"Gone Nuts!"

September 13, 2015     NOTES NOT EDITED

A World Gone Nuts!

2Chronicles 20:13-30

SIS: Christians should not run from the cultural chaos, but run headlong into it armed with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This past Friday (9-11) our nation solemnly marked “Another Day That Will Live in Infamy,” to borrow from a speech of bygone era.  On September 11, 2001, we watched in horror as two planes struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center causing them to collapse into heap amidst a choking cloud of dust and debris.  2996 people perished that day.  Many more have died since then of related diseases.  It was a day of catastrophic chaos.

There were many heroes that day.  Heroes are forged in the furnace of chaos, catastrophe, and danger.  The reward is often a life haunted by hard memories.  Some of the most significant heroes were the “First Responders—Fire, Police, and Rescue personnel.  Such men and women are easy to spot in a time of catastrophic chaos—they are the ones running into burning buildings when others are running out!

As I reflect upon the pilgrimage of our nation since that fateful day I can come to only one conclusion:  our world has gone nuts!  Right has become wrong.  Good has become bad.  Bruce has become Caitlyn.  And, Trump may become president!  It’s just nuts!  During these days of catastrophic collapse in our nation, we need some “holy heroes—men and women who run into the cultural chaos, and not from it, armed with only the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We don’t need riches, power, or a “moral majority” to have a massive influence on culture—we only need Jesus, and the Gospel of His Grace.

The Word of God gives us a four-fold plan for engaging in such a cultural battle for the heart and soul of our nation.  The Book of Chronicles tells of an ancient battle strategy lead by the godly Israeli King, Jehoshaphat.  LET’S READ TOGETER 2Chron. 20:1; 13-19.

Here we find Israel in the midst of a cultural crisis not much different from what we find ourselves today.  The enemies we face today may have different names and the particulars of the circumstances may be different, but the crisis is much the same.  Our text gives us a great battle plan for how we can “engage the cultural chaotic crisis armed only with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1.  First, we must GATHER (13)

We must gather all our resources: personal, material, and spiritual. 

(2 Chr 20:13)   All Judah was standing before the Lord with their infants, their wives, and their children. (see also v14, congregation)

We gather our resources by gathering together each week with God’s people.  This is where we get our “marching orders” as soldiers in God’s Army.  Last week I shared one of the most powerful prayer gatherings recorded in history.  I’ll share it again (Acts 2:1-4):

When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.  ² Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.  ³ And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ Then they were all filled  with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.

Make special note of two aspects of this text.  First, the were “all together in one place.”  Isn’t that redundant?  How could you be “all together” if not in the same place?  Suppose we read it in two parts:  “they were all together,” and “in one place.”  Not only were they together spiritually, but they were together geographically.  Sometimes people gather in the same place but not in the same spirit.  Spiritual togetherness is both social and geographical.  This is why Paul says, (Heb 10:24-25)  

And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, ²⁵ not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other,  and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

I mention this verse often because church attendance is an absolutely essential part of Christian devotion.  Too many Christians give too little attention to the discipline of meeting together with other believers—AND . . . participating enthusiastically in encouraging those they are worshipping with.  This is the significance of our regular practice of a “fellowship time” as part of our worship service.

Second, notice “why” meeting together is so important to “gathering” our physical, emotional and spiritual resources:  “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”  God’s Spirit manifests Himself in a powerful way when Christians are together “spiritually” and “geographically.”  Can a Christian commune with God alone?  Certainly.  Can a Christian “crusade against the chaos of the world alone?”  NOT A CHANCE!

ll Judah was standing before the Lord with their infants,

their wives, and their children.

2.  Second, GIVE IN (15, 17)

Notice: I did not say “qive up.” To give up means to “quit.” To give in means “to surrender.”  We must surrender to God if hope to be victorious in the battle for the soul of our world.  Verses 15 and 17:

¹⁵and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number,  for the battle is not yours, but God’s..........¹⁷You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.  He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged.  Tomorrow, go out to face them, for Yahweh is with you.’ ”

This passage troubles some scholars. They think it can be used to teach that we have no responsibility to participate with God in the victories of our lives.  This passage DOES NOT teach us to “sit back and wait for God to do everything for us.”   It is simply a passage that demonstrates that, in reality, there is nothing we can do for ourselves, that God cannot do much better.  There are plenty of passages that teach us our responsibilities before God.  The text here teaches us to trust in the Lord for the ultimate victory of our lives.

