A few weeks ago James Rogers, our senior minister, spoke about songs he hated. I’ve got a number of songs I hate. I can’t really share them with you now because they’ve normally got some sort of profanity in the title as well as in the lyrics themselves. Then there’s the songs that I just can’t get into. They’re too slow or too fast or too monotonous or you just can’t sing along to them or they’re just not very catchy. I put most stuff written in the last 15-20 years in that category. There’s the songs which sound good but when you look at the lyrics are vapid, shallow, hedonistic and narcissistic (they’re just crap in other words). Then there’s the songs which just make us feel uncomfortable, because they hit a bit too close to home or because we know we don’t live up to their standards. It was a song like this that James said he hated – the song that many of you will be familiar with, Blessed Be Your Name. Now I know that James is actually a big fan of this song, but his point was this: it calls us to praise and thank and glorify God when things are great AND when we’ve hit rock bottom. Here’s the second verse:
“Blessed be your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be your name
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
When there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
It’s a huge challenge, isn’t. Now matter what we’re going through, we are to praise the name of God.
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
As Sheldon was reading the passage for us this evening you probably noticed the range of different instructions and encouragements that Paul, Silas and Timothy were giving to the Thessalonians as they ended their letter. We’re not going to cover everything tonight, instead we’re going to focus on three verses – only one sentence really – and that’s verses 16-18: 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
How do you react when you hear that? Be joyful ALWAYS. Give thanks in ALL circumstances. Is this an instruction for some super-positive thinking? How can we be expected to be joyful and thankful when we’re enduring pain and loss or when we’re walking that road marked with suffering? That’s the question that this passage will have raised with many of you, I think.
But I reckon it’s just as hard to be joyful and thankful when things are going well. When our lives are sailing along smoothly, how easy it is to forget to thank God. How many of you have not even thought to thank God when you’ve got that job you wanted or when you’re relaxing on the beach in the middle of a well-earned holiday, or when you get back some good marks on an exam. We end up feeling with don’t need God because everything’s going so well.
If you’re struggling to put food on the table then you might remember to thank God that you’ve got a full stomach every evening. But when there’s never a question, when things are never hard – do we remember? Do I remember to thank God that I keep getting paid and that I can eat and have a roof over my head? To my shame I have to say no, and I would guess it is the same with most of you. Give thanks in all circumstances – because all our many blessings come from the Lord. It is only fitting that we should thank him.
As I said, though, the question most often asked about a passage like this is the other extreme – how can we thank God when things are going bad. Before he left on his globe trotting expedition, Cameron Smith spoke to the morning congregation about suffering. We didn’t get an opportunity to hear that talk but as we look at these three verses hopefully we’ll be able to explore at least a little bit of what he said.
Before we start looking at this question at a sort of intellectual level we need to acknowledge that there is often real anguish behind this. It’s not just an exercise in theology. It’s a desperate attempt to make sense of the life God has dealt us, sometimes in the face of experiences that many of us here in leafy Lugarno would never be able to understand.
It’s from that very real context that spring these questions:
How can he say “be joyful always”? How can he say “gives thanks in all circumstances”? Doesn’t he know what life is like? Doesn’t he know how I feel? Doesn’t he know how I hurt? Doesn’t he know I miss them? Does he really expect me to be joyful through that? Is this guy some sort of masochist? Is this God some sort of distant figure so caught up in his own divine privilege that he just doesn’t get what I feel like?
Feeling like that is not necessarily wrong. Expressing that to God is not necessarily wrong – read some of the psalms if you don’t believe me. And I can assure you that both writers of this passage in 1 Thessalonians know what you’re going through. Paul, whose life was constantly in danger and who was constantly rejected, and the Lord Jesus himself who suffered the torment of the cross and the spiritual torture of bearing his father’s anger for the sins of the world. They know what you’re going through. God gave up his divine privilege when he became a man and died. He can sympathise. He knows what it feels like.
But even so, how can we be joyful and thankful in all circumstances?
