Great Investments

Well, hello and good morning. Thank you. My name is Mark, one of the pastors here, and it's always fun to hear you guys greet each other. It was very lively, I love that. Well, I want to welcome all of you, those of you who are here in person or joining us on our live stream. We are so glad and grateful to be in church together today.

Great Start is our five week message series going through the book in the Bible called 1 Thessalonians. It's actually a letter the apostle Paul wrote to a group of brand new believers who lived in the city of Thessalonica, or Thessaloniki as it's called today. But here's the big idea. The Thessalonians got off to a great start after just three weeks of the apostle Paul's instruction and there has been an uninterrupted Christian presence in this city ever since. So the question is, how can we get off to a great start in this new year? I mean, how do you establish good habits or behaviors, priorities that won't fizzle out by the end of this month? Well, that's what we're learning from the Apostle Paul's words to these brand new believers.

And by the way, there is a devotional book that ties together with this. If you don't have one of these, they are free, available right out in the lobby. I encourage you to get one of these. There's a reading for every day in January, and so it's really not too late to get one of these again. Great resource.

Today, we are going to be talking about great investments. Yes, listen up because I'm gonna tell you about some opportunities that, I mean, we're talking massive returns here, okay? How big? Well, you cannot read the letter that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians without seeing how deeply invested Paul was in these brothers and sisters. And with impressive results, I might add, because the church he planted there has existed for 2,000 years. Now of course when it comes to investing, past results are no guarantee of future returns, right? But that doesn't stop us because we're always investing in something, right? The question is what am I investing in? Or more important, who am I investing in?

In today's scripture, we're going to see three ways that we can invest ourselves. I would say three of the greatest ways that we can invest ourselves. And there are three things that we see Paul investing in that we can emulate in our own lives. And so to begin, what if I was to tell you that you could be richer than some of the richest people on the planet right now. Because it happens when we invest in others. So the first thing I would like to communicate to you is this: be rich in love. Make it your desire to be rich in love.

I was at an intersection just the other day and the car in front of me had a bumper sticker that said this, it said, "Be the person your dog thinks you are." You seen this before? Be the person your dog thinks you are, because if you have a dog, you know anything about dogs, dogs love unconditionally. I mean, your dog thinks that you are the greatest person in the world.

One of our dogs is a chocolate lab named Boone. And you know how some dogs are obsessed with the ball? Like if you have their ball, you have their undivided attention. Well, you might say that I am Boone's ball. Because ever since he was a little puppy, all he ever wanted in life was to be with me. So if I'm in the kitchen, Boone's in the kitchen. In fact, he would park his head on my foot. If I was in the shower, Boone would be right next to the shower, as close as he could be without getting wet. In other words, Boone thinks that I'm awesome. He thinks I'm the greatest. And he believes with all his heart that I'm just as crazy about him. In fact, all the more so as both of our muzzles start to turn gray. We're just pals.

Well, when it comes to expressing his love for these Thessalonian believers, Paul is anything but shy. And he just gushes. Look how he pours out his heart here in chapter 2, starting at verse 17, when he says, "Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you," and remember Paul, Silas and Timothy, they had to abruptly leave the city because of threats to their own safety, their lives in fact. But afterwards Paul writes this, he says, "We tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again."

And here's how invested Paul was, this intense longing. You get another view of this. Just prior, there's the word he uses "when we were separated." And that word in the original could be translated orphaned or bereft. Like, we were like parents bereft of their children. And in verse 18, he says, "We wanted very much to come to you and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us." Now Paul doesn't elaborate what was involved there, this spiritual oppression, but I think we can say this much. If there is one entity who wants you to be relationally poor and to be bereft of opportunities in investing in others, well that would be your enemy, the devil. So when it comes to our relationships, the stakes could not be higher.

Picking up in verse 19, he says, "After all, what gives us hope and joy? And what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you, yes, you are our pride and joy." And Paul is imagining the day when he will be standing before our Lord and he's gonna point to the Thessalonians and say thank you God. Because these brothers and sisters are my pride and my joy.

Now don't miss this because Paul is not waiting until the second coming in order to say this. He's telling the Thessalonians this here and now in the moment how dear they are to him. And would you agree we only get so many moments? And so we would want to make every moment count, wouldn't we?

For example, years ago, when our kids Jack, Luke, and Anna were about nine, seven, and five, they're all relatively young. We had the opportunity, thanks to some kindness of our neighbors, to spend a week in a cabin up next to Huntington Lake. And one day I took the kids fishing, just me and the three of them, and we were fishing on the dam there, if you're familiar with that lake, there's just kind of a big dam at the end of it. It's a perfect place to cast a line, especially with little kids 'cause it's kind of open.