I like to tell the story about the mouse and the elephant to illustrate what it means to be a partner with God in the victories of life.  One day, a mouse and a elephant were crossing a swinging bridge.  The mouse started over first with the elephant right behind.  The rickety old bridge began to sway and bounce, dancing beneath the elephant’s weight.  Finally, they reached the other side.  The somewhat boastful mouse looked up at his partner and said, “We sure shook that bridge, didn’t we?” The humble, gracious elephant smiled and replied, “Yea!  I guess we did.”

That’s how it is when we partner with God to fight the enemies of life–be they despair, disease, or death–we can shake the bridge because God is on it with us.   In reality, we contribute little to the process but gain a great deal from participating.  The lesson here is: trust in God.  As the Proverb says:  (Prov 3:5-6)  

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; ⁶ think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.

2Chron. 20:20 reinforces the point of “trusting God:”  ²⁰ In the morning they got up early and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in Yahweh your God, and you will be established; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

Begin the new year by giving up control of your life. If we will surrender the authority of our lives, God will accept the responsibility for our lives.

3.  Third, GET DRESSED (21)

(2 Chr 20:21)   ²¹ Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for the Lord and some to praise the splendor of His holiness.  When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to the Lord,  for His faithful love endures forever

The words, to praise him for the splendor of his holiness , can also

be translated, praised Him in holy attire (NASB), or, give praise in sacred vestments (Modern Language).   The Hebrew language is unique in that sometimes, the same letters can carry quite different meanings.  Most scholars (eg Keil) would prefer the latter as referring to holy clothing that identified the spiritual leaders of Israel.

The idea is that to be victorious in the battles of life, our lives must appear distinctly different from the world—as if we are wearing a distinctive uniform.  This is the idea conveyed in the New Testament:

(Col 3:8-10)   But now you must also put away all the following: anger,  wrath,  malice,  slander,  and filthy language from your mouth.  ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on  the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

As a “holy hero running into the cultural chaos of our world,” you must be properly dressed.  You must put on a lifestyle that is distinct and different from the world.  If you try to march forward praising God while wearing the stained garments of sin and worldliness, YOU WILL be defeated!

A few years ago, I was meditating on being “dressed in righteousness” as we see here in this text as I lay down to sleep.  I had a dream.  I seldom tell my dreams, and I hate to listen to people’s dreams, but I think this one was “sort of” prophetic.  I dreamed I was invited somewhere to speak.  In the middle of what I’m sure was a very good sermon, I realized I had forgotten to get dressed!  The realization was so startling I woke up in a state of terror.

It is important to be properly dressed.  Without the robe of righteousness we receive from Christ, we are naked before our enemies–and, unless they laugh to death–we will be defeated. The old familiar hymn reminds us:

“When He shall come with trumpet sound

O may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne.

Let’s be clear:  our world has “Gone Nuts.”  Sin always makes you stupid and we see this time and time again in our country.  As I said earlier, “Wrong has become right; evil has become good; Bruce has become Caitlyn; and Trump may become president.”  In this nutty world, Christians must engage the chaotic culture by gathering, giving up; getting dressed and I think most importantly:

4.  Fourth, GETting EXCITED (25-28)

²⁵ Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to gather the plunder. They found among them an abundance of goods on the bodies  and valuable items. So they stripped them until nobody could carry any more. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much. ²⁶ They assembled in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day, for there they praised the Lord. Therefore, that place is still called the Valley of Beracah today. ²⁷ Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem turned back with Jehoshaphat their leader, returning joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord enabled them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ So they came into Jerusalem to the Lord’s temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets.

I’ve often wondered over the years why there is less excitement in church than at other gatherings.  The reason is probably a mixed bag of issues, but one reason may lie at the bottom of the others in regard to the apathy in so many church gatherings:  the lack of expectation.  People just don’t anticipate anything exciting—much less supernatural—happening.  Someone made a comparison between a football fan and a typical church member.  The analysis is helpful.

1.  Football fans often pay a large sum of money to park their cars and walk long distances to the stadium.  Some people won’t come to church if they can’t get free parking by the door.

2.  Football games are noisy with loud cheering by very enthusiastic fans.  It is often hard even to get some church-goers to sing.

