Sermon Tone Analysis

8 Feb. 2004 AM

Tree Of Life Wesleyan Church

Billings, MT

 

!! Duties in the Christian Community

1 Thess.

4:9-12

 

 

                Some of the greatest wisdom comes from Dr. Suess, like this little bit:

Did I ever tell you about the young Zoad?

~/ Who came to a sign at the fork of the road ~/ He looked one way and the other way too ~/ \\ The Zoad had to make up his mind what to do - Well, the Zoad scratched his head,  ~/ And his chin, and his pants.

- And he said to himself, "I’ll be taking a chance.

~/ If I go to Place One, that place may be hot ~/ So how will I know if I like it or not.

~/ On the other hand, though, I’ll feel such a fool ~/ If I go to Place Two and find it’s too cool ~/ In that case I may catch a chill and turn blue.

~/ So Place One may be best and not Place Two.   ~/ Play safe," cried the Zoad,  ~/ "I’ll play safe, I’m no dunce.

~/ I’ll simply start off to both places at once.  ~/ And that’s how the Zoad who would not take a chance ~/ Went no place at all with a split in his pants.

\\ \\                 The Zoad is a lot like some Christians – they can’t really decide which way to go – God’s way or the way of the world.

Its called commitment!  Which are you committed to?  Brenda Goodine shares a story about her friend who decided to talk to her bright four-year-old son, Benji, about receiving Christ.

“Benji,” she asked quietly, “would you like to have Jesus in your heart?”

Benji thought for a few minutes and then rolling his blue eyes answered, “No.

I don’t think I want the responsibility.”

Benji realized what many Christians still have not figured out: salvation is a free gift but it comes with some strings attached.

Service is not an option for a follower of Jesus – it is a natural outgrowth of our relationship with Christ.

Everything we do should be done with Jesus in mind.

In other words our walk should be such that it pleases God.

Quite often I find myself like the pastor in this illustration: There was a farmer who had three sons: Ron, Don and Little John.

All had their names on the church roll but none ever attended church or had time for God.

Then one day Don was bitten by a rattlesnake.

The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Don, but the outlook for his recovery was very dim indeed.

So the pastor was called and appraised of the situation.

The pastor arrived, and began to pray as follows: "O wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Don.

He hasn’t been inside the church in years and has shown little interest in You.

We trust that this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance.

And now, O Father, wilt thou send another rattlesnake to bite Ron, and another to bite Little John, and another really big one to bite the old man.

For years we have done everything we know to get them to get serious with Thee.

Thank you God for rattlesnakes.”

Our walk through life is an important issue and every believer should be determined to please God.

The passage that we are going to look at this morning gives us four very practical ways that we can please Him, four duties that we must do.

Let’s read *1 Thess.

4:9-12*.

We are not really sure what problem is being addressed here for the Thessalonians.

The first part of seems perfectly general, and then in verse 10 there is a subtle shift to something more definite, but still hard to define.

Paul starts out by telling them to continue to show mutual love, and he ever says, to “*do so more and more*”, and then he calls for living quiet and self-sufficient lives.*

*

*                *There are two things which outsiders noticed about this early church: (1)  their self-control with respect to sexual conduct and to their use of wine; and (2) their love for one another.

An early critic, apparently observing in the same congregation rich and poor, sometimes even slaves and their masters, meant to ridicule Christians when he said, “Their Master makes them think they are all brothers.”

With that in mind, the first of the four duties that we as Christians should do is  *1)     Grow in love, more and more*

                When we talk about love, especially in the New Testament, we often are talking about that special love, that pure love that comes from God, Agape love – but Paul is using another of the words for love here, he uses Philadelphia*, *which is a very special kind of love.

In the world outside of the church, Philadelphia was a term for affection between and among biological brothers and sisters.

Only among Christians was it used to express the reality of being members of the family of God.

This is the kind of love that binds each other together as a family, as a clan; it binds each in an unbreakable union; it holds each other ever so deeply in the heart; it nourishes and nurtures each other; it shows concern and looks after the welfare of each other; according to Leon Morris, it’s the kind of love that joins hands with each other in a common purpose under one father.

--  support and defend my brother and sisters – the same should be true with the Christian family – as we are under one Father.

Paul continues on and says, “we do not need to write to you”.

Of course he does write about it.

There may have been two reasons why – first, to remind them that it was God who taught them to love each other.

God is the source of their mutual love.

We need each other in order to make it through life.

Living for Christ is not easy in a corrupt world that offers the bright lights of pleasure but ends up in suffering death.

We all face temptation after temptation and trial after trial.

We need the love of each other in order to stand against these temptations and trials.

The greatest threat to the church is that of internal strife and divisiveness.

Nothing destroys the ministry of a church any quicker than criticism, grumbling, murmuring, gossiping, selfishness, and ambitiousness to have one’s own way or to secure some position.

The point is that God actually teaches us to love each other as brothers.

This means that God works within our hearts and stirs us to love each other.

And the second reason why Paul may have written is because there is always the need to grow in love more and more.

The Thessalonian believers were known for their love, not only within the church but throughout the whole district or state of Macedonia.

But there is always room to grow and abound in love more and more.

There is never too much brotherly love within the church or even the world.

So, we must grow more and more in love.

*I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.

Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”*

(John 13:34-35; NRSV)

*This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.*

(John 15:12; NKJV)

*Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.

11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him*.

(1 John 2:10-11; NIV)

                The second of our duties is to *live a quiet life*.

/Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life*.*/

This almost sounds like a contradiction.

Ambition means to be ambitious; to strive eagerly; to seek with all the energy a person has.

So, we are to use all our energy to lead a quiet life?

We must seek to be quiet and lead a quiet life?

Stop and think about what was happening at the time.

The Thessalonians were facing the problem of persecution.

Neighbors and the public at large were ridiculing, mocking, and abusing the believers because of their faith and commitment to Christ.

Most of them were standing fast, but there were some who were unaware of who they were to show their loyalty to Christ.

When a believer is rejected or persecuted, Christ says that he is to *“quietly” shake the dust of the place off his feet, turn and walk away*.

(Matt.

10:14; Mk. 6:4)  But some of the Thessalonians were going too far and creating a noisy scene and embarrassing people.

The church itself was facing the problem of some criticism and divisiveness against Paul.

Some were accusing Paul of everything from immoral conduct to deceitful and self-seeking preaching.

The point is that we are to live a quiet and peaceable life before each other.

We are not to be critical and divisive toward each other.

When it comes to being quiet think about this:

                A believer who is hurting needs to be heard, and the only way they can be heard is for us to be quiet and listen to them.

– The world is hurting everyone in the world has some hurt.

So we must be quiet and listen for the hurt so that we can do what Jesus said: minister to them.

Eccl.

4:6 says, “*Better a handful /with/ quietness Than both hands full, /together with/ toil and grasping for the wind*.

(Eccl.

4:6; NKJV)

                Our third duty is to *Mind your own business.

*Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life,* *to /mind your own business/.