1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-12
A GOD-LIVED LIFE: A Life Lived
for Others.
In the name + of Jesus.
The second table of the Law is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). This has been God’s will since the creation of the world. Before Adam even had a neighbor to love, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Now, why would God have Adam work the garden and keep it? Why engage in tilling, planting, and harvesting? Because this is how Adam would love and serve his neighbor. First, his wife. Then, his children and grandchildren. God did not put people in the world to do nothing. He put people here to use their talents, interests, abilities, and creativity for the benefit of each other. God’s will has always been, and still is, that we love our neighbor as ourselves. A God-lived life is a life lived for others.
As time went on, the
world’s population grew. More people
meant more neighbors to serve. And God
blessed people with the talents to do it.
Before the days of the Flood, God blessed the creativity and skills of
people. From Genesis we read, “Jabal … was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the
father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
…Tubal-cain … was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron”
(Genesis 4:20-21). So, God blessed the world
with people who were skilled in various arts—ranchers, musicians, and tool
makers. A God-lived life is a life lived
for others. God still blesses people with
the opportunities to serve others in various vocations. In this way, all people are served.
If people are engaged in honest work, no vocation and no class of
citizens should be scorned. When Jesus was
born, God chose not to have him raised in the home of royalty, but
peasantry. Jesus was raised in the home
of a carpenter. Jesus’ home, hometown,
and heritage were low class and common.
But the work and life of Joseph and Mary were both honorable and helpful
to others. Likewise, you do not have to
feel like you need to change the whole world to matter. Your work matters. Your service is God-pleasing. It does not have to be award-winning to be
so. A God-lived life is a life lived for
others, even if others do not notice.
In Thessalonica, it was the mark of a successful man that he did not
have to do anything. He was free to hang
out in the marketplace and discuss and debate with others. He had women and slaves to do his work for
him. And while he busied himself with
his buddies, the successful man did nothing productive or beneficial for
anyone.
St. Paul had corrected this kind of thinking
when he first came to Thessalonica. He
even set himself up as an example. In
addition to the time Paul dedicated to preaching and teaching, he also took up the
trade as a maker of tents. In doing so,
he demonstrated self-reliance to the Thessalonian men who took pride in relying
on the work of others. The Christians
there took his words and actions to heart.
They repented of their willfully unproductive lives and engaged in service
beneficial to others. Therefore, Paul
could write: “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone
to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love
one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9).
When St. Paul wrote this
letter, he was reinforcing what he had taught and modeled. A God-lived life is a life lived for others. “We urge you, brothers, to do this
more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own
affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you
may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1
Thessalonians 4:10-12).
God gives us practical ways to love our neighbor as ourselves. We do not need to invent good works to keep
us busy. We do not need to hatch grand
plans and projects to impress God. God daily
places in front of us ways in which we serve our neighbor. If you need direction more specific than “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself,” then work through the Commandments
and you will find you have plenty to do.
The 4th Commandment: Those in authority are to work for the
benefit of everyone under their charge.
Governing officials are to maintain order in society and to curb and
punish wickedness. Parents are to care
for their children and to discipline them so that they become respectable and responsible
adults. Parents are also to instruct
their children in the Christian faith so that they remain in God’s kingdom now
and forever. In turn, those who are
under authority are to honor and obey those who are doing their best to serve
in the place God has put them.
The 5th Commandment: We avoid bringing harm to anyone or
rejoicing in the misfortunes of others.
We also provide aid and help to whoever has need—whether we are fond of
them or not.
The 6th Commandment: We live a life of chastity and put to
death any schemes to use other people to gratify our own lustful desires. And once married, we devote ourselves fully to
honor and support our spouse. We
encourage other married couples to do likewise.
The 7th Commandment: We refuse to
defraud other people for the sake of a few dollars. We recognize there is nothing noble about
stealing, even if it is from a rich corporation who we argue can afford it or deserve
it. We do what we can to protect the property
and possessions of others so that they are not swindled or cheated out of what God
chose to give them. We fix or replace
what we’ve broken.