3.  Football stadiums have seats that are narrow, hard and backless.  Some church-goers complain because pews or chairs are not comfortable.

4.  Football games often last over 3 hours, and if the game goes into overtime, fans consider it a bonus.  Some churchgoers begin looking at their watch starting at about 11:30 painstakingly counting down until 12 noon.

5.  Football fans support their teams in all kinds of weather.  For some churchgoers, it is either too hot or too cold to attend regularly.

6.  Football fans think nothing of paying a high price for tickets.  Some churchgoers resent even hearing the pastor mention money or giving.

If this comparison is even partly true—and I believe it is—what has the average football fan got that the average churchgoer doesn’t?  It is fanatic enthusiasm for the sport–hence, the word fan.

Now, I’m not suggesting that we stripe off the auditorium in five yard segments.  I’m not suggesting that we shout and carry-on like drunks at a football game.  I am suggesting that if you want to experience a victorious Christian life, you need to be excited at the possibilities.  I’ve already mentioned the importance of “gathering regularly” in church—but, mere attendance alone is simply the starting place.  It is not the entire race.  Let’s go back to a text I quoted earlier from Acts:

^{Acts 2:  1}When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.  ² Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind  came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.  ³ And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.

I expect something like this to happen every time I come to church.  I have been disappointed more times than I can count.  I simply believe that if “God’s people get together on God’s Day, singing God’s songs, and studying God’s Book” God will show up in great power and things will happen that will change lives! 

The fact that nothing much happens of a supernatural nature in most church services accounts for why so few Christians don’t share their faith.  What is there to share? If we don’t expect that loving Jesus and attending church is exciting, why would we try to convince someone else to attend?  We would not.  If what we have makes us look like we’ve been sucking lemons through a straw, nobody’s going to want to try it for themselves.  Too often we in the church look more like the “Frozen Chosen” than the “Excited Elect.”

I recall a man waiting for his doctor to come back into the exam room to go over the results of his annual physical exam.  The doctor looked at the man’s charts and shook his head.  The man said, “What’s wrong, Doc, is it bad?”  The doctor, who was known for his optimistic outlook replied, “Well, Fred, I don’t see any reason you cannot live a completely normal life . . . as long as you don’t plan on enjoying it!”

Too often people have that same attitude about church and serving Jesus—“I’ll do all that Christian stuff as long as nobody expects me to enjoy it.”  Sometimes, I’m not sure whether I’m preaching at First Baptist or Folsom Prison—though, there have been Sundays I’d preferred the latter.  At least they are a “captive” audience.

An apathetic faith will never spur you to become a “holy hero willing to engage the cultural chaos of this world armed only with the gospel.”  Even the most powerful race car is useless in a race if it remains parked in the garage.

Look at verse 25 again,  Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to gather the plunder. They found among them an abundance of goods on the bodies and valuable items. So they stripped them until nobody could carry any more.

The NET Bible gives a more literal description of the plunder:  There was so much plunder, it took them three days to haul it off.

How can you NOT GET EXCITED about what God has in store for those—as the song goes—“March into hell for a heavenly cause.”

As I said in the beginning, we live in a world, “Gone Nuts!”  Wrong has become right.  Evil has become good.  Bruce has become Caitlyn; and, Trump may become president.  Though I say that with tongue in cheek, our world has indeed “Gone Nuts!”   We need an army of “holy heroes” who will not run from the cultural chaos, but run headlong into it armed only with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Be that hero.

<<end>>

MORE!

September 6, 2015     NOTES NOT EDITED

More

1Thessalonians 3:6-4:12

SIS—The church cannot do more for the Kingdom until we do more for the church.

I did not grow up on a farm.  I did help put up hay for a farmer one summer as a kid.  I also worked at a feed store one summer while in college.  But, I don’t think I have farming in my blood.  So, I was impressed when I read a story about three-legged chickens.  A salesman was driving down a country lane.  He looked out his window and a three-legged chicken was running alongside his car.  Suddenly, the chicken picked up speed and disappeared around the next bend.  There was farmer in the field so the man pulled over and said, “I just saw a three-legged chicken speed past my car!”  “Oh, yes, them’s our chickens.  We have a bunch of ‘em.  We bred them to feed our family.  You see, there’s the three of us and we all likes drumsticks.”  The salesman asked, “Well, how do they taste.”  “Dunno,” said the farmer.  “Never been able to catch any!”

