MPC 2nd January 2005.January 2 -1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 - "Peak Performance"
Stuart Atkinson MPC 2nd January 2005.
In May this year if you'd have been prepared to come to Sydney, and if you had a spare $795, you could have gone to see Anthony Robbins live.
Who's Anthony Robbins? He's not a rockstar, but he is a kind of a star. Anthony Robbins is one of the worlds' best motivational speakers. Anthony's travelling around the world running an event called Unleash the Power Within. A three day event that will give you the strategies to achieve your own personal peak performance.
And Anthony's got a good track record.
He's coached world leaders. He's coached sports stars, and he's helped top CEO's to achieve peak performance.
And he wants you to benefit from the same strategies they use. And if you go to his seminar, if you go to Unleash the Power Within, you too can learn how to attain your own personal peak performance, just like world leaders. Just like business leaders. Sports stars. Guys like Bill Clinton, Andre Agassi, Donald Trump. You can earn more money. Climb the corporate ladder, overcome fears, have more power, more influence. Be successful, just like your heroes. Tony will teach you the same strategies they use. So you can be like them.
Which is exactly what Paul's trying to do here at the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians. He wants the Thessalonians to be operating at peak performance for when Jesus returns. And he's pointing them to the models they need to follow. He's holding up the people they need to be like. If they're going to perform at their peak.
Only it's not world leaders. It's not business leaders they're meant to follow. Its their church leaders. Verse 12. Paul's saying use them as the models to follow. The ones who are over you in the Lord. Verse 12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.
Paul's strategy for peak performance is to be like them. Look up to them. Respect them. And be like them.
Which is a bit of a surprise, really, in our culture. To have church leaders as the ones you use as your role model. It's not the normal thing. I could be wrong but I don't think I've ever seen someone asking Phil Campbell for his autograph! I'm sure no one's got a poster of one of the elders on their bedroom wall as their hero. Why would you look up to your church leaders? Why hold them in high regard? They're very different from the kind of models Anthony Robbins is holding up as the ones to follow.
But Paul's saying here this is significant. We should respect them. We should hold them in high regard, because of what they do. Not because they're powerful or influential or particularly good looking, but because they work hard, because they admonish you. That's why you should look up to them.
If you've had to do it, you'll know it's hard work admonishing people. Not much fun having to correct people. But we're told here not only should you look up to them and respect them for it, you should love them for it. Its hard work. And its helpful to you.
Have you ever thought about that? About how hard it is to be a church leader? To have to correct people. To have to be the one to bite the bullet and say the hard words that sometimes need to be said. It's agonising. You'd rather be doing anything else but that. And you might as well draw a target on your back. Because is doesn't always go down well. Heartfelt thanks are not the normal response. No matter how gentle, no matter how helpful. No matter how loving the approach.
Correcting people is no fun, I used to have to do it all the time when I was teaching people to drive. I hated it. Slow down, speed up, too fast, too far over, wrong gear, brake!!! But I had to do it. It was necessary. It was valuable. For my life. For yours - if you were on the same road as me.
And Paul wants us to see the value in the hard work our church leaders do. You may not even know how hard they work for your sake. I've been around here at Mitchy, and I've seen it. Not just the hard work of our church leaders, but the agony involved in admonishing people. Not just having to do it, but having to deal with the consequences. Sometimes being hated because of it.
Paul says we need to respect those who work hard among us. We ought to hold them in high regard because of what they do for us.
How do you take criticism? Are you defensive? Do you become bitter?
If we're going to take on board what Paul is saying here instead of being offended we should be delighted, that someone would care for us enough to do that for us. We should thank them. We should hold them in high regard because of it. We should love them for it.
But not only that, we should use them as our model.
Which is a very different model from the Anthony Robbins model. For Anthony peak performance is all about being the best you can be, so you can make more money. So you can be on top. So you can get the most out of life. Like a Bill Clinton or an Andre Agassi. Its about power, money, influence. Being the best you can be in a self centred way.
Here's a quote from a guy who went to Anthony's weekend. See if you can count the number of times he refers to himself.
I don't have to go by anyone else's values or anybody else's beliefs. This is my life and if I want to enjoy the process I have the techniques and I know how to now.
It's a very me-centred philosophy.
