I Thessalonians 3:9-13
Lord, strengthen our faith.
Lord, clear our path.
Lord, increase our love.
Indeed, how can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have before God on account of you? Night and day we are praying earnestly to see you in person and to supply what is lacking in your faith. May God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord increase your love and make it overflow for each other and for all people, just as ours does for you, so that he may establish your hearts as blameless in holiness before our God and Father, when our Lord Jesus comes with all his saints.
There is a new religion sweeping our country. It’s infiltrating the media, schools, businesses, the military, and even the Christian Church. It’s called “wokeness.” It says that you need to wake up to any kind of oppression against minorities or marginalized groups and actively fight against it.
Wokeness is deceptive because it speaks to issues we agree with. We don’t agree with racism, or putting people down who have a different world view than us. But when you look more deeply at this man-made religion, you realize that it does not breath the spirit of Jesus. The devil is good at laying his lies right next to the truth in order to cause people to stumble.
The answer to wokeness is for us to “wake up.” The woke culture is about anger and making people feel guilty. It’s about putting others down. Being awake is about the joy that Jesus gives us, about leading others forgiveness and the release from the curse of guilt, and about lifting others up to see the new life and hope that Jesus gives to all people.
The words of St. Paul are a perfect call to wake up to the exciting challenges of reaching out to our culture. He offers three prayers for us as we serve as a holy nation and a kingdom of priests in our confused and struggling society. Listen attentively to A PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR THE NEWYEAR.
Lord, strengthen our faith!
Lord, clear our path!
Lord, increase our love!
Lord, strengthen our faith!
Paul must have seen Thessalonica as a good place to do mission work. It was a large seaport city(@200,000) that connected East and West. He found immediate success. Paul tells us this in this letter when he says, “when you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you did not receive it as the word of men but as the word of God (as it really is), which is now at work in you who believe. (2:13). But some who rejected his message were jealous of his success, and began a riot. That unfortunate event forced Paul to leave the city after a few weeks of ministry.
Like a concerned parent for a child, Paul couldn’t stop thinking about them. He tells us that he was worried that Satan, who was behind the persecutions that erupted against this toddler of a congregation, would break their spirit and lead them back to idolatry. So he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how things were going. His report to Paul was just what the doctor ordered to calm his fears.
Timothy told him that the congregation was strong in the face of persecution. All their works were a product of a glowing faith. Their labor was prompted by love. They endured because they held strong to their hope of eternal life. They were, in fact, a shining example to all the churches in Macedonia. No wonder Paul says, “Indeed, how can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have before God on account of you”.
With all this said, Paul still wanted to make a return visit to finish some unfinished business: “...and supply what is lacking in your faith.” I don’t know about you, but at first glance it’s hard to say that people who are willing to endure ridicule and maybe even financial persecution had a “lacking” faith. But when we talk about faith, we not only mean the act of believing (the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts), but also the truths we believe. That’s why A PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR begins with the prayer: Lord, strengthen our faith.
We use the same means as did Paul: the Word of God. The Law exposes all our wrinkles, all our blemishes, all our sins. It moves all the rocks under which we try to hide our sinfulness. It leaves us exposed to the all-seeing eyes of God. And then, instead of destroying us, it declares the Gospel’s good news of forgiveness to us. It leaves no doubt that we stand forgiven because of what Jesus has done for us. Athletes don’t get stronger and faster by sitting on a couch eating Twinkies and Ho-Ho’s. You don’t strengthen faith by neglecting the nutrition of the Scriptures.
Paul’s goal is our goal: that we will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. Let’s understand those words the way the Bible uses them. This is not a blamelessness and holiness to earn eternal life. This is about a blameless and holy in the presence of people. A stronger faith will show itself in a God-pleasing life. A woke world needs to see that our faith means something to us; that it shows itself in our life and conduct. A woke world is quick to call Christians hypocrites - an often with good reason. May that not be said of us. As we grow in our faith, let the actions of our faith be a blessing to all people.
So, as we begin the new church year, A PASTOR’S PRAYER begins with the prayer: Lord, strengthen our faith!
Lord, clear our path!
For Paul to supply what was lacking, he felt he needed to be with them. So he prayed, “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.”
Why didn’t Paul just visit them? He tells us, “For we wanted to come to you...but Satan stopped us” ((2:18). The Old Foe used persecution and hostility to win the day. Paul’s prayer teaches us two unalterable truths:
1) Satan will do everything he can to try to keep people from growing in their faith; and
2) only the Lord himself can overcome the devil’s schemes.
