English Historian Thomas Fuller writes, “We are born crying, live complaining, and die disappointed.” It is natural for children to cry. As a father, I have many conversations with my children on whether their tears are appropriate. Crying because you miss your friends is one thing, crying because you don’t get dessert after lunch is anything entirely. It is natural for children to cry. Their tears are often simply a reflection of an ungrateful heart. Their tears over not getting a new toy at Target shows their ungratefulness for all the toys they have in their rooms. As children grow they learn self-control and their tears gradually stop, but their ungratefulness remains. Ungrateful children cry a lot while ungrateful adults complain a lot. Have you ever noticed how often people complain? Have frequently people gripe and grumble about their jobs or their spouse or the play of their football team? Have you ever noticed how often you complain? If we are going to be honest, we probably complain far more often than we care to admit.
Complain is defined, “to express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event.” Interestingly one of the synonyms of complaining is accusing. To accuse is to claim that (someone) has done something wrong. A child complains with tears while an adult complains with accusations. We become accusers of others when they do not meet our standards. Sometimes the accusations are not verbalized, but are hidden in the heart like when I accused the staff Little Caesar’s because there were not any “Hot-N-Ready” pizzas and I actually had to wait 7 minutes for my order. Or when I accused the referee of playing favorites while coaching my son’s 6 year old flag football team. We want to believe that our accusations and/or complaints are justifiable, but are they really? What does our complaining reveal about our hearts?
Complaining began in the Garden of Eden when Satan slithered into the Garden and accused God of withholding something from Adam and Eve. Satan said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan accused God questioning his provision leading Eve to reach out and eat the fruit of the tree. Eve accused God in her heart, questioned his goodness and provision, and sinned against Him. Our complaining is rooted in the fall. Our accusations of others may be leading us in the path of the Satan without even knowing it. Satan’s name is Accuser. He is the accuser of the children of God. He wants to draw out ungratefulness in your hearts.
Beloved, we need to recognize how our complaining is an affront to God. Our complaining is an accusation against His loving and kind care for us. Complaining focuses on all that God has not given us while thanksgiving focuses on all that God has given us. God’s people should be full of thanksgiving. It is right to give thanks to God. Ungratefulness is the root of sinful heart. Romans 1:21, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” We do not want to become futile in our thinking or to lives as fools with darkened hearts. We want to be grateful. Gratefulness is an attitude of the kingdom of God.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Christians have been born again through the living and abiding word of God to live as kingdom citizens in honor of our King, Jesus Christ. A citizen of the kingdom of heaven is far different than the citizen of this world. Christians are called to live in the world, but not be of the world. As kingdom citizens we must live as ambassadors for the King. We represent Jesus Christ to our world. What are we reflecting? Are we showing a grateful and content heart or a complaining and accusing one?
We are going to work through 2 Thessalonians and see how the Thessalonians reflected the life that was worthy of the kingdom. Philippians 1:27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” I pray that we would live lives that are worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Paul begins with his standard greeting to the church by identifying that the Thessalonians are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1:1-2,
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The very opening of the letter is a reminder of the identity of the Thessalonians. They are no longer of the world, but they are the “called out ones” or the church of Jesus Christ. They have a new identity of kingdom citizens.
I recently heard that a pastor from another church in town stated that Christians and Non-Christians are really not that different. I could not disagree more. Christians and Non-Christians were both the same. The Bible says that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all deserve punishment for our sin. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Jesus came to take our punishment. He ransomed his life for ours. So now everyone who turns from their sin and trust in Christ is born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and we have been raised with Him by faith no longer living like those who do not know God for we have put on the new self. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. Christians and Non-Christians are very, very different. Christians do not believe they are better than Non-Christians, but simply acknowledge their sin and recognize their need for a Savior.
This is why gratefulness is a character of the kingdom. Christians know we deserve to be punished, but by God’s grace won’t be. It is not because of anything we have done, but all because what Jesus has done for us. We are grateful for God because we know where we would be without Him. Paul identifies the Thessalonians as those who have been called out from the worldly kingdom into the heavenly one. Have you responded to that call? If not, repent from your sins and trust in Christ and you will be born again into the kingdom of God.
This is Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. There are many reasons why Paul was thankful for the Thessalonian believers. Paul provides three specific reasons he should give thanks to God.
Give Thanks for Growing Faith
Paul begins by reminding the Thessalonians why it is right to give thanks for them. Some scholars believe that the Thessalonians did not believe they were worthy of the commendation they received in Paul’s first letter so Paul needed to remind them that his praise for their godly character was warranted. 1 Thess. 1:3, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly.” The Thessalonians were marked by a trust in God displayed in their actions.
Faith in Paul’s epistles usually refers to faith in a fixed set of beliefs that Christians were called to follow. In verse 3, Paul is showing how the Thessalonians are growing in greater and greater faith in Christ displayed in their actions. It is clear through the lives of these believers that they are demonstrating their faith in their works. Let’s ask two questions regarding faith. First, how is faith displayed? And secondly, how can our faith grow?
