Ready Before He Arrives

Transcript

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[0:00] you, Victoria, and now for our sermon. Our sermon reading is from chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians. And as a reminder, this is the first Sunday of Advent, and I know Victoria has preached the first Sunday of Advent in the past years, and every year we tell you what the word Advent means, and I decided I'm getting sick of that because I want to see if anyone remembers. So who remembers what Advent means and what it means and what word it derives from in another language? Anyone? Not Pam, because you're like, got the inside track. Anyone else remember what Advent means?

[0:38] I shouldn't ask quite in such an abrupt way because I don't feel like, I'm not going to say there's no wrong answers because there definitely are wrong answers, but you know, go ahead and give it a try. You won't be mocked or anything, I promise. Anyone? Okay, I guess we do need to keep teaching. Karen, you look like you know. I think it has something to do with the anticipation of waiting, a season of waiting and anticipation, but I don't know the gospel's whole answer. You're close. Anyone else? Yes, Joel. Yes, kind of. Yes, yes. Similar answer. Anyone else? This is good. We got some, I saw another hand go up somewhere. No? Okay, so I guess we do need to do this. Advent is, from the Latin word, advenir, which means to come or to arrive. And so Advent is a time of preparation for, and anticipation for, the coming or the arrival of Jesus. The problem with the word Advent is it's a Latin word. It's kind of come into our language as Advent. And instead, I think we need to start using the word parousia, which is the Greek word that means more or less the same thing. So we could say, this is the first Sunday of parousia, the coming, the advent of Jesus. And that's a word that you're going to find in our text at the very end of our reading. In fact, it's right down here.

[2:00] Oh my goodness, I keep doing that wrong. It's right down here at the bottom where it says, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That word coming there in the Greek text is parousia, and we'll talk about what that means in just a little bit. I want to talk about this text real quick. Just sort of the background on 1 Thessalonians. It's considered to be Paul's first letter. So it's a very special letter. It's not first in the New Testament among the Pauline letters. So that's a little confusing. Those are not chronologically arranged at all. They're arranged by a different system. But it was his very first letter.

[2:33] And he writes his pastoral, sort of his fatherly care and concern for the people of the city of Thessalonica. Thessalonica, the town. His care for them really comes through in this letter. Now I have a friend who told me, just before I read this letter, just before his daughter went off to college, he said, there's so many things that I feel like I need to tell her before she goes out into this big world. And I want to make sure I have time to tell her all these things. And so I said, yeah, well then make time, you know, to try to find a way to do that. And he says, I will, I will. But in his mind, there was this long list of things that he needed to tell her before she went off.

[3:17] And we read that Paul is happy that the people of Thessalonica, who have heard the gospel in just a small amount of detail, are doing so well, considering how little they know. But for Paul, there was not enough time for him to tell them everything he wanted to know when he was with them. And so he's writing them this letter. And so it's kind of the same thing. There's all these things I didn't get to tell you, and now I'm going to tell them to you. So one thing he says is, I'm going to send you Timothy. Timothy is going to come, probably with this letter. Timothy is going to come and he's going to teach you. But I'm also sending this letter. And this letter is going to tell you the things that I really want you to know. And one of the areas where they were lacking, and maybe one of the areas where they were asking questions is, what happens at the end? What happens at the end of time? What's going to happen when this sort of age is over? And Paul says to himself, I've got to fill them in on that because that's important. So Paul is going to introduce to them this, what we know is a very well-known teaching in chapter 4, which is a chapter after this. That Christ will come with a trumpet sound and bring those who have died in Christ with him.

[4:29] And he'll come in the air like the Son of Man. And so that's the parousia. Paul is saying the coming, he mentions it here at the end in chapter 3, but he describes it in chapter 4. Christ will come. The dead who have died will come with him. And so there's this reunion of us with those people who have gone before.

[4:51] And he tells them all this so that not only will they come, not only will they be prepared for when the parousia comes, but that they will be found blameless. And that's an important aspect of this all. And Pastor Victoria always hits a home run with her children's sermons. She's like always anticipating what I'm going to say, even though I only give her a tiny bit of the details. She kind of nails it. So yes, he wants them to be found blameless when the Son of Man arrives. So let's go to our reading. It's 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, starting in verse 9.

[5:21] Paul says, How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. All the things you don't know yet. 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 him. And may he be with you for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Let's pray.

[6:12] Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, this word of hope, this word of anticipation and preparation. Thank you for this word. We ask that you would add your blessing to it. In Jesus' name, Amen. So let's look a little bit more at this word parousia. If you want to write it down, you're taking notes, it's spelled like this. P-A-R-O-U-S-I-A. P-A-R-O-U-S-I-A. Parousia.

