traders. Philosophies of men, not the teachings of God, determined the ethics of the non-Jewish people or Gentiles.

            Now, we might think that was then, and this is now.  Humanity has evolved and progressed beyond such crude ethics.  But here is the truth.  Largely, ethics today is still set either by the Word of God or by the philosophies of humanity.  The Word of God has not changed, but the philosophies of humanity are always changing and are influenced by the culture.  But the crudeness of philosophies remains.  Consider just a couple of modern ethical philosophies that are in play.

Utilitarianism.  This view argues that "personhood" (the capacity to feel pain, think, and plan for the future) is what matters, not biological human life. Consequently, an unborn fetus, a newborn baby, or a patient in a permanent vegetative state is considered to have less moral value than a mature, healthy non-human animal. You might say, but does such a thought have any real place in the ethics of any modern society?  Consider our neighbors to the north, Canada.  In Canada, 5% of all deaths are by euthanasia, now administered to terminally ill people but will soon be expanded. Recently, an 85-year-old Canadian priest was brought to the hospital.  He was healthy other than that he had fallen and broken his hip.  He needed a hip replacement.  Twice, hospital staff met with the man, trying to encourage him to let them euthanize him instead.  Why?  Because the staff believed he had outlived his usefulness.  Today, he could say, “No.”  In the future, the ability of others with similar conditions to say “No” is unlikely.

Antinatalism.  Today, this is a fringe philosophy that believes it is immoral and unethical to have a child because the child cannot consent to being born, that all human existence involves suffering, and that humans add to the carbon footprint leading to the extinction of the planet.  Surveys show that as many as 30% of all young Americans express some hesitation about having children for such reasons.

I share the contemporary philosophies not as a means of providing a lecture, but rather to show that cultural ethics present in the first century and those of today were and are built upon changeable philosophies that are in stark contrast to Biblical ethics.  Christian ethics then and now are built upon the unchanging Word of God.  Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, as well as other letters, sought to illuminate Christian ethics and behaviors necessary to live a life worthy of the calling placed on the Christian’s life.  And here in this letter, Paul hints that while he was in Thessalonica, there were some things about walking in faith he did not have the opportunity to share with the Thessalonians, or were not being strictly followed.  Paul wrote, “9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?’ (1 Thessalonians 3:9-10).

It would seem with that sense of lacking in mind, Paul wrote, “1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk [ethics] and to please God. (1 Thessalonians 4:1a)...”3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7).  Here, as we read Scripture, there comes a very important point.  If we did a person-on-the-street interview and stopped 100 people and asked them what this piece of Scripture is all about, I would believe that about 99 of those 100 people would say it is Paul talking about the need to abstain from sexual immorality and avoid lust.  They would do so because they would focus on the imperatives, the commands, the “don’t do this” that Paul laid out.  But reading the text in this manner would be very incomplete and would be most like reading Scripture as a piece of philosophy.  Reading the text this way would leave out the most important part of the message, namely, what has been revealed about God.

Paul began this passage with an indicative.  An indicative statement reveals God and gives the reason for God’s commands, the imperative.  Paul began this passage with a revelation: “3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification (hagiasmos)” (1 Thessalonians 4:3a).

Paul was revealing the mind of God.  He said this is God’s will.  God’s will is the very heart of God, His unchangeable desire.  Paul said it was the heart of God that each person would be sanctified.  Paul used the word hagiasmos to describe sanctification.  Sanctification or holiness is a state of being fully conformed to the image of His Son.  The passage contains the imperatives, the commands, but it begins with and ends with the indicative, the revelation of the will of God.  For in verse 7, Paul finishes with, “7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness (hagiasmos)” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).  So this passage is not so much about do’s and don’ts as it is about God’s desire that each person be moved to holiness.  The commands are a means of correcting a specific shortcoming Paul likely observed rather than the central focus of the message.  This is an important point because too many people might be inclined to say Paul’s words have no application to their lives because they do not see themselves as being sexually immoral.  That was the specific example Paul cited because for the Gentiles in the church who had followed ethics based on philosophy, appropriate sexual behavior was much more expansive than Christian ethics seeking to show forth the holiness of God.  For example, men were expected to marry and have children by their wives, but were also free to have sexual relations at will with prostitutes and enslaved women. To continue this culturally accepted behavior as a Christian would be a problem in fulfilling the indicative statement that it is the will of God, your sanctification.

