The Gospel and Community

Well, good to see you everyone. It is Father's Day. Father's Day makes me nostalgic and

! I think of years gone by. Is this a little loud? Let's turn this down a little bit because

! I'm only going to get louder. In years gone by, especially when I was growing up, I grew

up in the country and I grew up on a property away from a village which was away from the

big town. And I did feel isolated from the rest of the world. And I loved sport and music,

especially music, but I didn't have a whole lot of access to it apart from the radio and

I heard a lot of music, all different kinds of music from all different eras. And I hated

a lot of it and I loved a lot of it. And one thing that I got told was really great,

was music from the 60s, especially by a band called The Beatles. Anyone ever heard of them?

Okay, Tony just glared at me from the back corner. There are some people who love The Beatles,

like Tony. There are some people who love The Beatles fiercely, but I didn't love it.

And my uncle found out, my uncle Neil, who is someone I love dearly, and grew up knowing

that he was very good to me and was there for me like my dad was, even if he lived in a different

state. And one day he gave me an album. He said, I know you don't like The Beatles, but maybe

you'll like this. And he gave me John Lennon's anthology. John Lennon is one of The Beatles,

and he is the guy who wrote Imagine. Ever heard that song? So, mainly because someone had taken

an interest in me and shared something with me, I think I grew to like John Lennon just as much as

I like The Beatles maybe even more. And I used to love the song Imagine. Imagine is this song that

invites us to imagine the world as one at peace. Lennon thinks that some things have got to end

for peace to come. Things like war or religion. The idea of heaven and hell has to be done away with

completely. The question of what our world needs most is one that we often disagree with. But in

Lennon's time, everyone would have said the world needs peace. If you watch the news,

even if it's only once a month, you might agree. The song Imagine has done well in helping people

consider that we need change. Maybe even consider changing themselves. Maybe even consider pursuing

peace with what they can do and control. But as effective as that song is, the world is far more

effective at creating war. Nations and peoples, marriages, friendships, all trend towards conflict.

This world seems at war with itself. And the older I get,

the more battles I witness against pain, debt, division, and death.

Peace doesn't seem to grow or come nearer. The world only increases in complexity and brokenness.

And the song Imagine is not enough. I listen to it now and I get a sense of bitterness when I listen to it.

Even frustration. Because the peace that it makes us crave when we hear it.

The peace that we long for when we watch the news or experience the hardship of this world.

We can't find it. And as you get older, it's harder and harder to imagine it.

But the peace the world hungers for does exist. Anyone can witness it.

And all they need to do is go to church.

Where Christians experience the peace that all people long for.

And you might be shocked that I've just said that.

You might scoff.

But Paul is going to show us in 1 Thessalonians 5,

how our relationships to one another in Christian community display the peace of God

by the very power of God.

And we'll be navigating through Paul's encouragements to build up Christians.

That's where we just left last week's passage.

Encouraging one another and building up one another.

And Paul is going to bring three encouragements to us.

In our relationships, in finding peace,

and fighting the battle for Christian community.

Answering the question,

can Christians together really show peace to their world?

When my wife and I first became part of this church,

20 or so years ago,

we noticed that some people referred to each other as uncle and auntie,

who we knew were not related at all.

And we thought this was beautiful.

Because older members of the church,

or people who journeyed a long time with one another,

had uncle and auntie as this lovely family title of respect and connection.

And as we've grown up in this church,

and had children of our own,

we've taught our children to call some of you uncle and auntie.

Because you've helped us raise our children.

You've helped us grow.

And you continue to encourage us.

You're family to us.

Paul starts our passage today,

calling Thessalonian Christians,

brothers and sisters.

You may not know me at all.

My name's Nick.

I'm one of the pastors here at church.

You might have only ever seen me online.

You might have clicked through and met me right now.

But if you're a Christian,

I'm your brother.

Isn't that amazing?

Isn't that amazing?

If you're a follower of Jesus,

we are family.

For being saved by Jesus means we are made family.

And like no family you've ever known,

because our Father loves us perfectly.

And we're in a family for all eternity.

It's an unbreakable family.