Well, the moral of the story is clear:  more legs are better if you are a chicken.  This also illustrates my sermon nicely.  My sermon is titled, “MORE.”  If we want to do more as a church, then we have to do more as Christians.  Good enough never is.  Let’s see what the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write about “MORE.”  1Thess. 3:6-4:12.

1.  MORE PRAYER (3:10-13)

⁹ How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you, ¹⁰ as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith? // ¹¹ Now may our God and Father  Himself, and our Lord Jesus,  direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another  and for everyone, just as we also do for you. ¹³ May He make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord  Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

If you get nothing else out of this message—and I hope you do get more—get this:  “the greatest need in the church is MORE prayer.”  We could use more people.  We can use more money.  I’ll talk about these later; but, “the greatest need in the church is MORE prayer!”

I’m sure that as we read these words together you felt the urgency and passion in Paul’s words.  It is almost like you could feel the emotion rising in Paul’s heart as his prayer for the Thessalonians rose up to God.  There is almost an “agony” which can be noted in Paul’s prayer.  It was not some “three-minute” Hail Mary before for a meal.  Paul declares his prayers went on “night and day.”  His earnest, agonizing prayer for the ministry of God through the Thessalonians kept him up long into many nights. 

The Holy Spirit also led Paul to carefully craft his words in regard to prayer.  In fact, Paul constructed a new word to describe his prayer.  Paul often took prepositions, adjectives, or adverbs and smashed them together with other words to make up “superlative” version of the words to increase the “intensity” of the meaning.  In other words, Paul compounded words in the same way many athlete’s take steroids to boost up their muscle power.  Paul coined the word, huperekperissou (hyper-ek-per-ees-sou), to describe how he prayed.  It is translated, “earnestly,” but even that word lacks the passion and power of the one Paul created.  It would better be translated, “super (hyper) abundantly (ekperissou). 

The word he choose for “prayer” also has some special significance in reference to intensity or passion.  The word, deomai (deh-o-mī), originally had the meaning of “lacking or wanting.”  It came to have the sense of “asking out of an extreme need or desire, or begging, particularly to someone with the means to assist,” and occasionally it referred to simply asking.  In our text, Paul obviously choose this word to indicate the intensity with which he was praying.  So, if we look at what Paul declares in regard to prayer we might expand our translation to say, “out of our great need we beg God from early mornings to into many long nights with superabundant passion that when we see you face to face we will see that God has completed every thing that might be lacking in your life.”

The only prayer the Bible recognizes as true prayer is prolonged, passionate, prayer that stays at it until God breaks through in glory!  It is the kind of prayer where your spirit has difficulty distinguishing from feelings of fear and feelings of ecstasy.  The O.T. knew this kind of prayer.  Isaiah describes a prayer encounter he had with God (Is. 6:1-3):

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord  seated on a high and lofty  throne,  and His robe  filled the temple. ² Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings:  with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  ³ And one called to another:  Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory  fills the whole earth.  ⁴ The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.

When was the last time God shook the very room in which you were praying or filled your prayer closet with smoke?  The N.T. knows this same kind of passionate, powerful, persistent, prevailing prayer:

When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.  ² Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind  came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.  ³ And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ Then they were all filled  with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.

 How’s that for a prayer meeting?  In 38 years of ministry I have been in only a couple of times of prayer where something even remotely like these two experiences took place—AND I HUNGER TO SEE IT AGAIN!

I would love to continue speaking about prayer but I must go on.  Let me only point out that nobody’s life of service will ever exceed his or her life of prayer.  What we need most desperately is “MORE PRAYER.”

2.  We need MORE PIETY (3:13; 4:3-8)

Look at Paul’s prayer in chapter 3, verse 13:   May He make your hearts blameless in holiness  before our God and Father at the coming  of our Lord  Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

The focus of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, and in deed the focus of God for His people, is that we would “be blameless and holy.”  Then, the text expounds on what this “holiness” would look like in chapter 4, verses 3-8:

³ For this is God’s will, your sanctification:  that you abstain from sexual immorality, ⁴ so that each of you knows how to control his own body  in sanctification and honor, ⁵ not with lustful desires,  like the Gentiles who don’t know God. ⁶ This means one must not transgress against and defraud  his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses,  as we also previously told and warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us to impurity but to sanctification. ⁸ Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit.

