Surviving normality: 1Thes.4:1-18

Jon Ortberg wrote a book called Everybody’s normal ‘til you get to know them. And I wonder: Is there such a thing as normality? The premise of the book is that what we typically describe as normal is in fact only “usual”. It’s what we usually experience; it’s how we usually live. Normality is defined by the kingdom of God not the small world we inhabit in a daily basis. Somehow, as Christians we have to learn to live in these two worlds: The kingdom of God, which is our normality, and the world as it is, our usual-place. So perhaps what we’re really talking about today is faith through usual times, but normality is just an easier way to describe it.

What exactly is normal about trying to live a life that pleases God in a secular world, in a world that often seems to want little to do with faith, with church, with Jesus? Are there normal prayers, is there such a thing as normal worship, normal discipleship? Is our version of normality just another way of saying we’re waiting around for something new to happen, for Jesus to return and make things right? That’s what appears to have begun to happen in Thessalonica.

Of course, if we stick with our sailing metaphor of plain sailing, then normality offers us the chance to do stuff that storms don’t allow. Check the decks, keep house, and reflect on life. But if the old adage is true, that stress and pressure offer the greatest opportunities to grow, what do we do when the pressure is off?

So I thought about normality and decided that the real challenge was finding God in the ordinariness of daily life. To discover the abundant life that Jesus offers right in the middle of the mundane experiences of cleaning the house, of working the night shift, of commuting to the office or working from home. If we are, according to Jesus, abiding in him and he in us, then he is in our ordinariness as much as he is in the extraordinary that might happen around us. And, if we can’t find him in the ordinary, then our Christian lives will be spent waiting for the extraordinary to happen in order to see him.

Paul challenges the Thessalonians to “Make it your ambition to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, work with your hands… so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders” (4:12)

Thessalonica is in north-east Greece, in the region of Macedonia. Rebuilt by one of Alexander the Great’s generals and named after his wife. Under the Romans it became a regional capital. Paul visited Thessalonica during his second great missionary trip with Silas and Timothy. Enthusiasm for the second coming of Christ together with a Greek mindset that saw manual work as suitable only for slaves had lead to idleness and interference. Hence Paul’s’ challenge to live a quiet life i.e. not interfering in the lives of others, and to work with your own hands i.e. not irresponsible or despising when it comes to work. In other words, having given up work to wait for the return of Jesus, some of the Christians had little else to do with their time than to speculate about future events and meddle in the lives of others. Daily life had nothing to offer in the way of walking with God. Paul turns this around and calls them to a lifestyle of daily living that wins the respect of everyone, especially those outside the community of faith.

How do we find God in the daily routine of life?

#1 Unselfishness

We are to please God (v1) and to love each other (9).

Rick Warren talks about making God smile through living out the five purposes of God:

Planned for God’s pleasure; Formed for God’s family; Created to be like Christ; Shaped for serving God; Made for a mission.

Another simple way of expressing a life that pleases God is to live in a way that honours him. What would Jesus do?

John Stott puts it this way:

… we are to develop a spiritual sensitivity towards God, through his Word and Spirit, until in every dilemma it becomes safe and practical to ask ourselves ‘Would it please him?’

Jesus said: Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, love others as you love yourself.

#2 Service

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal.6:2)

How do we best express love for one another?

Service. By seeing needs and meeting them, by caring for each other, by taking on the burden of care. But it’s not that easy. It’s not easy to know where the line is between interfering and caring, when it’s time to call and when it’s time not to call. It’s not easy working through that awkward feeling you get when you sit staring at the ‘phone wondering whether to make the call or not. Add the other side of the coin, the side where it’s easier to feel unloved and uncared for, and caring just got ten times more difficult.

Yet our love for one another is meant to be shining example to the world around us of our commitment to Jesus.

So, the next time you sit staring at the ‘phone wondering what you might say, you could always do what I do. Write a card instead!

Just try and find a way of letting someone know that they are loved. In itself it might just open the door to an act of service that you can bring.

# Grow

Paul tells the Christians at Thessalonica that they must grow. He says that they are to love God, more and more, and that they are to love one another more and more, too.

Being a Christian is not something static. We are meant to grow, to develop, to move forward. Peter writes about our need to desire spiritual milk as we begin our journey of faith with Jesus, but Paul and the writer to the Hebrews both warn that staying on milk is a sign of immaturity of a lack of growth. We were meant to grow. In this life we will never finally arrive.

Being a Christian is about transformation, about becoming. So we should grow, we should expect to grow, and we should expect those around us to grow.

How are you growing?