But if we are honest with ourselves,

we rarely treat our church family

at the love level of our household family.

Paul means what he calls us.

We should be experiencing good,

deep, sibling family relationships

as Christian family.

Look around the room.

Are you committed in love to these people?

Your sisters and your brothers.

Or do you tolerate Sundays?

Pretending to be at peace.

Paul has two encouragements for you,

brothers and sisters.

Each is for us all,

so that we might live as God's family together

to build his community of peace.

Let's have a look at what he's encouraging us family in.

First, is to acknowledge,

in verse 12 and verse 13,

hold in highest regard

a certain group of fellow believers.

Acknowledge can also mean respect or appreciate,

in verse 13,

literally means esteem them exceedingly.

So who are these people?

They are those who work hard among you

and those who care for you in the Lord

and admonish you.

They are those taking the lead over you as a Christian,

who are laboring over your growth in faith.

Who are those people to you?

What's interesting is Paul doesn't list any titles

for these leaders,

but only qualities.

And, he says in verse 12,

such a leader is among you.

Not distant or uncaring or lazy

and only sometimes here.

Instead, no, they're family level close

so that they know you

and know your needs

and where you need to grow in your faith.

They are those working hard,

toiling over you

and literally straining to exhaustion

over you

as they care and speak truth into your life.

who comes to mind

in your life

who is such a leader to you?

It may be a Christian friend,

a parent,

a group leader,

or even a pastor

at your church.

Paul does not ask that we ignore

or mistreat those people,

nor treat them like princes or popes,

but to show appreciation

and affection to them

in keeping with their work

to serve and grow us.

That's the first encouragement.

And then, in verse 13,

Paul moves from asking,

sorry, in verse 14,

Paul moves from asking,

in verse 12,

asking us to respect

and love our leaders

to urging,

in verse 14.

Perhaps he imagined

the church would struggle more

with this second encouragement.

For Paul calls all believers

to admonish,

encourage,

and help

our sisters and brothers

who are idle,

the disheartened,

and the weak.

To know which of those

your brother and sister

are

the idle,

the disheartened,

or the weak.

We need to

know them.

Imagine

discovering

your friend,

your Christian friend,

is

devastated,

struggling,

faint of heart,

and you walk up to them

with a strong warning,

a loud voice,

a firm push

in a certain direction.

They may

break.

The American

preacher and writer,

John Piper,

says that

the admonishing

of the idle

versus

encouraging

and helping

the faint-hearted

and weak

is like a line

between

tough love

and tender-hearted

love.

Both are love,

but

we need

to know

each other

so we know

how

to love.

And then we must learn

how to love

each of these

in particular,

the idle,

the disheartened,

and weak.

So let's have a look

at each group.

First,

who are the idle?

Someone not doing

something?

The person you ask

to do a favor

who doesn't show up?

Paul likely means

those who are part

of this church

in Thessalonica

that are not

participating

in the life

of the family

in some way.

Paul's second

letter to the

Thessalonians,

which, spoiler alert,

we're going to get to

in a fortnight.

We're going to start

exploring that

second letter.

Paul,

in that letter,

warns of a threat

the idle have begun

to pose,

the church.

The idle have

become disruptive

and no longer

holding to

Jesus'

teaching.

Some scholars

say that the idle

likely misread

the day of the Lord,

which we've heard

about in the

previous weeks.

They've misread it

as already come.

And so they're

no longer working

to serve one

another or

functioning in the

life of the church.

They're dividing

and disheartening

those around them.

So Paul says

in that second

letter,

keep away from

that as if the

situation gets worse

between letter one

and letter two.

Christians,

we are urged

to admonish

the idle

so that they

do not become

wayward.

Admonishing

is to me

and maybe

to you

a strange word.

Maybe it's not

something we

ever really do

or know that we do.

But what I've

found that it is,

it's a kind of

big brotherly

warning against

behavior and

its consequences,

against bad

behavior.

And it seeks

not to create

an enemy,

but to deliver

truth closely

as to a friend.

Christians,

we have the gift

of Scripture

to open

in those moments

with our sister

and our brother

in friendship.

for it's

the same

word that

we would

take to

them that

the idle

have walked

away from

or misinterpreted.