So A PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR also includes this prayer: Lord, clear our path!
What’s in the way of your personal growth? What’s blocking your path? Are you caught up in the business of this life to the point that you don’t think you can spend time in spiritual growth? Are you beset by a personal vice (sin) that you aren’t ready to give up? Is it more important to quarrel than to resolve? To harbor a grudge than to say, “I forgive you”? To be filled with alcohol rather than with the Spirit?
A pastor told me of a woman of his new congregation whom he visited. He discovered that she hadn’t been to church in 20 years. When he asked her why it was so, she told him that “Pastor so and so” didn’t say “hello” to her when she shook his hand. He told her, “Did you know that he died 15 years ago?” What a disastrous road block Satan put in her way! Are you aware of the roadblocks he has set up in your life?
What’s blocking the path for our congregation? Remember the goal along our path: Make disciples of all nations. Is the road block an attitude of discrimination? Is it a refusal to be all things to all men so that we can share the gospel? Is it bad feelings toward another member of the congregation? Is it an unwillingness to use God-given talents and gifts? Remember, they are there by Satan’s design, and only God can remove them.
The path can only become clear in our hearts through contrition and repentance - the things that God does through his Word. He alone can bring us say “I’m sorry for sinning” and lead us to the joy of forgiveness. He clears the path so that we can know the peace of a good conscience and can fight the fight of faith. He clears the path so that we can boldly do the work he has entrusted to us as a congregation.
So we add this to our wish list: Lord, clear our path! We ask that God would use his Word to clear our path of everything that hinders us from doing his work - individually and as a congregation. A clear path in our own lives allows us to speak to a woke generation with a clear conscience, and humbly share the joy that is ours in Christ.
Lord, increase our love
The third wish that Paul expresses in his prayer to his beloved congregation is this: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else.” He is saying that he wouldn’t be satisfied with a full glass of water; rather, he wants the water running over. He doesn’t want his friends to have love, he wants them to have lots of love.
Love is a fruit of faith. Where you find faith in Christ, you find the love of Christ. “We love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19). “Christ’s love compels us” to love. The closer we are to Jesus, the stronger our love. So A PASTOR’S PRAYER concludes, Lord, increase our love!
Paul wants Christians to show love for each other. The home is the practice field for these words. We show love by listening, sharing, forgiving, encouraging, building up and correcting our spouse, our children. Love is the legacy you leave your children for their future home.
The congregation is where we develop relationships with like minded people. Then we use our gifts and talents as a united body to advance the good news that is taught in this church. Love is an action. And the Lord wants us to actively express love for each other in order to build each other up, to offer comfort, to keep each other walking in he ways of Jesus.
Let us recognize that our worship attendance is a moral booster for our fellow members...we don’t go to church only for ourselves. Let us be willing to call a fellow member who we haven’t seen in a while and tell them, We miss you. Let us be willing to listen to someone who needs an understanding ear, offer a meal to someone who is sick, visit someone who is in the hospital. Let us support the agencies of our congregation with our presence and service - the Ladies’ Group, the Adult fellowship, etc. Let us support the Christian education opportunities that exist in our congregation.
If we can share love with each other, then we will also be ready to share love with others. That was a tall order for the Thessalonians, wasn’t it. Paul was saying, “Show love to your persecutors and detractors.” Our woke culture, when you study it to its core, really has no love for Jesus, and so will have no love for you. But that doesn’t stop us from sharing the love of Jesus with other.
If these words sound like a tall order, if it sounds like we have a grand prayer this year, it’s only because it’s Biblical. Maybe that’s why Paul comes back to the prayer, May he strengthen your hearts. Our life is tied up with the means of gaining strength - the Word and Sacraments. For these prayers, stated in the form of wishes in our text, to come to pass, we need to be connected to the Word and Sacraments in the new year.
Paul says all these things because Jesus’ return is imminent. He will return with his saints - the saints and angels. We don’t know when that will happen. But it ought not matter. St. Augustine once said, “He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near. It is he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with a sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love.” That’s why we pray, Lord, increase our love!
Yes, Jesus will return. Until that day, A PASTOR’S PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR is one that is challenging and Christ-focused. Lord grant us our fervent, prayer-filled wishes: Lord, strengthen our faith! Lord, clear our path! Lord, increase our love! For, when he grants us these things, we can be sure that he will bless us with a very happy new year. Amen.
Rev. Thomas E. Bauer
Shoreland Lutheran High School
Somers, WI