Spoken Word
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (1 Thess. 3:11-13 ESV)
Looking for Holiness
As I did last Sunday, I open this morning with a prayer from an author in the Bible named Paul. Paul is praying for readers and listeners in the ancient city of Thessalonica.
I want to begin my message by looking at the end of Paul’s prayer. Paul ends his prayer for the Thessalonians with a reference to the “coming of our Lord Jesus” – “so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of the Lord Jesus with all his saints.” Paul uses the same image twice more in this letter (2:19; 5:23). In 2 Thess. 2 Paul writes even more about Jesus’ return. And one of the things we know about the return of Jesus is this: it will be a moment of judgement. The return of Jesus will be a moment of judgement.Paul ends his prayer by reminding us of this moment.
I remember when I was teenager living in Cloudcroft, NM. My stepmother Sally was going away to the hospital in another town for knee replacement surgery. My dad was going with her, and they were going to be gone a few days. So, it was just going to be Craig and me at home, alone, for a few days.
As far as I can recall, it was the first time we’d been left home alone for any significant time period. Now, don’t worry, it wasn’t as bad as the movie “Home Alone.” But, we weretwo teenage boys. And that meant we put frozen TV dinners the microwave too long and didn’t wipe down the microwave after the explosions. It meant we poured a lot of Coke into a lot of glasses which overflowed and we didn’t mop up the sticky and syrupy overflows. It meant no dirty dish was put away, no dishwasher was used. It meant no beds got made and no clothes got cleaned.
So, the “coming of Dad and Sally”–that is, when they returned–was a moment of judgement! Now, I like to think that the suffering of the surgery and being out of town accounted for some of this. But, at the “coming of Dad and Sally,” Craig and I received an admonishment the likes of which we’d never received before.
Paul ends his prayer by reminding us that there will be coming of Jesus, a return of Jesus. And this will be a time of judgement.
Looking for Holiness
If that’s true, then what will Jesus be looking for when he returns? In this prayer, in a word, it’s this: holiness. Paul prays “so that he will establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” Holiness is what Jesus will be looking for when he returns.At the coming of the Lord Jesus, he will be looking for holiness.
Looking for Love
But just what is holiness? The word is going to come up again in Chapter 4. But here, Paul links the holiness Jesus will be looking for when he returns with one thing: love–”may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness.” Paul is stating here that an increase in love is an increase in holiness.[1]The way that our hearts become blameless in holiness is by increasing and abounding in love for one another and for all. To be holy is to love.
That may be surprising to us. We’d like to think that what’s going to matter when Jesus returns is how many church services we attended, or how many books in the Bible we read or how much money we gave, or how many we baptized. But what Paul says here is that at the coming of Jesus, what’s going to matter most is holiness that takes the form of love.
Praying for More
And the love Paul has in mind is extraordinary love. Paul prays, “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” It’s not just a love for those who are like us–”one another.” It’s not just a love for those who believe the same things about the Bible as we do, who listen to the same kind of music as we do. But it’s a love that extends to all. To be holy is to practice a love for “all.”
Consider this for a moment. Social researcher Brene Brown has written about the kind of love or intimacy which exists in groups.[2]And, in her research, she finds that, especially today, institutions and organizations foster a superficial love based on, of all things, hatred. Here’s what she writes:
If you zoom out from our personal lives to the political and ideological culture we live in today, I would argue that the people we’re sitting next to on those snark couches are often not people with whom we feel inextricably connected or with whom we feel a deep sense of community. We’ve simply started hanging out with people who hate the same people we do. That’s not connection. That’s “you’re either with us or against us.” That’s common enemy intimacy. I don’t really know you, nor am I invested in our relationship, but I do like that we hate the same people and have contempt for the same ideas. [Brene Brown Braving the Wilderness]
Brene Brown is saying that many people and organizations foster a false sense of intimacy and love through “common enemy intimacy.” The only thing holding them together is their disdain for other people or other ideas.
And, sadly, how true this is for some churches today! They are known more for what and who they are against than what and who they are for. What holds some Christians together is a shared sense that some other group in the community–gays, immigrants, the government, whites/ blacks/ hispanics, liberals, conservatives, etc.–is wrong and that we stand united against them.
But Paul is praying that the church will be known for something radically different. Paul is praying that the church would be known for what I’ll call “common affection alliance.” What makes the first part of Paul’s prayer–love for one another–is the second part of the prayer–love for all. What bonds us together is that we share affection, not hate, for other people. What unites the church is not common enemy intimacy but common affection alliance.
Leaders and Love
And what makes this remarkable love possible, according to Paul, at least in part, is this: leaders. Notice three things about Paul, the church leader.
- First, Paul, a leader of churches, is praying this vision into reality for the church at Thessalonica. Paul realizes how important it is for him as a leader to pray this kind of prayer for the church.
- Second, Paul, a leader of churches, is modelling this love for the church at Thessalonica. Paul prays “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you.” That is, Paul is modeling what this love looks like.
- Third, Paul, a leader of churches, is writing this letter, teaching by letter, so that this church might better understand their calling to a common.
This prayer and this vision isn’t going to happen without leaders like Paul. Paul’s praying it. He’s modeling it. And he’s teaching it. Leaders are essential to the church practicing love for all.
And that’s one of the reasons we invest in the work of Harding School of Theology here in Memphis. Twice a year we ask you to give to our Outreach Contribution. This contribution funds about thirty outreach ministries. Our next Outreach Contribution is two weeks from today–May 12. And HST is supported by that contribution. Highland has partnered with Harding School of Theology for decades. Many of Highland’s staff were trained there, including me. We often have preaching apprentices who are students at HST. And, most significantly, HST prepares and equips leaders who do what Paul is doing in our text: leading churches to embrace a vision for holy loving of all.
HST
To help us better understand who HST is working with and how they are shaping churches/ Christians/ organizations around the world, please welcome HST Vice President and Highland member Jim Martin.
Jim Martin
Outreach Contribution
You have a chance to support HST and to help Paul’s vision become more and more of a reality. When you give on May 12, you’re giving directly to HST and about 30 other ministries. We need $180,000 on that day to fulfill the promises we’ve made to these important ministries. I urge you to begin planning right now. Our goal is about 4 times what we give on an average Sunday. Come prepared to give on that day and to commit yourself and this church and our partner-ministries more and more to this mission of a love for all.
I also want to urge you to attend the National Day of Prayer event on May 2. The theme is “Love One Another.” It’ll give you a chance to do what Paul does in our text – join others in praying about this love we’re called to have for one another and for all. And you’ll have a chance to pray for Harding and for all those ministries we partner with and support in this upcoming contribution.
[1]Ben Witherington III, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Social-Rhetorical Commentary, 105.
[2]Brene Brown, Braving the Wilderness, 136.
