I'm just looking out here and wondering what
a Pharisee looks like. Got some candidates for
you. No, I better not point. We've got some candidates,
though, and we'll see if we can enlist them.
The kind of thinking that we call isolationism
has been around since the Garden of Eden. When
Cain responded to God's question, about Abel
by saying, am I my brother's keeper? Isolationism,
the idea that a nation ought not to take part
in international alliances, seems to be reflected
in some of the rhetoric of war protesters these
days. They seem to be saying that the United
States has no compelling interests in affairs
in other parts of the world. that we ought to
use our resources for ourselves and let others
use their resources and take care of themselves.
Am I my brother's keeper seems to be the essence
of what they're saying. That same sort of thinking
too easily creeps into the minds of Christians
regarding our duty to others. We hear people
say things like It's none of my concern. I have
enough troubles of my own to worry about. Or,
I don't have time to get involved. Or we might
hear, well he got himself into it, let him get
himself out of it. Not that such statements are
always wrong, but they can reveal an attitude
that basically says, I'm not interested. in others'
problems. I have no responsibility for them.
Are we our brother's keeper? In fact, we are.
Not in some meddlesome or domineering way, or
in a way in which we ourselves become exploited
or manipulated. But, in a healthy and godly sense,
we are our brother's keeper. We have a duty toward
others, whether inside God's family or outside,
to do them good. Our text today in 1 Thessalonians
5 verses 14 and 15 gives us a series of imperative
statements. which fleshes out some of our duty
to others. In what ways ought we to be the keepers
of our brothers? Well, it tells us in our text
that we are in the first place to admonish the
unruly. The word unruly is really a military
term. It meant in that language that Paul used,
the Greek language, not keeping in rank. It meant
to be disorderly or even to be insubordinate.
I played in a high school band once upon a time,
in another lifetime. And I remember being in
marches down the street. When it was a real challenge
to play the tuba which was my instrument or more
accurately the sousaphone Especially when the
wind was blowing and catching that big bell and
trying to stay in step and in line Normally I
was all the way at the back of the band which
helped a lot Because I could look up and see
others in front of me that way But besides looking
at the music, which I rarely memorized, I also
had to know which foot was going down when, and
I had to keep one eye on the rest of my row to
make sure that we were straight and in line.
And believe me, there were many times when we
were unruly. When the Apostle Paul uses this
term, he may have a specific group in mind in
the church in Thessalonica. I think the NIV puts
it, in fact, admonish the idol. Paul has, perhaps,
some people in mind that he addresses more directly
in the second letter that he wrote to the Thessalonians
and the third chapter, where he uses the same
term again, twice. In verse 6 of 2 Thessalonians
3 he says, Now we command you, brethren, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep
aloof from every brother who leads and unruly
life, and not according to the tradition which
you receive from us. For you yourselves know
how you ought to follow our example, because
we did not act in an unruly, undisciplined manner
among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without
paying for it. But with labor and hardship we
kept working night and day so that we might not
be a burden to any of you. Paul may have in mind
a group of people in that church who apparently
were neglectful of their responsibility to the
body. They felt that they could live off of other
people and not have to worry about the daily
needs of bread. So the Apostle Paul writes to
them and calls them unruly because they were
idle. They shirked their responsibility, leaving
it up to others to take care of them. They wanted
the benefits of being Christians without any
of the burdens that come along with it. A Sunday
school teacher was on one occasion desiring to
impress upon her students the miracle of God
in nature. And so she pointed to a large plant
that was in the corner of the room and she asked
her students, and who made those beautiful flowers
to grow? And in one chorus the children all answered
back, God did. Except for one little boy who
was kind of the PS at the end of the response
and he said, yeah, but the fertilizer sure helps.
Sometimes we have the same idea. If God wants
to take care of His church, He'll do it. But
the fact is that God has given all of us a responsibility
as well to be a part of meeting the needs of
the church. And so the apostle writes to the
church and he says, regarding these folks who
want to To have the blessings without the burdens.
Who want to shirk their responsibility in the
work of God. He says admonish them. That's a
very strong term actually. We saw it before in
verse 12. It means to warn. It means to sternly
rebuke or even to discipline. Notice that in
verse 12 it was a responsibility of the leaders
of the church to do the warning. Whereas here
it's the responsibility of all of us to do the
admonishing of those who are irresponsible. Every
family, including God's family, has rules and
expectations and ways in which it is to function.