What then do we take from Paul’s words to the Thessalonians? I think there are two things.  Not surprisingly, those two things are the indicative and the imperative.

The indicative, as Paul said, is that it is the will of God that we would be sanctified or made holy.  What then practically does this mean for us?  I think there are three things.

First, we must choose the way we will live our lives.  Upon what will our ethics, our everyday behaviors, be based?  Will they be based upon the unchangeable Word of God or upon the philosophies of humanity? It sounds simple to say, “Pastor, I choose to follow the Word of God, not some philosophies?”  But the hard part is: to choose God’s Word, we must also be willing to push back against the forces of culture that tell our children and us to do otherwise.  So, yes, if we are to be Christians in the fullest sense of that word, then we must choose to live in accordance with God’s Word.  That is the first step.

Second.  Having chosen to follow God’s Word, we have to live a biblically informed life, meaning we have to read the Word of God to know what leads to holiness.  That has less to do with searching the Bible for things you are not supposed to do.  It has more to do with understanding from the Bible what you are to do.  And fortunately, God understands that we learn more by example than any other way.  Our example of living and leaning to holiness was best exemplified by the way Jesus lived.  To move toward holiness is to imitate Christ.  We must be informed about how Jesus lived.  He lived.  His “Yes” meant “Yes” and His “No” meant “No.”  He came to serve, not to be served.  He prayed privately, and occasionally publicly, but never for personal gain, but always for conforming his life to the will of the Father.  Jesus did not shy away from controversy.  He stood fast for rightness and holiness even when the people, even his own family, would have rather he joined them or remained silent.  Jesus walked in holiness, and if we want to fulfill the will of God, then we too must walk in the way of Christ.

Third.  We need to understand the indicative, the truth of God’s desire for us to be holy. God’s will is not born out of some sense of watching us struggle to achieve a standard only Jesus ever met. God’s will is born out of love for us, and his desire that we would be in fellowship with Him.  God’s will is born out of love for those who do not know him, and his desire that we could let God shine through us to those people. Why?  Because God loves all the people and wishes none would be lost.  So our motivation for seeking to do God’s will should not be born out of obligation but out of a reciprocal love for God.

So our first point deals with understanding the indicative—God’s revelation for our life.  God wants us to follow His Word, not human philosophies.  He wants us to imitate His Son in our pursuit of holiness.  And He wants us to know that He loves us and to seek His will as the clearest expression of our love for Him.

What then is the second point?  It is the imperative, the commands.  There are commands that God has given us as guardrails to keep us from injury, whether that injury is physical, moral, or spiritual.  Paul spoke in today’s passage about improper sexual behaviors needing to be corrected.  Sexual behaviors considered improper by God’s Word still abound in society even though fewer behaviors are labeled as improper by human philosophy. If those improper behaviors are part of your life, Paul said, stop them now so that your life would conform to God’s will. But Paul used only one example. We, living a biblically informed life, need to examine our lives against God's other moral standards.  So, for example, are we guilty of murder? Murder?  Are we, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, guilty of murder because of our anger toward another?  Do we have other gods in our lives, such as our wealth or hobbies?  Do we have jealousies that cause us to want what is not ours or speak ill of someone else who has what we want and obviously does not deserve it?  What is it about our life that follows the ethics of culture?  Whatever these things are, we must rid them from our lives. Think of it this way.  If Paul were alive today, we would be getting a letter. What would Paul so easily cite in that letter that we know we must remove from our lives?

