Rejoice Always | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA) Manchester MO

Pastor:

Pr. John Gerike

Sermon audio:

Sermon

December 11, 2011 (8:00 and 9:30 only)

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

One of the things you do in seminary

is learn Greek.

And you translate sections of the Bible

from Greek to English.

And then you leave seminary—

--and forget how to do that.

But I do remember

that we always dreaded the letters by the Apostle Paul.

Because he was complicated.

And he used really long sentences.

In the letter to the Ephesians,

chapter 1,

verses 3 through 14 is all one sentence.

Longest sentence in the Bible.

In English, we break it into several sentences.

And in Romans,

it’s always kind of fun when people start reading the lesson

that says:

For I do not do the good I want,

but the evil I do not want is what I do.

Now if I do what I do not want,

it is no longer I that do it,

but sin that dwells within me.

And he goes on and on.

But it’s this same Paul,

who writes the lesson we hear today.

And it’s simple.

And it’s short sentences.

Short, concise phrases.

Maybe because it’s the first letter he wrote.

Hadn’t gotten too complicated yet.

But for whatever reason—

--here it is.

Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in all circumstances.

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

That’s not hard to understand.

But it is hard to live.

And it’s a great reminder in this Advent season.

You see,

Paul was telling the people on Thessalonika

that Jesus was coming soon.

But we don’t know when.

And since we don’t know when,

how should we live while we wait.

And this season of Advent is a season of waiting.

So, how should we live while we wait?

Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in all circumstances.

Rejoice always.

Do you hear that a lot in church?

As I think back on my life in church,

I remember hearing that I should be thoughtful.

Certainly—quiet.

Respectful.

But do I remember hearing

that I should be joyful?

Rejoice always.

There it is.

Seems simple enough.

But it isn’t—is it?

My brother and his family

were here for Thanksgiving.

That’s a nice part of the celebration

that they travel down from Minnesota

each year to celebrate here.

And then, last weekend,

we went up to Luther College,

where our son Brian,

and their son, Scott,

are both involved in the Christmas at Luther presentation.

Which is very nice.

So, the way Ruth and I do it,

is that we do our Christmas shopping for them

between the time they leave after Thanksgiving

until the time we see them again a week later.

And it really works very well.

We listen for ideas when we’re together.

And come up with ideas.

And make lists.

And buy some things.

And make some goodies.

And wrap it all up.

And head north.

And it basically went well

doing it that way again this year.

They left on Sunday.

By Tuesday we had a good idea of what we were doing.

By Thursday we had it all wrapped and ready to go.

But between Sunday and Tuesday

there was Monday.

And Monday wasn’t as good in the Christmas present department.

We had some ideas.

But they didn’t really work out.

I mean,

you would think buying and making Christmas presents

for someone you know quite well,

and have just spent a long weekend with,

wouldn’t be that hard.

But then,

you take into account the limitations of money and time,

and the sense that things really ought to be kind of even—

--fair.

And we just had a few days.

And when the plans weren’t working out on Monday,

things started getting a little irritable.

And the love of the season

was a little clouded

by the frustration

of the project.

And I started thinking about that.

Like I said, that was Monday.

By Tuesday,

after a good night’s sleep,

and some new ideas,

it was back on track.

But, I wondered,

how could this season of joy and love,

so quickly turn into irritability and frustration.

Well,

I suppose the short answer is—

--sin.

We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

But to take that a little further,

I wonder if it’s rooted in the fact

that we keep focusing on ourselves.

And the idea of giving gifts

is probably a great idea,

because it takes us outside of ourselves.

As we think about what to get others.

And we buy gifts.

And we make gifts.

And we wrap gifts.

We are thinking about someone besides ourselves.

And sometimes that’s a pretty big leap.

As someone said to me recently,

“I’m not that big a deal,

but I’m all I think about.”

That’s how we are.

Turned in on ourselves.

And I think God is trying to turn us toward one another.

And when we do,

we have reason to rejoice.

And as I was writing this,

the Christmas song playing in the other room said:

“Emmanuel—God with us.”

And I was reminded that, as we wait,

we rejoice always.

And we are rejoicing,

not because everything is perfect,

but because God is with us.

Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

I was reading

some memories from another pastor about this.

He was remembering,

at the Christian college

where he went to school,

they took praying seriously.

And they decided to pray before every meal.

Which I think is a good idea.

But then,

they started trying to figure out

when it was a meal

and when it was just a snack.

Because you prayed before a meal.

But for just a snack,

you didn’t stop to say a prayer.

And the rule they came up with was this:

If it cost more than 50 cents,

or required a fork—

--then they would pray.

Kind of misses the point doesn’t it?

When are we to pray?

Always.

We’ve talked about this recently—

--and, if we are to pray without ceasing,

it has to take a different definition of prayer.

Prayer needs to become something

that is part of everything we do,

everywhere we are,

everyone we meet.

And, even though we never achieve that connection with God,

it still shapes our lives.

While we are waiting,

God is with us.

Prayer is recognizing God’s presence.

And having God be a part of each conversation.

Each decision.

Each action.

That’s something we can work on

our whole life long.

Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in all circumstances.

The man was in the hospital.

Eyes shut.

Oxygen mask on his face.

His wife,

and son,

and daughter were all with him.

And the pastor came to visit as the end neared.

And he seemed to be struggling with the oxygen mask.

And the son helped him straighten it.

And then again.

And then the son realized,

that maybe he was trying to move the mask,

so he could say something.

And he did.

He said to his wife—

--“Hold my hand.”

And she did.

And he was content.

And then they started to sing.

They sang hymns.

Favorites.

“Great is thy Faithfulness”.

And then “Amazing Grace”.

They were on the last verse of Amazing Grace—

--when we’ve been there 10,000 years,

bright shining as the sun,

there’s no less days to sing God’s praise,

than when we’d first begun.

And during that verse,

the bedside monitor went flat

and he was gone.

And the pastor said,

as he remembered it later,

that it was an amazing experience.

When he came into the room,

there had been pain and suffering and tension.

But now,

even as the man died

as they were singing together,

there was joy,

and prayer,

and even thanksgiving.

Why?

Because in life and in death,

God is with us.

God is with you.

So, how shall we live?

Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in all circumstances.

And let me end the way the apostle Paul ends our reading today,

reminding us that,

even as we seek to do all this,

you know who is really doing it?

God—who is with us.

May the God of peace himself

sanctify you entirely;

and may your spirit and soul and body

be kept sound and blameless at the coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful,

and he will do this.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen