A Life Pleasing to God: Hope That Lifts

Ministry Associate Calvin Chu preaches from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Discussion points: Grief exposes the gaps in our hope and faith, our relationships should be centered on not wanting others to miss out on God’s goodness.

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  Scripture reader: [1 Thessalonians 4:13-18] But we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

  This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

  Preacher: Good morning. Seeing you all this morning. It's like you could tell when things starting to change and it's warm out like New England becomes a little bit friendlier. I'm from here. I can, I can say things like that. There's this particular silence that follows bad news. I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about. Like when you receive a call or someone texts you and they say a thing that requires what feels like all time and space to pause so you can process it. In that first moment following is a silence that is so loud because it's telling you that there's a fundamental shift in your reality. We're going to have to let you go. I want to end this relationship. And most aligned with our passage this morning: I'm sorry. They didn't make it.

  That deafening silence is the first moment of grief. And when grief comes, and it will come for you. Something happens within us. All of a sudden what's most important, what's most pressing comes to light. Because friends, grief has this revelatory nature to it, right? It exposes parts about ourselves that we did not know existed. And it cuts through the facades and reveals what we value, what we fear, what we trust in. And through that grief, we experienced the the revelation of who we are and what who we are, our life has been truly based on and drawn towards. And we'll see in this morning's passage that it's true for the Thessalonian Church that Paul was writing to, and I hope and pray that the spirit shows us this morning that this is true for us too and hopefully we'll also see some hope to navigate such grief. With that being said, let's pray for our hearts to hear God's word this morning one more time. Let's pray.

  Father God, with a room full of this many people, people perhaps watching online, maybe because they're on the road or stuff is happening, or maybe people in the future who may discover this on YouTube years and years down the road, God, I can only imagine. That there are people here who are experiencing grief. Or they will soon experience grief, or they've experienced grief and they thought it was over and and God that it that reminder comes back. Grief is hard, God, and, and God, you know us so well that you give us this passage that we can understand a little bit better losses. And so God I pray that as we look at your word this morning that what we hear, what we see through your word would plant seeds of hope and encouragement into our minds and in our hearts so that if and when those moments come we are ready to turn to you. So God, we thank you that you hear our prayers and pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

  So we are continuing our series through Paul's letter to the Thessalonian Church. he's basically for the past few weeks especially, we've been going through very particular situations that Paul has found out about, and I'm not gonna rehash the whole thing. Go to our YouTube page, go watch our, the other sermons if you haven't had chance to. They've been really, really helpful for me personally in my spiritual life, and I, I, I trust that they'll be helpful for yours as well. Basically what we're reaching right now is basically now Paul is now focusing on a very particular situation in the for the Christians at Thessalonica. Basically he's speaking directly to a group of believers there who were grieving. These Christians there weren't just sad though, they were sort of like unsettled. There was something within their, their hearts and their souls that was uncomfortable.

  Basically people they loved had died. And Jesus had not returned yet and their minds began racing. They go, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what if, what if all these promises that we've been hearing about that we heard, you know, Paul teaching us in the, the three weeks that, you know, the, the that he was here, what about all the things that we, we, we read in the scriptures, what about all of that? What's happening with, with those who died, my, my, my family, my friends, my loved ones, my neighbors? What about them? We looked at scripture together, we worshiped together and now they're not here. What if? What's happening? What about that?

  And so Paul out of his abundant love for them. Wanted to address it not with vague cliches, but actually he wanted to address it with truth. Amen. The baby feels it. We see in two verses here verses 13 and 18 in particular. Let me read them and we'll keep diving deeper into this. But we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others who do not have hope. Verse 18. Therefore encourage one another with these words. Paul's goal here is not merely theological education, and there is a time and place for that. This is not like a you should skip the apologetics thing. Like I don't, but absolutely go to it. There's a time and place for it, but what Paul is doing here is not just an academic expansion of the mind.

  He's actually giving pastoral encouragement here. And their grief exposed this gap in their thoughts and actions, and Paul knowing what they lacked. Responded not just giving them information but giving hope, a prescription for exactly what ailed their souls. And this is not just the star that comes with missing loved one, though clearly that's part of it as when anyone passes, anyone dies that we know and we love that's the baseline but there's something more here that we see in verses 13 and 14 would say. But we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who have fallen asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Their grief was a fear but those who died, though they had followed Christ, their fear was that they were lost and gone forever.