It is God’s will that we would be made holy because He is holy. He has done all the work for us to move toward holiness.  He has given us His Word and His Son, the living word.  He has given us apostles and evangelists to speak to us.  He has given us the Holy Spirit to convict us and move us toward holiness.  Now the choice remains ours.  Move to please God or stand still for the faint and fickle applause of humanity. Let’s choose wisely.  Amen and Amen.

            My 50th high school reunion is coming up in a few days.  Even though I will not be attending, the announcement made me think back to my graduation.  The year was 1976.  The nation was celebrating the bicentennial of its founding.  Every day, CBS Television would air one-minute segments called “A Bicentennial Moment.”  There would be a total of 912 such segments.  Each one provided a story about the American Revolution and the development of our country.  The cumulative goal of these segments was to show the coming together of thirteen separate colonies into a unified nation.  The union of the colonies was exemplified by the unofficial motto of the United States, “E Pluribus Unum,” which translates into English as “Out of many, one.”

            Now, fifty years later, we are marking the 250th anniversary of our country's founding.  But today, we hear more about diversity, not union. We hear more about the divide in our politics rather than a shared vision.  I make these observations not to lead into a conversation about politics or contemporary culture.  But rather to bring greater emphasis to the unchanging nature of the Christian’s relationship with Christ.  Our relationship with Christ, with Jesus, is not about our being diverse people; it is about each one of us being in a union with Christ and, therefore, united with each other.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus described this union with Christ three times, saying:

• 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you [union]. (John 14:18-20)
• 4 Abide in me, and I in you [union]. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine [union], neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him [union], he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
• 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, [union], that they also may be in us [union], so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one [union], 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one [union], so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)

In each case, Jesus was talking about a union forming between Him and His disciples so that they are made one, just as God the Father and God the Son, Jesus, are one.  A Christian’s relationship with Christ, then, is a union into one. 

To say that a Christian is in union with Christ is not a soundbite we want to assent to intellectually.  The idea that a Christian is in union with Christ is a hugely important idea to grasp. If, or rather since, we are in union with Christ already, it means we have a place before God.  We are moved from being enemies of God to friends of God. This transformation is not because we followed so many steps in some process for so many years.  This transformation happens because, upon the profession of our faith in Christ, we are made new and enter a union with Christ. If we are in union with Christ, then God’s Word is not given to qualify us to come into God’s presence.  God’s Word is given to guide us in the way people who are already in union with Christ are to live this life while awaiting the life to come.

The Apostle Paul wrote often about the union of the Christian with Christ.  Paul used the phrase "in Christ" (and its variants, such as "in Christ Jesus" or "in Him") as a foundational concept, appearing in his letters over 160 times, to describe a believer's deep spiritual union, new identity, and secure standing under Jesus' authority.  So everything the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write to different churches or individuals was meant to strengthen an existing union with Christ Jesus.

Our reading today was from the Apostle Paul to the believers in Thessalonica.  Paul opened his letter this way, “1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace” (1 Thessalonians 1:1).  Paul saw his life and the lives of the Thessalonian believers as being lived in Christ.  Therefore, Paul’s inspired words were written to express the reality of life in Christ rather than about some struggle in life.  This is like the idea we discussed last week about living a Christ-centered or gospel-centered life.  This means that when we talk about our lives or share our lives, it should be less about us and more about Christ.  To better understand the importance of our union with Christ, we might ask ourselves, when we share a story from our life, “Would Jesus tell this story about my experience in the same way that I am telling it?”  That is a difficult idea to consider, but I think it helps us understand the significance of being in Christ.