And if you know anything about taking little kids fishing, yeah, don't get ahead of me. It's just pretty much trying to keep their lines in the water. And so I'm spending just, three of them, it's three against one, I'm just going from one to the next, untangling lines, trying to get hooks that are snagged on the bottom of the lake, resetting their bait and stuff like that. And it's just going on and on, one tangle after the next, and tying new tackle back onto these things. And as the day warms up, you might say, I was warming up as well. I'm getting increasingly frustrated.

And about that time, there was a fishing game warden going along the dam and checking people's fishing licenses. And she walks up to me, and the kids are too young to need one, so she comes to me and she says, "Sir, are you fishing, and may I see your license?" And I turn to her and I say, "Does this look like fishing to you?" She's kind of stunned, and she says, "No, I guess not." And she just walks away.

Let me ask you again. Who's your crowd? Who's your pride and joy? You know, if I could go back to my younger self, I might gently say something like this. Mark, don't let these little frustrations cloud your perspective. I mean, after all, you're spending the day with three of the most precious people in your life. So don't miss the moment, dad.

And if you friends, if you do nothing else with this message, make a commitment right now to tell others, especially those in your inner circle, those people who are dear to you. Tell them how much they matter to you, how much you love them. Tell them while you still have life and breath and opportunity because the richest people in the world are people who are rich in love. So be rich in love.

And in keeping with this, if you're looking to invest in the relationships that you have and in fact to improve them, this second point is this: be eager to encourage. A legendary pastor and preacher Dwight Moody said this, "People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be, or who you encourage them to be, not what you nag them to be."

Paul was so eager to encourage the Thessalonians. I mean, again and again, he tries to return and there's no doubt that the opposition is probably using this as a source of criticism. "Hey, what happened to your pastor, people? Haven't seen him since he skipped town, why, he must really miss you." And it went beyond just mere criticism because Paul mentions in chapter 1, verse 6, he mentions that the Thessalonians experienced severe criticism.

So, unable to return in person, he says at the beginning of chapter 3, "Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we sent Timothy to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles."

So, plan A, right, was for Paul and Silas and Timothy to ride back into Thessalonica and it's like, hallelujah! You know, the three musketeers are back. Let's just pick up where we left off. But eventually Paul realizes that's not in the cards. And so they send Timothy. And that had to be very scary. I mean, Timothy's gonna go back to a situation that is not exactly safe.

But this is why encouraging others is so important. The situation there, the situation now, it's been this way since the beginning of history. Life is hard. Life is often hard, not always, but often it is hard. It's like John Ortberg often says, "Everyone has a story, and no one gets the story they want." These guys were not getting the story they wanted. And there are days, neither do you.

Jesus put it this way, "In this world, you will have trouble." So we should not be surprised, this is a promise from Jesus. You will have trouble, but then he continues, "But take heart, I have overcome the world." Take heart, because the day is coming when Jesus will set all things right. And in the meantime, we have the opportunity, we have the privilege of encouraging others with the hope and the strength and the resources that He gives us.

And I think for all of us, it would be good for us to be mindful that we're not facing the kind of persecution that Thessalonians did. In fact, we're not facing the kind of persecution that one in seven Christians on earth right now experiences. Severe persecution, one out of seven. But be that as it may, there are people in our world, here in relatively cozy Santa Cruz County, who are still nonetheless going through very real trials. So be eager to encourage.

Right now I would invite you in fact to write down or type a name into your phone, someone that this week you will encourage, that you will make an investment in word or deed in order to encourage them. Think of it this way. Think of it as an opportunity. Well, first of all, I want you to think of that person. Just kind of lock in on that person. Let's not skip that. But then think of this as an opportunity for you to do for them what someone in your life did for you. Can you think of that person?

One of the people that comes to my mind is a man named Roy Kraft. Pastor Kraft was the pastor of this church for 47 years. He was my pastor from the time I was a fifth grader all the way up and through my late 20s. And I may have shared this before, but I'll never forget when I just started on staff here. I was the new and inexperienced director of Camp Hammer. And Pastor Kraft was instrumental in the founding of that camp. And so he always stayed in a very helpful way, very much invested.

And so if I'd be in the church office and we were talking, he would ask me about the camp. He would invariably say, "Are there any needs that you have up there?" And if I said yes, he would find a way to meet them. Sometimes he would just hand me a check to take care of some sort of need. And he also would pass on very sage advice that benefited me greatly.

