A Reason to Rejoice
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | December 17, 2023
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Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 24
Today is the third Sunday in Advent, and the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians (as well as the display on the table in the narthex) gives us a gentle reminder that it is time to shift our focus to a tiny little three-letter word that can be chock-full of emotion… and that little word is JOY.
Now, according to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, the word joy is defined as, “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.”
But for our time together this morning, I want to invite our attention to what the Bible has to say about that word joy… and just what does the Word of God have to say about joy?
Let’s start first by taking a look at the Old Testament where we find what the Prophet Nehemiah (8:10) had to say, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
We also find these words of the Psalmist David (30:5) who wrote, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
And if we take a look at the New Testament, we will find these words of Jesus in the Gospel of John:
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (John 15:10 – 11).Putting it all together… Nehemiah suggests that Joy gives us strength. David explains that Joy has the ability to replace sorrow. And Jesus tells us that our Joy is made complete in Him.
It seems to me that for such a tiny word, JOY is actually rather powerful… and that, in and of itself, gives us A REASON TO REJOICE.
Perhaps that is why Paul told the Thessalonian church to “rejoice always;” or as the Good News Translation puts it… to “Be joyful always.”
It might be fair to say that joy is even more powerful than we might imagine… especially when we have the joy of the Lord and when our joy is made complete in Jesus.
As we think about how powerful it is to rejoice always, that power can then become the fuel that propels us to do what Paul says next which is… “pray continually,” or as it reads in the KJV, “pray without ceasing.”
Now, it probably goes without saying that we cannot live our lives spending all our time on our knees in a posture of prayer. However, what we can do is to live our lives with a constant attitude of prayer…
Recognizing our total dependence upon God for everything… acknowledging that God’s presence is with us everywhere… and striving to obey God in every circumstance.
Which in a nutshell means that every moment that we are gifted to live is truly a God moment… and that is definitely A REASON TO REJOICE.
There is no point in time or space where God is not… nor is there a single instant when God does not desire for us to be in relationship with Him.
And being in relationship with God requires us to be in communication with Him. So, just how do we communicate with God in all the moments of our lives? You guessed it… by praying continually.
Now, Paul not only tells us that we ought to rejoice always and pray continually, he also says that we are to “give thanks in all circumstances…”
You have probably heard me say it before but I think it bears repeating that the text does not say that we are to give thanks FOR all circumstances… It says we are to “give thanks IN all circumstances.”
If we’re being honest, most people would say it is pretty close to impossible to give thanks FOR death, disease, and destruction. But it is possible to give thanks IN those times of sorrow, sickness, and suffering… because we know that God has promised to be with us… even in the midst of our most tragic circumstances.
It would be extremely difficult to give thanks FOR bankruptcy, unemployment, or homelessness. But it is conceivable that we can give thanks IN those hard times… even when we have lost money, jobs, or homes… because we have the assurance found in Philippians 4:19 that God has and always will provide for our “needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” And we can trust that in the same way that God has made a way for us in the past… He will do it again in this present age. And that is indeed A REASON TO REJOICE.
Someone might be wondering why Paul made a point of saying, “rejoice always, pray continually [and] give thanks in all circumstances.” Well, according to the text… it “is the will of God for [us] in Christ Jesus.”
In other words, joy and thanksgiving are the natural byproducts of living our lives in accordance with God’s will.
As we continue reading this passage from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians… he offers some pointers on what it means to live in accordance with God’s will.
First, Paul says that we should not quench the Spirit… or to put it another way, we should not put out the Spirit’s fire.
Has there ever been a time in your life when someone tried to rain on your parade? When their words, their attitudes and their actions seemed destined to douse your excitement and curb your enthusiasm… it can literally be enough to make us angry and downright bitter if we’re not careful.
But believe it or not, we actually have the ability to rain on our own parades… to snuff out our own spirit, so to speak. And how might we do that you may ask?
We do that when stop operating in the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to us… when we try to run and hide from doing what God has called us and gifted us to do. We have a responsibility to fan the flames of our gifts… like putting coal into the furnace or stoking the fire in the fireplace… as the saying goes, “We have to use it or lose it.”
