Living with a View to the Future…
While the Church waits for Christ, What should we be doing?
Leaders should
Labor for the church
Lead the church
Admonish those in the church
The Church should
Acknowledge leaders
Esteem leaders
Everyone should
Warn the Wayward – Warn those who are idle
Encourage the Worried – Encourage the timid
Help the weak – help the weak
Practice patience
Refuse to Retaliate
Cultivate Kindness
Slide
Have you ever so looked forward to something that you just stopped doing what you should because you were just looking forward to something so much.
Maybe it is the end of the school year. It is the middle of May and you know the Scool year is coming to an end so you stop studying and doing your homework because you know that the end of the year is right around the corner and you won’t have to deal with this for a while.
Maybe you have a 2 week vacation planned and you just stop doing work a week early as you figure there is no use in starting something now before you go.
Sometimes as we wait for something we are looking forward to, we stop doing the things that we should be doing.
Well the Thessalonians were looking forward to the return of Jesus and some of them had stopped doing the things that they should be doing.
They were expecting it at any moment, though they did not know exactly when it would happen. Some would say that it shows great faith to stop doing things because you think that Christ will return any moment.
Well, as Paul begins to close out this first letter to the Thessalonians, he reminds them of some of the responsibilities they have within the church and to one another and and some attitudes they need to work on while they wait for Christ’s return.
This morning we are going to see some of the things we should be doing while we wait for Christ’s return and learn some principles of leadership, followership and fellowship within the church.
Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
Slide
and let’s see how we should conduct ourselves in the church, no matter our position, as we wait for the Lord to return.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Pray
Now in these verses we see several different aspects of responsibilities of people in the church, what they should be doing and how they should be relating to one another.
This morning I want to start with the responsibilities of the leaders. Now these responsibilities are more implied in the text than given overtly, but they are still significant for us to know.
So in regards to leaders, Paul implies several things that leaders in the church should be doing as we wait for Christ’s return. Now understand that this is not an exhaustive list, but some things that the Thessalonians needed to focus on.
First, we see that
Leaders should Labor for the church
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:12a - Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord
Before I was a Christian, I thought those who worked in the church had a job that was anything but hard work.
Work one day a week, your done by noon, get to hang out with people, maybe make a few phone calls, play some golf, be home in time for an afternoon nap.
After I became a Christian and was involved in the church, I realized how flawed my thinking was. I saw that there was a significant amount of work for those who worked in the church.
After I became a Pastor, I realized how flawed my corrected view of ministry was. There was a lot more to be done than I had even realized before.
It wasn’t just come in a prepare for the sermon on Sunday.
There was
dealing with conflict between people
the administration of the church, making sure bills were paid
there was talking to people and ministering to them
the organizing of ministry teams to accomplish the ministry that one person couldn’t do.
The recruiting of volunteers to help share the load
Planning lessons for small groups
Planning for leadership meetings
Communicating with the congregation
Planning worship services
Planning and organizing facility expansion
Planning budgets
Ordering resources
Visiting people
Now obviously that is more than one person can do. And when you are smaller, there is less of that to do, but there is a lot of work to be done and some of it is very hard.
But aspiring to leadership in the local church should not be about not doing much.
It should be about doing whatever it takes to help people to
hear the good news of Jesus Christ and
receive Him as Savior by entering into a relationship with Him and
grow in that relationship by growing in their knowledge of Him.
This was Paul’s heart as he expressed it to the Colossians.
Colossians 1:28-29 - We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
It is sometimes physically draining ministering to people because ministry doesn’t just happen from 9 to 5.
It is sometimes emotionally draining as you minister to people in crisis situations.
Being a leader in the church is hard work.
But it is also fulfilling as we have the privilege to be used by God to change eternities and help people take steps of faith.
And while it is all a work of God, there is still the principal of sowing and reaping that applies to ministry as well. When we do the hard work of leadership, it helps sow good seed and set an example for others as they witness our “labor prompted by love” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
As Hickory Creek has grown as a church, and as we have expanded leadership, I am thankful to work along other leaders who are hard workers for the kingdom of God. As we move forward as a church, we are in the process of thinking through our structure and how to develop more leaders so we can do a greater job of serving and working hard for the church of Jesus Christ. But to all those aspiring leaders, understand that leadership in the church is far more than just a title, it requires you to labor for the church.
We also see that
Leaders should Lead the church
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:12b - Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord
Now, this may seem too obvious to even mention, but it is vital that leaders lead.
The word that is translated “over you” can mean “to rule over” speaking of authority, but it can also be translated as “protector or guardian or care for.”
