Living Christianity
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
This title has two very important meanings: We must live our Christianity and we do not have a dead faith. We cannot say we believe and are Christians without living our belief every day in all parts of our lives. To claim we believe without living our beliefs shows ours is a dead faith. Jesus the Christ is alive and works in and with the believer’s life. We work for the Lord because we love Him. We do not work for the Lord to gain His love. Our Christian actions show others our belief is alive, vibrant and loving. As James says in James 2:18 “Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Our faith is based on the Living God and Savior. We do not have a faith based on a dead person or idol. We do not have a faith based on some nebulous “other.” Our faith is based on the living God who communicates with His creation. As Frances Schaeffer says, “He is there and He is not silent.” Living our faith makes us, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, a peculiar people. We are not like the rest of the world. We do not worship stone or wood or gold or intellectuals but we worship the one true, living, communicative, loving God
As we look at this passage we can see three distinct parts: 1) Christian living in the congregation and society. 2) Christian living in our personal lives and 3) Ending of the letter and next steps.
Paul starts by talking about Christian living in the Congregation and society. He urges us to recognize those who work hard in and for the congregation. This is not just referring to the ministry, although they are certainly included, but all those who work for the Lord. We are to respect them for their work and love them for their work. Quite often those who work hard for the Lord are not even noticed let alone recognized. Recognition does not have to be a special recognition or a special service or gathering. Recognition can be a simple thank you, or letting the person know they and their work are appreciated.
Recognition should also be loving and respecting the person for the work they do. We must let people know they have great value to us, to the congregation and to those watching from outside the Christian community. We must let them know they are loved as a member of the family of God.
Through Christ we can and must love everyone, regardless of station in life beliefs or even actions. That does not mean we must agree with a person’s beliefs or action but we, as Christians, must love them. The Amish and Mennonites have the attitude and practice that everyone is to be loved simply because they are a creation of God. This is putting Christian love into daily action.
We can see this in practice in our earthly families. Due to circumstances in my childhood I lost touch with much of my family. After many, many years I reconnected with a good many of the family members. I did not know anything about them. I was not friends with any of them. However, Regardless of things in common I love them because they are my family. It is the same with the Christian family. I meet many I have never seen before, people with whom I am not friends or have little in common, but what we always have in common is we are all part of the family of God, we are spiritually related and can love each other.
Living the Christian life in the congregation and society also means living at peace with each other. Disputes between members of the church have no place in the Christian family. What is even worse is to take those disputes before unbelievers to be settled. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul soundly condemns this practice. Instead of disputing with each other we should be peacemakers between the brethren as well as those outside the Church of God. We should warn and counsel those causing disruption. Instead of condemning we must help and pray for each other. We should not be looking for a way to get revenge but rather turn the other cheek, forgive and pray for the person who offended. Isn’t a person’s salvation more important than our pride or material possessions. Be excellent to each other.
In our personal Christian lives we are to always rejoice. David said to give a sacrifice of praise. Rejoice when you do not feel like rejoicing. Rejoice when circumstances seem to scream at us there is absolutely no reason to rejoice. James tells us to count it pure joy when we face trial and tribulations.
There is always a reason to rejoice. We belong to God and God is always with us. Christ is always there. The Holy Spirit is always with us. God speaks words of comfort and instruction to us. Those who do not belong to God’s family have a reason to not rejoice. Not so we who are a part of God’s family. It is a wonderful privilege to serve the living, loving God.
Rejoicing in all circumstances is God’s will for us in Christ. We, as part of God’s family, can see God’s hands in all circumstances and situations. When we see people on TV who have come through disasters there is often a great difference between those who are Christians and those who are not. The Christians always find a reason to rejoice. Those who are not Christians often see nothing but despair. We, as Christians, live in two worlds at the same time; the physical world and the spiritual world. Those who live only in the physical world cannot see God in their circumstances nor feel His comforting. Those who also live in the spiritual world can.
Because we live in both worlds we recognize we cannot compartmentalize our lives and beliefs. Our belief in Jesus as Messiah, Savior, means all parts of our lives are tied together. In Western culture we like to think we can compartmentalize our lives so one part does not intrude on another. Regardless of what we think that never happens completely. In times of great stress it usually does not happen at all.
I learned this lesson many years ago when my little sister was dying of cancer. She was 6 years younger than me. They found out she had cancer when she was 12 and she died at 18. I found out then that life cannot be compartmentalized. The last few years of her illness I was working as a draftsman. I tried to keep her illness from affecting my work. I just could not do it. Her suffering from the cancer, the radiation and the drugs was never far from my thoughts. Neither was the realization that she would soon die…and she knew it. I just could not keep the stress and worry from affecting my work. The company did not care about the circumstances and, since I just could not focus on the job, I ended up being fired.
We cannot compartmentalize our lives and beliefs. We cannot live thinking some actions are for Christian gatherings, some are for family and some are for business. How we act in one part impacts all parts. We cannot say how what we do in business has no affect on our church or family life. Over time we find our life will follow the lowest common denominator.
An example of this is one person standing on a table and another standing on the floor and they are pulling each other. The person on the floor will almost always be able to pull the person off the table. It is the same with our actions. The lowest common denominator usually seems to win. Only by living a Christian life through and through can we avoid this and become blameless and a living witness.
How we act in one part of our life impacts all parts. We cannot say how we act in business has no affect on our church or family life. Over time we find our life will follow the lowest common denominator. We will find ourselves acting our worst in all situations. The person who curses God at work will find, eventually, that they will curse God at home or in church. The person who is hateful at home will eventually be the same at work and church. We cannot be springs of both bitter and sweet water. We cannot serve God in part of our lives and the world in other parts. Eventually one or the other will take over.
Paul is telling us, as does Jesus, John, James and many others that all parts of our lives must be under the Lordship of Jesus. We are to be sanctified in all parts of our being, through and through. We are not reject prophesy. We are not to believe everything. Prove everything. We must ask: Does it match up to the Word of God? We must keep away from the appearance of evil. Not just obvious evil but things and actions that appear to be evil.
Sanctified. Now there is a good word. Sanctification is a very Methodist doctrine. To sanctify means to set apart, consecrate, make holy. We are set apart and consecrated by God through the work of Christ. I like to say we lose the “want to’s” to sin. We, like Paul, must work on this every day. We lose the “want to” sin but we still slip and fall into sin, hopefully not on purpose. When this happens we must recognize the sin, truly repent of the sin, ask forgiveness for the sin and learn from what happened.
Every day we should be a bit stronger in our faith and more Christ like in our actions. As we keep our eyes and focus on Christ He will help us to keep our spirit, soul and body blameless. We cannot do this without Christ but we can do all things through Christ.
Paul ends the letter by urging Christians to greet each other with a HOLY kiss. I hug. Why? Because I want the family of God to know I love them in the Lord. I also want those outside the family of God to know I love them in the Lord. I believe this is what Paul was getting at. Show Christian love to each other. Finally Paul is very clear that the letter is to be read to all of the members, not just some, not just to the leaders or ministers but to all the people. Nothing is to be hidden.
Christianity is a living faith and we must live our faith. We must Live our faith in all parts of our lives. Live our faith so that others can see Christ in us come to accept Christ as their Savior Rejoice and have the joy, comfort and love of God in all circumstances. Have an active growing faith. Always increasing in knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. Anything less means we are not allowing the fullness of Christ in us and therefore cannot present a clear, consistent, message to the unsaved.
1 Thess 5:12-28
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for 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 and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our
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