It’s estimated that a record 80 million Americans traveled 50 miles or more over the Thanksgiving Holiday this year. Of course, the majority (a record 71.7 million) of those traveled by car. But today they anticipate that a record-breaking 3 million people will travel by air.
Yes, travel plans have become a big part of our annual holiday season. From Thanksgiving through the New Year I imagine that most of us will travel to see family or friends, or to just get away for a while. I want you to take a moment and think about how you interact with those you are going to see, or with those who are coming to see you over the holidays. Whether by email, text, or snail mail you will likely make some “travel plans” as we say.
Depending on your relationship with the person your correspondence will likely include some plans for your time together. And you will probably express your anticipation for seeing this loved one, or friend. Let me give you a couple of examples of what this conversation might sound like. “Hello, mom and dad. Can’t wait to see you guys. The kids are super excited to see grandpa and grandma! We’re looking forward to helping you set up the Christmas tree.” Or with a friend it may sound like this. “Hey, I have a couple days of over Christmas, and I have some airline miles I need to cash in. Let’s get together for some skiing in Colorado. Looking forward to seeing you.” Again, I realize your particular travel plans aren’t going to be the same as others. But there are some things our plans have in common. We express our anticipation of seeing the person, we make plans for our travel, and for our time together with the person we are going to see.
Travel plans. In our Second Reading for today we heard some travel plans that the Apostle Paul made to go and see the Christians in the Greek City of Thessalonica. He declared his love for them in Christ, and his deep desire to see them and spend time with them. Paul also described what he wanted to do for them when he visited.
These verses also describe our Savior’s travel plans for his Advent—his coming to us. On this First Sunday of Advent, we recall the fact that we annually celebrate “three Advents.” We remember Jesus first Advent when he was born in Bethlehem and served as our Savior. We enjoy his current Advent to us as he comes through His Word and Sacraments into our hearts and lives. And finally, we look ahead to Jesus’s future Advent when he will return as King of kings and Lord of lords on the Last Day. As we direct our attention to 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 and hear of his travel plans let’s make this our prayer to Jesus, our Advent King:
“LORD, PREPARE US FOR YOUR ADVENT”
I. Deepen our faith
II. Increase our love
III. Keep us faithful
In our recent study of the Book of Acts as the focus of our Sunday morning Bible study we learned that the Apostle Paul was forced to leave the City of Thessalonica because of persecution. That has led some to say that the word “persecution” is a great way to summarize this whole letter. The Holy Spirit breathed a divine message of encouragement into Paul. He wanted them to take comfort and hope in God’s love. And he reminded the Christians in Thessalonica of Jesus’ promise to return on the Last Day. Jesus would come to rescue them from all suffering and persecution. Jesus would reward their faith, make them perfect, resurrect them from the dead, and sanctify them. They needed to be prepared every day for Jesus to return. He didn’t want them to be caught by surprise with no faith in their hearts and no fruits of faith in their lives. This same message is meant for us. Paul reminds us to ask the Lord Jesus to prepare us for his Advent—his Advent to us this December and his Advent on the Last Day.
I.
The first thought that the Apostle Paul expressed in his travel plans to see the Thessalonians was his desire to deepen their faith. “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” How would Paul accomplish that goal to “supply what is lacking in your faith” when he visited the Thessalonians? He would bring them Jesus’ Word and Jesus’ body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. That would deepen their faith.
Jesus’ Advent travel plans are the same for us. He wants to “supply what is lacking” in our faith. How is he going to do that? Through the same simple Means of Grace. If you look at the cover of your worship folder this morning you will see symbols that represent 9 opportunities for Jesus to deepen your faith. The four Sundays in Advent are marked. The midweek services are marked with trees as we consider the tree of rebellion, the tree of promise, and the tree of life. And then of, of course, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are marked with a star and a manger. Another opportunity can be found on the high table by the main entrance to our building you can grab a copy of devotional booklet entitled “Glory In His Grasp” from our Martin Luther College, our college of ministry where we train our pastors and teachers. This booklet starts today and goes through Christmas Day. There is a Scripture reading and a prayer. Yes, Jesus is coming to us this December to deepen our faith.