Those “who protect you in the Lord” or those “who care for you in the Lord.”
And notice that it ends that phrase, “in the Lord.”
I believe that this is speaking less to the fact that there are leaders “over” the Thesslaonians in authority, but more to the fact of what their function is in being placed over them.
It is to care for them and protect them from false teachers and teachings.
It is about how those who are over the Thessalonians are leading and caring for the flock “in the Lord.”
There is certainly an aspect of authority in leadership, but the authority of leaders in the church should never be used in a dictatorial fashion. Leaders in the church need to lead like Peter talks about.
1 Peter 5:1-3 - To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
Leaders need to lead by example those whom they are leading and they serve them and care for them.
Paul also tells us that
Leaders should Admonish those in the church
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:12c - Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
We have a negative view of admonishment. The Greek word means “to put in mind” or “to caution or reprove gently.” It can also be translated as “warn.”
(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Leaders are to help people see the truth that God has given in His word and admonish them, seek to correct them from pursuing an action or habit that is wrong and harmful, to one that is right and in obedience to the Lord’s teaching.
Admonishing someone is done in love, not in anger. It is done because we want the very best for a person and understand that what they are doing is ultimately harmful to them if it is against what the Lord would have them do.
It is never fun to correct someone. But leaders within the church have been placed in those positions so they can lead the church and help people to continually be transformed from living according to a false teaching or in a way that harms the person or the body, to ways that bring glory to God and are beneficial for all.
Paul’s ministry to the Ephesians while he was there for 3 years was one of admonishing and warning the Ephesians.
As he is departing, he sums up his ministry to them by saying “be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning (admonishing) each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:31)
He warned them and admonished them with tears, out of love and in loving ways because he loved them.
It is easier not to admonish or warn someone, but it is harmful to the individual as well as the church as a whole if we don’t do this.
Leaders in the church need to be willing to admonish and warn those in the church from living in ways that are detrimental to them.
Transition
So those are some of the things that leaders in the church should be doing as we wait for Christ to return.
But Paul also gives instructions for the people of the church.
First he says
The church should…
Acknowledge their Leaders
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:12a - Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
I am not so sure that Paul is meaning to respect leaders as in think highly of them in this particular verse. He deals with that in the next verse.
Here the word translated respect can also be translated as “appreciate or acknowledge.” I think this has more to do with recognizing those whom God is raising up or has raised up within the church, those who are doing hard work and serving and meeting the biblical qualifications of leaders, to respect them by recognizing them as the leaders they are and by appointing them to the office and giving them the authority that goes along with leadership.
As we approach the end of the year, we take nominations for Deacons and elders from the church. We believe that many of those who the Lord is calling to those positions will be doing that type of work already and it will be recognizable to the people so they might acknowledge and respect that work that is being done and nominate them to those biblical offices.
The church needs to be respecting and acknowledging those who exhibit that leadership by giving them the authority of the office they are nominated to.
Secondly, we see
The church should
Esteem their Leaders
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:13a - Hold them in the highest regard (esteem them highly) in love because of their work.
Some versions translate “highest regard” as “esteem them highly.”
In this matter, for Hickory Creek, I feel like Paul when he talked about the Thessalonians faith and how that their faith was so evident and he said “we do not need to say anything about it.” - 1 Thessalonians 1:8
Well I will say for Hickory Creek, the church esteems their leaders, holds them in high regard so well that I believe “we do not need to say anything about it.”
Last month was pastor appreciation month and I know for myself and Andy we felt so appreciated from so many within the church. We love serving here and we do feel highly regarded.
So the church needs to recognize and appreciate and esteem leaders in love because of their work.
Now Paul moves on from the responsibilities of leadership and followership within the church to the responsibilities of the entire fellowship, everyone who is part of the church.
And as we wait for Christ’s return he wants each one of us to
Warn the Idle
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:14a - And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle
There were people in Thessalonica who were not doing anything as they waited for Christ to return. They were not working, not serving, etc. They stopped doing anything to look for the Lord’s return.
That is not what the Bible teaches us.
These believers had gotten off track. The Bible never teaches us to be idle. It teaches us to be active in following.
Jesus told the people to be ready for his return by doing the things he had told them to do.
Matthew 24:44-47
44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
We are to be doing the things that the Lord has left us here to do.
Making disciples, teaching, sharing the good news.
But that also includes taking care of household responsibilities, parenting your children, growing in our relationships, working jobs so that we can provide for those in our family and give to those in need.
And for those who are not working or serving, who are just idle, we need to warn them and admonish them so they will not remain idle but will be found being faithful at fulfilling their responsibilities when the Lord returns.
