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The Lord Leads Us! Where? 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
The Lord Leads Us!
Where?
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ enable you to consciously walk with God, following where He leads!
Intro: He who wanders is lost
So, anyone recognize this proverb? Can you tell me if It is from proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or maybe a New Testament quote?
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
It’s actually from JRR Tolkien’s , Lord of the Rings, and though some geeks might think that classic is scripture, it is not.
I’ve heard people rely on this proverb to justify their own wandering, their own experiment with life, to find their own way.
To get lost deeper and deeper in the wilderness.
Yeah – all those who wander are lost – and they need someone to guide them out of the darkness and into the light of God’s glory!
Why would He pray this?
Paul stars chapter 3 of 2 Thessalonians with something we would probably expect – a plea for prayer for the mission of Christ. He asked, “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.”
That’s the reason we pray for our missionaries, and for our work as missionaries to Cerritos, and Artesia, to the folks at Fire Safety and USC and Brea Olinda High School, and to doctor’s offices all over Southern California.
But Paul’s request turns strangely personal, “2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.”
It is almost like he feels like he is in one of Tolkein’s stories, in the Mirkwood or one of the other nasty, haunted parts of the story.
You ever feel that way, like the evil and wicked ones on earth oppress you and haunt you? Where the brokenness of all life, the trauma, and when we are so overwhelmed we need to know we aren’t alone. When we don’t know if God is hearing our prayers, (which He is!) and we ask others to share our burden.
When we talk about the blessing of confessing our sins, most of us know and depend on God forgiving our sins, but we forget that He cleanses us of all unrighteousness.
If we forget that, it is easy to fall into despair and doubt, it easy to forget who is watching out for us, and who would guide us
It is easy to forget, that is why the writer of Hebrews tells us,
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT2)
We have to remember that who is with us, is greater than the world….
That is why Paul talks q12r45about Christ leading us…
Look where He leads us!
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
I love how the NLT phrases this! In the Greek it is simpler with some translations saying just direct your hearts to the love of God- but the preposition isn’t to, as if that is the target, it is into.
Brings to mind the old idea of you can lead a donkey to water but you can’t make him drink, or you drop the donkey right into the river!
God doesn’t want us to look at His love, to study it like a scientist, He wants us to be enveloped by it, to understand, as Paul prays for us,
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT2)
Same consistent thought in Paul – experience the love of God!
Dwell into it, dive into it, be consumed by it, revel in it.
Share it with others.
Treasure it like nothing else you know in life, for God’s love is worth all it and more.
And deeply drawn into the love of God, you will know a peace that goes beyond the dark, dim, sin dominated world, even if we can’t understand how that happens!
Hungry for more than Discipleless Christianity
Devotional Thought of the Day:
Nave of Salisbury Cathedral, with Sibirica Minor II in foreground – geograph.org.uk – 188287 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. 24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. 25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer. 26 For there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us. 27 Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgment and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God! 28 Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without any mercy when judged guilty from the evidence of two or more witnesses. 29 What, then, of those who despise the Son of God? who treat as a cheap thing the blood of God’s covenant which purified them from sin? who insult the Spirit of grace? Just think how much worse is the punishment they will deserve! Hebrews 10:23-29 (TEV)
57 As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But that man said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.” 60 Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” 61 Someone else said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.” 62 Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 (TEV)
28 “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. 30 For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (TEV)
Yesterday in Bible Study we came across the first passage above. It is a bit scary, given the predisposition of people to sin, and even to argue that sins isn’t sin, or more commonly that my sins aren’t as foul, disgusting and pathetic as the sins of those people “out there”! Indeed we love to look outside ourselves, outside our churches, outside our country even, and point out their sins, their idolatry, their evil.
Or better yet, let’s ignore the issue of sin altogether in the church, and focus instead on issues like music, or what is a proper liturgy, or what is the nature and relationship of sanctification to justification. Let’s focus on church growth, or maintaining pure doctrine; even if that means the church must diminish because of how we work to purify it. There are more than enough things to worry about, there are more than enough cute sayings we can make meme’s out of, or tweet till we turn blue. We want to be Christians, whether Lutheran or Catholic or Methodist or Baptist or Non-Denom, without being disciples – and that is why our churches are so weak.
Instead we can be His friends, we can let Him mentor us, correct us, challenge our idols, especially the idol of our reason, our logic, our ideas of what is right and wrong, what is righteous, or what is sin. We can go – okay Lord, I don’t get this, but I trust YOU!
Will we let the refiner’s fire work in our lives, will we let his abrasive fuller’s soap burn our filthy rags and transform them into glorious white robes?
Will we let Him heal us of our sin?
Will we be reconciled, redeemed, revived, renewed, recreated?
Or do we want a nice academic, thoughtful (but controlled) form of Christianity that asks nothing of us, that allows us to create a facade of righteous, with all the right actions, all the right words, all the proper things… but without a true and honest relationship with the one who hung on a tree to make that relationship possible?
I’ve said it before – following Jesus is more like Ballroom dancing that mountain climbing – will we move with Him, will we allow Him to guide us, to teach us., to bless us with His word, His sacrament, His Death and Resurrection? This isn’t about some form of false piety, it’s about walking with God, and letting Him be our loving, merciful, faithful Shepherd and the Firstborn and Friend.
A last thought – the blessing from the Book of Hebrews:
20 Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— 21 may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen! Hebrews 13:20-21 (NLT)
