“Some day you will thank me for this.” “This will hurt me more than it hurts you.” “If I do not punish you now you will never learn you lesson and I will be doing a disservice to you if I do not punish you.” These are just a few statements you may have heard or even said yourself when being disciplined or when disciplining your child. Discipline is not an easy thing to do. For the parent it is a matter of tough love, love that demands boundaries be set and kept for the safety and security of the child. The good news for parents is that children need and want those boundaries because these boundaries do make them feel safe and secure. And really, the fact of the matter is, it does not matter how old we are, we all like boundaries because boundaries keep us safe and secure. God has set up such boundaries, including boundaries such as the ten commandments, in order to keep us safe and secure. It is when we test those boundaries and find those boundaries no longer there, that is when we no longer feel safe and secure. Unfortunately, we live in a world and a society that is continually testing and working to remove such boundaries. Boundaries are necessary and discipline is necessary. For the one being disciplined it is not always easy to see the good that is intended which makes reception of discipline not always easy. Our text for today is Paul’s exhortation to “rejoice always . . . in all circumstances,” including times of discipline which can be difficult. As we look at our text we will see how God gives us the strength and encouragement to give thanks in all situations.
Beginning with verses sixteen Paul says, “16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (v. 16-18) What does Paul mean? Why and how are we to be joyful always? We are to be joyful always because that is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. More specifically God’s will is that all people are saved, what could be more joyful than that? Even more specifically it is God’s will that you are saved. How amazing this will of God is, especially when we step back and think about our own personal situation. We are sinful human beings. We are conceived and born in sin. We are enemies of God. We daily sin much and are worthy of eternal punishment in hell. We daily sin in thought, word and deed, that is by what we think, say and do. We sin sins of omission, not doing what we should be doing and sins of commission, doing what we should not be doing. We sin with our evil wishes on another person, our calling our neighbor a bad name, our cursing the slow driver in front of us, our neglect to help another in need. When we think about our sinful state how can we do anything except rejoice because we know that while we were in our sinful state God sent His only Son to take all our sins upon Himself, to suffer and die for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and with forgiveness we are saved.
Knowing what our Lord has done for us makes it much easier to be joyful in all circumstances. Knowing that God knows the reason for all circumstances, why He allows certain things to happen in our lives makes it much easier to be joyful in all circumstances. Why is it you got laid off from your job? Maybe the Lord has a better job in mind for you. Why is it you got sick and went into the hospital? Maybe the Lord needed you there to bear witness to others of your faith. Why is it you got a speeding ticket? Maybe the Lord was reminding you to be more careful while driving. Our Lord only has our good in mind for us, even when seeming bad things happen to us. Knowing that He has good in mind makes it easier for us to be joyful in all circumstances.
Our joy moves us to pray continually. Does that mean we spend all our time in church, or even at home kneeling with our heads bowed in prayer? Not necessarily. To pray means to have a heart to heart talk with God. This can be done anytime and anyplace. How often do you find yourself in prayer as you work through the struggles of each day. I find myself constantly say, “Lord help me.” We pray constantly when we live our lives as a prayer, that is when we live our lives bearing witness to all our Lord has done for us and to the joy that is in us.
About what kind of joy are talking? Are we talking about temporal or eternal joy? Yes, we are, we are talking about both. We do have temporal, earthly joy while we are here on this earth, but an even greater joy awaits us in heaven, an eternal joy which, of course, lasts forever.
