WEBVTT
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Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Amen.
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All of you, except maybe our visitors, know that on Mondays during
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this semester, we've been reflecting on Paul's first letter to the
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Thessalonians.
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Today is the 8th and final installment in that series.
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Over these weeks we've learned or at least reviewed quite a bit about
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this epistle and have been blessed by various kinds of sermons on
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various kinds of pericopes within this letter, some historical, others
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more narrowly focused on one theme and still others more varied in
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content.
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We learned, for instance, that Paul and Silas, also called Sylvanus,
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established this congregation on Paul's second missionary journey
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during what seems, at least according to Acts, to be a very short stay
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that ended abruptly with a nighttime departure
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due to persecution by some of the Jews. Though others find a way to
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posit a longer stay by Paul, suggesting that it was just his start in
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the synagogue that lasted only three Sabbaths.
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We were reminded that the Thessalonian converts to Christianity
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included quite a few God fearing Greeks who were also part of the
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Jewish synagogue where Paul did his mission work and perhaps even
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comprised the majority of Paul's converts.
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We learned that not long after he left Thessalonica, Paul wrote this
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letter during his year and a half stay in Corinth, sometime around 50
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or 51 AD.
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Thus making this one of his earliest epistles, if not the earliest.
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And we learned that because Paul himself was prevented for some reason
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from a return visit to Thessalonica, he sent Timothy to see how the
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church was doing.
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And then, on hearing Timothy's report, he wrote this first of two
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letters to the congregation that he had planted.
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Now, as far as the sermons themselves go, recall, for example, that
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sermon with its focus on sharing from the first part of chapter two
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with that verse, which is the basis for the theme of this school year
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sharing the Gospel, sharing our lives.
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In another sermon, we reviewed Luther's marks of the Church and heard
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how the last part of chapter two speaks to several of those marks.
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In another, our attention was directed to the great nevertheless, that
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captures so much of chapter three.
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And then there was the memorable what God did for Jesus, God will do
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for you that summarizes so succinctly the second coming text at the
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end of chapter four.
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Today this all comes to a conclusion with the last half of chapter
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five.
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Now, we were reminded in one of these sermons of the old homological
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adage that one can hardly improve on the outline that the Holy Spirit
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himself gives in the text.
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Well, today's text features something like 16 different imperatives,
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plus a benediction and some concluding remarks.
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And I have to confess that with a potential outline approaching 20
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parts, I've wrestled with some homiletical jealousy over those single
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themed portions of this epistle.
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Nevertheless, this is God's word for us today.
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And so let's look at least briefly at these commands that the ESV
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calls collectively Paul's final instructions.
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And then let's see what Jesus has to do with all of this.
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We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are
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over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly
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in love because of their work.
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This is an interesting word of the Lord for a seminary community with
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a bunch of aspiring pastors.
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We like this word because to the extent that our parishioners obey it,
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it makes our ministry a lot easier.
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And it reminds us of Hebrews chapter 13 obey your leaders and submit
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to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls.
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But let's not forget that the same Paul who urges the Thessalonians to
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respect those who are over them in the Lord is the Paul who also said
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in chapter two that he and Silas were gentle among you, like a nursing
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mother taking care of her own children.
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And this is the same Paul who said that he and were ready to share
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with the Thessalonians
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not only the gospel of God, but their own selves.
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Remember also that you who one day will be over others in the Lord,
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together with us pastors and professors and administrators, who today
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are over others in the Lord.
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We all are ourselves under those who have been placed in authority
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over us and to whom we are accountable for our own good and for the
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good of others.
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Paul is saying we ask you, brothers, to remember the Fourth
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Commandment and especially here, as it relates to the estate of the
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church.
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Secondly, be at peace among yourselves, especially in the lead up to a
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synod convention, for example, or in any church or seminary meeting
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where governance decisions are made.
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We urge you, brothers admonish the Idol a tough word to hear right
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after a two day weekend, during March Madness, no less.
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There's a fine line between proper rest and care for the body and
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excessive idleness.
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Encourage the faint hearted, literally those whose soul is small.
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I think we've all been there at some point, and what a blessing it is
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to have encouragers. Help the weak.
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And weakness goes beyond just physical weakness.
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For example, there's weakness in willpower or in one's ability to
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stand up to powerful people or institutions.
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Help those who struggle with that.
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Be patient with all, including the weak and the faint hearted, and
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even the idle whom you might admonish and those who don't respect you,
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who are over them in the Lord.
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Be patient with them.
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See that no one repays evil for evil.
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That's the government's job.
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We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
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Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone, and there's no
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end of opportunity for that.
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Rejoice always, even in your
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suffering.
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Romans five knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance,
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character and character hope.
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Pray without ceasing, believing with all your heart that the prayer of
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a righteous man has great power.
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Give thanks in all circumstances, because all things work together for
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the good of those who love God.
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Don't quench the spirit who fills the hearts of the faithful and
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kindles in them the fire of God's love. Don't despise prophecies, which
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for Paul includes the proclaimed word of God.
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Test everything, learning the tools you acquire here at the seminary,
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and then hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil.
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And there are many.
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Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear such a good and Godly
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list of final exhortations, I'm reminded of Paul's great description
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of love in one Corinthians 13.
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It's a fantastic description and a wonderful goal, but I have no power
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of my own to love that way, and I fail miserably at it all the time.
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And it's the same with these final exhortations.
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But Paul doesn't leave us there, and neither does God.
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Rather, Paul closes with that beautiful benediction that speaks of God
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making us holy and working in us these God pleasing things and calling
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to mind God's faithfulness.
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Paul assures his hearers, including you and me, that our entire being,
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spirit, soul and body, will be kept blameless in the sight of God
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until Jesus comes again. Blameless through the blood of Jesus that
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cleanses us from all sin, even as that blood strengthens us in faith
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toward God and in fervent love toward one another.
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Which is a fitting
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description of these final exhortations.
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Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.
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And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the
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coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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He who calls you is faithful and he will surely do it.
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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Amen.