One of the surest ways through times of change and chaos, endings and uncertainty, is having someone offer a bit of encouragement. Encouragement takes many forms, and what one finds encouraging may differ from one person to the next. But encouragement helps us maintain our focus and keeps us steady when we aren't sure what is coming or when.
This week, we return to Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). In this brief reading, Paul starts with uncertainty and moves to encouragement. What does it mean to not know when something we greatly anticipate or even desire is going to come to pass? How can a word of encouragement get us through such times?
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Our text today continues the themes we have been exploring this month. In this bit of the letter to the Thessalonians we read today, Paul reminds us that we cannot know the timing and the dates of the kingdom to come, for “...the day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, CEB).
We know that the end of one thing is before us. We know that present things will come to a close. We know that the beginning must eventually come to an end. We know that the kingdom of heaven is coming. But the ultimate fulfillment of that time will come unexpectedly and without warning. We cannot know the timing and the dates.
Unfortunately, that leaves us in a bit of a difficult situation. I think we can all agree that it is difficult to wait when we don’t know what to expect or when. Looking at the health crisis looming around us with the impact of COVID on our lives, we can know that eventually things will change. Eventually we will be able to move closer to the way things were before. But not knowing when is hard. Living in the uncertainty can cause quite a bit of anxiety.
Paul seems to recognize this, which is one reason our reading today doesn’t end on a note of uncertainty. Paul does go on a bit about our inability to know and about the dangers of assuming that we know when things will go a particular way. Because of this uncertainty, he urges us to remain alert.
But, while it takes him a little while to get there, he does eventually switch gears. Going back to the metaphor of the thief, he highlights that the thief comes in the night, in a time of darkness. But then he reminds us that we are not in darkness. As followers of Jesus, who is the light of the world, we ourselves are children of the light. Therefore we cannot be in darkness.
This is a theme that comes up again during the Advent and Christmas season. The first chapter of the Gospel of John, which is often read on Christmas Eve, talks about light coming into a world of darkness and identifies Jesus as that light. There is also an Advent song in the United Methodist Hymnal that you may be familiar with that goes “I want to walk as a child of the light/I want to follow Jesus” (The United Methodist Hymnal, 206). Jesus is light, and, as his followers, we have inherited a part of that light as well.
This is the first bit of encouragement that Paul offers here. While the thief may come in darkness, we cannot be in darkness. We are children of the light, so we can see more clearly. Then Paul plays with this imagery of day and night for a bit, making some comparisons that sound almost odd to our ears. He moves from talking about light and dark to day and night to awake and asleep to sober and drunkenness.
Some of this is likely coded language that may have been immediately obvious to people in the church at Thessalonica. “Children of the Night” may have referred to followers of the Greek god, Dionysis, who held wild, drunken celebrations in the night time (as highlighted here). So comparisons between the day and the night and soberness and drunkenness might make more sense in this setting.
But in our present world, as we think about the difference between being awake and asleep, we know that when we are awake, we are generally aware of what is going on around us. However, when we are asleep, we are oblivious to what is going on around us. How many of you have had the experience of waking up in the morning to discover there had been a storm the night before that you had slept through?
Paul wants to be clear that we who follow Jesus live in the light. Because we are in the light, we are awake and aware. We will not be caught off guard, unlike those who dwell in night and darkness. Those who live in the night and darkness are asleep and therefore unaware. Therefore, we should not be afraid, though we should remain alert.
Of course, I think there are times when we hear things like this from Paul, and we may find them discouraging instead of encouraging. I don’t really want to speak for any of you, but sometimes I feel like I don’t quite measure up to the vision Paul has of what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are times that I do not feel enlightened. There are times that I do not feel awake. I read these words from Paul, and I feel like I am still floundering in darkness, asleep to the signs around me that I am supposed to recognize.
As I continue reading, I think that perhaps Paul knows that other followers reading his letters may feel the same way, for he does not leave us there. As we get close to the end of this reading, we find these words: “God didn’t intend for us to suffer his wrath but rather to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, CEB). God did not create us with the intention that we would suffer. That is not God’s will for us. Now this is a true note of encouragement. Do not be anxious, for God does not intend ill towards you.
Rather, God created us for life and for love. When we look to the life and ministry of Jesus, this is the message we see repeated over and over. His life, death, and resurrection when taken together prove God’s love for us. We are meant to love God and to love one another. That’s it. That’s how Jesus sums up the entirety of history.
Those are words that begin to fill me with encouragement, but then Paul takes it one step further. “Jesus died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10, CEB). Did you catch that? Paul takes a bit of the sting out of his earlier statements. Recognizing that we all fall short, he does not wish those that do not feel up to the task, that do not feel perfect and awake, to be discouraged or fall into despair. Jesus came for all of us. Whether we are awake or asleep, whether we consider ourselves perfect already or still in need, whether we are already enlightened or still dwelling in darkness, Jesus came for us all.
“So continue encouraging each other and building each other up…” (5:11)
In the end, Paul comes to a place where he seems to feel it doesn’t entirely matter if you are already in the community or not. If Jesus came for us all, then the best thing we can do for ourselves and for our community is to continue to encourage one another.
As I consider the present world and our need to be a sign of encouragement for others, I was reminded of a movie I have seen a few times. It may seem like an odd choice at first, but I think “The Shawshank Redemption” offers us a pretty good model for what it is that Paul is talking to us about here. Maybe some of you have seen this movie or perhaps read the Stephen King story it is based on.
The movie is set primarily at Shawshank prison. As the story opens, we are introduced first to a man who goes by the name Red as he recounts the first time he saw Andy Dufresne. Andy Dufresne is a new prisoner, convicted of killing his wife and her lover in a fit of jealous rage. But he proclaims his innocence the entire time. Trying not to give away too much of the plot of the movie, but, at least from Andy’s point of view, he knows that he is innocent.
Throughout the story, we see a man that refuses to be beaten down by the horrors he encounters in prison. He does not know when or even if he will ever be set free, but rather than falling into despair, Andy becomes an encouraging presence for his fellow inmates. Through his words and actions, the other prisoners are encouraged to be better people. Andy helps them obtain a functional library. He teaches some of them to read. He even assists more than one of the men in earning his GED. Even locked up in prison, Andy’s presence and his actions give the other prisoners hope for the future.
As we look around at the place we currently find ourselves in the world, how are we finding encouragement? Where are the signs of hope for us? And, following along with Paul’s encouragement, how are we providing encouragement for others? How is our presence in this community a sign of hope? I look at things like the Thanksgiving meal boxes and the upcoming Christmas gifts that my local congregation is providing, and I see some of the ways in which we as the church offer hope and encouragement for others.
As we draw to a close today, there is a song I would like to share. It is not explicitly a religious song, but it is obviously a song about faith and hope. The song is called “Secure Yourself” by Atlanta-based duo, the Indigo Girls. They often write songs that wrestle with faith and our place in the world. And they have connections to the Methodist community, as one of them is the daughter of a Methodist minister and Candler professor.
This particular song has similar imagery to what we find in our scripture today. There is an interplay between awake and asleep, between night and day. Phrases like “eyes wide open but fast asleep” and “hold on tight the night has come” seem to fit exactly with the imagery that Paul is using. And as we hear the chorus, we hear the note of both longing and encouragement - secure yourself to heaven, hold on tight the night has come, fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun. Sometimes, when all we have to offer are broken words, what we really need is a bit of encouragement.
As we consider endings and beginnings and not knowing what is next, may we hear the encouragement in these words for us today.