Speaking of what Jesus’ does for us through our annual celebration of His birth the Christian pastor and author, Charles Spurgeon, described the deepening of faith that Jesus wants to give us: “It is joy to all nations that Christ is born, the Prince of Peace, the King who rules in righteousness...Beloved, the greatest joy is to those who know Christ as a Savior...The further you submit yourself to Christ the Lord, the more completely you know Him, the fuller will your happiness become. Surface joy is to those who live where the Savior is preached; but the great deeps, the great fathomless deeps of solemn joy which glisten and sparkle with delight, are for such as know the Savior, obey the Anointed One, and have communion with the Lord Himself...you will never know the fullness of the joy which Jesus brings to the soul, unless under the power of the Holy Spirit you take the Lord your Master to be your All in all, and make Him the fountain of your intensest delight.” May all that be ours this Advent season!
As we reflect on the Apostle Paul’s travel plans, we are reminded of Jesus’ travel plans this Advent season. As he comes to us through the Word and Sacrament he will deepen our faith.
A few years ago, we had an Advent series entitled, “The Making of A Disciple” where we considered three ways in which God deepens our faith—prayer, study, and struggle. We actually used the Latin just so it sounded more impressive oratio, meditatio, tentatio. But it is important to remember that when we ask Jesus to prepare us for his Advent by deepening our faith it will be through a mix of those three things. Of course, only this Word will increase our faith. But the struggles that we face in life serve to clear the way for that Word. And our prayers are a response to the Word and the struggle. Day by day, during our time of grace Jesus is actively working on us to deepen our faith. As one author wrote about the meaning of Advent, the coming of Christ: “Advent is a time for rousing. Human beings are shaken to the very depths, so that they may wake up to the truth of themselves. The primary condition for a fruitful and rewarding Advent is renunciation, surrender ... a shattering awakening; that is the necessary preliminary. Life begins only when the whole framework is shaken.” As our Savior comes to us to deepen our faith this Advent season may he shake the framework of our lives through the LAW and GOSPEL!
II.
As the Apostle Paul was reflecting on his travel plans to visit the Thessalonians he had another idea in mind for them. Closely connected to a deeper faith the Apostle Paul wanted to see an increase in their love for God and those around them. “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” Even though they were facing persecution and difficult times the most important thing they could do is show the love of Christ to each other and all of those around them. Of course, to do that they would need to return to Jesus’ love for them. His love would enable their love to increase and overflow.
As a part of an assignment for a doctoral thesis, a college student spent a year with a group of Navajo Indians on a reservation in the desert Southwest. As he did his research he lived with one Indian family, sleeping in their hut, eating their food, working with them, and generally living the life of a twentieth century Indian on a reservation.
The old grandmother of the family spoke no English at all, yet a very close friendship formed between the two. They spent a great deal of time sharing a friendship that was meaningful to each, yet unexplainable to anyone else. In spite of the language difference, they shared the common language of friendship and understood each other. Over the months the student learned a few phrases of Navajo, and the grandmother picked up a little of the English language. When it was time for him to return to the campus and write his thesis, the tribe held a going away celebration. It was marked by sadness since the young man had become close to the whole village and all would miss him. As he prepared to get up into the pickup truck and leave, the old grandmother came to say goodbye. With tears streaming from her eyes, she placed her hands on either side of his face, looked directly into his eyes and said, “I like me best when I'm with you.”
Isn’t that the way we feel in the presence of our greatest and best friend Jesus? His love brings out the best in us. We learn to see ourselves as worthy and valuable when we are in His presence. All the hurts, the cares, the disappointments of our lives are behind us when we look in his eyes and realize the depth of His love. Our self esteem no longer depends on what we have done or failed to do; it depends only on the value that He places on us. To be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is to generate in other people the Indian grandmother’s simple statement: “I like me best when I’m with you.”