So that should

be opened

again as we

admonish them

to call the

idle wanderer

back to

active

participation.

Secondly,

who are the

disheartened?

disheartened

or faint-hearted,

which is in

the other

translations,

it literally

means small

souled.

Small

souled.

Someone

struggling to

wrap their

arms around

and hold

on to

the promises

of Jesus.

As if they

can only see

the situation

unfolding right

in front

of them

and missing

out,

maybe even

blind in

that moment

to the

hope beyond

their present

day that

Jesus offers.

Again,

John Piper

says,

it's like

their capacity

to feel the

greatness of

God is

small.

Their

understanding

and embrace

of God

is narrow.

how might

you

encourage

the

disheartened?

One

example

of

an

encouragement

could be

that you

open up

this

scripture,

Ephesians

1,

18-19.

This is

an

encouragement

to the

small of

soul.

To know

the hope

which God

has called

you,

the riches

of his

glorious

inheritance,

and his

incomparably

great power

for all

who believe.

The

encouragement

is,

God himself

will grow

your capacity

to see

his

greatness.

Scripture

promises

that that

will

increase.

So how

could you

partner with

God in

regularly

bringing

word that

encourages

you

to those

without

courage?

And

thirdly,

who are

the weak?

These

could be

weak

physically,

emotionally,

financially,

even just

intellectually.

It's

wide open.

Weakness of

all kinds.

all

Christians

are urged

to help

any

Christian

in any

way.

Now,

in our

city,

in

Chatswood,

there is

a strong

hesitation

toward

helping.

As a

city,

our reflex

is to

self-protect

against doing

anything hard,

especially

something already

outside our

plans.

But I've

seen people

in our

city do

whatever is

needed,

drop

everything

for those

they love

when those

are at

their

weakest.

Paul is

urging

Christians

to help

our

family

like that.

And the

other

side of

our

fear

is that

we will

run out

of

capacity

to

help.

Should we

always help

until we

break?

In

Acts 20,

Acts 20:35

verse 35,

Paul

says,

I showed

you by

this kind

of hard

work,

we must

help the

weak.

Remembering

the words

of the

Lord Jesus

himself,

said,

it is

more

blessed

to give

than to

receive.

John

Piper

explains,

we don't

drain out

into

misery

as we

help

encourage

and

admonish,

but serving

one another

fuels our

joy in

Jesus as

we practice

the love

of Jesus

to one

another.

will you

challenge

your fear

of

capacity

and

hardship

to help?

Trusting

that you

will discover

joy

that is

uniquely

found

as you

serve

and help

in

Christian

community.

We aren't

left

without

help from

Jesus.

to help

the weak.

How willing

are you

to warn,

to encourage,

to help

Christians

in this

room,

even those

you haven't

met yet?

Don't

misunderstand

me.

These

encouragements

sound hard

and I

want us

to get

a sense

of that

hardness

first

today.

And Paul

knows

even if

you work

hard at

this,

you will

feel like

giving up.

Not

just because

serving one

another is

hard,

but also

because of

how your

help might

be received.

Have a look

at the end

of verse

14.

be

patient

with

everyone

or

be

long

suffering

with

everyone.

Another

translation.

Who are

you

naturally

patient

with?

Your

mind

just

might have

just

gone

blank.

But

maybe

you're

naturally

quick to

patience

with your

friends,

your blood

relatives,

someone you

deeply

love.

But if

you're like

me,

be patient

with everyone

because

they're

impossible.

Everyone?

Many of

us are

teachers

or coaches

or tutors.

Anyone

work in a

school?

Anyone

teach children?

Anyone

teach adults?

Anyone

coach?

Are you

a gym

instructor?

Anyone?

No one's

putting up

their hand

for the

last one.

How often

have you

taught

something

that is

immediately

forgotten

that you

have to

reteach

and then

it's

ignored

and then

you repeat

the cycle

over and

over and

over and

over and

over?

You

might know

a Christian

who only

ever gets

maybe tiny

little tastes

of God

once a

week

in a

sermon

or in

a song

or in

a moment

with you

and you

may never

see change

in them

ever

it seems.

