Tomorrow is 광복절 (Korea’s Liberation Day). For more than forty years, the Korean people resisted Japanese colonization. Sometimes, this resistance was public as in the March 1st, Declaration of Independence in 1919. More often though, the resistance was through guerilla warfare, covert meetings, secret newspapers delivered at night, and hidden educational gatherings.
Throughout the resistance movement, one thing remained constant. The resistance became stronger when people bound together. Isolation led to weakness, but communal sharing led to strength. As long as people felt that they were alone in their desire to be free and alone in their faith that freedom is possible, then their courage to resist grew weak. But when people realized that they are not alone, that others stand together with them, that others also share the faith that freedom is possible, then their courage to resist became stronger.
Isolation leads to weakness. Communal sharing leads to strength. This is the message under the text of 1 Thessalonians 3. Let’s read it now.
1 Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, 2 and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, 3 and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles. 4 Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know. 5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.
6 But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. 8 It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord.
9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. 10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.
11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
Five different words or ideas are repeated again and again in this passage. If we look at them one by one, that will give us a pretty good understanding of what is happening here.
First, Paul talks a lot about troubles. Paul sent Timothy to keep the Thessalonians “from being shaken by the troubles” they were going through. But “we are destined for such troubles,” and Paul warned them “that troubles would come” (3:3-4). Even Paul, Silas, and Timothy are “in the midst of troubles and suffering” (3:7).
When I was growing up, often on Sunday morning before we left for our church, our family’s TV would be tuned in to Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power - the televised worship service at the Crystal Cathedral in California. One of my dad’s favorite books was Schuller’s Tough Times Never Last, Tough People Do. I’ve been reading this book recently, and some of it is cheesy and dated, but one part near the beginning really struck me as profound. There was a section called, “The Myth of the Problem-Free Life.” Schuller says we go through life thinking, “If I can just solve this problem, then I’ll be OK. If I can just get past this problem, then my life will be easy going.” That’s a myth. We never get to the point in life where we don’t have problems. Even success brings a new set of problems. We will always have problems. We will always have trouble. The question is not: “How do I get rid of all my troubles?” The question is: “How do I live well in the midst of trouble?”
Paul said, “We are destined for such troubles” but I want “keep you from being shaken by the troubles” (3:3). Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Paul and Jesus are realistic but hopeful. They know we will have trouble. We are in a resistance movement against Evil. This battle will cause pains and wounds. That’s just how battles go. But we are not alone. We are not hopeless. Paul gives us four other words that point to our hope.
Again and again, Paul uses the words like strength and encourage. “We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith” (3:2). “I sent Timothy to find out if your faith was still strong” (3:5). “May he make your heart strong” (3:13).
A very interesting thing happens in this passage, Paul sends Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians, and then the Thessalonians send Timothy to encourage Paul. If you read under the text, you get the idea that Paul was starting to feel pretty discouraged. Last week, we discussed the very uncomfortable chapter 2, where Paul’s leadership was being questioned. This week, Paul says that he was “afraid that the Tempter had gotten the best of” the Thessalonians and that “our work had been useless” (3:5). Even missionaries get discouraged. Even apostles and pastors get discouraged.
Then, in verse 6 Paul uses an amazing word. Paul says, “But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love.” That’s not just “good news” like “Oh, I have something good to tell you.” Paul uses euangelizomai - the same word for preaching the good news of the gospel, for evangelism. The Thessalonians’ faith and love had become part of Jesus’ Good News to Paul. Paul says, “So we have been greatly encouraged ... because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord” (3:7).
Pastors need encouragement, too. We do a lot of encouragement and hope giving, but sometimes we kind of run out of strength. We need help from you to keep going. Sometimes we wonder if what we’re doing is really working, if we’re really making a difference, if God is really working through us. Nothing encourages a pastor’s heart like faith and love in the people he serves. If you want to encourage your pastor, tell her how God is working in your life. If you want to give strength to your pastor, tell him how God is giving you more love for others. If you want to give new life to your pastors or Bible study leaders or worship leaders, let us know how we are helping you to stand firm in the Lord.
The next two words we need to look at are love and faith. In a letter to the church in Galatia, Paul says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). For Paul, these two - faith and love - are the center of the Christian life. He sent Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians in their faith (3:2) and to find out if their faith was still strong (3:5). Timothy brought back the good news about their faith and love (3:6). Paul prays night and day that he can return to Thessalonica so that he can “fill in the gaps” in their faith (3:10).