Our joy is based on God’s good gifts which lead Paul to say, “19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise prophecies, 21but test everything; hold fast what is good” (v. 19-21). These verses are definitely a reference to the third commandment, that is, that we do not despise preaching and God’s Word. We do not want to “quench the Spirit,” that means we do not want to put out the Spirit’s fire in us, nor do we want to “despise prophecies,” that is we do not want to despise the proclamation of God’s Word. We quench the Spirit when we absent ourselves from Divine Service. Some of you may be familiar with the illustration of how charcoal, when all piled together burns well, but take a lump of that charcoal and place it by itself and it goes out because it does not have the warm flames of fellowship with the other charcoal. Likewise, when we as members of the body of Christ absent ourselves from Divine Service and fellowship with each other, we are putting out the Spirit’s fire by being away from the glowing, warming Christian fellowship. How encouraging we should be toward each other and especially toward those who absent themselves from the means of grace to work to bring them back into the fold. How we have forgotten and fall into the sin of omission by not speaking, exhorting and encouraging each other and especially those who absent themselves to come to Divine Service with us. May the Lord strengthen us so we do not put out the Spirit’s fire and so we may encourage each other as brothers and sisters in the faith.
In our text for this morning we also have the answer to the question that some ask, “How do we know that what we teach is true?” We know by doing what Paul says in our text, by testing everything. We do not take people’s word for what is true, rather we take God’s Word for truth. We know that what we teach is true because His Word tells us so. When we have doubts we do not rely on our own understanding, that only leads to more doubt and confusion. Rather when we have doubts we go to God’s Word which has power to make us wise unto salvation. We test everything and pray, “Lord show me what is true, show me what is from You.”
The last two verses of our text are Paul’s blessing, “23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (v. 23-24). Paul’s words of blessing are the reason we can be joyful in all circumstances. We are joyful because we have been made right with God, we have been justified because of Jesus’ work on the cross on our behalf. Now, as Christians we live the life of sanctification which is also a gift from God. Because of what God has done for us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we respond by living our lives according to His good and gracious will, learning more and more each day through His gracious discipline and guidance how to be more and more Christlike, more and more holy.
We are able to do this not because there is something special about us but simply because it is God who is faithful and moves us to do so. We rejoice and are sure of our salvation because God is faithful. Our faith rests in Him, not ourselves. God makes us blameless, right before Himself. God works good in us, through and through. God calls us to faith. God does it and we say thank you with our very lives.
What beautiful words for Advent Paul gives us. We are here in the third week of advent, waiting to celebrate the first coming of the Messiah and we give thanks. We give thanks because our Lord saw our sinful condition and sent His Son to take our place and give us forgiveness. God saw our sinful condition and intervened in human history. God saw our sinful condition and became a human being. He took our sins of commission, the sins we do against God and our neighbor, as well as our sins of omission, the sins of neglecting to help one another and our neighbor, He took all those sins upon Himself and shed His blood upon the cross for those sins, for us. Not because He had to, but because He wanted to, because He wanted to fulfill the promise He made to Adam and Eve way back in the garden of Eden, immediately after the fall into sin.
We give thanks for God’s faithfulness in sending the Messiah. God promised to send a Savior and He kept His promise. How often it is that we have made promises to God to try to be better Christians and how often it is we fail to keep our promises, but God is faithful and just and remembers His promise and we are so thankful to Him.
We give thanks for God’s faithfulness in bringing us to faith. Not only has our God given us forgiveness, but He has also given us the faith to grasp that forgiveness and make it ours. It is the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith through His Word and sacraments. He brings us to faith and works constantly through times of discipline and chastisement to keep us in faith and we say thank you Lord.
We give thanks for God’s faithfulness in keeping us in faith, in our sanctification, until He comes again. Here we are in the third Sunday of Advent, 2023 getting ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior over 2000 years ago. At the same time we are preparing our hearts to receive our Savior when He comes again to take us to be with Him forever in eternity. We do not know when He will come again, so we keep ourselves constantly prepared for when He does come.
“16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” How can we do this? Only with the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, as He works in us to not put out the Spirit’s fire; to not treat prophecies with contempt. By testing everything. By holding on to the good. And by avoiding every kind of evil. These things we cannot do by ourselves that is why Paul gives us the blessing he gives us, the blessing that tells us that it is God who works these things in and through us, to the praise and glory of His holy name. So, I leave your with Paul’s blessing, “23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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