Paul also tells us to
Encourage the Discouraged
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:14b - And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid
The word translated “timid” means “little spirited.” It can be translated as faint hearted or discouraged. We can think of it as having our spirits low, being down in the dumps, discouraged by our circumstances. We have all been there at times.
The people of the church need to be there to encourage those who are discouraged. We need to lift their spirits, help them persevere through difficult times and keep their eyes on the Lord.
Are you an encouragement to the Discouraged? Has the Lord placed someone in your path that you need to be encouraging?
Encourage those who are discouraged.
Each one of us should also be there to
Help the Weak
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:14c - And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak
In context, this is talking about those who are spiritually weak, weaker in the faith.
We have all been given the responsibility to help those whose faith is weaker than our own.
Whom has God placed in your life who is weaker in their faith and needs to be helped to be strengthened?
Walk with them as you help them take a step of faith, whether that is
trusting Jesus as Savior,
taking a step of baptism or
going with them to be part of a small group Bible study or
doing a study with them, just the 2 of you.
Help those who are weaker in the faith to grow in their faith.
Paul continues telling us that we all also need to
Practice Patience
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:14d - And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Whenever we are seeking to express love to those who need to be warned about what they are doing or encouraged because they are down or helped because their faith is weak at that moment, you are going to need to practice patience.
Patience is one of the characteristics of love.
1 Corinthians 13:4 - Love is patient
It is going to be challenging sometimes because
those who are idle are not always going to just hear your admonishment and say thanks. They will sometimes get angry, in fact.
Those who are down are not just going to get up and persevere by one word of encouragement from you.
Those who are weak are not going to go and do difficult and challenging things for you offer to help them.
It is going to take time and it is going to be hard.
That is why we need to be patient.
And realize that even as we need to be patient with others, we need others to be patient with us, because the Lord is still at work in each one of our lives.
Paul also tells us that we need to
Refuse to Retaliate
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:15a - Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong
Things get harder now.
When we get wronged by someone else in the church, it makes our blood boil.
Our first instinct is to hit back.
If you have never been wronged by someone in the church, I will tell you that you will be. The church is made up of flawed humans.
But we still must not retaliate. Yes, we should take actions in keeping with the word of God, but our quest for justice does not allow us to do wrong.
If someone wrongs us, we have the recourse outlined in Matthew 18.
Go to the person and let them know how you are feeling wronged by them.
If they don’t see it take one or 2 others from the church who know each of you.
If they still don’t see it, it may mean that they are disciplined from the church as a whole, but that may still not fix the wrong that was done to you.
This is where we need to leave things in the hands of the Lord.
Paul reminds us that we should not take revenge on those who wrong us.
Romans 12:19-21
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Overcome evil with good. This leads to the final thing that Paul tells us we all need to do. That is that each one of us need to
Cultivate Kindness
Slide
1 Thessalonians 5:15b - Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Paul tells us that we are not just to not seek revenge, we are to actually work hard at being kind to each other and everyone else, even those who may have wronged us.
The Lord works through that kindness to bring conviction, and if not conviction, then there will be justice in then end as we all face the judgment seat of Christ.
But to be able to cultivate kindness, even to those who wrong us, requires a constant gaze upon the Lord.
We need to be like Stephen, who while he was being martyred, had his gaze fixed on the Lord and was able to ask for forgiveness for his murderers.
When we are keeping our focus on the Lord, we become more like Him.
And when He comes, and we are acting like and doing the things that the Master would be doing, that’s when we are truly ready for the Lord’s return.
Conclusion
These last few weeks I have ended with the same question.
Are you ready?
The last couple weeks I have asked about being ready in terms of having received Him as your Savior. If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, then you need to receive Him by doing what the Bible says, “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9).
For the Christian, those who are part of the church, are you ready? Are you doing the things that the Lord, speaking through Paul has outlined for us?
Even if we are partially, we all have room to grow
In 1 Thessalonians 4:1 – Paul tells them that “we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more”
We need to be doing the things he has called us to do more and more and that requires that we are completely submitted to Him.
Are you submitted to Him? Really?
We are going to close in worship singing “The Stand” this morning.
We need to recognize that to be able to accomplish any of these responsibilities that the Lord has given us to live out as we wait for Him, requires that we be completely sold out and surrendered to Him.
I am sure that not one of us are completely there yet.
So I want us to make this our prayer this morning.
The chorus of “the Stand” is
So what can I say, What can I do
But offer this heart O God, Completely to You
So I’ll stand, With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
So I’ll stand, My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours
Make that your prayer and your cry this morning.
