Advent Three: Paul’s List
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
5:16 Rejoice always,
5:17 pray without ceasing,
5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.
5:20 Do not despise the words of prophets,
5:21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good;
5:22 abstain from every form of evil.
5:23 May the God of peace sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5:24 The one who calls you is faithful, and will do this.
I live with an almost compulsive list-maker. She’s a “One” in the world of enneagram science; an “ISTJ” for you Myers-Briggs people. And I am not. I have tried to make lists of important things I should be getting done, and then promptly lose them, probably because I turn them over to write down other important things, like what sounds good for lunch, or a phone number some robot is repeating in my ear while on hold. Lists make me crazy.
I am thankful for my wife’s lists, though, as they usually are quite inclusive of things BOTH of us need to pay heed to, especially when getting ready to travel. I’d be a wealthy man if I had a nickel for every time we were getting unpacked in a hotel room, and I—lamenting something I was sure I left behind because I don’t “do” lists—was suddenly relieved as she produced whatever it was from HER bag, because she DOES “do” lists. If she were honest in naming her lists, they might be called, “Hey idiot, here it is” lists. Honestly, I have learned myriad “organizational” skills from 46-plus years with this incredible woman, much of which has “stuck,” but the list-making thing just won’t take root, and I am the lesser for it.
History is full of important lists: Schindler’s List (which saved hundreds of Jews); the Ten Commandments; the Beatitudes; the Bill of Rights; Santa’s list; the Apollo Program mission lists; the Hollywood Blacklist; and of late, the infamous “bucket list” we all claim to make of things we want to do before we “kick the bucket.” Paul was clearly a notorious list-maker, as were his various amanuenses. The Letter to the Romans is kind of a collection of lists, including the “Marks of a Christian” in Romans 12:
· Let love be genuine
· Hate what is evil
· Hold fast to what is good
· Love one another
· Outdo one another in showing honor
· Do not lag in zeal
· Be ardent in spirit
· Serve the Lord
· Rejoice in hope
· Be patient in affliction
· Persevere in prayer
· Contribute to the needs of the saints
· Pursue hospitality to strangers
· Bless those who persecute you
· Rejoice with those who rejoice
· Weep with those who weep
· Live in harmony
· Do not be arrogant
· Associate with the lowly
· Do not claim to be wiser than you are
· Do not repay evil for evil
· Live peaceably with all
· Never avenge yourselves
· If your enemies are hungry, feed them
· Do not be overcome by evil
· Overcome evil with good
Some list, huh? I’ll bet Paul went through a lot of ink. Those of us who struggle with the whole “list-making” thing find lists like this one in Romans 12 quite daunting. There’s a tendency to see it as a wall over which we will never successfully climb, and then throw in the towel. Of course, thankfully, we don’t, but how we DO respond to such prodigious lists is a varied as are our personalities and subsequent “coping skills.” Ben Franklin simply picked ONE of these virtues and worked on it for a time, then moved on. (Some said that when he was working on that one, he felt “free” to eschew the others.) People like me “regroup” the longer list, edit out the items we KNOW we aren’t ready to tackle, and deal with the redacted result. I also did my best to “honest” as a preacher with a text like Romans 12, freely sharing my edited version of Paul’s “marks” with my congregation. I would encourage them to get the central gist of Paul’s words (live in harmony; love on another; overcome evil with good; serve the Lord), and then “personalize” the other items as a kind of “list of goals” for the current phase of their faith journey. My hope was that they wouldn’t be bowled over by the author’s “list overkill,” but could extract enough practical theology from it to move safely into the next week without feeling they were a spiritual garden slug.
I know my approach would not have sat well with the few serious “listers” in the congregation, like my lovely spouse. They do NOT respond well when others mess with their organizing!
[A story…back when I was a “probationer,” (the term we used to use for “beginning” pastors; we now call them “provisionals,” a little less demeaning), we were on a required retreat focused on “organization, planning, and time-management.” The lead facilitator for the retreat was a very successful pastor of a large church who was known for his skills in the organizational genre. After a full day of sessions wherein this master shared his considerable cache of skills, techniques, and systems he had evolved to manage his considerable ministry, we adjourned for a discussion-rich dinner. My fellow probationers were, shall we say, rendered a bit anxious by the day’s presentation. Dinner questions could be balanced on the fulcrum of a single inquiry: “Is he saying ‘Here is a smorgasbord of ideas, and you can pick and choose what might work for you,’ or is he suggesting that to be successful in ministry, we should do ALL of the things he has shared with us?” Since I had a little more of a personal history with the presenter, I suggested that the former was more likely the case. Of course, when we reconvened for a final, evening session after dinner, one of the most anxiety-ridden of the group had to ask the fulcrum question. Rev. Organization pondered the paradoxical question of “suggestions” vs. “requirements,” and after an even more anxiety-provoking pause, answered, “I guess I’m saying you should do ALL of them.” Again, knowing the presenter more than most of my colleagues, I deduced that he just didn’t want to let up on the pressure to incorporate myriad organizational and time management skills into our ministry, as reflected in his “exclusive” answer. Of course, most of my peers didn’t hear it that way, and rather swooned into one, giant, group eyeroll.]
