It Takes A Village Series

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

› Engagement

In 1996, Hillary Clinton, who was then the First Lady, wrote a book titled It Takes a Village. The title came from what is purported to be an African proverb, although no one has been able to verify its origin. The premise of the book is that it takes more than just the immediate family to raise a child. From my perspective, the major flaw with the book is that from Clinton’s perspective the “village” was the federal government and its main purpose was to justify even greater government intervention into the lives of our families. However, I do think the overall premise that people and groups outside the immediate family do have a great influence in the raising of our children is certainly true.

› Tension

Unfortunately, we live in a culture where people have become more and more isolated. As I’ve shared before, in some ways one of the worst inventions of all times is the garage door opener. That has made it possible for us to leave and re-enter our homes without ever having to interact with our neighbors.

And the church has not been immune to those trends. We now have a whole generation of those who claim to be Christians who also claim they can live as a Christian without ever being an integral part of a local church. As we’ll see this morning, that flies in the face of what the Bible teaches and is completely contrary to the life of the disciples in the first century.

And I worry that the COVID pandemic is only going to hasten this trend. Based on some recent surveys, there are a lot of Christians who have gotten pretty comfortable watching church in their pajamas in the comfort of their homes and many say that they say they probably won’t return to the church building even after the pandemic is over. I am grateful for the technology that has made it possible for many of you to continue to be part of our church family over the last year or so, but I do worry that at some point that will become the norm for many. And that’s a shame, because as we’re going to discover this morning, there is a sense in which it does take a village to raise disciples of Jesus. So if we want to become mature disciples we need to be active participants in that village.

› Truth

This morning is the third message from our current sermon series - Living in Light of Eternity. In this series we are studying Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica - a church he had founded only months before he wrote this letter. In the letter, he is giving them some practical advice about how to live as they waited for the return of Jesus - advice that is relevant for us as we continue to do the same thing.

Sometimes, I think we can view Paul as being kind of cold and unfeeling. But the passage we’re going to read this morning is a window into Paul’s heart. And we’re going to see that in fact Paul is a loving, caring man who desires to pour his life into the lives of his fellow disciples.

We’ll begin this morning in verse 17 of chapter 2:

1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:5 ESV

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

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