  See the culture around them at that time believed that death was the end. And that suspicion that that sort of doubt leaked into the church with some folks and it turned this normal sorrow into panic. They're thinking maybe maybe God's timing failed, right? and and and our loved ones slipped out of his reach as if time and death outsmarted God. But Paul addresses this in a way, oh, in this way specifically because their grief wasn't just emotional, it was also theological. And so that's why he responds with gospel logic. If Jesus was raised, he will raise them too. So this is good news, knowing that physical death is not the end. And that those in Christ will one day be reunited with him. And that would be that that would be good. We could definitely leave it here like, OK, yeah, I love that. Praise God like that there, there is an incredible hope here and we can build off of that.

  But as you continue to read, there's actually more. Apparently even though among those who believed in the resurrection, there was a second fear. Look at verse 15 here. For this we've been declared to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. See some thought that the dead would be a like a spiritual disadvantage here when Jesus returned. It's almost as if they imagined like those who were living had like first class seats. In God's plan, right, and, and those who, you know, those who were breathing had the first class seats. Those who were buried were like just outside the airport trying to flap their wings trying to get up there. They're like, oh like, like this is, and this is not like a, this is not like a, an arrogance there like oh we're so much better because we're alive. Their, their heart was was almost they were it was broken. They were sad like, oh no like we're gonna be able to experience something here that they're not gonna be able to because we're breathing because they're buried we're gonna get it and they're not.

  And these beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Not being able to experience God's the fullness of God's plan, it bothered them, it hurt them. And it really pained them to think that maybe they were missing out. So Paul sets the record straight that no one is ahead or behind in God's plan for his people. Whether you're alive or sleep in Christ, he will not forget you, He will bring you with him. See Paul shared these theological insights to comfort and encourage the believers at Thessalonica to inject hope where it was needed most. Because grief identifies, it exposes the gap in our hope. And what God does is when we have that moment it's his truth. It's his hope that comes and reaches the part where we need it the most.

  So what does this have to do with us today? I think there's there's many lenses that we could look at this through, but I think there's two in particular, that are, are most helpful for, for, this message this morning. I think the first thing, framing a few questions, I think the first question is, we have to ask ourselves. Where is my hope really? Some in Thessalonica pinned their hope on being physically alive, right? They thought that being alive gave them a spiritual advantage and thus being dead gave them a spiritual disadvantage and that only the living had access to God's care and that the dead were beyond his reach.

  But Paul points out that their grief exposed that what they truly valued and trusted. Which is being alive, having a heartbeat. Was what was the the you know what where their hope could rely on and then I can only imagine that if they thought that they go oh no if I if I die, then I'm gonna miss out on God's promises. See they trusted in being alive they trust it in their heartbeat. More than anything else. And so he told them that their hope should be instead in Christ, right? For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Paul makes it very clear that hope comes through Christ. Because of his death and resurrection, there is a future hope. The dead in Christ are not excluded from God's plan.

  In fact, as Paul said, he will bring them with him. And we read earlier in verse 13 where it says the flip where in the culture that because there was no recognition of Christ, those would grieve, those would mourn as those who do not have hope they did not believe in the power that was big enough strong enough to be able to consider the dead in plans and that's that's why they had no hope when their loved ones died. But verse 16 and 17 really drive this hope home, especially the last part of it, which I'll I'll emphasize as I read it. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together and with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.

  I took a pause here, I, I wanna recognize that this section might feel a little odd, especially if some of you who have like heard a sermon on this passage before and it was preached primarily for like an end times sort of lens like a it's got a logical sort of view of like what will happen, and I'm not saying that sermon was wrong or anything like that but. and it could be helpful, and I think there is probably stuff to, to draw out from, from some messages like that. But I think if we look at it look at this passage only through that lens, I, I think we miss Paul's miss Paul's main concern here because his focus is not like prophecy charts or you know anything like that. He's not trying to read signs of like when Jesus is coming back. That's not his goal here, right? Again, it's pastoral care. He writes to calm, grieving believers not to map out clouds and trumpets. And so today I, I just wanna say it because some of you be like, OK, well here he's gonna talk about what what the millennium is and what about this and what about that and what about, which is the better left behind? if you don't know that then don't even worry about it.

  But, but so I just wanna say today I'm gonna stay with I think Paul's original intent, which is how Christ's resurrection comforts people. And so if you wanna look into the end times there there's no shortage of people who have thoughts and opinions on it, but we won't touch that this morning.

  That being said, Jesus' death and resurrection doesn't just usher believers into the next life. It gives us hope for this one we're living right now. It's a good insight to leave with that we have that hope. But I do think Paul's point goes even further. He knew that the church of Thessalonica loved Jesus and trusted his word. Yet their hope hadn't reached every corner of their hearts. And so we taught them so that they would know more so that hope could reach further, could reach deeper. And the same is true for us.