The 8th Commandment: We turn a deaf ear to people who slander
or gossip about others, but rather defend those who would be defamed and shamed—whether
in conversation or on social media. Sadly,
some people’s faults will forever be publicized. We love our fellow man by dealing with them
in mercy, not in mockery. We cover up
the embarrassments of others instead of sharing them.
The 9th and 10th Commandments: These teach us to
trust that what God has chosen to give us is what is best for us. If God chooses to be more gracious to others,
God be praised! If God grants different
gifts to others, God be praised! We put
jealousies to death and rejoice that God is pleased to grant diverse blessings
according to his infinite wisdom.
A God-lived life is a life lived for others, and God gives us daily opportunities
to do this. But the devil perverts God’s
good gifts. The devil stokes up the
fires of our envy and rivalries so that we view our neighbor as an enemy. The devil teaches us to view our neighbor as
one who wastes our time, who drains our energy, who steals our attention, and
who costs us money. Rather than seeing
our neighbor as a way in which we honor God and show love, we see him as one
who threatens our own gains and glory. See
how the devil perverts this. God did not
give you your neighbor to be a curse upon you, but to be a daily opportunity to
pursue a God-lived life by blessing and serving him.
You and I sin against our fellow man because of our own selfishness, laziness,
and jealousies. We hoard the gifts that
God gives us—either because we do not love our fellow man or because we don’t
believe God will give us enough to live on.
To refuse to benefit our fellow man is to sin against the second table
of the Law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” To doubt that God will give us our daily
bread is to sin against the first table of the Law: “We should fear, love,
and trust in God above all things” (Luther’s Explanation of the First Commandment;
Small Catechism).
A God-lived life is a life of serving others. This has always been God’s plan and purpose
for all mankind. And it is also the way
in which God saves you from your sins. Jesus
lived a life for others by fully devoting himself to take away the sins that
condemn us. Jesus could have offered
excuses to not save us, and he would have been right. Sinners deserve the death and damnation that
they get. Instead, he died the death we
deserve and was sentenced to the damnation we should get. In perfect love for all mankind—whether people
love him or hate him, whether they honor his word or despise it—Jesus consumed
God’s wrath for all so that there would be forgiveness for all who believe in
him. So, we are forgiven for all our
selfishness, laziness, and jealousies.
Jesus has not hoarded his mercy; he pours it out freely upon us so that
we always remain in his love and benefit from his work. Your God lived his life for you, and now he
lives and reigns for you.
He also calls you to live a God-lived life, a life that is lived for
others. You get to honor God in the way you
interact with others. You reflect the
love of Jesus in the mercy and kindness you show to others. You benefit them through the various
vocations you have—as parents, as workers, as neighbors, as citizens, and even in
your momentary encounters with people who are hurrying or hurting or hassled. You may not be able to relieve the burden
that some people carry, but you can a least be sure that you are not adding to
it.
A God-lived life is a life lived for others. St. Paul urged the Thessalonians, and he
urges you “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own
affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you
may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1
Thessalonians 4:11-12). We do not
need to make a show of ourselves as we serve others. We can quietly, diligently, and consistently
go about our business, committed to whatever tasks God has given us to do. These things rarely get noticed. You probably never gave any thought to all
the meals your mother prepared for you, but you know you benefited from all of them. And while your mother certainly would have
enjoyed a “Thank you!”, she would still prepare the next meal without it. So it is with your service. Perhaps the people you serve will not notice,
but the Lord does. Perhaps the people
you serve will be ungrateful; but the Lord will be honored. Perhaps some will criticize you; but God will
smile upon you. For you are God’s dear
child, and he loves the people he has redeemed.
A God-lived life is a life lived for others. It reflects the life of the Savior who lived and died for you. It gives honor to the God who gave up his own life and shed his own blood to ransom you. And it pleases the Lord who served you to make you his own and who continues to serve you to keep you in the faith.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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