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November 11, 2004
2nd Sunday of End Time (Saints Triumphant)
Building Together Celebration Sunday
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5
Pastor Robert Raasch

What to Do While You Wait

1. Give Thanks to God
2. Stand Firm in the Truth
3. Pray that the Message Spread Rapidly

When was the last time you found yourself waiting for something to happen? Maybe you just purchased a piece of furniture for your home and you were waiting for it to be delivered. Or maybe a week and a half ago you stayed up half the night waiting to find out who your next president would be. Or maybe on this Celebration Sunday you are now waiting to find out the total amount committed to the Building Together campaign. Let's face it, as we go through life, we all have to spend a certain amount of time waiting. And as we wait, we sometimes find ourselves wondering what to do while we wait. Recently, I ran across a list of things you might want to do while you're waiting for your family to shop at local Wal-Mart. Things like: Put a bag of M & M's on lay away. Hide in the clothes rack and whisper, "Pick me. Pick me." Go into one of the dressing rooms and say in a loud voice, "Hey, we're out of toilet paper in here!"

Obviously, those are not very productive things to do while you are wait, but they are things you might be tempted to do, if you can't think of something better to do while you wait. Well, if that's true as you wait for something as minor as a family shopping trip, how much how much more is it true as we wait for something really important in life? Think about it. Every one of us is waiting for a very major event to occur. Something far more important that the delivery of a piece of furniture, something more historic than the election of a president, more life-changing than even a marriage, or the birth of a child.

What truly extraordinary event are you and I as Christians waiting for? We're waiting for the day when we will meet our Lord and Savior face to face, the day when we will be gathered together with all the saints triumphant, all those believers who have gone before us, all those who by faith in Jesus Christ have, as St. John puts it, "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." All those who are gathered around the throne of God crying out, "Holy, Holy, Holy," "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb."

Yes, God promises that the day is coming when you and I and all those who trust in Jesus as their Savior will be taken out of this world of pain and sickness, death and decay and instead be taken to a realm where we will enjoy perfect peace and joy, living in bodies that have been truly glorified. All that is ours, waiting for us on the Day of Jesus' return. But until that day, known only to God, you and I will just have to wait. And that brings us back to the question which will serve as the basis for our meditation today, namely:

What to Do While You Wait

In our text for today, the Apostle Paul provides a God-pleasing answer to that question. In this his second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, Paul gives his readers some instructions regarding how to spend their time as they wait for the Lord's return. These instructions still have application for our lives today. What will we do while we wait?

1. Give Thanks to God
2. Stand Firm in the Truth
3. Pray that the Message Spread Rapidly

First, give thanks to God. Paul begins, "We ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord." Boy, what an appropriate place to begin. As we think about what we will do while we wait for the Lord's return, it all begins with having an attitude of gratitude. It begins with simply being thankful for what we have received from God. Yes, being thankful for the material wealth he's showered on us, the food and clothing and shelter that's far more than we need to survive. But more importantly, we can thank God for the spiritual gifts he's given to us. St. Paul speaks of the spiritual work God has done on our behalf when he says, "We thank God for you…because from the beginning, God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit."

Think about that for a minute. Out of the billions of people in the world today, the majority of whom are not believers, God chose to save you, by calling you to faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. What are the odds? Just as an example, imagine that out of the millions of people who are playing the lottery this week, you are the one person who has the winning number. And what's more you never even bought your ticket. You found it lying on the ground. What are the odds of that? Don't you think you'd be saying, "Wow! This is incredible. I hit the jackpot-without even trying!

In a sense, isn't that were you and I stand with God? We've done nothing to earn his favor. Time and again, we've lived in rebellion to his authority. We've thought only of ourselves and destroyed the good name of others. But what has God done? He's given us the winning lottery ticket. For absolutely no reason on our part, God has chosen to save us. He did that first by sending his Son to the cross to die for our sins. And then God sent his Holy Spirit to use the gospel in Word and Sacrament to actually create saving faith in our hearts. And that whole process was not something you had a hand in. It was entirely by the hand of God. In fact it was work that God planned from eternity. St. Paul says, "From the beginning, God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."

And why did God go to all the trouble to make sure that you believed in Jesus as Savior? Paul says, (so) "that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." So that you might share in the glory. Can you imagine being a bat boy for the Boston Red Sox on the night they captured World Series? Running out onto the diamond, jumping up and down, surrounded by all those superstars, sharing in the glory of being crowned world champions! Well, that's nothing compared to the glory that will be yours when God gathers you together with the true saints in glory. That's when you'll share the glory of Jesus himself.

