Sermon for Advent 3, December 17, 2023
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 16Rejoice always. 17Pray
without ceasing. 18In
everything give thanks. For this is
God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19Do not extinguish the Spirit. 20Do not treat prophecies with
contempt. 21But test
everything. Hold on to the good. 22Keep away from every kind of
evil. 23May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and
may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one
who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (EHV)
The
God of peace sanctifies for blameless living.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
Since we
live in challenging times, it can be difficult to read these verses without
despairing at our lack of doing what is commanded. Eight times, Paul gives us present
imperatives which are basically ongoing commands for continuous action. We should well understand this to say, “Be
rejoicing continuously, be praying constantly, giving thanks in all
circumstances, and so on and so on.” And
if that doesn’t leave you feeling a little bit guilty, then I wonder about how
honestly you are examining yourself.
Lately, it has seemed like every family in our
congregation is dealing with one stress, illness, accident, or age-related
weakness after the next. Almost no one
has been spared from these physical and emotional tolls, so who would question
any of us if we do not rejoice continuously?
Who could honestly claim to be giving thanks, always? To the world, these commands likely seem like
nonsense. To our sinful nature, it feels
impossible to measure up. Even our new
man of faith likely wonders how it will ever be possible to live with such joy
and peace, but then, our new man of faith also surrenders to the God who saved
us, and that is the point of this text, not that we must live like this to be
saved, but that God in His mercy and kindness will make it our reality in the
life He has planned for us. You see,
there is so much more to life with our God than following commands—our God gave
His life on the cross so that we might truly live. Then, too, The God of peace sanctifies for
blameless living.
When we truly realize and believe what God has
done for us, we can smile through the gloom and rejoice in the face of danger,
fear, pain, or even death. So much of
the Christian faith is looking forward to the future we are promised. We know that we are but strangers here on
earth. Our true home in now in heaven
where there is no more sorrow, pain, sin, or death. This faith is what makes it possible for us
to rejoice even through our tears at the grave of a loved one called from this
life. Made holy by the blood of the
Lamb, we can rejoice in our salvation for Christ’s sake, even in the face of
danger, persecution, or simply the everyday trials we experience in this
sin-damaged world.
The Christian faith teaches and understands
that we did not choose to believe in Jesus, but that God chose us to hear His
holy Word and believe it. He chose to
claim us as His dear children through baptism, to give us faith in His Son, and
through His gracious work, we become stronger in faith as He gives us to drink from
the living water of His Word. The gospel
works faith in us and increases that faith day by day as we walk with the
Lord. And to those God has granted faith
in His Son, He also offers an invitation to bring all our troubles, needs, and
urgent cares to our Father in heaven.
Jesus assured His disciples, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you
ask the Father in my name, he will give you.” (John 16:23) Therefore, with that gracious invitation, we
have our Savior’s assurance that God has His ears attuned to our cries. More than that, because the Son has loved us
with the shedding of His holy blood, and intercedes for us at His Father’s
side, all our needs are fully supplied.
Paul also warns of the dangers we face as the
Lord blesses us so richly. He wrote, “Do
not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat
prophecies with contempt. But test
everything. Hold on to the good. Keep away from every kind of evil.” We could not be so powerful, of course, that
we could stop the Holy Spirit from doing His will. At the same time, the Spirit is extinguished
by so many who find little value in the Spirit’s fire. When the Christian believer becomes
complacent in earthly life, it is all too easy to forget who gave that person
the blessed life he or she lives. In
times of prosperity, it is all too common for many to abandon the faith of
their parents while succumbing to the temptations of the world, enjoying the
pleasures of wealth and leisure, and even indulging in sensual enticements and
spiritual illusions that are ultimately damaging to both body and soul. Sadly, even some parents are then enticed to
follow the wanderings of their wayward youth.
On the other hand, the Church has often grown
fastest when persecution is severe. Look
through the history of ancient Israel.
That nation was so richly blessed in God’s intense, personal care that
seemingly every other generation would forget the God who had so lovingly cared
for them. It seems to be the nature of
sinful man to assume that good times come through personal labors and
initiative. Yet, without God’s blessing,
every effort is doomed to failure, and especially any effort to save oneself
for future glory. When a person, even a
former Christian, becomes so foolish as to think he doesn’t need a Savior, he
is already lost.