Well, first we need to acknowledge what these two terms don’t mean. Joy is not just happiness. And being joyful always isn’t about putting on some false smile. It’s not just about positive thinking or being an eternal optimist. Joy and thankfulness are much more deep-seated than that. They reflect a contentedness, an assurance, a profound faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God. That’s what joy is. It’s not just being happy. And you can be joyful while at the same time feeling sorrow and loss.
In a famous book called“The Hiding Place”, Dutch woman Corrie ten Boom wrote of her family’s experience undergoing the trial of concentration camps under the Third Reich in World War II. Though not Jews themselves, she, her father, and her sister, Betsie, were sent to a series of prison camps for harboring Jews in their Netherlands home. At one point, the two sisters are sent to their third camp, Ravensbruck, and upon their arrival at the barracks, they realize that among other horrors of the camp their barracks are completely infested with fleas. QUOTE: p. 180-181
“Fleas!” I cried. “Betsie, the place is swarming with them!…how can we live in such a place?”
“Show us. Show us how.” It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying. More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie.
“Corrie!” she said excitedly. “He’s given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!”
I glanced down the long dim aisle to make sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch. “It was in First Thessalonians,” I said….”Here it is; ‘Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all…’” It seemed written expressly to Ravensbruck.
“Go on,” said Betsie. “That wasn’t all.”
“Oh yes; ‘…to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus—‘”
“That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!”
I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room.
“Such as?” I said.
“Such as being assigned here together.”
I bit my lip, “Oh yes, Lord Jesus!”
“Such as what you’re holding in your hands.”
I looked down at the Bible. “Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages.”
“Yes,” said Betsie. “Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!” She looked at me expectantly. “Corrie!” she pleaded.
“Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds.”
“Thank You,” Betsie went on serenely, “for the fleas and for—“
The fleas! This was too much. “Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.”
“’Give thanks in all circumstances,’” she quoted. “It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.”
And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.
I think many of us would also assume Betsie was wrong. Isn’t that taking this passage just a little too literally. Doesn’t it sound just a bit hollow? Like a formula to be recited? Maybe even deeply insensitive – can we really thank God for the Nazis and the concentration camps and the holocaust?
Thanking God does not mean having to feel “I would prefer no situation but this one”. No, it means acknowledging that God is in control. It means trusting that his promises to his people stand. Of our three instructions, I haven’t really touched much on vs 17 – pray continually. Prayer is really a reflection of our humility before God. If we’re praying about everything it means that we know God has our whole lives in his hands. In fact, the only way we can be joyful and thankful in every circumstance is to pray continually!
We also need to have confidence in God. Most of you will be very familiar with this verse from Romans 8:28. In fact, at the opening session of Synod just last week, Zac Veron preached on this very passage. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” If we truly believe that promise then we can be joyful and thankful always.
It’s easier said than done, though – isn’t it? The problem is that we always want to know. It’s not enough for us to prayerfully rely on God. If we can’t see how it will work out for our good, then we really struggle to believe it.
Let me continue with the story of Corrie ten Boom:
One evening I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. A light snow lay on the ground and it was hard to find the sticks and twigs with which a small stove was kept going in each room. Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.
“You’re looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,” I told her.
“You know we’ve never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,” she said (referring to the fact that they had been free to have Bible studies and even sing hymns in the barracks together in the evenings..) “Well, I’ve found out.”
That afternoon, she said, there’d been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they’d asked the supervisor to come and settle it.
“But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?”
Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: “Because of the fleas! That’s what she said, ‘That place is crawling with fleas!’”
My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie’s bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.
God’s plan doesn’t always turn out so clearly to us. Betsie died a short while later in that camp, and Corrie was released due to a clerical error a week before all the other women were put to death. We can often see the wisdom of God’s plan in retrospect, but rarely at the time. But the secret to joy is this – humbling trusting the Lord, bringing everything before him in prayer.
In the end, joy and thankfulness are often questions of perspective. Understanding God’s promise to work for the good of those who love him is a question of perspective.
These verses of chapter 5 follow on from the great words of encouragement that James brought to us last week. The promise of an eternal future. Have a look at vs 9-10 – “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”
You see, even if we never see the subtle purpose in our experiences like Betsie and the fleas we can be sure there is a bigger purpose, an eternal purpose. That’s primarily what it is talking about in Romans 8, because in that chapter Paul goes on to say that nothing can separate us from the love of God and in him we will be glorified.
