Jesus Get Me Out of This! (Advent 3, 1 Thes. 5:16-24)

“God, you have to get me out of this!” How many of you have ever prayed that prayer? I’ve prayed it lots of times over the course of my life. I thank God that it was never in a major crisis, because I’ve never had one. The ones I’ve thought were big, by the way, have turned out in hindsight not to be so terrible. More often than not, I have found myself with this prayer on my lips when the situation was wholly of my own making. Have you? I’ve done something collosally dumb. I have said something hurtful. I have not done something that needed doing. Whatever the situation, I have often found myself praying that God would rescue me from the consequences of my own stupidity. True for you, too?

Whatever the circumstances, this is not necessarily a bad prayer to pray. We find versions of it in the Psalms, for example. Listen to the opening verses of Psalm 116.

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
² Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.

³ The cords of death entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “Lord, save me!”

⁵ The Lord is gracious and righteous;
    our God is full of compassion.
⁶ The Lord protects the unwary;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.

⁷ Return to your rest, my soul,
    for the Lord has been good to you.

Whatever the specifics of the circumstance, the Psalmist clearly thought his life was endanger. He cried it to God and God saved him. The prayer and hymnbook of Israel is full of prayers for deliverance. Of the singers of Israel asking the Holy One for rescue: “God, get us out of this!”

Clearly then, my praying of this prayer and yours, too is common to people of faith. And we are not wrong to pray it. God get me out of this! God get us out of this! And when God does, we can pray Psalm 116 with ease.

One of my favorite movies is the Shawshank Redemption. It’s a great Advent movie, for it is about the coming of God in the form of a prison breakout. God comes in redemptive power to rescue Andy Dufresne, wrongly imprisoned. God comes in grace to Andy’s friend Red who, when he’s released, looks for and finds the map to take him to Zihuatinejo, Mexico, there to live out his days in peace with his friend. And God comes in judgment on the corrupt warden, who believed in the Bible and in discipline for everyone else. “His judgment cometh, and that right quickly,” is a cross-stitch motto that hangs on his offie wall. It is a quote from the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus. He saw that cross-stitch sign every day for years, but didn’t see it. And when the judgment of God came in the form of the police, he was not ready. Ready or not, God showed up. For Andy, for Red, and for the Warden.

But when God doesn’t show up, then what? What happens when God doesn’t show up?

What a strange question for the third Sunday of Advent. Advent, as we know, is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus. We have heard in the prophets of the first week, and in the proclamation of John the Baptist last week that God and/or God’s anointed is coming to redeem the people. You can count on it, they seem to say. We have been singing the prophetic call to “Ready the Way of the Lord,” which takes for granted that he is, in fact, coming. And yet, we can all point to times in our lives when, it seems, God was strangely absent. Times when God did not deliver. Times when we begged God to set things right. When we may have used the prayer of Isaiah from two weeks ago, “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” And. Nothing. Happened. Or rather, things just continued to happen as though God didn’t care. God wasn’t there.

Even in the Psalms, there is a recognition that God does not always come through. Think about Psalm 136, written in exile, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. . . .” is how it starts. Written by and for a people far from home, forgotten by God and mocked by there enemies, it is a Psalm that calls for revenge. It ends by saying to the Edomites, we will not forget how you mocked us. Our day of vengeance is coming. Not God’s day of vengeance, mind you. Ours. God has abandoned us. But if we ever get out of here, we are going to get our own back, and be blessed in doing so.

Is that where we’re left? I have no doubt that Psalm 136 really does express the heart’s cry of some of us at some points in our lives. Lost to God, far from home, whether metaphorically or literally, and the only hope in our heart is the hope of revenge. Is that where we’re left when God doesn’t show up? When our heartfelt prayer, “God get me out of this!” gets no further than the ceiling before it crashes with a thud at our knees?

Is this really a question for Advent?

1 Thessalonians is St Paul’s first letter, so the scholars tell us and I think they are right. And it was written to a group of people who were near despair precisely because God did not show up. Literally. Paul came to the city of Thessalonica (the story is told in Acts 17), where he reasoned in the synagogue and preached in the streets. And a small church was planted in Jason’s house. What did he tell those people? Well, we don’t have a record of Paul’s sermons and he was only there a short time (if the timeline in Acts 17 is right, only a few days). But when we read 1 Thessalonians, we can make a guess.

Jesus the Messiah had come. He was crucified. He was raised on the third day. He ascended into heaven. From there he gave the Holy Spirit to build the new people of God, Jew and Gentile together. And, here’s the clincher, he could appear at any moment in judgment to rescue his people and punish the wicked, to set all that is wrong right with the world. And some Jews, some God-fearing Greeks, more than a few women, believed. And Paul planted a church. And was arrested, jailed, bailed, and kicked out of town.

The story in Acts clearly indicates that Thessalonica was, except for the few that believed, hostile to the Gospel. In that environment, the hope of Christ’s soon vindication was strong. It’s rough now, but “his judgment cometh and that right quickly.” Maybe they said that. But the days passed. And then the months. And no judgment. No glorious appearing. No vindication. No setting to right. Worse, some of the believers began to die.

The Thessalonians began to wonder—did we misunderstand? So they wrote to Paul. Did we get it wron, Paul? Is Jesus coming again? Are those of our number who have died lost to us? Paul, you told us God was going to show up. And God didn’t!