Our family has those kinds of things and I'm
sure your family does too. The absence of those
things absolutely brings chaos to a home and
it leads to waste. Some of the ways we do things
in God's family are biblical. Sometimes the ways
we do them are cultural or practical. But the
point is that the way that we as a body decide
to operate and work together establish a standard
of action for all of us. The practical application
really of this particular phrase, admonish the
unruly, is well summarized, I think, by Chuck
Swindoll in one of his writings when he says,
even though it may hurt, there are occasions
when Christians should be confronted and corrected
with the truth. These times of admonition are
needed when a fellow believer is unruly. That
is, when he or she is undisciplined, disorderly,
and irresponsible in carrying out his or her
Christian duty. As members of Christ's family,
we are expected to behave ourselves by being
where we ought to be and doing what we ought
to do. When we become derelict in our Christian
responsibilities, God calls on other members
of his family. to confront us with this fact
and to exhort us to resume fulfilling our Christian
duty. Well stated. Did you know that there was
a custom in the Roman army in days of old that
if anyone was caught deserting his post for any
reason, for any amount of time, they would cut
off his little finger? As a permanent reminder
to be faithful in his responsibilities. One can
only wonder if there was a similar penalty in
the Church of Jesus Christ, how many of us would
be minus a pinky? We have responsibilities and
the Apostle says that you and I are to admonish
each other to fulfill the responsibilities that
God gives to us. That we're not to be among those
who get out of step or out of rank. or who are
insubordinate. If we are going to minister to
others, we also need to encourage the fainthearted
because there are many among God's family who
are fainthearted. The word fainthearted means
literally small -souled. Small -souled. It refers
to someone whose spirit tends toward despondency.
It's somebody who is easily worried or who is
fearful. It refers to those who are easily overtaken
with discouragement or debilitated by anxiety.
It can even refer to those who are prone toward
physical or emotional frailty. He says that we
are to comfort those who are fainthearted. We
are to speak tenderly to them, to speak near
is literally what he says. We are not to cup
our hands around our voice and yell at them from
a distance. We are to come close enough that
we can whisper into their ear the kinds of encouraging
words that they need. The same word is used in
chapter 2 and verse 11 of this epistle, where
the apostle says regarding fathers that they
encourage their children, just as Paul encouraged
the Thessalonians, a father sensing the upset
in his child. will put his arm around that child
and draw the child aside and whisper words of
encouragement in the ear. I had two sons who
were badly beaten this weekend in basketball.
It's hard for a father to take, to sit on the
sidelines and see the other team rack up the
score without mercy. It's hard to listen to the
coach of the other team smirk and laugh as he
watches your son's team go down to defeat. There
are certain unchristian thoughts that come to
one's mind in times like that. But it's harder
on the player. It's important to take that child
aside and say, hey, you know what? There's more
to it than winning the game. It's important to
take that child inside and say, you really made
some terrific shots. And do things that will
lift up the spirit of the one who has become
faint -hearted. God's children are the same way.
There are times when you and I experience defeats.
And we go down in flames, as it were. And we
need someone to come alongside us in those moments
of our small -souledness. who will whisper in
our ear words of God which will encourage and
lift us up. The Thessalonians were caused anxiety
by a couple of things perhaps. Perhaps it was
the persecution that they were undergoing. It
was severe. Or maybe it was anxiety regarding
what happened to their brothers and sisters,
their loved ones. who had already been killed.
Would they participate in the future coming of
the Lord? Well, Paul has answered those questions.
Whatever the reason that there were Thessalonians
discouraged, Paul says to the body, encourage
them. A word of encouragement or a deed of assistance,
a reassuring promise, these can make a lifetime
of difference to someone who is passing through
a battle. And so let's be sensitive to that.
But the apostle goes on. He says that we are
our brother's keeper in another way. He says,
help the weak. This thought really doesn't do
much more than elaborate upon the last one, but
it takes it a little bit further. It refers here
to someone who is absolutely without strength,
who is weak spiritually. Maybe it was in Paul's
mind those in Thessalonica who were weak to sexual
temptation. For he commanded them strongly in
the fourth chapter to be pure. God has called
us to purity, he says. So avoid sexual immorality.