If you don’t have that, you cannot be joyful always. But if you trust that promise to be true, there is no reason to be anything other than joyful and thankful.
One band that is an exception to the last 15-20 years rule that I mentioned at the beginning is a group called Five For Fighting. It’s not really a band at all – it’s really just one guy who sings and plays piano. He also sings quite a bit in falsetto which of course gives me pleasant memories of the Bee Gees….but anyway.
Incidently, I was doing a survey on radio and music the other day. At the beginning I said I was 26 years old and then proceeded to answer that I listen to ABC 702 and occasionally 2WS. I was asked why 2WS and I said because they play the good music – stuff from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. I went into a bit more detail about that and then at the end of the survey I was asked “Given your answers we just want to check on an early response. You said you were 26 years old. Is that really correct?
But that’s completely irrelevant to the point I’m trying to make – So back to Five For Fighting. He has a song called “100 years”. At it’s heart, it’s probably a love song. It’s an encouragement to the young to take their chances. And it reflects back from old age not in a bitter way but in a way that says “Life keeps moving, it flies by quickly and it will be over sooner than you think.” The thing is, I find the song incredibly depressing. It’s not supposed to be, but it is. Let me read you some of the lyrics.
I’m 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I’m just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I’m 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we’re on fire
15 there’s still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Then it goes on for a bit, and ends like this:
Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We’re moving on...
I’m 99 for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I’m just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
15 there’s still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you’re on your way
Every day’s a new day...
15 there’s still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Now I’m not sure if that is supposed to be ironic or not. I don’t think it is, to be honest. In a reality without God and without eternity and without hope maybe there isn’t anything better than being 15 and going after the girl of your dreams.
If that’s all there is – 100 years to live (or in my case more like 45) then how can you be joyful? When you’re 22 or 33 or 67 or 99 and you know that your best years are behind you and every day is just one closer to death, then how can you be joyful.
As Christians, we don’t have just 100 years to live. At 99 our best years are still ahead of us. In fact, our best years are always ahead of us! The best times will always be in the future. Whatever is happening to you now we can be sure that God is working out all things so that we are drawn to him and remain in him and enjoy fellowship with him. As 4:17 says: “we will be with the Lord forever.”
Scripture is littered with the accounts of faithful men and women who were joyful always, who prayed continually and who gave thanks in all circumstances.
When Daniel hears that King Darius had passed a law forbidding prayer to the LORD, what does he do? He goes up to his room and gives thanks to God as he always does.
Job, whose property, possessions, family and health have all been stripped away from him and he says:
"Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
Or Habbakuk who ends his prayer with these words – and couldn’t they just be the words of one of our brothers or sisters in Christ suffering through the drought in western NSW?
“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls
18yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
19The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
he enables me to go on to the height.
If we are people of God, then our suffering has purpose. It’s not always for us to understand what that is. But ultimately, we can be joyful because we know God will never abandon us. He will mould us, refine us, change us – but nothing can separate us from the love of God. And if we know that, if we are confident of our eternal future, then is it not right that we are joyful always, that we pray continually, and that we thank God in all circumstances.
Before we appropriately sing “Blessed Be Your Name”, I want to close with another true story. For those who were there in the morning when Cameron spoke about suffering, you may have heard this before, but it bears repeating as most of us missed out.
Horatio Spafford was a Christian in Chicago in the 1800s. In 1870 his son died of smallpox. In 1872 during a great fire he lost all his investments. In 1873 he, his wife, and their remaining four daughters decided to go to London to join the great evangelist D.L. Moody there. At the last minute, Horatio was delayed but sent his family ahead of him. On November 2, the ship on which they were sailing collided with another iron-hulled vessel and sank in the Atlantic ocean. His wife was pulled from the sea, but all four daughters perished. When she got to England, Anna Spafford sent a two-worded telegram to her husband. It read “saved alone”.
Upon hearing the news, Horatio boarded the next ship to England. During the voyage, the captain called him over and told him that it was about this point in the journey where his children drowned. Spafford returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of one of the greatest hymns ever written. It’s called “It is well with my soul”
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