  Many of us believe that God is good. We sing songs, praising we clap our hands, we raise our hands. Maybe we even sway a little bit like, you know, like sometimes the spirit moves powerfully in some of us activating hips that we didn't realize we had. I get it I get it. When grief hits and we we discover those pockets where Christ's hope hasn't taken quite enough root or reached far enough, there's that awareness.

  So a couple of years ago, I like was coming home from something I don't remember I think it was maybe work and I, I, as I pulled in, I saw like one single shingle, like roof shingle in my driveway and I saw it and I go, oh. That must be my neighbor's shingle. You know, and so I go, I, I should probably tell her and then so I look, you know, I'm here. I look over and I go. Her house is a little bit lower than mine. I go, that's weird. None of the shingles on this side seem to be missing. So I go, And so I go, huh, and I look over my house, I go. I wonder if it's mine. So I grab, grabbed my drone. And I, I, I, I go and I like do the whole thing and I go and what I see up there I don't just see a missing shingle. I see, I kid you not, bald spots in my roof.

  Like I knew, I knew like when we got the the the our home inspection like we were gonna have to work on the roof at some point but like it's one of those things of like, OK, sure, it sounds good like you're gonna take away, like so much of my my life. But OK, I will think about it in the back of my mind that I have to fix this roof at some point, and I went up and I go, wow, so that's what it looks like underneath shingles. That is, that's very cool. And so not only that, so we hire a roofer and when he gets, he goes up there and he, he texts he text me a picture he goes Calvin, just so you know, under the shingle there's like parts of your roof, like the wooden part of your roof, it's missing and so we're going to need to like go and fill in these things and that was expensive.

  But but for the sake of this is not to complain about how expensive roofs are but it's really that I realized that. From from seeing a single shingle on my driveway to really going and taking that deep inventory of my roof that the damage was a lot deeper than I thought it was. And that's what grief can do to us. That moment of you realizing there's a shingle in my life is that mine. And then you realize, oh yes, it is mine, and oh, it's perhaps a lot worse than I thought it was. Sometimes you look back and you go, it looked fine from the curb. But when you look underneath the shingles, when you look behind the the siding. It's maybe a lot worse than than you realized.

  And that loss and that hardship exposes these weak spots. But those are the areas that we need the hope of Christ the most. And so while we hate grief, while no one signs up for, you know, as much as we like paying through like Spartan races or ultra marathons, no one is like saying take tear my life apart. No one is signing up for the grief 5K, never mind a marathon, but sometimes it feels like that. But that grief, it's revelatory. It exposes the gaps, exposes the damage. And it's at that point where very often. We see what's broken. We begin to fix it.

  So friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. What does your spiritual roof look like? You might be holding it together. What's it look like underneath? And this is not a condemnation. This is not a how dare you? You need to get in line. This is not a condemnation, this is an invitation. To deepen your faith, to clarify the hope we have in Christ that will raise the dead. The same power that can do that can change your life. Can take you from pain and grief. Turn the morning into joy. But it begins with an assessment of where is my hope really.

  So I want to invite you guys. This is the first application, and there, I'll tell you there's 2 dad jokes in my sermon today, OK? There's 2 dad jokes. This is the first one, OK? Don't get a home inspection, get a hope inspection. A real knee slapper, OK? That's the first one, OK? Oh man, that was, that one was, that one was bad. OK. Ask yourself honestly. Where have I placed my trust? What areas of my life do I need the hope of Christ the most? And maybe by God's grace, you'll catch the rot before the grief comes. Or but if not, then this is the first day. Of the rest of your life, of you turning it around. And that's the gift of such reflection, the gift that comes about being made into a new creation empowered by the Holy Spirit, able to look into one's own self to see and ask God, God, where am I really trusting in and we know that the Holy Spirit can help us see. We are not lost, we are not blind, we are not alone. He is with us and he will always be with us.

  Here's the other question. The other big question is. What should we define the relationships that we have as Christians, for those of us who follow Jesus, what should be the the defining factor, the central factor of our relationships in this life? And if you think about what binds us together, there's kind of like a lot of things it could be shared hobbies we we do the same thing we play the same game it could be the same industry. Oh well, you're a, you're a this. I'm also that it could be the same life stage your parents trying to trade, you know, tips on how to get your kids from, you know, cleaning up after themselves or whatever it is, right? It could be the same zip code. Oh, we, we live, we both live in Medford or we both live in Somerville or wherever. Sometimes it's a mutual benefit, you know, hey, listen, I'm gonna have lunch with you because if I have lunch with you, I know that I'm be more position to be able to be up for that promotion, right? Maybe, you know, you're friends with the right parents and then you know, hey, well, why don't we carpool? Why don't we take turns?

