Gracious Living
2 Thessalonians 3:13-18
Intro: Two preachers were on the roadside with a sign that read, "The End is Near - turn around now before it’s too late". A passing driver yelled "Leave us alone you religious nuts." Then the preachers heard a loud splash. One preacher said to the other, "Do you think we should have just said “Bridge Out.”
-There are times when we need to warn one another about the danger that lies ahead of a poor life decision. We are responsible, not only for ourselves, but for our bros. and sisters as well. The church family was God’s idea and was meant for good. Encouragement is always in order, but sometimes we have to take a stronger, bolder approach. But in the midst of this we should still be gracious with one another.
-Paul gave some strong instruction in vv.6-12 of 2 Tim. 3. We have to figure out how that fits in our setting and how we can best help each other grow spiritually. Paul saw that the only way to help certain Christians who were being lazy and stirring up trouble was to cut off their free meals they were enjoying, courtesy of the church family. Paul told them to get to work and obey!
1. Don’t let anyone steal your generosity!
2 Thessalonians 3:13 And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
-Well doing or doing good often refers to giving to the poor in the Bible. At the least, benevolence is included in the definition of doing good. The meaning here appears to me more focused than simply doing what is right in general. In light of Paul’s instructions to cut off benevolence to the freeloaders who were expecting the church to keep feeding them and letting them cause trouble for free, Paul is now telling these believers that they should not cut off their ministry and charitable giving to the poor and needy. This is not their out.
-Most of us can get tight-fisted if we think somebody has taken advantage of us. But God wants us to be gracious in our giving – even if people take advantage of us. Your generosity is an act of worship to God and will not go unrewarded, regardless of whether or not someone felt they pulled one over on us or not.
-So, regardless of how we feel, or even if we just feel worn out in our giving, the word here is DON’T GIVE UP!
2. Obey Godly Instruction
2 Thessalonians 3:14a If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter…
-It appears that the early church regarded the writings of the apostles as having the weight of Scripture (2 Peter 3:15). The NT writings were not arbitrarily chosen by some church council a few hundred years later. They were already highly esteemed among the churches as being authoritative words to live by. Just as the Jews recognized that Moses wrote the most of the Torah, and they considered it God’s inspired word to Israel, the early church viewed the writings of Paul as God speaking to them. Therefore, it was expected that true believers would align themselves with Paul’s writings, believing that God was speaking through him as he wrote. Disobedience to Paul’s letter was tantamount to disobeying God! Was Paul God? No! Did God speak through Paul? Yes!
-However, since there may have already been pseudo-letters sent in Paul’s name, he made big deal in v.17 about signing his name to this letter to show it was really from him. Later on, several false letters and writings popped up. Most of them contain teachings that stray from the cohesive body of truth found in Scripture. The main point here is that we all need to swallow our pride, humble ourselves, and be willing to fully surrender to God’s will in our lives. When we do not listen to what God is saying to us, we hinder our relationship with Him, and we may bring harm on ourselves and those around us.
-HEED THE COMMANDS
-In July of 1976, Israeli commandos made a daring raid at an airport in Uganda, in which 103 Jewish hostages were freed. In less than 15 minutes, the soldiers had killed all 7 of the kidnappers and set the captives free.
-As successful as the rescue was, however, three of the hostages were killed during the raid. As the Israeli commandos entered the terminal, they shouted in Hebrew, "Get Down! Crawl!" The Jewish hostages understood, and laid down on the floor, while the terrorist kidnappers, who did not speak Hebrew, were left standing.
-Quickly, the rescuers shot and killed those who remained standing. Unfortunately, two of the hostages hesitated and were also cut down. The third hostage who died was lying down when the commandos entered the airport, but stood up when commanded to lay down. He, too, was shot with bullets meant for the enemy.
-Had these three heeded the soldiers’ command, they would have lived and been freed with the rest of the captives (David Owens, sermoncentral.com).
-But it’s not just about our personal obedience. As a family, we are interested in helping one another succeed in obeying God. That is why we hold each other accountable and encourage each other to do the right thing.
3. Don’t enable disobedience
2 Thessalonians 3:14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
4. Always act in love
2 Thessalonians 3:15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
-Keeping your distance from a continually disobedient Christian has nothing to do with hatred or wishing him harm. It has everything to do with caring enough about him to do what is most likely uncomfortable for you.
-I believe, as I shared last week, that this act of shunning should be preceded by humble, loving confrontation. It should include a willingness and an offer to walk through the turnaround process with them. If it ever comes to a case of staying away from them, there should be no doubt in their mind that you love them dearly and only want to see them in right relationship with God and enjoying a life that is in harmony with who He is.
-Not hate, but genuine love – tough love!
5. Stay close to the Lord of Peace
2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
-Jesus is called the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6. The wording here implies a close, personal impartation of peace from the Lord to His people. When should we experience His peace? At all times! How? In every way! And how does the Lord impart it to us? He Himself is with us – all of us!
6. Realize that each of us needs God’s grace continually
2 Thessalonians 3:17-18 17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
-Finally, Paul closes with His large signature and blesses his readers with the proclamation of grace over them. Grace is unmerited favor. It is the kiss of God on the soul of man. It is what we could never earn or deserve by our good works. Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Grace is God taking notice of us and coming to us, pouring out His kindness and mercy and forgiveness all over us. It is an all-sufficient God stooping to help needy, imperfect, growing people like you and me! May His grace be with us all!
-Maybe you’ve never purposely received God’s grace. He has blessed you in many ways b/c He sends the sun and the rain on the just and the unjust. But you have yet to call on Him, asking for His free gift of eternal life. Perhaps today is your day to do that. What else are you waiting for?
Titus 3:3-7 3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
-Eternal life is yours for the asking, when you decide to follow Jesus and surrender your life to Him! He is the One who wants to give you His grace and help you live a gracious life!
POEM ON RISK
This is a poem on risk from a classroom wall:
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing, your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
[William Arthur Ward]
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love or live. Charmed by their attitudes they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free. The gracious life requires risk; yet we are in good hands with the One who is completely trustworthy and promises to be with us always.