Stay away from things that will bring sin to
your path. He exhorts them. And so to the weak,
the apostle says to the others, help them in
their temptation. Maybe there were some who were
left without strength because of the pressure
of persecution. Paul is saying, help those who
are weak. The fact is that all of us experience
times of weakness or times of burnout in our
lives. when we've given it everything we can
and we just don't feel like we can go on. Some
find it always difficult to face life without
help. And so we who are strong must be sensitive
to them. To help them means to lay hold on them.
The idea is to keep yourself directly across
from them. Some of you work in physical therapy
and you know the skill that you learned in how
to help a person who is weak, to lift them from
the bed or out of the chair, to place them in
a position where they can be served or helped
or where they can rest. You learn how to keep
yourself across from them and to keep your back
straight. You learn how to lay hold of them in
a proper manner. That's Paul's word here. He
says give therapy to those who are weak Hold
yourself directly opposite of them and lay hold
of them to lift them up Others of you are lifeguards
I always admire those people who have learned
to swim that well And who've acquired the skill
of being able to rescue others who are drowning
He says if you see someone who is going down
Go out to them and bring them back in. That's
the point. Help those who are weak. How do we
do that? Well, patient reassurance. Shepherd
-like care. Perhaps doing things like the Samaritan
did for the man that he found who had been beaten
and left for dead. Helping those who are weak.
There are those you know whom God wants you to
help this week Let's not neglect doing that There's
a little boy one time who wandered into a Meeting
where the gospel was being preached. He was very
poor Really a street child as we would call him
today And having heard the gospel preached in
that meeting he was genuinely converted Not long
afterward, there was a man who had known him
from his days past who tried to shake him in
his faith and posed a question to him to try
to make him stumble. He said, if God really loves
you, why doesn't he take better care of you by
telling someone to give you a new pair of shoes?
This little boy who had just been saved a few
days thought for a moment about that. tears began
to trickle down his cheeks. And he said, well,
I guess he does tell somebody, but they just
forget. There are some people out there, folks,
who are weak and who are burned out. It may be
somebody seated right next to you. Or maybe someone
that you work with. Or some person who lives
in another state and God is saying to you this
morning help that person Lay hold of that brother
that sister To lift them up and give them what
they need at this moment If God is saying that
I urge you don't forget it, but do what he tells
you to do And then our Lord says that we are
responsible to be patient with all Now I could
wish that there were lots of verses in the Bible
on patience that had been left out. It would
make my life a lot easier if I weren't reminded
constantly to be patient. Because that is not
a natural virtue of mine. That comes as a surprise
to some people who know me only in this kind
of a setting. But those who know me more intimately
know that it's not one of my prime qualities.
especially those who ride with me in the car
when I'm all alone, if you get the drift of what
I'm saying. It is so difficult for me to be patient
with unlicensed drivers who are on the road.
How about you? What is the point where you are
tried regarding patience? I am sorry to tell
you this morning, no, I'm really glad to tell
you, that the Word of God says to all of us who
struggle with patience, be patient. Be patient
with all. I wish there had been some kind of
qualification on that. Be patient with those
who are good drivers. Because that's easy to
do. Be patient with those who think like you
do. Because that's easy, but he says be patient
with all. I believe he means even the unsaved.
Be patient. The idea means to be long -suffering
or long -tempered regarding them. Show restraint
in the face of provocation. Hang in there tough
when you're facing pressure from other people,
when you are disappointed. When someone gives
you pain or hardship He says refuse to yield
to inappropriate anger One who is patient does
not give in to short or a quick temper is not
irritable or negative Rather is considerate even
laid back and moderate Certainly, this is a disposition
that is needed in dealing with people where you
work, right? And it's needed, too, with some
of the people in your small church. Occasionally
it's even needed with your husband. Rarely is
it needed for your wife, but once in a while.
Be patient, he says, with all. And finally, if
we're going to be our brother's keepers, which
we are commanded to be in a healthy and godly
sense, we must seek the good for all. The opposite
of this is retaliation, which he talks about.
Retaliation is more natural to human nature.
