“A Pastor’s Advent Prayer” I
Thessalonians 3:9-13
Intro.: There are some aspects of a pastor’s heart
and life that you may never fully understand.
His love for the little flock the Lord has placed under his care brings
him both intense sorrow and exceeding joy.
In our epistle
Like Paul and the congregation at
Thessalonica, we have grown together and suffered together over the years. And it
is from this pastoral heart that I share with you
First of all, a Pastor’s Advent prayer must
begin as..
I. A Prayer of Thanksgiving.
Paul’s
first reaction and response to Timothy’s report regarding the congregation at Thessolonica was thankfulness. He says, “How
can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the
presence of our God because of you?” (v.9) Paul was thankful that the Thessalonians had
responded so well to the message of the Gospel. They could have easily given up
their faith under persecution or accused Paul of being uncaring for not returning
to them in the midst of their trials. Instead, they stood firm in their faith
and even grew closer to Paul through the trials they were facing. They turned
to the Lord and grew stronger in their love instead of fading off. That’s what
made Paul so thankful, their response of love and faith in the face of adversity.
Every relationship in this world
will go through times like these. When a wife goes through a health problem and
the husband has to take extra time to nurse her back to health, he has a
choice. He can either withdraw and get angry at his wife
for being so dependant on him, or he can put his love into action and dedicate
more time to her. Too often people make the wrong choice, but you can’t imagine
how much it strengthens a relationship when one steps up to support the other
in their time of need.
The ultimate example of this love in action
is found in Christ. He saw that we were helplessly drowning in our sin and needed
help. He could have ignored our situation, observing that we were only getting
what we deserved - God’s wrath for our rebellion. But instead, he entered into
our wicked world and hunkered down with us.
He came to us through a filthy sinner’s womb to the stench of a lowly
manger. He lived among us in this disgusting world and through off all its
temptations. He allowed us, and the whole world, to pile our sins upon him and
hang him on a cross to die. And that is
where he, himself, restored our relationship with God. He supported us, took the burden of our shame
and guilt, and healed us by his wounds.
This is the love in which the Thessalonians put their trust and by God’s
grace now lived toward others.
Paul’s prayer reflected a thankfulness for the Thessalonians, but notice who he was
thankful to - not the Thessalonians; he was thankful to God. He realized that the
faith and love these people demonstrated was not from them, nor the result of his
leadership or personality; only God’s power could produce such results.
It’s so easy for us to pick out each
other’s faults and complain about all of our weaknesses – after all we have so
many. We act shocked when sinners act sinful, when they say or do things they
shouldn’t. Why are we so surprised? Instead, why not say a prayer of thanks that
God has given us so many faithful Christians - that in spite of our sinful
natures - God has brought us here together today to receive forgiveness and to join
together in worship and thanksgiving? Why not thank God that even one fellow
Christian calls us or helps us in our time of trial? All of us are here by a
miracle of God - and all of us remain here by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Instead of being angry with people for not recognizing our works of faith, why
not thank God that we can perform them at all? That’s the overall attitude that
Paul had throughout this letter - thankfulness that God had worked such
faithfulness and love in his congregation. Likewise, dear brothers and sisters, How can I thank God enough for you, for the joy I have in
God’s presence because of you! Every day
I see the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel in you
making you stronger in your faith and filling you with the love of Christ for
one another.
From thankfulness Paul moves on to offer…
II. A Prayer For
He tells them: “Night and day we pray most earnestly that
we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God
and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and
overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” (vv.10-12) Notice what Paul said
about the Thessalonians - their faith was still lacking. Their love for each
other still had room for improvement. So Paul prayed for three things. 1. That
he could see them again and supply what was lacking in their faith. 2. That God would clear the way to come to
them. 3. That the Lord would make their
love increase and overflow for each other.
Paul recognized what was still lacking in
the people and knew that the Lord had given him the responsibility and the
resources to supply what they needed. By
God’s gracious gift and calling he had been entrusted with the Gospel which is
the power of God unto salvation and the Word of truth that sanctifies and make
us holy. For this reason Paul, like
every pastor, longed for and prayed for the opportunity to supply what was
lacking in their faith by preaching and teaching the saving faith into their
hearts.
Paul’s prayer also demonstrates that he is
not so arrogant as to think that this is something he can do on his own, only
the Lord could clear the way for him. No
pastor, not even Paul, can lean upon his own strengths to open the door to
people’s hearts. Paul had experienced
this himself, trying again and again to get to the Corinthians, but always
being prevented by Satan from doing so.
Only God can open the way, sometimes through tragedy, sometimes through
triumph, and sometimes through the simple witness and invitation of one of you
whose love overflowed for another person so that the way was opened for the
Gospel to come to them.
And
then once God clears the way, and opens the door to all our hearts for God’s
love in Christ to be poured into us through the Gospel, watch out because that
is when His love will begin to overflow from us for one another and even to
everyone else. Such was Paul’s prayer
for his congregation, and such is my prayer for you that I may supply what is
lacking as the Lord opens the way and that your love in Christ will be a
fountain of life to one another and to others.
Which brings us to the last part of Paul’s prayer and
your Pastor’s Advent prayer for you.
It is…
III. A Prayer For
The Lord’s Work.
I wonder if some of
Paul didn’t want the Thessalonians
just to be new and improved, or good enough to get by,
he wanted them to such strong hearts that they would ultimately be found HOLY
and BLA
But think about the brokenhearted in the
sphere of temporal love. When a person
has had their heart crushed, and are recovering from a broken relationship,
that is when they most need to be loved.
In “rebound” mode they are at their weakest, and want to know that they
are still loveable and can be loved. So it
is when our hearts are crushed by the conviction of God’s law, and we realize
that our sin has broken our relationship with God. That is when we most need to be loved. When we approach God with a broken heart - a
fleshly heart - one that is contrite and sorrowful, God is then able to make it
strong. He shows us the manger and says, “this is how
much I love you - enough to become one of you and live your life for you!” He
shows us the cross and says, “this is how much I love
you! Enough to send my only Son to die for you!” He
shows us the empty grave and says, “this is how much I
love you! Enough to allow myself to be buried - to raise
from the dead and leave your sins sealed in that grave.” It’s this love that
strengthens our hearts.
This is what Paul wanted for the members
of his congregation and this is what your pastor wants for you - people whose
hearts have been crushed and made whole again, stronger than ever – people who
do not live without love motivated by fear, but with the full assurance of
God’s love and the conviction that they are holy and blameless in God’s sight
through Christ. People who are ready for
Christ to come again with all his holy ones so that they can stand in the
presence of their God and Father with full confidence that their names are
written in the Lambs book of Life, that they are invited to the Heavenly Feast,
and that they will live forevermore in God’s glorious presence.
Concl.: That my
beloved congregation is your pastors Advent prayer for you. Amen.