The bing-bong announcement comes over the loudspeaker in the shopping centre.’ Could the parents of Jimmy Jones please make their way to the security desk?’ Wee Jimmy had wandered off, got separated from his mum and dad, and is now in floods of tears. Or, as happened to a friend of mine, he went into the toilet, and his whole family hid on him. He thought he had been abandoned...
The pain of separation might be particularly acute in a young child, but anyone can know that sense of separation, that loneliness. Maybe lying sick in bed while everyone is away out to work. The empty nest syndrome when the children grow up and leave home.
Do you remember back in Genesis 2, amidst everything that is good and very good, there is one thing that is not good. What was it? The fact that Adam was alone. That’s pointing to the union of man and wife in marriage, but it’s also pointing to the fact that we are social beings, made for relating to one another in community.
In our reading today, Paul is experiencing that sense of separation. He had spent three weeks in Thessalonica, preaching the gospel, planting the church, before he was driven out of town by the Jewish opposition. He had travelled on to Berea, then Athens, and is now probably in Corinth, but he was worried about his new Christians.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen how he became so attached to the Thessalonian Christians: gentle, like a mother caring for her little children (2:7), dealing with them as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging them... (2:11). So look at how he describes his absence from Thessalonica in verse 17:
‘But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought)...’ For Paul, it’s not that the Thessalonians are out of sight, out of mind; rather it’s that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And the phrase he uses, ‘torn away from you’ has, in its roots, the idea of being orphaned. If Paul was like a father and mother to these Christians, he feels the absence like an orphan.
Paul is showing that it’s not good for us to be alone - especially in our Christian walk. To be cut off from fellow believers is a painful reality - something the housebound mention regularly. They wish they could be here, if only they were able to. They echo those words of Paul in verse 17-18 - intense longing, made every effort, wanted to come to you. Yet even with his desire, he found his way blocked. ‘Satan stopped us.’
Have you felt this pain of separation from other Christians? Perhaps it comes on a Sunday we don’t make it to church. It doesn’t really feel like a Sunday! Or maybe it was an extended period of illness, when we weren’t able to be with other believers. Or we miss the singing or voice of someone who always sat beside us or behind us. (There’s great encouragement for each other as you take part in the singing, and praying, you know!). Perhaps we can gain a greater understanding for those who wish they were here, but now feel cut off, lonely and separated.
It got so bad for Paul, he could stand it no longer (3:1). He thought it was best to be without Timothy for a while, so that he could send him to be with them, to strengthen and encourage them. You see, Paul recognised the spiritual dangers of the pain of separation. We see them at the start of chapter 3.
Verse 3 shows that they could have been shaken by these trials, of opposition and persecution and suffering. They were new Christians, facing opposition, and on top of all that, they were separated from the only other Christians they knew.
Paul had promised that persecution would come, but it’s another thing to actually experience it. They had watched as the persecution drove Paul out of town. They were now facing the same opposition themselves. What would they do? Would they stand firm, or would they give up?
So Timothy is sent - to strengthen and encourage, but also to ‘find out about your faith.’ Paul’s great fear was that the tempter might have caused them to give up, and so his efforts would have been useless. So Timothy leaves, and Paul waits. Was it all in vain? As we wait for the answer, let’s consider who we, like Timothy, can go to - to bring strength and encouragement. Is there a neighbour we can look in on, and share a wee something from the service with? Or read the Bible with?
Eventually, the wait was over, and as soon as Timothy returns, Paul writes this letter. You see, in verse 6, the report was good - their faith and love continues! They too long to see Paul and the others again. They are continuing to believe, even in those difficult circumstances, through the pain of separation, because they found strength in the partnership demonstrated by Timothy. His visit and return sparks immense thankfulness and praise, with the mutual encouragement and strength and joy.
Paul has been encouraged in his distress and persecution (7), just as the Thessalonians were as well. The strength of Christian fellowship and partnership blesses and benefits everyone. That’s something that you find in pastoral work - when you think you’re there to bless someone else, often you find yourself blessed even more - as you see someone’s faith grow, or hear them pray. Paul puts it this way in verse 8: ‘For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.’
What are the encouragements you’ve found from being with and standing with other Christians? The cup of tea after church is a great way of getting to know one another, but could we take it a bit deeper - and talk about faith as well as football and the weather? Ask someone to pray for you (or with you) - and watch as God answers those prayers. Perhaps you’ve had an answer to prayer - share that encouragement with someone else, it’ll encourage them in their prayers too!
Paul is seeking to overcome the pain of separation, and so he prays day and night that he may see them again - so that he can supply what is lacking in their faith. He has more to tell them. And so he prays all the time that he’ll be able to see them face to face.
But it’s in the closing verses of chapter 3 that he tells them what it is he is praying. And this prayer sums up the whole letter. The first two bits round up what we’ve seen so far:
‘Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.’
If it’s Satan that has blocked their way (2:18), then they ask the Father and the Son to remove the roadblock. He prays that he will be able to see them again. But more than that, he prays that their love will be like his love. You can’t doubt Paul’s love for them - his nursing mother, father-like, orphaned love for them. He prays that they will love like this - love each other like this, and love everyone else like this. We’ve seen those things already in the letter.
But the last part of the prayer points us forward. Here’s what we’re coming to now; what the rest of the letter will be all about. ‘May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.’
The Christian life can often bring these times of separation. We’re isolated for various reasons, but the partnership of the church gives us strength for the road. Paul lifts our eyes from the here and now, and points us to the end. One day we won’t be on our own. One day we’ll know the fullness of joy, when Jesus comes with all his saints, when we are gathered with Jesus.
But between this day and that day, Paul prays that we will be strengthened in holiness, to be one of the saints, God’s holy people. Now that might sound very churchy, but as we’ll see, it’s very practical, and very down to earth - it’s about living in purity, in hope, and in everyday life.
The pain of separation may be real, with all its spiritual dangers. But God has given us the strength of partnership, as we come together, to encourage one another, to build one another up, and also as we pray for one another. So let’s pray now...
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 14th October 2018.
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