When someone slugs you, you slug them back. There
are some who even use scripture to try to attempt
to justify personal revenge. The scribes did,
you know, in Jesus' day. They used that verse
in Exodus 21, an eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth. And if you have listened carefully on
television, you have heard that very recently
from some of their descendants in Israel. And
I'm not saying it's improper. But I am saying,
and using it for personal revenge, it's improper.
Jesus refuted a false scribal inference drawn
from this verse, says one commentary. An eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was originally
intended to restrain people from going beyond
equal retaliation in punishment for social wrongs
against the community. That's the context, you
see. The scribes had distorted the commandment's
purpose by using it to justify personal revenge.
What had been given as restrictive law had through
human traditions been transformed into permissive
rule. In speaking out against this tradition,
Jesus emphatically set the tone for his followers
in forbidding personal revenge altogether. He
says that you and I are to pursue earnestly the
good of all. Everyone is bearing some kind of
a burden and so it's easy, it's important rather
for you and for me to be kind. To treat others
the way that we ourselves want to be treated.
Let me once again summarize this in closing by
referring to one of Swindoll's comments where
he says, rather than return caustic comments,
with more caustic comments, frowns with more
frowns, fists with more fists, and backstabbing
with more backstabbing. Christians are exhorted
by the Lord to always seek that which is in the
best interest of both believers and unbelievers.
In other words, we are to return evil with good,
ugly remarks with kind words, frowns with smiles,
with attempts at reconciliation and backstabbing
with genuine forgiveness. If we would honestly
obey this command, historians would be unable
to sufficiently record the revival that would
sweep Christ's church and the vast numbers of
people who would convert to Christianity. Do
you remember the story that John Benham told
about the lady in the tribe on Taliabu that he
met? or rather it was a man, a father. His son
had been playing with some other children and
they decided to find out what would happen if
you poked a hot stick in someone's eye. And so
they held down his son and poked the hot stick
into his eye, blinding him in that eye. The father
went to those who did that. And this father had
been converted as a result of the ministry of
Steve and Mary Lynette in that place. And he
said to those responsible for this incident and
to the parents, if it were not for the fact that
I were a Christian, I would kill you. But I am
a Christian and I forgive you. That man on Taliabu
by his example says something to you and me.
When we're placed in positions where we are victimized,
where we are treated unfairly, where we are exploited
and hurt. Seek the good, he says, of all. We
are not called to be isolationists. God is no
isolationist. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ,
into the world to pay the price for our sin.
And God has called you and me who named Jesus
as Savior and Lord to be ambassadors, not isolationists.
As the Father has sent the Son, so He has sent
us into the world to bring the world the message
of hope in Jesus Christ. and to lovingly address
the hurts and the needs of those around us. That
is our duty. It is an order which is delivered
to us by divine dispatch. We must first see the
need around us and then respond as Jesus would
respond. Sympathy sees and says, I'm sorry, but
compassion sees. and says, I will help. How will
you help? Is someone out of step with God? Warn
them. Is someone despondent? Comfort them. Is
someone weak? Help them. Is someone irritating?
Be patient. Has someone done evil? Do good. God
gives us here our duty to others. And I'm grateful
that God also gives us the resources we need
so that we can do our duty. He gives us the word
where we get the wisdom to know what can be done
to help. He gives us the Holy Spirit who gives
us the power to respond. And He gives us the
Church to support us. in our response to the
needs of others. One preacher on an occasion
took two phrases that were familiar and made
a sermon out of them. The two phrases were, what
in the world are you doing? And for heaven's
sake. The sermon went like this. What in the
world are you doing for heaven's sake? What in
the world are you doing for heaven's sake? What
in the world are you doing for heaven's sake?
What in the world are you doing for heaven's
sake? And it concluded, what in the world are
you doing for Heaven's sake, our responsibility
to others. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we would be
like you and respond to the needs of others as
you would respond. Sometimes we find ourselves
so overwhelmed with our own needs that it's difficult.
lift us from our sense of need to see the sufficiency
that we have in Jesus Christ to fulfill our duties
to others. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by
our own selfishness and sinfulness that we don't
respond. Forgive us and give us a heart of repentance
that we might see. and with sympathy say, I will
help. May we be more than hearers of the word,
but doers as we go our way. And because we are
yielded to your spirit and walking with you this
week, may our lives make a difference and may
we do something in this world for heaven's sake.
Let's stand together please to be closed in prayer.
Let's just sing the chorus that I think you know.