And now Jesus increases our love to overflow he asks us to love others. 1 John 4:11 12 brings out this thought, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” When he was describing Judgment Day Jesus said that he will say this about his friends who have befriended others. “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40) As we consider what a friend we have in Jesus we are drawn to act on that friendship by loving others. By our words, actions, and attitude toward others we reflect our best Friend’s love. That was our prayer in the hymn verses we sang earlier in the service, “O Master Of The Loving Heart / The friend of all in need, / We pray that we may be like you / In thought and word and deed. Your days were full of kindly acts; / Your speech was true and plain; / Of those who ever sought you, Lord, / None came to you in vain. Your face was warm with sympathy; / Your hand God's strength revealed; / Who saw your face or felt your touch / Were comforted and healed. Oh, grant us hearts like yours, dear Lord, / So joyous, free and true, / That all your children, ev'rywhere, / Be drawn by us to you.” This is our time to shine so to speak. As we celebrate Jesus’ first Advent our love for him will increase. As we enjoy Jesus’ current Advent to us through the Word and Sacrament his love will overflow in the lives of those around. And our anticipation of his Final Advent on the Last Day will keep that love for others going strong.
III.
The last thought that the Apostle Paul connected to his travel plans to visit the Thessalonians was a reminder of Jesus’ travel plans to come back for a final visit to this world. How would they be ready? Jesus would make them ready. The last verse of our reading states the truth this way, “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”
That verse brings out one of the major themes of the Advent Season. We are called upon to wait and watch for Jesus Second Advent. Because we don’t know his travel plans, we need patience and perseverance to remain ready for the Last Day. We need Jesus to keep us faithful to him and filled with faith in him.
Maybe this is a way we can illustrate the challenges that we face as we wait for Jesus’ return. I am guessing that most of you here today have been to Disney World or Disney Land, or another amusement park like them. Imagine that you are in line waiting for a chance to ride some new, spectacular ride. As you look at the long line of people you know that you are going to be waiting for quite a while. In fact, the signs say you may be in line for over an hour. So, you wait and wait. Then from the front of the line word starts to pass from person to person that the ride might not working and might be closed soon. So you ask one of the amusement park employees if the ride is working or not. You receive a shoulder shrug for an answer. People start filing past you leaving their place in line. Now you have to make a decision. Do you continue to wait in line? Or do you leave and go to a different ride? Finally, word comes down the line that the ride has indeed been shut down for a time but they hope to have it up and running soon. Again, you have to decide whether to wait patiently or to go to a different ride in the park. You have to ask yourself how badly you want to ride that particular ride. And do you trust the promise of the workers at the amusement park when they tell you that they will get the ride working again? And you might wonder what their definition of “soon” is. I think you would agree that it would be tough to continue waiting in line.
Of course, waiting for Jesus’ Advent is much more difficult and much more serious than waiting for a ride at an amusement park. So how can always be ready? In one of the Adult Instruction Classes that I use the lesson on the end of the world concludes with three questions. After hearing what the Bible teaches about Judgment Day the students are encouraged to ask themselves. “Am I ready?” “In whom do I trust?” “For whom do I live?” The answers to those three questions are all tied together. If you trust in Jesus’ perfect life and innocent death you are ready for Judgment Day. And while you wait for him to return you live for him. If you have received the gift of forgiveness and God’s not guilty verdict by faith you are ready for Jesus to come. This is one of the reasons we spend a whole month preparing for our celebration of Jesus’ First Advent. It helps to keep us ready for his Second Advent. Next Sunday we’ll hear from John the Baptizer when we use Luke 3:1-6 for our sermon text. We’ll hear a call to repentance and new life.
Travel plans….as we hear the Apostle Paul’s two-thousand-year-old travel plans to visit the Thessalonians we are reminded of Jesus’ eternal travel plans to come to us. This December we reflect on his first visit, we enjoy his current visit through His Word and Sacrament, and we prepare for his final visit when he will take us to be with him in glory. Amen.