Paul told Timothy (2 Tim. 1:6-7, MSG), “And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.”
And before anyone gets hung up on that word “ministry” …let me just say, that word does not pertain only to something that the Pastor or the Elders have been called to do.
Ministry is what each of us is called to do as we serve God and God’s people… and that is because to minister simply means to serve. And as we serve God and the people of God, Paul reminds us that God doesn’t want us to be shy with His gifts, instead we are to be bold, loving, and sensible.
There really is no reason for us to hide the gifts God has given us.
As James (1:17-18) writes:
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.God has gifted us for a reason… and that is why we should be bold, loving, and sensible in sharing those gifts with others. That is why Paul makes it a point to tell us not to quench the Spirit… the One who gave us these precious gifts.
Now as we keep reading, Paul makes reference to one of the specific gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to some of us. He writes, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”
Reading those same verses from the Message, we find, “…don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.”
It is up to us to read and study God’s word so that we have way to test the validity of what other people are telling us… especially when tell us they are speaking for God. Keep in mind, just because someone says, “God told me to tell you a, b, c…” does not mean God actually told them to say anything of the kind.
Paul’s offers a word of caution to his readers that if anyone tells us something that they claim to be a word of prophesy… we should be able to go back and see if it lines up with the Word of God. We should not simply take their word for it.
Paul says we ought to take what is good… in other words, what is in line with God’s word… and we ought to hold onto that… but whatever is evil… we need to do our best to steer clear of it.
Now I will be the first to admit… that can be somewhat challenging in light of the fact that we are living in a day and time when evil seems to be lurking around every corner… and when people are willing to say whatever they think we want to hear… whether it is true or not.
That is why it is so important for us to study and pay close attention to what the Word of God says… because God’s Word holds the key to keep us from allowing sin to gain a foothold in our lives… and it contains the resources we need to keep us from getting caught up in temptation.
In fact, in 1 Corinthians 10:13 we read:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.God knows that this world is filled with temptation… but that does not mean that we have to give into it. We can look to God to show us a better way.
There is a book that I have read a couple of times entitled, “The Best Yes,” by Lysa TerKeurst. And in the book, the author makes the point that, “Where you stare, you steer.”
She tells a story about a time when she and her colleagues were on their way to attend an event at a church in an area that they were not familiar with… so there plan was to follow another group of people who knew the way to the church.
The author said they were extremely focused on following the red SUV along the highway… and things were going fairly well… that is until an 18-wheeler got in between them for a short stretch of the road.
However, as soon as the truck moved, they were able to start following the red SUV again.
The author goes on to tell how they got off the highway and began to drive through a variety of neighborhoods… but at one point, it seemed like the group in the red SUV was deliberately trying to lose them. However, they were relentless in their effort to follow along.
Then the red SUV turned into a driveway at a house and not the church they were expecting… and they realized what had happened. When that 18-wheeler had moved… they had started following the wrong red SUV.
Where you stare, you steer…
So, if we are looking at or staring at the wrong things… things that will lead us into temptation… that is where we will ultimately steer. However, if we are looking at and staring into God’s Word… we will be able to steer clear of temptation and follow along on the path where God would have us to go.
And that brings us to the last verses of our text where we find what is essentially a prayer… that in anticipation of the coming of Christ… that God, the God of peace, will completely sanctify us and bring us together… spirit, soul, and body.
Also in these closing verses, we find words that offer us the assurance that God is faithful and will do what He has said He will do.
And that, my friends, is good news… it is A REASON TO REJOICE… especially during this season of Advent. Because as we wait with expectation and anticipation for Jesus to return, we have the confident assurance that what God has promised in His Word… He will deliver.
As Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
And because God is faithful, we can do as Paul suggests… we can rejoice always… we can pray continually… and we can give thanks in all circumstances… all of which is God’s will for us… it is how God desires for us to live until that day when Jesus comes back for His church.
So, if by chance, you are still looking for A REASON TO REJOICE… consider the words of the psalmist who wrote, “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).
Every day brings us one day closer to that glorious day when Jesus will return… and that is definitely A REASON TO REJOICE!
Amen
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