  There's a lot of reasons, there's a lot of reasons for us to connect with other people. But for those of us who belong to Jesus, should the central tie of our relationships be different? And I think this passage shows us what it looks like when the driving force of one's relationship is a desire that no one missed out on God's goodness. See, I, I, I didn't see this when I first read this passage and I, I think I've looked at it a few times. I think very often I, I think about, oh they, they missed their theology, the theological point it was fuzzy and, and Paul had to clean up the theological, you know, floor here.

  But at the heart of it looking through the lens that Paul wanted to encourage them that there was pastoral care here, the driving force of the relationships that I go, wait, our loved ones, the ones who have died, like they might miss out on God's goodness like what how does that work? We believe in God we believe he's good we believe in his word but but what about them? That that's unsettling to me. I don't that's uncomfortable to me. How can they miss out? I want, I want them so desperately to experience the fullness of God's goodness in his plan. And so, basically, I think I, I feel like what Paul says here in the last verse is basically, I, I keep that fire, keep that energy. But pointing in the right direction.

  Right after sharing all this theology from verses 13 through 17, he ends with verse 18. Therefore, encourage one another, not just period full stop there, he says encourage one another with these words. He talking about you have this situation that you are feeling. And I've I've given you deeper truth so that the hope of Christ can go further into who you are, all the corners that they hadn't reached yet. And now that you know that. That desire to see people experience the fullness of God's goodness. Keep going. Keep encouraging one another. Paul doesn't slap their wrists, he enlarges their vision. Go ahead and weep, but do it with the whole gospel in view. Let the empty tomb reframe how we see the cemetery. And let that resurrection confidence overflow into the way you talk with one another, how you treat one another, how you love one another, how you care for one another.

  Remind one another of the promises that cannot be broken. Especially during hardships when it's so easy to forget. That is a grief seasoned with theology and transformed into a mutual encouragement. And to be clear, just to be very clear, encouragement in Christ isn't always a pat on the back. Because we share the same hope for those who follow Christ, we can also call each other back to it. Sometimes the most hopeful sentence can sound like, brother, you're drifting. Sister, I, I think you need to consider what you're doing and stop. Hope both comforts and corrects as we saw Paul do here.

  In other words, Christian friendships should be a hope share. Is the second dad joke. As in we should be lift drivers, as in like lift each other up, hope share, lift drivers. No? OK, that one wasn't as, that's OK. Christian friendship should be a hope share we we should be going around being vehicles to drive each other to greater hope. And there should be a pledge, a motivation that says I want you to know Christ to taste the joy of his return. I want to walk with you in this life and by his grace into the next. To live pointing others as the end of verse 17 promises that we will always be with the Lord.

  And it's really easy to think of this as a call to evangelism, right? It's like, oh yeah, like my motivation should be that everyone gets to know Christ and, and I think that there's definitely fuel there and I, I think that that would not be a bad thought process and the Holy Spirit is motivating you to share the good news with your neighbors and your coworkers and your family then then that's the Holy Spirit working in you and and we pray for you that you would do that with great love and great success for the for God's glory. But I think for all of us. Primarily, it's a call to examine our existing relationships. In the same way we're asking what where is your hope really I think what really drives your relationships. Imagine friendships, relationships, marriages, small groups, interactions in our neighborhood where the deepest motive is that people experience God's goodness.

  Friends, I Doesn't that sound like a community worth belonging to? One where we grieve but with hope, where we comfort and have accountability, where we are theologically encouraged and informed, where we have vulnerability and yet are unafraid, where no one walks alone or unchecked with a leaky roof. Brothers and sisters of Christ, this is only possible because Christ died and resurrected to make us a new creation. It's only possible when we continue to invite the hope of Christ into the furthest reaches of who we are and take root.

  And I'm excited to see how CoaH continues to grow as we aim to live as hope share drivers. OK, but the 5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend. Let me pray, and then I'll invite Fletcher to lead us in communion.

  Father God, thank you so much. Thank you so much that you give us this vision of a community of a life that is centered around the hope of Christ. That it is so driven and motivated by you, God, that it changes everything. And so God, for those of us who are grieving, maybe we have lost someone recently or maybe we are worried about a loved one. Help us to know that we can grieve. It is OK to grieve, but God, you want us to grieve as those who have hope, knowing what Christ has done for us. God, for those of us who may experience grief in some way, shape or form soon, my prayer is the same. Would you continue to plant deeper roots of your hope into our hearts? we pray all this in Jesus' name, Amen.