Overwhelming Gratitude in Christ - John Young

Overwhelming Gratitude in Christ

 1 Thes 1:2-10

Having just come through the Thanksgiving holiday, we probably all have had our fill of sappy, Hollywood-type recitations of what others are thankful for. Often these noble sounding proclamations are nothing more than pious sounding platitudes. But what about those of us who claim to be Christians? What are the marks and the measures of our thanks and gratitude?

And, what about those of us who have cares and situations so big or so close that we can't seem to find anything to be thankful for? How can we move from focusing on cancer, job loss or a dozen other, real and serious concerns, to having a heart overflowing with gratitude to God?

Of course there is also the food and the shopping and a myriad of other things that seem to draw us away from the giver and orient our attention of the gifts. Is there a way, as we've been challenged over the last couple of weeks, to renew our minds in the area of thanksgiving and gratitude?

To be candid, the more I've considered this text and its implications, the more God has shown me my own gratitude needs attention. So, as I preach, know that I am preaching more to myself than I am to you.

Keep your place in 1 Thes 1, but turn with me to Lk 18. I want to use Jesus' parable of the pharisee and the tax collector as comparitor to our own gratitude and also in contrast to the gratitude Paul exhibits in 1 Thes 1.

Read Luke 18:9-14

Consider for just a moment what the Pharisee in this parable was thankful for. He was thanking God for changing his life. There were the sinful behaviors that were taken away and godly behaviors that were becoming more prevelant. And yet Jesus uses this man as an example of one who is not right with God. How can that be?

Is it possible to express thanks to God and yet miss God himself? In the Pharisee's case, the answer would appear to be "Yes". And what about all the good and godly stuff he was doing? Can one be this godly and yet separated from God? Again, the answer appears to be "Yes"

Here, perhaps is maybe a harder, more pressing question for us. How often when we say "thank you" to God is our gratitude no deeper than that of the Pharisee in Jesus' parable? To ask it another way, are we truely thankful for what God has given us in the way a beggar would be thankful for any scrap of food. Do we really believe what Paul asks rhetorically in 1 Cor 4:7 "What do you have that you did not receive?" Or have we come to the point of seeing the blessings and gifts of God as things that are owed to us? Could our gratitude slide from deep awe and wonder to the same amount of thanks we have when we turn on the lights or the furance kicks on?

Thanks to my wife Sally, I heard a comment in this regard by Tim Keller. He said one of the differences between a pagan and a Christian is their response to answered prayer. A pagan will respond "Of course my prayers were answered. Isn't that what gods do?" A Christian will respond "I can't fathom why God would even listen to my prayer and yet he not only listened, he lovingly

and graciously responded and gave me so much more than I deserve"

It is my hope and prayer that 1 Thes 1 will help us address some of these questions. I am trusting that God, by his grace will transform our thinking and our gratitude as we consider what he has said to us in his word.

However, to understand the full impact of Paul's expression of gratitude in 1 Thes 1, we need to back track just a little bit to Acts 17. In the first 9 verses of Acts 17, the church in Thessalonica is established from both Jews and Greeks. But other Jews were jealous of the gospel's effectiveness and start a riot. After this Paul and Silas leave Thessalonica and head to Berea. And although the Bereans were more noble (Acts 17:11), the Jews from Thessalonica came there to disrupt Paul's gospel ministry. This is the environment in which the church a Thessalonica was born.

So, we need to remember as we consider 1 Thes 1, that when the gospel came to Thessalonica, it did not come to a city begging to be rescued from its spiritual darkness. Neither did it come to a morally neutral city that was essentially a "blank slate" waiting for the Holy Spirit to write upon it. No, the city leaders, both civil and religious were opposed to the gospel. Actually they were more than opposed; they were actively hostile to both the gospel and those who preached it.

If I can pause for just a moment, doesn't the state of the city of Thessalonica mirror the state of our own souls before the Holy Spirit invaded? We were not seeking God, at least not on his terms. And we certainly weren't blank slates. Most of us, whether actively or passively, were opposed to the gospel. We wanted our sin. We wanted our self-righteousness. We wanted what appeared to be freedom but was really slavery.

So what did God do? In our lives, just like in the lives of the Thessalonians and in the life of the tax collector from Lk 18, God came and revealed that apart from Jesus and his atoning death, we were dead in our sins, we were aliens and strangers, we were rebels and traitors. But because Jesus did die and the Holy Spirit gave us the faith to believe it, our sins are once and forever forgiven.

Now the Thessalonians believed the gospel in an environment of open hostility. Because of this, Paul looks at the church he helped establish and expresses his gratitude to God. In this passage I see three things about Paul's gratitude that can help train us and teach us in our own gratitude. By God's grace we can learn from Paul and avoid the hollow, self-righteous thankfulness of the Pharisee from Luke 18 and pitfalls of being distracted by the circumstances of our lives and all the goodies this world has to offer.