Let’s get back to Dr. List Maker, the Apostle Paul. Thankfully, his list in today’s lectionary reading from I Thessalonians is a bit shorter than that of Romans 12, possibly because many scholars believe it to be his earliest letter, and he wasn’t yet fully up to speed. I’ve always been swayed by this list, seeing it as a brief primer on what it means to live the Christian life, even in the midst of unexpected and sudden challenges that may come our way.
“Rejoice always” echoes what we read in Philippians 4. Rejoicing is both a state of mind and an activity. When I’m “rejoicing,” I have made a conscious choice to find the blessings in the blustering storm, and to start with a smile, followed by a “Praise the Lord, anyway.” This latter expression emanates from my earliest foray into the “Charismatic revival” going on in my teenage “Jesus People” days. A small book by the title, “Praise the Lord, Anyway” was circulating around the Christian community in my hometown, and its Charismatic author, Frances Hunter, told her story of praising God in the midst of mostly small, emotional downturns. Her thesis was that this simple act “lifted one up” to a place of at least temporary joy, if not a longer lasting state of contentment. One can see the psychology behind this philosophy, and it certainly can have a soothing effect. I’m sure Paul’s “Rejoice always” went much deeper than Frances Hunter’s “Irma Bombeck” version, as Paul’s was born out of imprisonments and stonings, not just that your bread dough went flat, but the principle is still the same. Both authors’ ideas have their roots in the same ground, though—FAITH that God will meet us wherever we are and begin to restore us, when we move more quickly from “Woe is me” to “God is WITH me.”
“Pray without ceasing” seems as incomprehensible as Rev. Organization’s “I guess I believe you should do ALL of it.” Who can literally pray without ceasing? Unless, of course, one alters one’s belief of what constitutes prayer. Between Paul’s singing in prison cells, praying in “tongues,” as he said he did regularly, and what his writings might summarize as a “state of mind” of being in the presence of God at all times, we begin to see he has a quite comprehensive view of prayer. To limit prayer to some finite “model” or a mindful narrative that includes certain mandatory parts (such as always ending with an “amen,” or even an “in the name of Jesus”). In seminary circles, we might label such “forms” of prayer as liturgical. If one accepts that prayer CAN be just a phrase, such as what the early mystics called a “breath prayer,” a single thought in God’s direction, or even a cry for help in the midst of crisis, the idea of “praying without ceasing” moves onto the table of possibility. I remember hearing the Christian testimony of a woman who said that, as a young girl, she was pulling a bucket of water up from the well on the family farm when the pulley let loose and the rope yanked her down into the well, as it fell. In a split second, as she was falling down the well, she shouted, “God SAVE me!” Cushioned by the water at the bottom of the well and kept afloat by air trapped in her fluffy dress, she was soon rescued by her father, with only a few scrapes and bruises to show for her ordeal. However, her testimony was that God DID “save” her in that moment, and not just from physical harm. Her faith walk with Jesus Christ “began” in that very moment, and her life took a godward course. Might “prayer” be about anything we believe it to be, as long as it is “aimed” in God’s direction? And, if so, might we ALL be quite capable of following Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing”?
“Give thanks in all circumstances” straddles the first two items on Paul’s list, doesn’t it? And it sounds a lot like Frances Hunter’s “Praise the Lord, Anyway.” Paul models this for us many times, including the time he and Silas were shackled in a Philippian jail, and they responded by singing hymns of praise to God. Most of us know this story ends by an earthquake that crumbles the walls of the jail, and the salvation of the Philippian jailer. Was this the result of Paul and Silas’s impromptu hymn sing? I once heard a preacher who suggested that God was so “blessed” by their song that God “sent a little rhythm” (the earthquake) to accompany it! Again, the idea of turning one’s thoughts “up” in “down” circumstances is often good psychology. Obviously, depending on what one is dealing with—grief, for example, after the death of a loved one—the “recovery” time may be prolonged, necessarily so, for the “turn” to happen and the fullness of the healing to take root. For most of us, though, the “all” in “all circumstances” is typically less traumatic, and the sooner we invoke our gratitude—especially toward God—the faster we will rebound. Paul describes this act as being “God’s will in Christ Jesus” for us. Why? Possibly because in “all circumstances,” Jesus, himself, forgave, thanked God, offered grace in the face of criticism and condemnation, and profoundly, resurrection in the face of death. Jesus embodied “giving thanks in all circumstances.” As one who has tried to make this element of Paul’s list here in Thessalonians part of my personal spiritual disciplines, I can say it IS transformational. As the old TV ad said, “TRY it, you’ll LIKE it!”