First, let’s focus on how our faith is displayed. Faith has to have an object. Biblical faith is faith in Jesus Christ. A displayed faith is how Christians demonstrate their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and live a kingdom citizens for His glory. There are a myriad of ways we can display our faith, but let me highlight a few. We display our faith by choosing to be grateful for what God has given us rather than complain about what He has not. Our words are marked by graciousness and love rather than bitterness and arguing. We use our resources, money and homes, for furthering God’s kingdom. We arrange our lives around hearing the Word of God both individually and corporately. We work hard at our jobs knowing that we are ultimately working for the Lord not for men. We honor our spouse reflecting how a husband and wife should treat one another. We discipline our children knowing that godly discipline leads to well-ordered life. We care for the weak and helpless in society showing God’s heart for the oppressed. We treat all races of people with respect knowing that everyone was created in the image of God. How are you intentionally living to display your faith in Jesus? Are the ways your faith is displayed growing?
Secondly, how can our faith grow? The best way for your faith to grow is beholding the object of your faith. The more you look to Jesus Christ the greater your faith will grow. The more you rejoice in His righteousness and marvel at his majesty, your faith will increase. We see this in Hebrews 12:1-3. After a whole chapter highlighting the faith of the saints, the Holy Spirit inspired writer says,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
We lay aside sin and weights so that we can look to Jesus. We consider all that he has done for us in his perfect life and atoning death so that we will not grow weary, but grow in faith. If you want to grow in faith look to Jesus.
Notice that Paul is not speaking to individuals, but to a body of believers. Beloved, it is our responsibility to help each other look to Jesus. How you display your faith will help others grow in their faith? As I watch people live out their trust in Jesus, I am encouraged to follow their example. I am encouraged to look to Jesus. I pray that our community will be a Jesus saturated community. I pray we will sing of Jesus, talk of Jesus and preach Jesus so that we will be a community that is abundantly growing in faith.
Give Thanks for Increasing Love
We can see the communal aspect of a displayed faith in the second reason Paul gives for thanksgiving. He writes, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” Paul highlights how the church is loving the church. This is a common theme throughout the New Testament. The world will know us by our love and specifically know us by our love for one another. Jesus says,
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)
The love we have for the body is a sign that we have faith in Jesus.
I praise God that I can echo this pray for our congregation. There is a very powerful move of God’s Spirit in our congregation in how He is growing our love for one another. I am so thankful for it. I hope you realize that the love that is growing in our church is an uncommon, supernatural love. This week I sat around a group of pastors and listened to how they spoke of their congregations’ infighting and discontentment with one another. They were speaking of their churches as if they were more conformed to this world rather than the transformed by the Spirit of God. As I sat there, I thought of how thankful I am for my church and the love you have for one another. Someone from our congregation recently visited another church and told me that the welcoming spirit and the feeling of love is vastly different at Park than other places.
Beloved, let us give thanks to God for what He is doing in our church. I pray that our love for one another continues to increase. If we want our love to grow, we have to continue to work to build community with one another. The best way to grow community is regularly eating and meeting together. Take advantage of our gatherings by being intentional in your conversations before and after service. Take time to stick around 15 -30 minutes after service to talk to one another or pray together. Consider making room in your schedule for our midweek prayer gathering or our Sunday night service. Join a community group. Invite people over for dinner. It is natural to have greater and deeper relationships with those you spend more time together. I thank God for the increasing love we have for one another and I pray it happens more and more.
Give Thanks for Enduring Hope
The faith and love of the Thessalonians was unexpected because of what the church was facing. Paul had reason to give thanks for their faith and love because it was in the face of intense persecutions. 2 Thessalonians 1:4, “Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” We read in Acts 17 the type of persecutions the church was facing,
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (Acts 17:1-9)
This is only a small picture of the persecutions they were likely facing. The church probably faced many different forms of persecutions. They were probably abandoned by their families for following Christ. They most likely faced economic shunning for their faith in Jesus. And in the face of persecutions, the church was standing steadfastly firm in their faith.
The context implies that the reason they were willing to endure their persecution was their hope in the second coming of Christ. They knew that the persecutions and afflictions they faced paled in comparison to the glories that were going to be revealed at the coming of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with glory that is to be revealed to us.” Paul does not minimize the suffering, but magnifies the hope and the glory that awaits those that remain steadfast to the end.
The early church had a lot more reasons to complain about the persecutions they were facing, but they were marked by a gratefulness even in the midst of suffering. Some of the apostles were arrested in Acts 5 and brought before the Jewish tribunal, we read how they responded,
And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (Acts 5:40-42)
They left the council after being beaten, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ. They could have left complaining. They could have accused God for the unfairness of their suffering. They could have, but God’s people are a grateful people. They went away rejoicing, thankful that God counted them worthy to suffer for his name.
The Apostle Paul had good reasons to give thanks for the Thessalonians. They had faith in Christ, love for another and hope of the coming glory. God has promised us eternal glory with pleasures forever more at his right hand. Beloved, how can we who have been given so much, eternal salvation in Christ, grumble and gripe like the rest of the world? We are in Christ. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Let us worthy of that kingdom by living with grateful and joyful hearts.
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