The first item for us to consider is the driver of Paul's gratitude. Certainly his gratitude was informed by the incredible barriers the Thessalonians faced. Cultural barriers (idol worship, pantheism, etc) Religious barriers, (hostile Jews, Jew/Gentile differences) Civic barriers (Roman opposition to anything that disturbed the peace). But, in addition to this, look at verses 4 and 5. Paul's thankfulness is driven by the reality that the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

We need the continual reminder that the love and mercy of God, which are demonstrated in Christ, don't depend on what we do and are not constrained by what we've done. The beauty and the majesty of the love and grace of God is that they flow out from God freely to all of those whom he has chosen. And this love is shown by our believing response to the gospel. But it is not a mere intellectual ascent that Paul has in mind. Instead, what drives his gratitude is what he sees in the Thessalonian Christians, namely the gospel coming in power and conviction.

We also need the continual reminder that what Jesus has accomplished for us and for every believer is a done deal. Yes, we still sin. Yes, we still disappoint our wives or husbands or parents or children. Yes, we continue to battle the world, the flesh and the devil. But Jesus' atoning death and triumphant resurrection are done. The price, the complete price, has been paid. This truth drives Paul to give thanks.

If the gospel is the driver of Paul's gratitude, then the next thing to probe is the focus of his gratitude. This might actually be the place where we come face to face with our own inner Pharisee. For the Pharisee in Luke 18, while his thanksgiving was verbally directed toward God, it was actually focused on himself. Thank you for keeping me from these sins. Thank you for helping me do these righteous acts. And thank you for measuring me by what I've put aside and what I've picked up in their place. When this is the extent of our thanks it is not the gospel. It is works righteousness with a godly veneer.

Can we be honest for moment, since we're in church? Isn't this where we tend to live in our thanksgiving to God? How often do we thank him for the tough stuff, the stuff that will really help us grow? How often do we thank him for not giving up on us, for not shutting the door on us, for answering our prayers with what we need for holiness, not what we want for comfort? How often do we thank God when he brings us to the place of saying, "God be merciful to me, a sinner"?

That is the focus of Paul's gratitude to God for what he is doing in and through the Thessalonians. Conviction and power. And he sees what God is accomplishing through the gospel in the people he has chosen and expresses this in verse 3. He thanks God for the Thessalonians work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope. What is interesting to me is that of all the times I've read this passage, my mind has always gravitated to the "action" words: work, labor and steadfastness. And while those descriptors are important, they're not the best way to understand what Paul is saying.

His gratitude isn't really concentrated on the fact that the Thessalonians are active. Instead, he is grateful for what undergirds their action. First they are working out their faith. It is their real, true, active, living faith that Paul is thanking God for. This is a faith that is holding on tenaciously to the truth of the gospel. This is a faith that God loved us and Jesus died for us while we we still dead in our sins. This is a faith that is itself a gift from God. This a faith that is trusting that God will equip us to serve others in a multitude of ways for the glory of God and the expansion of his kingdom.

The same is true for their love. He isn't as concerned about their labors as he is that their love is driving those labors. As Paul would say in 2 Cor 5, the love of Christ is compelling and constraining us. This is a love that is beginning to see the power and the beauty expressed in 1 Cor 13. This is a love that is beginning to reflect the blessed, the steadfast love of God. This is a horizontal love that reflects and emulates the vertical love that God has shone us in Christ. As Jesus said in John 13 "By this will all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another"

And the same is also true about their steadfastness. His focus is not as much about how steadfast they are as it is on the hope upon which their steadfastness rests. This an unwavering hope in an unwavering promise by an unchanging, always faithful God. This is certain hope that what Jesus began at Calvary he will complete when he returns. This is a confident hope that we have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, and it is kept in heaven for us. This is a hope that knows (yes knows) that one day we will once again be able to see God face to face.

Think about it this way. As believers, we all know that their are entailments to believing and following Jesus. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" Phil 2:12. "Walk in a manner

worthy of your calling" Eph 4:1. But, as important as these entailments are, they can never become the central thing in our spiritual lives. The faith that connects us with Christ, which God himself gave us, the love of Christ that we are now able to reflect and emulate, however imperfectly and the sure, certain, unwavering hope we have in a God who keeps his promises and in a savior who said it is finished. These, brothers and sisters are the focus of Paul's gratitude. And that is what can keep our pharisaical hearts in tune with God.

Since the driver of Paul's gratitude is the gospel and the focus of Paul's thankfulness is the faith, hope and love of the Thessalonian believers, what does the rest of the chapter convey? I think it further demonstrates and unpacks Paul's upside down approach toward the church and toward gratitude.