But what really sticks in my memory and in my life the most were the times over the years where I would have the opportunity to be talking with him and then he would look me in the eye and he would say, "Mark, I believe that God has great plans for your life." He did that on a number of occasions. And let me tell you something. When someone you admire, someone you hold in the highest regard, man, when they say that they believe that God has great plans for your life, not only is that deeply encouraging, but you know what? You might just be tempted to believe them. I mean, encouraging others is like a superpower. So use it. Because every time you do, you're making a deposit that will accrue over the course of time. And the greatest investment we can ever make are in the lives of other people. And so be eager to encourage.

Be rich in love. And third, this final point, be faithful in prayer. You know, there are two things that Paul teaches us about prayer in these next and final verses. First in verse 10, he says, "Night and day, we earnestly pray for you." Night and day, in other words, pray often. And then pray specifically.

Watch how Paul does this starting at verse 11. He says, "May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon, and may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow. May He as a result make your heart strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people." Well, that's very specific, isn't it? It's a very specific vision that he's praying will be realized in the life of these believers. And I think this is very instructive when it comes to our prayers, to be specific.

But I want to take a moment to address a question that I've been asked more than any other when it comes to prayer, and it goes like this. Why pray if God already knows the outcome? I mean, if God knows everything about the future, what's the point? I have no idea. And so we're gonna close in prayer. Actually, I do have an idea.

This is not all you can say about it, but I do think this is foundational because if you go back to Genesis chapter 1, very beginning of the Bible, very beginning of creation, you see God creating humankind and giving us the privilege of representing him in the wise and good stewardship of the world. In other words, he creates us to bear his image, to partner with him in what he's doing. And God has never abandoned this. We still bear his image even if imperfectly. And when we pray, God is inviting us into the conversation. God wants again to partner with us in His dealings in the world.

And so it should not surprise us when we arrive at the gospels. We see how Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Or in John 17, where the entire chapter is one long continuous prayer, including Jesus' prayer for you and for me, followers who have never seen him with our own eyes, and yet we follow him by faith. And even now, as promised in Romans 8, the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

I mean, wow, did you get that? The Holy Spirit is praying for you and you and you right now, knowing everything that's going on in your life. Some of them so hard, it's with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And we're invited to join the Spirit on behalf of others and of course ourselves. This is how much your voice matters to God. So stay faithful in prayer.

Because the day will come when Jesus will return and the veil between heaven and earth will be removed. Every act of love, every encouraging word, every prayer, it will all matter when our Lord arrives in glory, when His kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. And when that day dawns, we will have more clarity than ever before. I mean, what really mattered? How our lives influenced and impacted others. We will see in ways we just cannot see here and now.

And so in closing, I'd like to give us all just a little glimpse of this, far from perfect, but a glimpse that is an old movie that came out in 1995, that was a little time ago, it's called "Mr. Holland's Opus." If you're under 30, you probably missed it, but for the rest of us, you may well remember this scene.

Here's the setup. It's about a high school music teacher. And after 30 years, he arrives at his last day, in fact, the end of his last day. And as he's about to walk out the door for the last time, he's ushered into a school assembly being held in his honor. One of his former students, now governor, says to him: "Mr. Holland had a profound influence on my life, on a lot of lives, I know. And yet I get the feeling that he considers part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his and this was going to make him famous, rich, probably both. But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous, at least not outside of our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. And he would be wrong. Because I think he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched. And each one of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus, and we are the music of your life."

Any of you get a little teary? I think more often than not we wonder what our lives will amount to. We may even question our worth. And if it just comes down to who's trying hardest, well then I guess there's always someone trying harder.

Our Lord Jesus is a God of grace and love and in the power of His Spirit. He works in us and through us to touch lives in ways we'll never know until the day of His return. So I want to leave you with both a challenge and an encouragement. The challenge comes by way of this key question, which is how are my investments? Ask yourself, how are my investments, and don't get me wrong, financial investments have value, but relational investments are far more precious. And even now, even today, you are filling in the notes of your opus. And you will do that every single day that the Lord gives you.

So be rich in love, eager to encourage, and faithful in prayer. And by the way, please remember, my dear brothers and sisters, that if our Lord Jesus could take a few loaves and fishes and turn them into a banquet for thousands, I'm confident that he can take our humble efforts and multiply them into results and beauty and goodness beyond what we would even dare to dream.

And so to that end, let us pray. Our good and gracious Father, we thank You for this time to gather before You. I pray Your Word would now continue to act upon our hearts and lives, and that we would be a source of great blessing, strength, and encouragement to others. But Father, we cannot give what we do not have. And so Lord, meet us according to our needs today and fill us with faith, hope, and love. And now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. And all God's people said, Amen.