[6:36] And I think we can have you take the text away there, Caleb. Now I might ask for it again. I don't know. We'll see. So that word parousia has a deep meaning outside of the Bible. It has a deep meaning in other Greek literature. So this is where we often go when we're trying to understand what the Bible says is, how else is this word used in other places where Greek things are written? So these would be other Greek letters, histories, all sorts of documents that the Greeks have saved and written all over throughout the year. So the word means to arrive or somebody coming, and it could be as mundane as somebody just showing up. You're going to... Tomorrow at 5, we're going to have coffee. And you're going to parousia then. You're going to just show up then. It's kind of simple like that. But it was also used to describe an important event, which is really interesting. Like the arrival of someone important, like a ruler or a military leader coming to your town. This was the big event, the arrival, the coming of the person. And this arrival would cost people something. That's the side of it that's interesting. It would cost people something for someone important to come to your town. And so they would spend time.

[7:50] And treasure making their town nice so that when this VIP came, it didn't look bad. Now, I saw a documentary once on the Queen of England. And she travels with not so much any importance. She used to travel all around the world. And it said that everywhere the Queen of England goes, all she can smell is new paint.

[8:11] Because the people are... They're like, let's paint the town. Let's paint the room that she's going to be in. And she's like, ooh, you know, get the better paint. Or do it like, you know I'm coming, just do it three months in advance or something. But that's always last minute. So all she can smell is new paint all around the world. People want it to sparkle for the Queen to come. And there was one town that hosted her. And the town almost went bankrupt. Like they way exceeded the budget in the town budget. Trying to spiff up the town before she came. And she was only there for a couple hours. You know, so kind of you get the idea. Like the arrival, the parousia of the Queen of England cost these towns something. You know, and they do it.

[8:51] So here are some of the things that a Greek town was expected to do when an important person came. The parousia. They would give flattering addresses. They would say nice things about the visitor. They would serve the visitor delegacies. Like I don't know what the delegacies were, but whatever was good food then, you know. They would make sure there were donkeys to ride on for the important person. Does that make you think of anything? Interesting, isn't it? Right? And also donkeys to carry the luggage of this important person. Right? There would be the improvement of streets. We're familiar with that. Golden wreaths would be laid about or given to this person. So actually give this person visiting money. Which is like they're already important and rich. And they visit a town and they get more money. Or just plain old giving them money. And then I found this and I think it's interesting. They would feed the people. They would feed the sacred crocodiles when this important person came to visit. And so I guess some towns probably the Greek culture had spread to Egypt. You know, if an important person came to a Greek town in Egypt, they would get the sacred crocodiles out and feed them. And this was kind of a special thing because crocodiles don't actually eat that often.

[10:06] They're cold blooded and they don't need to maintain such a strong metabolism like us. So that was a special moment. Oh, when the, do you want to feed the crocodile? No, no, no, no. Let's wait till an important person comes. Let's really make it count. Okay. So Paul uses this word, this parousia. And the meaning for us, we can map a little bit onto its meaning for the Greeks. But our real understanding as followers of Jesus is the parousia is much more a spiritual event than it is a civic event or a financial event. Right? Because Jesus doesn't need our money. We don't need to feed the crocodiles. You know, you don't need to do that. Jesus doesn't need flattery. I think that's the great thing about Jesus. He doesn't need anyone to say nice things. He doesn't need it. But he does expect sincere praise and gratitude for what we've done. He wants us to live in the reality that he has done something for us. He does want to see an improvement, but not to the streets, but to our hearts. Right? There is this sense where you spiff up kind of for the coming of Jesus. And he wants to find us blameless. That's the thing. And I want to let us sink in that Jesus wants to find us blameless and holy when he arrives. And how do we get there?

[11:25] So I think that, and this is a little counter cultural, Advent should maybe function more for us like Lent does. And a lot less like Christmas. If I had my way, we could pull Advent and Christmas apart. Because Christmas is everywhere all around us. I mean, what can I say? Like we are beholden to all our traditions. And so we've put the pagan Christmas tree up in the church. You know, I'm sorry. We just do it. We understand that we're not worshiping the tree. Okay? But Advent and Christmas are really kind of different things. And they get kind of intermeshed a little bit too much. And so there is an idea that you wouldn't even sing Christmas carols until Christmas Eve. You don't sing them in Lent. But some of the Christmas carols have to do with the coming of Jesus. And so they kind of make sense. So I don't know an easy way to pull that off. I don't know how to pull those apart except to ask you to do it in your own hearts. So Christmas is a time when we get really busy. We buy a lot of gifts. We kind of think about all the things that we have to do. All the entertaining or traveling and things like that. But actually, Advent is a time for introspection much like Lent should be. Advent is a time for us to say,

[12:29] How do I prepare myself for the coming of the Son of Man? How will he find me blameless? Right? Are we awake? Are we ready? Are we prepared? These are words that we'll see in some of our texts coming. Some of the texts for Advent is the story of the maidens and their lamps. Will the Son of Man find anyone awake when he comes? Will they be prepared? Will they have their wicks trimmed? Will their oil be full? Right? And Christmas makes it harder. But here we are. So the teaching for us in this season, and I want us all to make time for it. So I'm going to ask you to maybe make time this week and next week and say, Christmas, put that aside. Advent is here. How do I prepare for Jesus?