And Paul picked up his pen.

And he writes, We thank God for you! For the fulness of your conversion to Christ! How you turned from idols and now wait for Jesus—who is coming! And so the letter unfolds. We did not come to you in vain. We did not come to you in flattery. We did not come to you for money—we worked ourselves! And you heard our word! You accepted it. And now you are suffering for it even as the prophets suffered. And when Jesus comes—did you know that he’s coming?—I am going to boast about your faith to him! We heard of your persecutions and I sent Timothy to be with you. He brought me your questions and this is my answer. Night and day, I pray for you that I might see you again and restore whatever your faith lacks. Flee immorality! Pursue holiness. Just like we taught you and as I know you are doing. Love the brothers. You don’t need me to tell you that. You’ve been taught by God and you’re doing it! But do it more. Live quietly. Mind your business. Work.

Great advice isn’t it? Keep on living in the hope of the coming of Jesus! Be faithful in suffering; live simply. Work hard. But we still haven’t got to the meat of the letter. Here it comes.

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Your loved ones are dead. So grieve! But this does not mean they are lost. So do not grieve hopelessly. Your loved ones will be raised. When? At Christ’s coming. You did not miss it. You did not misunderstand. Christ is coming. Strengthen each other with these words!

There are times in our lives when we will pray, “Jesus, get me out of this!” and Jesus will. And when those times happen, we shall pray Psalm 116 with hearts full of joy and thanksgiving! The cords of death entangled me, but you delivered me! My soul shall rest in your goodness. There will be times when we pray “Jesus get me out of this!” And it won’t happen. What then? I was once travelling in Dallas a number of years ago and I saw a sign for a health food company on a billboard. This was the slogan: “Helping to reduce the mortality rate.” I thought, when it dips below 100%, give me a call! It may be that you have been blessed by God’s mighty deliverance every time you’ve asked for it. Thank God! (And lucky you!) But even you, unless the Lord returns, are going to die. Your loved ones are going to die. There will be at least one time in everyone’s life when God will not deliver. Then what?

Then, remember Christ is coming. And when he does, the dead in Christ will rise and those who are alive and remain shall be changed. Christ’s coming is not on your timeline. Christ’s coming is not on my timeline. But Christ is coming. Therefore. . . .

Rejoice always! (as Erma read for us). When the coming of Christ seems remote, rejoice! He’s coming. When it looks like it might be tomorrow, rejoice! He’s coming. Rejoice. Live your life in such a way that the thought of the coming of the Lord leads you to praise! Leads you to joy! Leads to the embrace of God’s life in God’s world regardless of the circumstances.

Friends, that is not easy. To present it as a simple, be happy anyway! Slogan is to miss the point. Rejoicing always is something only God can accomplish in our lives. It is not something we can manufacture on our own. Hang on to that. I’ll come back to it in a minute.

Pray always! (most translations say pray without ceasing. But Paul here is using three sets of two-word commands). When Jesus doesn’t show up on your timeline, never so surrender to despair that you stop praying. The biblical example here is Job. Job who lost everything even down to his own skin and who was never told why (we’re told why, but he’s not), never stopped talking to God, challenging God, imploring God, accusing God. Job’s friends defended God’s righteousness. Job’s friends defended God’s justice. But, in all the text of that wonderful book, they NEVER talked to him. Do you know God’s last words to Job’s friends? Here’s a short version: “My wrath is kindled against you! For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Ask Job to pray for you and I will hear his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly!” Praying always means praying like Job.

A few months ago, Rachel and I were introduced to a wonderful singer-songwriter named Jaylene Johnson. Her song, Pray, Pray again captures Paul perfectly.

Pray when you're troubled, pray when you're tired Pray when you're empty, sad or uninspired Pray like Elijah, calling for rain, God's gonna answer, pray, pray again. Pray, when you don't have words Pray from your heart. Pray when you doubt you're heard Alone in the dark. Pray every question We don't know when But God's gonna answer Pray, pray again. Pray when you're thankful, praise like you should Pray when you're happy, say God is good Pray, pray in Jesus' Name, Thy will, Amen God's gonna answer, Pray, pray again.

Jesus is coming! Pray always.

Give thanks always! Remember, Paul is writing to people grieving over the death of others they loved. He is, as we’ve seen, writing out of a heart full of love for them, a heart that longs to be with them again to help in their healing. He is now power-of-positivity preacher. When he tells them to Rejoice! Pray! Give Thanks! Always, he does so on the basis of the Gospel—God has sent his messiah to build up a people made up of Jews and Gentiles. Jesus is reigning now. Jesus is coming again.

This is the source of your joy. This is the source of your prayers. This is the source of your thanksgiving!

But I just can’t! Are some of you thinking that this morning? Good. It means your honest. You’re thinking. And you’re wrestling with the word. Here’s the good news that Paul ended with in his letter, good news for the Thessalonians and Good news for you. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirirt and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do this!

Rejoice! Pray! Give Thanks! And all of that is the work of God keeping and preserving you until when? Until the coming of the Lord Jesus!

“Jesus get me out of this” is a prayer that is not always answered in the way we want. And when it isn’t, we rejoice. When it isn’t, we pray pray again. When it isn’t, we give thanks in all things. Why? Because even in the midst of it, God is sanctifying us. Making us holy. So that when Jesus comes we may be found blameless and greet his appearing with joy.