“Do not quench the Spirit” is Paul’s way of saying, “Don’t throw water on a perfectly good fire.” In Paul’s day the Holy Spirit was truly “ablaze” as she stoked the “fires” of growth in the early church and empowered its prophets, preachers, and leaders to focus and direct its affairs. What has become “organizational” skills in our day was a much more spontaneous outpouring of “promptings” and “sparks” by the work of the Holy Spirit, in Paul’s. Even then, however, there were those who were seeking to “control” or maybe even manipulate what was going on in the Body of Christ, things that may have fallen under Paul’s “quenching the Spirit” warnings. I certainly believe God’s Spirit is still “doing her thing” in our time and in our midst, often working quite comfortably within the structures, committees, and educational expertise we have raised up to foster consistency, efficiency, and fairness in the faith community, as well as to help us be good stewards of God’s provision and gifts. But is the Spirit always confined to our systems? Of course not, and when the Spirit is doing a NEW thing in our midst, we would do well to hear Paul’s warning and heed it. Now, the reality is that “conservatives” conserve, and “progressives” progress—we get that. But ultimately, we must come to accept that the Holy Spirit will be the one sometimes putting on the brakes, and at others, hitting the accelerator to move us into new realities, because there is NO PLACE where God will NOT be, or will NOT break in—this is both the promise and example of Jesus Christ, himself. Neither “faction” has exclusive claim on the “truth,” as the Holy Spirit sees it. NOT “quenching the Spirit” is a hard thing to accomplish, and requires both the “giving thanks in all circumstances” and “praying without ceasing” to carry out! We’ve all heard—and affirmed—that the most effective form of ministry is “noticing where God is working and then joining God there,” but this is NOT an easy thing to deduce. A primary role of the Holy Spirit is to be our “GPS” to help us find our way!
“Do not despise the words of the prophets” is a wordy way to say, pay heed to the scriptures. In our day, of course, this may include the New Testament. In Paul’s day, the warnings of the prophets were important to the Jewish experience, especially when they were wise to “learn from history.” Throughout the history of Israel, the prophets were sent by God to warn the people of what was to transpire as a result of their self-centeredness or their general disobedience to the law it so often led to. Once what they “sowed” started to be “reaped,” as the prophets said it would, they turned again in God’s direction (repented). Again, the prophets foretold the prosperity that may result from their rejuvenated faith, but with the caveat that they should offer their gratitude to God and stay faithful to God as part of their thanksgiving. These are the kind of things Paul was thinking of when he told the early church to “not despise” the words of the prophets, as these warnings and this guidance would likewise apply to them, as “grafted in” members of the house of Israel. As Christians in the Wesleyan tradition, we know that scripture was primary for Mr. Wesley, as it should be for us. “No despising” the prophetic words of the Word of God means taking the scriptures “too seriously” to take them literally, using our best scholarship and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to rightly interpret them for our age. The truth we find there will “set us free,” as Jesus told us. If our interpretation binds and imprisons us—or others—we may be guilty of “despising” it, rather than heeding it. All Christians should respect that God’s Word is a LIVING Word, not just words on a page of ancient writ. Paul follows up this text with his recommendation to “test everything…holding fast to what is good.” Again, taking the prophetic word of God’s Word seriously means examining it carefully, even as we “test” our means of interpreting and understanding it. If we follow the tradition of the Rabbis of old, we will thoroughly digest the scriptures, use our best learned gifts, discuss them fervently in the community of faith, and to quote one of our bishops, “…take them out to see what they will do.”
The last thing on Paul’s “do” or “don’t” list is “abstain from all forms of evil.” You how, when you are making an agenda (or a list?), you finish up with a kind of “any other business” catch-all at the end? “Abstain from all forms of evil” is the religious form of this. Paul has already given us a fairly tall order of things to incorporate in living the Christian life, but just in case, “abstain from all forms of evil.” Doesn’t sound like religious rocket science, does it? Engaging in ANY form of evil is generally not a healthy thing for people who are wanting to glorify God and walk the walk of a disciple, or Christ follower. I suppose we could ruminate a bit on the “all forms” part of this injunction, as there may be some debate about what kinds of things should make the “evil” list, and what may not. Obviously, all kinds of juicy theological debates can be (and are) had about the “sin” list, which is just a hop and a skip from the “forms of evil” list. Elements from the sins and evil forms lists may both fall under the “convictions” aegis. There are things that the Holy Spirit may “convict” you as being wrong for YOU, but that may be OK for me, such as the conflict over “eating meat sacrificed to idols” in the early church. It was actually Paul himself who qualifies this as neither a “sin” nor an “evil form,” but a matter of personal conviction, unless of course it could cause someone to stumble.
So, there you have it—Paul’s list. As one of the lection passages on this third week of Advent—when we are lighting the Candle of Joy—we might ask ourselves how this somewhat pharisaical discussion of a list of “dos” and “don’ts” could amount to something JOYFUL? Fact is, list-makers like the Apostle Paul truly believed that a definitive list of how to “behave” as a follower of Jesus Christ SHOULD lead to more joy. I get that. We SHOULD find joy in “knowing” we are blessing God and others with the way we are living our life in Christ. Follow the list, live in a state of Joy. Only if it were that easy. Lots of things may be factors governing how “joyfully” we are experiencing life. Still, Paul is trying to do his part to keep us on track, at least as far as our “faithing” is concerned. May your walk with Jesus bring great JOY to you this Advent season! Amen.