The key word in this passage is, “sanctification.”  The word translated sanctification is related to the root word for “holiness.”  I’ve used the word, “piety,” to help you remember this outline.  Piety refers to “religious devotion, or holiness.”  Piety relates to those activities that seek to please God.  Our word looks down upon piety and the word has taken a negative connotation, but that need not be the case.  Piety is synonymous with sanctification.  

In this passage the particular form of the word is related to the verb forms of the word holiness and indicates an active, participation in those activities that make us more like God.  Sanctification is nothing more than “acting like God.”  Or as Paul says in verse 4:1, “walking to please God.”  One discipline leading to a sanctified life is prayer, which we have also discussed.  Bible study, in all its forms such as sermons and Sunday School, is another discipline leading to a pious, sanctified life.  Fellowship with other believers and Evangelism round out the main activities that help us develop a life of piety, or sanctification.  All of this we do in the context of regular, enthusiastic times of worship where we encourage one another to, as Paul writes in Hebrews, “love and good works” (Heb. 10:24).  

You will often hear people say, “Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.”  Like most clichés that has a hint of truth but it is not by any means a complete truth.  Every where from Genesis to Revelation God has outlined attitudes and behaviors that lead His people to pious, or holy, living. Jesus said, Himself,  “If you love Me, you will keep  My commands” (Jn. 14:15).  The entire Book of Leviticus presents a number of “religious activities” designed to show us that God is holy and we must be holy in order to please Him.  Jesus did not die so remove God’s holy standards but to provide the means by which we can be holy (pious, sanctified).  Look at verses 4:7-8:

For God has not called us to impurity but to sanctification [piety]. ⁸ Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit.

As I said before, the form of the word translated, sanctification (piety), is a noun built on a verb form which indicates an activity, not merely a principle of idea.  Holiness is what we do because of what Jesus has done, and we have the Holy Spirit to help us do it.  If our church is going to do more we must do more and for us to do more in the Kingdom we need MORE PIETY. 

A few years ago I heard a story about a man who back in the woods in Mississippi.  I think his name was Elias.  One day Elias was walking through town all dressed up and carrying his Bible under his arm.  A friend saw him and asked, “Hey, ‘Lias, where ya’ headin’? Why you all dressed up in your Sunday best?”  Elias had a big grin on his face and answered, “I’m headed across the state line to N’Orleans.  I hear there is a lot of cheap liquor, places for gamblin’, and nightclubs full of loose women.”  The friend was a bit puzzled when he heard what naughty pleasures Elias intended to enjoy.  He asked him, “Then why ya’ takin’ your Bible?”  Elias replied, “Well, if it’s as good as they say it is, I might stay over for church on Sunday.”

Well, sadly, there are too many people like Elias in churches.  But, in order for our church to make more of a difference in the world, it first has to make more of a difference than us.  We need MORE PIETY.

3.  MORE PARTICIPATION (6-9)

But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love and reported that you always have good memories of us, wanting to see us, as we also want to see you.  ⁷ Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you through your faith. ⁸ For now we live, if you stand firm  in the Lord. ⁹ How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you,

We get accustomed to hearing or reading the Word of God and we can easily miss some valuable lessons by overlooking something as simple as whether words are singular or plural—especially pronouns, and even more especially, second person pronouns.  Notice that the pronoun, “you,” appears several times in verses 6-9 and throughout the Book of Thessalonians, as with other books of the Bible.  In English, we do not distinguish between a “singular you” and “you” as it applies to a group.  In Latin I teach our students to translate the plural form of you as, “you all,” to distinguish it from the singular you.  So, what’s the big deal?  Well, more often than not the “you’s” you see in the Bible, especially the N.T. are plural—they refer to the Body of Christ.  The Christian life cannot be fully experienced without other Christians.