You see, so much of what's in our own hearts and minds and certainly every input we get from the TV, the glossy magazines and the Internet, give rise to a me-centered attitude, even in the church. But time and again Paul either explicitly or implicitly demonstrates that the implications of true faith are upside down. That is the case here. Paul's gratitude, while driven by the gospel and focused on faith, hope and love, is really offered on behalf of others. Paul is thanking God not for the work God is doing in his own life but what God is doing in the lives of the Thessalonian believers.

So, with the upside down nature of our faith in view, let us look at what Paul is thankful for. We already saw that in verse 3 that Paul is thankful for how God has poured out faith, hope, and love into the lives of the Thessalonians. We also saw from verse 4 that Paul is thankful that the gospel was not only heard in Thessalonica, but believed, and that God's faithfulness was demonstrated as they received the Holy Spirit in power and full conviction.

But, what comes next is harder for our westernized, modernized ears to hear. In verse 6, Paul is thankful that the Thessalonians became imitators of Christ in much affliction. Notice he doesn't say in spite of the affliction although some translations render it that way. I think Paul's intent here is reassure the Thessalonians, and us, that the gospel will take root everywhere it is planted and that he can use the most adverse of circumstances to bring people to faith. And he thanks God for that.

Think back to Acts 17. Once the Holy Spirit began revive souls in Thessalonica, how did the people respond? With joy and celebrations? No it was in jealousy and riots. Paul was run out of town and even the neighboring town. And yet in the midst of this adversity, strike that, because of this adversity, the believers in Thessalonica were the ones who had joy. Not a joy in their circumstances. Not a joy in their Facebook friends list. Not a joy because they scored on all their black Friday deals. Instead, according to verse 6, it was a joy of the Holy Spirit. And for this Paul gives thanks.

And what about us... Dare we ask God to bring us to a point of rejoicing in our sufferings? How upside down would that be? Instead of exclusively asking for relief, could we also ask for wisdom to see how God may be using this situation to show that his grace is sufficient for us? Can we grow to have gratitude of knowing adversity reminds and assures us that Jesus will never leave us nor will he forsake us?

But, Paul is not done because he also sees in the Thessalonians a mark of their faith that causes him to be amazed and overwhelmed in gratitude to God. They are living out their faith in a way that is worthy of emulation. Starting in verse 7, he begins describing how their faith, lived out in the power of the Holy Spirit, is becoming an example to everyone around. And for this Paul gives thanks.

And Paul notes it is not just the good things they are doing. In verse 8 he states that through the Thessalonians the word of the Lord sounded forth in both Macedonia and Achaia. In fact, the Thessalonians were so effective that Paul states he and his companions didn't need to say anything when they arrived in a place. It seems even the locals were recounting to Paul how the gospel transformed the Thessalonians and how they turned away from their idols to worship and serve the living and true God. And for this Paul is thankful.

We should note here that Paul has observed that the Thessalonians are both word and deed Christians. They are not so caught up in their studying that their lives aren't being affected. But neither are they so caught up in living out the gospel that they forget (or avoid) proclaiming it. They were truly working out their salvation with fear and trembling, as God worked in them to will and to work according to his good pleasure.

It is interesting that as Paul wraps up his thoughts on all that God is accomplishing, he ends not with some majestic achievement of the Thessalonians or some great and glorious doctrine of God. Instead of that, he gives thanks that as the Thessalonians have turned away from idols and are now serving God, they are also waiting for Jesus' return. On top of this, notice how Jesus is described in verse 10. He is the risen one, the one who conquered sin, death, hell and the grave.

He is coming from heaven, which implies he is currently dwelling there (and as Paul says elsewhere, seated at the Father's right hand interceding for us). And is our deliverer. He has delivered us from the penalty of sin. He is currently delivering us from the bondage of sin. One day, I pray real soon, he will deliver us from sin itself. And for all of this Paul gives wholehearted thanks.

Which brings us back to us. If we would pause right now to express our gratitude to God, what would it look like? Would we be gracious for the stuff God has given us? That is good, of course, as far as it goes. But if that is all that there is, something is off somewhere, since we might be no better than the Pharisee in Lk 18.

Would we be gracious for God's saving and sanctifying work in our lives? This is good and wonderful. Such gratitude should be a hallmark of our prayers and of our conversations with both believers and unbelievers. And yet, if we stop here we are at risk of missing other vital elements of our gratitude to God.

Would we be appreciative of the road-blocks, hardships and afflictions that God has lovingly allowed in our lives? Not that we would be thankful to have cancer or that we've lost a job or a loved one. But would we see and express gratitude for how God can use things that difficult to build in us what is best for us and most pleasing to him?

Would we be thankful to God for what He is doing in and through the lives of others? Would we be willing to devote the time and energy necessary to actually consider and thank God for other believers, even other churches, and God's grace and mercy and power in their lives? Perhaps today, God by his Spirit may allow us to see the tremendous blessing he is pouring out through others. Let your gratitude ring with praise to God, not only for what he has given us in Christ, but what he has given to the church in and through the faith, hope and love in others.