How long

are you

willing to

bear with

them

on the

journey

alongside

you

following

Jesus?

Patiently

never give

up on

anyone.

Why?

Because

every one

of us

already

needed

someone

to be

patient

with us

for our

idleness

for our

faint of

heart

for our

weakness

as we

live the

Christian

life.

I'm

not

standing

here

today

without

the

patience

of

Chris

David

Steve

actually

a few

Steve's

actually

there's

been a

few

Steve's

who've

been

very

patient

with

me

Johnny

Dan

Sam

my

parents

my

family

those

who

have

loved

on

me

through

my

life

so

many

more

that I

just

even

my

uncle

who gave

me

a

CD

without

patience

Christians

do not

grow

changing

our

patterns

of

belief

and

behavior

take

time

Christian

community

must

grow

in

unworldly

patience

for the

wayward

the

disheartened

and the

weak

among us

so now

we come

to the

heart

of our

passage

today

have a

look at

verse 13

and how

it

finishes

live

at

peace

with

each

other

the

most

impossible

feeling

of Paul's

encouragements

is

go

and live

in peace

with each

other

it's about

as useful

to us

as the

song

imagine

but

a community

living out

the two

encouragements

Paul has

just led

us through

can

be at

peace

together

peace

between

people

is built

by those

who

patiently

labor

to see

their

brothers

and

sisters

flourishing

following

Jesus

while

those

turn

and

respect

those

who

lead

them

under

God

there

are

two

encouragements

from

today

in our

human

strength

we

cannot

create

this

kind

of

peace

in

our

churches

we

need

God

to

bring

his

peace

to

us

and

make

his

peace

through

us

this

week

I

had

the

pleasure

of

watching

the

movie

gladiator

two

gladiator

one

was

incredible

has

one

of

the

best

musical

scores

ever

written

even

even

just

thinking

about

that

movie

I

can

hear

that

melody

in

my

head

and

it

it's

moving

it's

wonderful

this

movie

was a

little

more

just

about

war

and

battle

and

fighting

and

it

starts

with

an

impending

battle

between

these

countless

looking

number

of

Roman

ships

coming

in

from

the

sea

towards

this

big

city

where

there's

an

army

defending

on

their

walls

on

the

ocean

and

it's

the

African

city

of

Numidia

and

the

battalion

leader

there

called

Hanno

on the

screen

yells

to his

soldiers

to inspire

their

rage

at

Rome

he

says

they

have

no

lands

but

the

ones

they've

stolen

wherever

they

go

they

leave

destruction

and

call

it

peace

and

everyone

laughs

what are

they laughing

about

why does

this make

the

Numidians

so

mad

they're

laughing

at

what was

called

the

Pax

Romana

which is

Latin

and it

is this

famous

promise

that

Rome

boasted

!