Notice in verse 3:6 Paul speaks of “encouraging one another.”  In 3:12 he speaks of “overflowing love for one another.”  Then again in 4:10 he speaks of “encouragement.”   If we are going to accomplish more for the Kingdom of God, we need more PARTICIPATION from every member of the church.  The church is not a “buffet” where you take what you want and pass up what you don’t want.  Church is a family meal around the table of fellowship where each family member encourages all the rest.  Church is a “family activity,” for the “whole” family.  When you do not participate in a church function you should be a part of, someone that you should be encouraging with not be encouraged—in fact, your absence can lead to discouragement.  Church is not only for you, but it is an opportunity for you to encourage others.  Paul was very clear about the responsibility we have to “PARTICIPATE” in the fellowship of the saints

^{Hebrews10     24} And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, ²⁵ not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other,  and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Now go back and read our text again in verses 6-7:  But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love and reported that you always have good memories of us, wanting to see us, as we also want to see you.  If you are a member of the church and you don’t look forward to getting together with your brothers and sisters to make eternal memories, then you really aren’t a member of the church at all.  Doing more for the Kingdom of God involves MORE PARTICIPATION in the activities of His church.  For most people, church is an “I-can-take-it-or-leave-it” proposition.  In this case it’s usually not long before the “leave-it” altogether.

For our church to accomplish more we need MORE PRAYER, MORE PIETY, MORE PARTICIPATION, and . . . stay with me:

4.  MORE PAYOLA (9-11)

⁹ About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.  ¹⁰ In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers in the entire region of Macedonia.  But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more.

Thessalonica was a strategic city in the broader area of the Greek isle known as Macedonia.  You might compare Thessalonica to a city and Macedonia to a region, like Thousand Oaks in the Los Angeles area.  Paul does not state specifically what Thessalonica did to show the love to others in the region, there is a hint in the word, poite (poy-eh-tay) translated “are doing.”  The word first appears in Classical Greek to refer to the product of ones actions such as, “making a grave, building a house, or producing a work of art.” This same word is used in Galatians 2:10, They asked only that we would remember the poor,  which I made every effort to do (from, poieō, same root).

The word carries with it the idea of something tangible or measurable.  The Thessalonians assisted the others in Macedonia in “tangible” ways.  We know that Macedonia was noted for its poverty as we read in 2Cor. 8:1-2.  Most scholars believe “Paul is reflecting on the way the Thessalonian church lent economic aid to needy believers in other parts of the province.” (Pillar Comm.).  This certainly seems the intent of the passage from a simple reading of the text.

It takes money to do ministry.  No money.  No ministry.  Little money. Little ministry.  Same money.  Same ministry.  More money.  More ministry.  “Payola” actually has a negative connotation, but I use it to help you remember the importance of money in ministry.  Payola actuall refers to a record company getting their songs played on commercial radio without the radio station declaring they have been paid to present the song.  It’s sort of like “product placement” in movies and T.V.  Anyway, you get the idea:  “money is what makes the monkey dance.”

Somehow it has come about that the worst sin a preacher can commit is to preach about “money.”  Well, Jesus preached about money.  Paul preached about money.  The majority of the parables in the N.T. deal with money in one way or another.  The fact is that many people are going to spend eternity in hell because they “loved money (mammon) more than they loved God.”  Jesus warned us in the strongest language:  ²⁴ “No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money (Mt. 6:24). 

People who do not give generously to the church and hold on to their money do so because they fail to understand that money is “t’ainted”:  it t’aint yours, it is all God’s.”  When we hold on to our ten percent, or we fail to give generously above our ten percent, we demonstrate that we really do not understand the “value of our salvation.”  We fail to see that if we trust God with His tithes and offerings, we will never need to worry about having all that we need.  God has promised this to us in one of the most encouraging passages in the Bible:  ^{Malachi 3   10} Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house.  Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. 

Someone clipped a news story out of a paper about a young man named Danny Simpson, from Ottawa, Canada.  At the age of 24 he robbed a bank in Ottawa, Canada, at gunpoint.  He made off with $6000.  The sweat on his brow was barely dry before he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to a long time in prison.  Here’s the real sad part of the story.  Danny had acquired 1918 45-caliber semiautomatic Colt handgun that he used to rob the bank.  That gun was worth over $100,000.  Danny did not realize the real value of what he possessed.  He went to jail for $6000 when he possessed a treasure worth $100,000.  Danny squandered his possessions.  Esau sold his treasured birthright for a bowl of red beans.

Holding back on God “shuts the floodgates of His goodness” in your life.  It also stunts the ministry of God’s church.  If our church is going to do more, it will take MORE PAYOLA.  More prayer. More piety. More participation. More Payola. 

As we close, let’s let the words of God’s instruction manual ring in our ears:  Walk and please God—as you are doing—DO SO EVEN MORE! (1Thess. 4:1).

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