My friends, when you're tempted to complain about your lot in life, when you feel like life isn't fair, or you're getting the short end of the stick, let's take a step back and look at the big picture. Purely by grace, God has rescued you and me from hell. He's set us apart for his purpose. He's promised to take us into glory. And in so doing, he's given us something to do while we wait for that day. He's given us a reason to: I. Give Thanks to God.

Of course, our gratitude toward God is a direct result of our knowing the truth of what God has done for us. If we lose that truth, we lose our reason to be thankful. That's why St Paul gives his readers then and now a second thing to do while we wait for the Lord's return. He says not only give thanks to God, but also: II. Stand Firm in the Truth.

Boy, there's one that's easier said than done. The fact is, God's truth is under assault by the enemies of the gospel all around us. Whether it's those who claim that Jesus is not the only way to heaven or that all religions are basically the same. Whether it's those who say that Scripture must be interpreted in light of human reason. "Anything that cannot be proved by modern science must be rejected." Or those who claim that there is no such thing as absolute truth. In other words, "what is true for you is not necessarily true for me. You have your reality and I have mine." All of these are attitudes that undermine and ultimately deny Jesus' definition of truth: "Father, your word is truth." Or Jesus words in John chapter 14, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14: 6). Standing firm in the truth means holding onto every word of the Bible as the divinely inspired words of God, whether recorded by the prophets, evangelists or apostles. That's what St. Paul means when he says, "So then brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter."

If you think about it, that's an admonition that still applies to our lives today. Chances are there are a number of religious teachings that have been passed down to you from previous generations. Things that your parents or your confirmation pastor taught you. Things you read in a magazine or heard in a sermon. You know you're supposed to believe them, but you're not sure you do. Or you know what you believe but aren't sure why.

Well, God has given this time in your life to strengthen your grip on the truth. There's no better time than now to reconnect yourself to a study of His Word, either personally, maybe by checking out one of the People's Bible Commentaries downstairs, or taking part in one of the group Bible studies on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Saturday. The goal of such a study is not only to deepen our understanding of the truth, but also to strengthen our ability to defend the truth from those who would deny it or misinterpret it.

And yet, it must be said that our ultimate goal is not to merely hang on to the truth. Our ultimate goal is to share the truth with others. In fact, Paul makes that point in the final words of our text. He says, "Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you." In other words, what is the third thing that St. Paul encourages us to do while we wait? III. Pray that the Message Spread Rapidly.

This week I met with a couple of people who were wrestling with a question that I expect we've all asked ourselves before. The question was, "What will happen to all those people in the world who have never heard about Jesus and therefore don't believe in him? Will they go to hell? I mean, that just doesn't seem fair."

I said to the couple, "First, let's remember what it means to be fair. Being fair means giving a person what he deserves, what he's earned. The only thing that a world full of sinners has earned from a just God is eternal damnation! God clearly says that "the wages of sin is death," forever. So, if God were to send the whole world to hell without a Savior, there's not one person who could say, "That wasn't fair." No, that was perfectly fair. It's exactly what we deserved. What wasn't fair is that God had his own innocent Son die in our place. That's what we don't deserve, just as we don't deserve the chance to hear about what Jesus has done or believe what he's done. All of those things are acts of pure grace on God's part.

Secondly, let's remember that it's that fact, that God has had mercy on us-ultimately it's that fact that compels us to fervently pray that those other people hear what we have heard. That's what Paul means when he says, "Pray…that the message may spread rapidly." And yet, not just pray that that happens, do something to make that happen. Whether that means inviting our next door neighbor to come and worship with us, or it means driving carload of Hmong kids to Saturday school, or supporting the work of our Synod through our mission dollars, or investing in a facility that allows more people to hear and study the Word more often.

My friends, let's face it. Even though we are waiting for the Lord's return. Even though we are waiting to be gathered together with the Saints Triumphant, the fact is, we're not here to just mark time. God has given us much to do. He has given us a reason to offer him our thanks and praise for the goodness he has shown to us materially and spiritually. But more importantly, God has given us a reason to set a course for the future. To recommit ourselves to being firmly grounded in God's Truth and more aggressively sharing that truth with the world around us. God grant that this Celebration Sunday be the first step toward carrying out the God-pleasing plan in our lives and in our congregation, in Jesus' name. Amen.