Let’s look at how Paul described his time with the Thessalonians from the perspective of Paul being in union with Christ.  In Chapter 2 of his letter, Paul wrote, “1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ” (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6).  I want to start here by noting that Paul mentions the difficulties, struggles, and likely accusations he endured in coming to Thessalonica and while in the city.  As for the difficulties Paul said he suffered, he was shamefully treated and experienced conflict.  It would also appear some claimed Paul was in error, was impure, a deceiver, used flattery on people, came with greedy motives, and sought glory from the people.  Paul was aware some people saw him as a disreputable character who got all the mistreatment he deserved.  Paul was run out of town and thus failed.  Paul might have been concerned that some in the Thessalonian church saw things that way.  We might even see our lives through such a lens at times.  We might be inclined to see our lives only through the lens of struggle, suffering, and misunderstanding.  And we get disheartened and see ourselves as failing or disconnected from Jesus.

But Paul began this passage instructively as one who is in union with Christ.  Paul said, “1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain” (1 Thessalonians 2:1). Paul began by saying his experience in Thessalonica was anything but a failure even though he would later speak of the difficulties.  Why was it not a failure? Because Paul said, “1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6). Paul saw his experience in Thessalonica through the eyes of Christ and told his story as Jesus might have told the story.  If Jesus told Paul’s story, it might sound like this, “Paul did not act in vain.  He acted in union with Me.  Because of our union, he was bold in his words, speaking the gospel which had been entrusted to him.  Paul spoke without concern about whether men would applaud him.  Paul did these things as an imitator of me.  He spoke only to please God, and God was his witness.  Yes, Paul experienced hardship and false allegations, but that only made his presentation of the gospel stronger and showed he was in union with me, for I likewise suffered affliction and false allegations for the sake of the gospel.”

When we read and interpret the New Testament from the perspective that the stories are about the joy in being in union with Christ rather than through the struggles and misunderstandings of life, we see and experience hope that never disappoints.  We no longer see lives of desperation and discouragement, but lives of fulfillment and accomplishment for God’s glory.

Having read the opening of this chapter as Paul in union with Christ, we can now better see how Paul further exhibited Christ's character among the Thessalonians.  Paul said, “7 We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us…10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 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 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 10-12).

Paul showed his union with Christ by being gentle.  In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said of himself that he was humble and gentle of heart.  Paul imitated Christ because of his union in Christ.

Paul expressed maternal behavior toward the Thessalonians, seeking to give them the best.  In Luke 13:34, Jesus showed maternal behavior when he said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”  Paul again imitated Christ because of his union in Christ.

Paul expressed fatherly behavior toward the Thessalonians by exhorting, encouraging, and charging them as though they were his own children.  In John 13, Jesus showed fatherly behavior when he said to his disciples, “33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:33-35).  Paul again imitated Christ because of his union in Christ.

Finally, Paul said that before the Thessalonians he was “holy and righteous and blameless.”  Is there a better description for Christ?  Paul again imitated Christ because of his union in Christ.

Paul’s words express a union with Christ.  What then can we do with Paul’s words to the Thessalonians? It is simply this.  Each person upon their profession of faith, in that moment, ceases to stand apart from Christ and instead, in that moment and for all eternity, is in union with Christ.  If you are a Christian here today, then you are in union with Christ. Since we are in union with Christ, He in us and we in Him, we ought to see our life differently from the past. We should see life differently because our life is profoundly different.  Jesus is not an addition to our life; He is the very center of our life. The joys we have and, yes, even the struggles of life are a mixture of experiences through which Christ will equip us to be better imitators of him.  They are experiences that shape us into being able to be more gentle, motherly, fatherly, blameless, righteous, and holy.  In Christ, we are no longer concerned with the diversity among believers but rather the shared union we enjoy with Jesus.

One of the greatest symbols of being in union with Christ is to see brothers and sisters share in the Lord’s Supper.  Each time we share the Lord’s Supper, divisions should melt, and unity strengthened.  When Jesus said to his disciples, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood,” he was speaking to people with whom he was already in union.  It is now our time through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper to pause, to reflect, and to acknowledge to ourselves and to one another that we are in Christ and He is in us.  Come, let us share our union with Jesus.  Amen and Amen.