But the model Paul is holding up, the strategy Paul is using to achieve peak performance will have very different outcomes to those of Anthony Robbins. Because of the different models he holds up for us to follow. Halfway through verse 13 you can see Paul's benchmark of peak performance:
Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
The kind of qualities God wants for us are encouragement, patience, forgiveness, not paying back evil for evil, but paying back evil with good. Keep doing good for others, regardless of how they treat you. It's not me first, it's how can I serve you. And that's hard to do. It'll mean giving up some of my time. It'll mean being less self centred. Being other person centered. It's going to cost. But we're to watch and learn from our models. As they work hard at caring for us, we're meant to do the same. And not just to each other. But to everyone else according to verse 15. We won't just look after each other, we'll look after others, people we find it hard to like. People we don't even know. Like people who've been devastated by tidal waves, as the On Call Care Team organises this week. People in need. This is what peak performance looks like according to Paul. This is the way God's people should behave as they wait for Jesus to return.
And not only that if you follow from verse 16 they'll be joyful, they'll be prayerful, they'll be thankful, no matter what the circumstances. Verse 16:
Be joyful always; Pray continually; Give thanks in all circumstances.
This is God's will. No so much to be successful in what you do but to be thankful no matter what. It's a big ask. How do you do that?
Be joyful even when you're being treated terribly. Which the Thessalonians were. Constantly depending on God in prayer, no matter what. Could you do that, even when your house, your belongings, maybe even your whole family is washed away by a tidal wave as we've seen this week? Being thankful in all circumstances. Or are you griping all the time about far less than that?
There's a well known hym called "It is well with my soul". The hymn's well known. But its not so well known that Horatio Spafford wrote it in tragic circumstances. In 1871 a fire wiped out a big chunk of Horatio's investments in Chicago. His son had died shortly before the fire. In 1873 Horatio planned a trip to Europe with his wife and four daughters. While he was there he was going to help with some evangelism, with his friend Dwight Moody. At the last minute business prevented Horatio from going, but he sent his wife and his four daughters on a ship ahead of him. On November 22 the ship was struck by another ship and sank. Only his wife survived. And in the light of the loss of his four daughters this is when he wrote this hymn. The words of the first verse:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
See, peak performance is so different for Christians. It isn't so much about being successful as it is about being joyful. About trusting in what God's doing despite the circumstances. This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Be joyful, pray, give thanks.
But it is hard, isn't it? It's very easy to be discouraged. Especially if you've got some wrong expectations. Like they've had in Thessalonica.
If you remember this is a church that started strongly. In spite of suffering they welcomed the message. Chucked out their idols to serve God. Received the gospel with the power of the Holy Spirit. With deep conviction. But now Paul's not there. And they're facing their own wave after wave of difficulty. Their strong start with the Spirit is now in danger of being quenched. They're treating prophecy with contempt we see here. Despising it, instead of testing what's said against God's word. It's a slippery slope according to Paul. You need to keep on seeking what's right and holding on to it. That's how we keep sharp isn't it? We keep testing what we hear against what the Bible says. So we can hang on to the good. So we can ditch what's not. And avoid evil.
But the great thing to remember as we come to the end of 1 Thessalonians is that as you do the hard work, its not just all of your effort, not just your hard work, but it's actually God doing it. There from verse 23. It's the Holy Spirit who is sanctifying you to the end. Verse 23:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
If you remember back to chapter 1 verse 4 Paul said this:
For we know, brothers loved by God that he has chosen you.
It's God who brought the gospel to them. It's God who chose them. And it's God who'll keep them blameless until Jesus comes. And he's going to bring them to the end.
The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. Great news.
If you're finding it difficult, this is God's work. It's not a do it yourself. Not just self empowerment to be the best you can be. In the end the peak performance is about what God is doing in you. As you live out what he's called you to.
The NIV note says Final Instructions above the section we've looked at today. This is a kind of a summary of the letter. If you remember in the first couple of chapters we heard how the Thessalonians became model Christians through imitating model leadership. Then we read about the encouragement to keep running when it gets hard. Also how our care and concern for one another will mean right attitudes towards work and sex. And how Jesus has secured the future of those who are in Christ. By his death and resurrection.
Right through this letter Paul is reminding the Thessalonians how to live in light of Jesus' return. As he finishes his letter he says again. Follow the right kind of leaders. And hold them in the highest regard. Care for each other the way they care for you. Urge, encourage, warn. Always be joyful, prayerful, thankful. That's how he wants them to be found when Jesus comes. Question is, is that what you look like? As you run through the list. As you look forward to Jesus' return. As you look forward to 2005. Maybe you need to have a good think about the hard work your leaders have been doing to serve you. Maybe when Phil's back next week you can thank him for the hard work he's done this last year. Maybe ask to be admonished. See what sort of reaction you get. Ask for his autograph!
Why don't we finish by reading Paul's prayer from verse 23:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.