The vast majority of the people who surround us
today have forgotten the value of God’s Word, which alone is true and faithful
in all ways. God’s prophecies are
treated with contempt when people refuse to believe the prophets He has
sent. Just as bad are those who
misinterpret the prophecies to teach their own faulty desires. In our own times, there are many who claim to
prophesy, but upon closer look, it is soon apparent that their new prophecies
preach from a different spirit than what God has already spoken through His
chosen messengers. Therefore, we are to
test all such teaching, but we are to test it in comparison to the one true
standard of God’s holy Word. Anything
that misleads from that truth is from the devil. Thus, Paul wisely warns us to keep away from
such corrupt things.
At the same time, when we find teachers and
fellow believers who walk in true faith in Jesus, we rejoice and give thanks
for the fellowship with them with which God has blessed us. Paul encourages us to use this standard for
every part of our daily lives: for music, entertainment, recreation, and
personal relationships. Hold on to all
the good parts of our surroundings with which God has truly blessed us, while
also being aware of how sneakily the devil can misuse God’s gifts in ways to
trap and mislead the weak.
St. Paul then closes with what is essentially a
prayer and a promise. With the certainty
that it is only by God’s grace and work that any of us can be saved, Paul prays,
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole
spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” This is the proclamation
that God’s Word gives us. We, lost and
condemned creatures that we were, are saved by God because He loves us. God loves us so much that He willingly sent
His own beloved Son to live and die in our place as He paid the full price for
our guilt.
God’s Son displayed His love for us with every
action of His earthly life, and especially by His willing sacrifice on the
cross for people who rejected Him, feared Him, betrayed Him, and for countless
others who never knew Him nor even desired to know the One true God. Yet, Jesus willingly and lovingly died for
all. All of this was prophesied in the
writings of the Law and Prophets and Psalms.
All of it was known among the Israelite people, and still, they rejected
Jesus when our Savior was put on trial for a crime He could never commit
because He is true God. But Jesus died
for them just as He died for you and me, who though we have known Him from our
youth, have often been tempted to walk away from the Savior who loves us dearly
still today, for Jesus has risen from the grave triumphant over every force
that tried to keep us away from His Father—and ours.
So that we may never be lost, God continues His
work among us through the messengers He sends bearing the Good News of the
life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
It is through that Good News preached from the pulpit in our churches,
shared by parents in their homes, studied in personal Bible reading and
Christian schools, and shared among friends one to one, that The God of
peace sanctifies for blameless living.
On our own we can do nothing, Jesus explained, but grafted into the Vine
of our Savior, we do produce much fruit of sanctified living. Jesus promises us, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains
in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit.…If you remain in me and my
words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you
continue to bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:5, 7-8)
It is by the Spirit of our God that we are made
holy in God’s truth. From the beginning
of time when Adam and Eve soon fell into sin, God has been faithful in every
way. He continues to provide for all the
living creatures of the world: food and health, life and love, sunshine and
rain, springtime and harvest. Yet, most
important of all, God has been faithful to His every promise that He would send
a Savior to redeem us from the devil’s lies.
This we have in Jesus.
Paul wrote from lived experience, “The one
who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” Paul had once been the worst of sinners,
persecuting Jesus and His Christian followers alike. Still, the Lord Jesus called him out of his
wicked ways and delivered Paul from the condemnation and death he
deserved. Like Paul, none of us deserved
God’s mercy, yet the God of love and peace loves each of us so much that He
moves heaven and earth to bring us to peace and safety with Him through faith
in Jesus Christ.
Dear friends, the world, and even our own flesh
may fight against us to keep us from walking with the Lord, but “God has
said: ‘I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.’ So then we say with confidence: ‘The Lord is
my helper, and I will not be afraid.’” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
As we walk in this world, today, trying to live
up to Paul’s expectations expressed in these verses, we have the confidence of
knowing that we do not walk alone. Our
God is faithful; He is moving us and molding us into the holy children who will
dwell with Him in perfect harmony and peace in heaven. There, all imperfections in our efforts will
be gone, and we will live in holy service and peace forevermore, because The
God of peace sanctifies you and me and all faithful Christians for blameless
living. Amen.
May God be gracious to us and bless
us. May his face shine on us unto life
everlasting. Amen.
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