[13:16] And so the teaching is that we must always be ready for Jesus. And now is a good time to be thinking about that. He has come in the past at the beginning of time. He came in flesh in Bethlehem. He lived this life of obedience to the Father. He entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Interesting. That was one parousia. And he went to the cross and he rose again and he ascended to heaven. And now we wait for the parousia yet again. We're waiting for the return of Jesus.

[13:48] And so there's some good news about the parousia to come. For one thing, we don't know the day. I mean, this sounds like bad news, but it's really good news. We don't know when this will happen. Jesus says it over and over again. And for me, that's just permission to stop trying to figure it out. And don't spend any time or energy on that. It's just going to come when it comes. And you don't need to figure it out. You just have to be ready every day, right? And we just stay prepared. For another, it says he will come with the saints in the clouds. And there will be a joyful reunion that day. And I'm going to see my parents again. If I'm not dead then, if I'm dead then I'll see them then. But if I'm alive, I'll get to meet them that day. So this is a day of great anticipation and great hope and great joy. And you will see the saints in your life.

[14:36] The other thing, and this is the good news, is that when Jesus comes, he will come in justice. Not injustice, but in justice. I just realized that sounded funny. He will come to bring justice. He's going to set things right, but he's also going to sit as a judge over all the world. And Paul's telling the Thessalonians, you need to be ready that day. You need to be blameless on that day. That's the preparation. That's the part in their teaching that was lacking. That's why Timothy was being sent to them. That's why this letter was being sent to them. You don't know what's coming. So I'm going to tell you next. In chapter 4 he says, the Lord will come. This is what's lacking in your faith and a few other things.

[15:20] So from this passage, at least in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, we understand that one way of being prepared is not just what we do, because that is important. But it's important to live. It is important. And here's all the ways that what we do is important. We have to live with compassion. We have to live with forgiveness. We have to live with justice. And practice justice. We have to live sober lives with love, joy, gentleness, peacefulness, self-control, all the fruits of the Spirit in hand. But now this is the interesting thing. For this letter, Paul is saying, and just in this case, but I think it's true for us. In this letter, the important preparation is also what you know. Not just what you do. It's what you know. So what do you know, right? And this is a theme actually that there's a lot of. There's not time to explore it all today, but I want us to explore it well beyond Advent. In the coming year, 2022, I really want us to emphasize our discipleship. What do we really know about the gospel? What do we really know about the Scripture? And I'm glad that we have a church that is very literate in the Scriptures. Praise God for that. But I think there's room for more.

[16:34] So I want us to figure out what we know and don't know as a church. And as Paul says, fill in the gaps. Where something may be missing for us. For the Thessalonians, it was what does the end look like? For Foothill, it may be something else. And we'll discern what that is together. But I think discipleship needs to go to the next level. I really do. And I'll tell you why.

[16:58] Partly, only partly for this reason. There's a lot of division in the larger church in America. And the way some evangelicals are making, and I'm going to say this, they're making fools of themselves. Just look at the news. And it's because they don't know. They don't know the Gospel. They don't know the Scriptures. They're letting the world define them. Not Jesus. It's a huge mistake. And it's a monumental failure of discipleship provided by their pastors. I'm not blaming the people. I am blaming their pastors. Their pastors are worried about people and enough money coming in. And they're not, they don't want to say some things. They don't want to call people to account for unscriptural views that they have. But that's what a pastor has to do. The pastor is the teacher and the shepherd. And the pastors are now, they've sown to the wind and they are reaping the whirlwind. And churches are splitting up over all sorts of things. It's a monumental failure. Pastors need to teach. But the other part is that even though how much you know won't save you, how much you know won't save you, only who you know will save you, we're still called everywhere in Scripture to be disciples. And that word means students. We're never too old to keep learning, to be lifelong learners.

[18:14] And I say this often, every time, every time, every time I prepare a sermon, I learn something new. I mean, for one was I didn't know about those crocodiles, which I think is adorable. But that's the minorest thing, that's the minorest, that's the smallest new thing I learned this week. The Scripture is so full.

[18:34] It's so rich. It's so powerful in our lives. That we need to be students of it. We need to be students of it all the time. So this is what we need. I'm always in awe of the majesty of God. I'm always learning something new in Scripture. Praise God. So we need to be informed by Scripture. And we need to be a community that is pursuing blameless preparation of the parousia. That's what we need to be. And by both of those things, how to act in this world so that we can trend, not just from not bringing shame to the church and her Savior, but bringing honor to Jesus. I want the church as a reflection of our discipleship then to make Jesus this very attractive, wonderful person, as opposed to what he looks like to the world right now, which is not great. So that people will say, wow, those people are different. What is it that they believe? And that's our preparation. Let's find ourselves blameless at the coming. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for your word.

[19:36] We pray in the year to come that we grow to be blameless. We pray that we grow deeper in discipleship of you. Fill in the places where we are lacking. Teach us what we need to know so that we can act in this world in a way that brings you and your son honor. And that you can find us blameless for the coming of Jesus. And we ask it in his name.