The Will of God in Christ Jesus For You

The Sanctuary Downtown / Relentless Love

What is the will of God for me? I ask that question all the time. In the Old Testament, the will of God is very practical, applicable, and comprehensible. It’s often called “The Law.” In the New Testament, not so much: Love, pick up a cross, eat my body, and drink my blood. Recently, praying for some very specific guidance, my wife said, “I just heard the Lord say, ‘Read 1 Thessalonians 5.’” It was some confusing stuff about the end of the world, sin, and faith. But then, verse 18 caught my attention: “This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” What is? Verse 15, “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. [Does God do this?] Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances [literally “in everything”], for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I doubt that I’ll reform the criminal justice system; pretending to be happy makes me sad; praying constantly seems impractical; and yet, I can make myself say “Thank you” with perhaps a mustard seed of faith. “Thank you,” for what? Ephesians 5:20, “always and for everything.” 1 Timothy 4:4, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified [made holy, the seventh day is holy] with the Word of God and prayer.” “Give thanks always and for everything in everything, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Try it. Close your eyes, and for half a minute just thank God for everything that pops into your head. If you really thanked God always and for everything in everything, wouldn’t you come to believe that nothing happened to you by chance and everything was a gift, for God was telling a story -- a good story, the Gospel according to you... which would be your life? But who actually does that? You tried for half a minute, correct? How did it go? 1. Did you thank God for good things? If so, did you earn any of those good things? If you earned those things, did you earn yourself who earned those good things? How can you thank God for your dinner if you believe that you earned that dinner? If you think you own things because you earned those things, you don’t own them; they own you. But when you thank God for a thing, it transforms that thing from an idol into a temple — a way to worship God who freely gives all things to you. “All things are yours,” wrote Paul. 2. Did you thank God for “bad” things? How about sex, drugs, and alcohol? Jesus said, “As often as you drink of this cup, do it in remembrance of me.” And He gave thanks. Maybe He meant every cup of alcohol: “Do this with me, so it won’t be an idol, so it won’t have you, but you’ll have it together with me — communion.” Maybe people, cars, houses, food, and wine become holy with just a word that rides out on your tongue: “eucharisteo,” thank you. “Everything... is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer, when received with thanksgiving,” wrote Paul. It must be the Good Decision: Thanksgiving. 3. Did you thank God for your good decisions? If you don’t thank God for Good Decisions, you must think that you made those Good Decisions — like Faith, Hope, and Love. God is Love. Did you make God? Maybe you don’t make Good Decisions, but with Good Decisions, God in Christ Jesus is making you. Did you thank God for your Righteousness? If not, you must be self-righteous. Jesus is our Righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). 4. Did you thank God for your bad decisions? If “God created everything” (Eph. 3:9), and “everything created by God is good” (Eph. 4:4), I don’t know that we can actually thank God for bad “things” or bad “decisions,” for they must be no “things” and no “decisions.” Every lie is an absence of Truth. Every disobedience is an absence of Love. Every sin is an absence of Faith in Love, that is Righteousness. If you actually thank God for a nothing, it becomes a something — like Hope. And once we actually see a “bad decision,” we hope that it becomes a “good decision” — that’s repentance. Recently, I was feeling very sad that I was so sad and did not “rejoice always” until an idea popped into my head. I prayed, “Thank you that I’m poor in spirt.” And suddenly, I felt rather blessed. I prayed, “Thank you that I’m sad; I’m mourning.” And I felt comforted by one who knows all about sad and glad; I was glad to be sad. I prayed, “Thank you that I’m meek.” I felt like a lamb . . . and then, a lion. I prayed, “Thank you that I (the unrighteous) am hungry and thirsty for righteousness,” and I was satisfied... But often I’m confused. 5. Did you thank God for the confusion? I often feel like a field of wheat and weeds (tares), Good Decisions and bad decisions, and I can’t sort them out. That’s how I felt when my wife said, “Read 1 Thessalonians 5.” So, what’s the will of God in Christ Jesus for you? It must be that you would say, “Thank you” and keep walking. Which direction? I’m not sure it matters if you say, “Thank you,” and actually mean it, for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Say, “Thank you,” and He can straighten the path under your feet. Say, “Thank you,” and turn the page. Paul seemed to actually believe that you are a story being told, and when “it is finished,” you will turn around and see that “everything is good,” including every page of your story: Good and couldn’t be better. We all hope this and even teach this to our children. We read fairy tales to them. They all end with this idea: “…And they all lived happily ever after.” And yet, each fairy tale contains at least one very confusing and terrifying page like: “They were too late. Snow White had already taken a bite of the apple and was lying lifeless on the floor.” Why would I read that to my daughter? Well, one day she might bite the apple. And now she really needs to know that she’s not the author of the story; the Father of our Prince IS. She learns that by turning the page. If we think we’re the author of our own story, we’ll seize control of the plot, stop reading, and be stuck on one page in space and time. The devil keeps us in lifelong bondage through “the fear of death,” not death. The fear of death keeps us from turning the page. If you weren’t always trying to save your life, perhaps you could live your life? If I wasn’t always worried about myself, perhaps I could be myself? 6. How about the tree in the middle of the Garden? Did you thank God for that tree, the cross? That’s the Plot hanging on that tree. And this is a rather confusing page of our story. Just look. This is the worst thing that we have ever done. And this is the best thing that has ever been done. Maybe this is the only thing that has ever been done? This is the Word of God in and by whom all things are created and sustained. In this is Love, and Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. This is the Plot to every story and your story. Once you trust the Plot, you can enjoy every moment in every story. Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King: They were each terrifying the first time through, and then the kids started saying, “Read it again. Read it again!” Heaven is all creation constantly thanking God and enjoying every moment. 7. Did you thank God for the tree and your old “me”? I don’t think you can thank God for sin because sin is refusing to thank God. But you can thank God that you have sinned, for that is how He reveals His glory and gives it to you, making you just who it is that you actually are. 8. Did you thank God for your false self, so you can thank Him for your true self? The Cross destroys the illusion that I can create me, save me, and justify me (the weeds). And it reveals the truth that I am created, saved, and justified in Him (the wheat, the fruit). If you feel responsible for yourself, you’ll never be able to bear the weight of your own glory — Jesus gives His glory to you (Rev. 21:9-11). Your glory is Jesus. You cannot bear the burden of Love, for you are the burden that Love bears. God is love, and you are the creation of Love filled with Love, the Uncreated Creator. The only appropriate response is “Thank you . . . Thank you for the thank you. Thank you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, etc., etc., etc.” That got deep! But my point is simple: Say, “Thank you.” But who actually thanks God “always and for everything in everything”? On the night that the Plot was betrayed by all of us, He took bread, and when He had given thanks [eucharisto], He broke it and said, “This is my body, given to you.” And having given thanks [eucahristo], He took the cup, saying, “This is the covenant in my blood. Drink of it all of you.” That is “giving thanks always and for everything in everything,” including you. Who does that? The Will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Say, “Thank you.” And never stop. . . Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.