Then, Paul’s prayer takes an interesting turn. Paul prays that their “love for one another and for all people will grow and over flow” so that God may make their “hearts strong, blameless, and holy” (3:12-13). For Paul, there is a definite cause and effect here. More love leads to more strength. More love leads to more holiness. More love leads to more faith and more faithfulness. Do you want more faith? Practice more love. Do you want more strength? Develop your love. Do you want more holiness and purity? Cultivate relationships of love. Love will strengthen you. Love will change you, or, more correctly, love enables God to change you.
And that is the last word we need to see in this text: God. For Paul, this is all about God. Timothy is “God’s coworker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ” (3:2). Paul has new life because they are “standing firm in the Lord” (3:8). What is Paul’s response? “How we thank God because of you! Because of you, we have great joy as we enter God’s presence” (3:9). He asks God to bring him to the Thessalonians. He asks the Lord to make their love grow and to make their hearts strong and holy and blameless” (3:11-13).
Paul is very clear that he sent Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians and that the Thessalonians have encouraged him. But he is also clear that all of this is the work of God. All of this sharing of faith and love and strength among God’s people is actually God’s work through the human beings who make up the Body of Christ. When Paul sends Timothy to remind the Thessalonians of the Gospel of Christ, God is working through Timothy to strengthen their faith. When Timothy comes back with the good news of the Thessalonians’ faith and love, God is working through that sharing to strengthen Paul. God uses Paul and Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians. Then, God uses the Thessalonians to encourage Paul and Timothy. But it’s all God’s work.
There is something deeply communal about this Christian life. When we open ourselves to each other, that opens pathways for the Holy Spirit to work more deeply in us. When we are honest about our struggles and pains and our victories and joys, somehow that opens us to more of God’s strength. We are in this Christian life together. We need each other. We need each other deeply. We need each other deeply to help us experience God fully.
This week, as I was researching strength through sharing, I stumbled onto a grief support network. One article explained “Why We Tell Our Stories.”
In the telling of our stories, we gain strength from each other. First, the story teller gains a clearer understand of what her story actually is. In the process of telling, we come to see more clearly what is actually going on inside of us. Second, the listeners develop a shared sense of life. They realize that they are not alone in their pain and that they are not alone in their hope. The healing God has done in others can happen in them, too. As Helen Steiner Rice explained, “Comfort comes from knowing that people have made the same journey. And solace comes from understanding how others have learned to sing again.”
We become stronger through sharing. Faith grows through love. We experience more of God by experiencing more of each other. Telling our stories opens us to more of God. Sharing our lives with each other is one way God transforms us, strengthens us, and makes us more like Jesus.
It’s a mystery, but it works. It’s a mystery, but this is how God has been working for thousands of years. We see it in Thessalonica. We see it in a thousand different ways in our world today. We see it here in our church.
Lots of people said that one of the most powerful services they’ve experienced in our church was the Easter service this year, when five people told their stories of how God has transformed their lives. Then, we took turns showing the two sides of our cards - showing how God has transformed us. Telling our stories of how God has changed us made us all stronger.
Today, we’re going to practice this discipline of sharing. First, we’re going to do some silent testimony.
If you were baptized in our church, or if you are planning to be baptized in September, stand up.
We’ve actually baptized about twice this many people, but many of them have moved away to other cities and other churches. Sometimes, we forget that people’s lives are being radically transformed here. God is saving and changing people. God is using our church to change people’s lives. ... Thank you. You can sit down.
Second, if God has done something significantly new in your life since you came to this church, please stand up. Maybe you were already a Christian, but this church has been a big factor in helping you grow in Christ. Maybe you aren’t yet a Christian, but you’re starting to think that is possible for you. If any of that sounds like you, please stand up.
God is working among us. Sometimes, that’s not always clear. We don’t always see the results. But God is working. Be encouraged. Be strengthened by what you see. ... Thank you. You can sit down.
Here’s the next thing we’re going to do. In your bulletin, you have an insert called, “Share the Love! Share the Faith!” Right now, take some time and write down how God has been working in your life. How have you grown in faith or love since you came to this church? Write as much as you can. Turn it over and write on the back if you need to. How has God been working in you? You can write in English or Korean. Later, I’ll ask you to put these in the offering basket as a way to encourage our pastors. Remember nothing encourages a pastor like hearing how God is working in you. Please encourage us by telling your story. Raise your hand if you need a pen or one of the cards.
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Now, get into groups of two or three and tell part of your story to someone. Tell someone in about one minute how God has been working in your life.
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Now I want to ask a few brave people to come up to the front and tell us in a minute or less how God has been working in you. I know you may feel uncomfortable, but remember that telling our stories is one way that God strengthens you and strengthens all of us. Make us stronger by telling your story.
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