This

peace

of

Rome

was

created

by

conquering

fiercely

taxing

those who

survived

and

culturally

enslaving

Thessalonica

was a

city

under

Roman

rule

the

Thessalonian

church

were

freshly

aware

of

the

cost

of

Christianity's

challenge

to

Rome's

peace

believers

had

died

as

soldiers

enforced

Pax

Romana

the

peace

of

Rome

so

if you

look in

your

Bible

earlier

in

this

chapter

Paul

uses

quotation

marks

to

point

out

Pax

Romana

have a

look at

verse

3

of our

chapter

today

while

people

are

saying

peace

and

safety

destruction

will

come

Paul

is

leading

a

battle

cry

like

Hanno

in

Gladiator

2

scoffing

at the

false

peace

of

Rome

but

instead

of

calling

us

to

fight

against

Rome

Paul

reminds

us

of a

battle

for

peace

against

an

even

worse

enemy

the

battle

to

peace

is

not

against

Rome

but

it is

humanity's

war

with

God

over

sin

look

down

to

verse

9

it's

in

the

word

wrath

all

sin

is a

declaration

of

war

against

God

destined

for

wrath

is the

inevitable

outcome

of all

who

sin

all

have

sinned

and

fought

fallen

short

without

someone

to fight

for

us

we

will

never

have

peace

with

God

but

that

is

not

the

outcome

for

Christians

God

has

not

destined

us

for

wrath

look at

the

verse

for

God

did

not

appoint

us

to

suffer

wrath

but

to

receive

salvation

through

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

instead

of

wrath

we

have

not

have

to

go

fight

Rome

but

have

a

peace

with

God

through

salvation

in

Jesus

for

Jesus

won

that

victory

for

us

by

surrendering

to

God's

wrath

in

our

place

on

the

battlefield

of

our

sin

Jesus

gave

up

his

perfect

peace

with

God

for

a

peaceless

human

existence

and

a

shameful

death

on

a

Roman

cross

the

full

force

of

God's

wrath

towards

us

was

poured

out

on

his

head

Jesus

came

to

fight

a

war

against

our

peaceless

future

without

God

he

surrendered

his

victory

and

received

our

defeat

and

for

our

part

of

this

exchange

we

need

only

receive

Jesus

to

receive

peace

with

God

for

our

humanity's

core

this is

actually

the peace

we are

looking

for

peace

with

the

one

who

made

us

peace

and

only

Christians

can

find

it

peace

from

Jesus

is

the

foundation

of

Christian

community

so

how do

we live

out that

peace

together

Jesus

must

do it

among

us

we

receive

power

to

create

an

increasingly

peaceful

community

of

faith

from

Jesus

through

the

Holy

Spirit

in a

letter

to

another

city

Galatia

Paul

wrote

the

fruit

of

the

spirit

is

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

and self

control

the

Holy

Spirit

is

where

our

patience

for one

another

comes

from

not

from

our

own

strength

it's

a

promised

fruit

of the

activity

of the

Holy

Spirit

in

Christian

community

the

pressure

to

patiently

pursue

peace

it

isn't

in your

nature

to

carry

but it

is

achieved

by

God's

power

the

Holy

Spirit

is

what

Jesus

calls

the

helper

in

John

15

that

he

will

send

us

and

send

Christians

to

bear

witness

about

all

the

promises

Jesus

made

and how

he

fulfills

them

all

and will

one day

fulfill

them

completely

the

Spirit

helps

us

by bringing

us

an

undaunted

hope

only the

Spirit can

bring that

an

undaunted

hope

that

fuels

patience

for his

people

and

brings

them

peace

together

and

Paul

hopes

that

we

will

fight

we

will

fight

for

such

a

community

and

for

that

fight

he

commands

us

to

put

on

armor

in

verse

8

of our

chapter

today

that

of a

kind

we

might

not

expect

because

it's

not

chain

mail

to

stop

a

Roman

arrow

or

to

wear

when we

fight

one

another

so

that

we

might

not

get

too

many

injuries

instead

it's

a

spiritual

armor

of

faith

and

love

we

wear

over

our

hearts

and

a

hope

for

the

salvation

of

Jesus

that

we

have

and

is

to

come

over

our

minds

we

put

on

this

armor

when

we

discover

and

remember

Jesus

we

wear

this

armor

as

the

spirit

speaks

to

us

as

we

open

our

Bibles

as

we

sing

of

Jesus

worth

as

we

talk

of

him

together

as

we

encourage

one

another

with

the

Bible

open

between

us

and

as

we

live

it

out

and

witness

that

together

more

and

more

the

fighting

colors

of

our

forgiven

king

appear

on

the

chest

of

everyone

in the

Christian

community

so

that

our

city

can

see

something

is

different

our

city

can

see

and

understand

as

we

love

our

leaders

to

grow

us

and

as

we

seek

to

grow

our

sisters

and

brothers

in

our

final

verse

verse

15

we're

going

to

see

how

our

city

gets

a

glimpse

of

the

peace

of

God

in

our

midst

the

verse

starts

with

make

sure

nobody

pays

back

wrong

for

wrong

we

should

look like

a

community

not

of

retaliation

towards

one

another

or

towards

our

community

but

a

community

marked

by

forgiveness

forgiveness

you

see

how

forgiveness

not

paying

back

wrong

for

wrong

even

to

forgive

speaks

to

a

culture

where

if

you

make

a

public

mistake

you

get

cancelled

and