1 Thessalonians 3:6–10

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—7 for this reason, brothers, in all distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

Bowling Alone and the Problem it Poses

We 21^st-century Americans don’t pursue the joy of community like we did just a generation ago. I first became aware of this trend—and the painstaking research that backs it up—as a political science major at Furman University when Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community exploded onto the scene in the summer of 2000.

The book immediately became one of the most widely read and referenced works in the fields of political science and sociology. Even though the book is now a decade old, it still occupies an unusual place of prominence in those fields as a kind of paradigm-shifting work. And once I was familiar with Putnam’s claim, I seemed to recognize the creep of it everywhere, in my own life and in others around me.

The book is not mainly about “bowling” but about how we are increasingly living life “alone.” The fact that Americans once bowled in leagues but now bowl mainly alone is a “small phenomenon [which merely] symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified.” Here’s how the back of the book reads, “Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans’ changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures—whether they be the PTA, church, or political parties—have disintegrated.” Many of us would agree that Putnam is onto something significant in his diagnosis of American society—and maybe it’s only all the more acute in 2010. There is an increasing alienation of Americans from real life community. No matter how connected we may be online and through our mobile devices, we have become increasingly disconnected from real life family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

But what especially catches our attention is the mention of the church. The alleged “disintegration” of the church—that’s their word—very much concerns us at Bethlehem. Not that we fear the ultimate disintegration of the universal church—that will never happen. Jesus said that he will build his church—Matthew 16:18—and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But no doubtless we see the fruit of “bowling alone” in our own lives, and we cringe to think of the disintegration of this local expression of Jesus’ universal church.

Think about how much of life we do solo. We run errands alone. We exercise alone. We shop alone. We clean our homes alone. We travel alone. We often eat alone. And maybe most significantly, we use our computers alone. Computers are very individualizing machines. And as we increasing bowl alone, we also increasingly think and speak and live less and less like the inspired apostle Paul. We less and less intentionally pursue joy in relationship with others. And as we less and less pursue joy in others, this passage before us this weekend poses more and more problems to our bowling-alone mindset.

Overflowing Joy in Jesus

So as we come to 1 Thessalonians 3:6–10, here’s our approach: first, let’s look at the problem in this text; then, let’s wrestle toward a solution; and finally, we’ll follow two important implications for our lives and the pursuit of our joy in this bowling-alone generation.

1) The Problem: “All the Joy That Paul Feels Because of Them”

The problem can be captured in this phrase from verse 9, “all the joy that we feel for your sake.” First, a quick reminder about the context in order to set up the problem. If you’ve been with us the last two weekends, you know the back story well by now. Paul loved the Thessalonians and so chose to come to their city and share with them not only the gospel but also his own self. Many Gentiles were converted, and a band of unconverted Jews, jealous these Gentiles were claiming to embrace the Jewish Messiah, began to persecute this group of preemie Christians, such that it seemed best to have Paul leave town. After he leaves, the persecutions continue, probably diminished in some sense, but in particular these unconverted Jews began running a smear campaign against Paul’s character.

So Paul writes this first letter to the Thessalonians to set the record straight. First, in chapter 1, he assures the Thessalonian believers of the authenticity of their faith and conversion experience and the truthfulness of the gospel. Then in chapter 2, he defends the authenticity of his ministry. Not only did he share the undiluted gospel with them (vv. 1-6), but he also shared with them his own self in deep, personal relationship (vv. 7-12) because of his love for them (v. 8).

In chapter 2, verses 13-16, Paul then talks about how the message of the gospel continues to be “at work” in the Thessalonian believers, specifically in how they persevered through the persecutions. Paul continues his story in 2:17, that he has desperately wanted to visit them since his abrupt departure, but Satan has hindered him (v. 18). In chapter 3, verses 1-5, he says he could finally stand it no longer, so he sent Timothy along to check on them and to strengthen them in their preemie faith in the midst of their continuing persecution. So when we get to verses 6-10, we’ve now traced Paul’s story up to the present, and we hear how he received Timothy’s report back to him. And here’s where the problem comes in for us who bowl alone.

We said that maybe the best way to sum up the main problem in this text is with the phrase from verse 9, “all the joy that we feel for your sake.” If we listen to what’s going on in this passage, we bowling-alone Christians will become pretty uncomfortable with Paul’s lavishly joyful language for his fellow Christians in Thessalonica. “What about joy in Jesus?” we want to ask. Is Paul not taking too much joy in the Thessalonians? Let’s look at a few places in the text where the problem of Paul’s lavish love and all the joy that he feels on account of the Thessalonians surfaces.

First, in verse 6, Paul writes that Timothy “has brought to us the good news of your faith and love.” Good news. That ring a bell? What peculiar things Paul is doing with the word “gospel” in these two chapters of 1 Thessalonians! We saw two weeks ago in 2:13 that he says that “gospel” is not only what we hear and receive to become followers of Jesus but also that which is “at work” in us believers day-in and day-out, energizing and shaping and empowering everyday life. Then, we saw last week in 2:8 that Paul was delighted to not only share this gospel in word but also to share his own self for the sake of gospel advancement among the Thessalonians.

Now in 3:6, he calls this good report that Timothy brings him “the gospel of your faith and love.” Look at verse 6: “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news [literally, the gospel] of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you.” So, Paul says it’s gospel to his ears to hear that they are well. And this is significant because every other place in his letters where Paul uses the word “gospel,” it is in reference to the gospel message of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and that we can be joined to him by faith alone. But here Paul has so much joy in the Thessalonians that he is unafraid to employ sacred gospel language—language normally reserved only for the gospel message itself—to characterize the good report that Timothy brought back to him about the Thessalonians. He has tremendous joy in these people. This may be strange but there’s more.

Look at verse 7. He writes, “For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.” Notice the surprising turn at the end of verse 7. Wouldn’t we bowling-alone Christians expect Paul’s comfort and encouragement to stem from his own faith in Jesus? But here, Paul claims to be encouraged literally “based on you” and “through your faith.” Commentator Leon Morris says, “We might have expected that Paul’s own faith sustained him, but he says, ‘your faith.’” This is surprising joy. And there’s more.

Go to verse 8. This may be the most disturbing for those who bowl alone. Here Paul explains the radical assertion he has just made in verse 7 with a statement that is even more extreme. “For,” he writes, “now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” Now Paul lives, if the Thessalonians are standing fast? The same Paul who writes, “To live is Christ” in Philippians 1:20 here writes, “Now we live, if you Thessalonians are standing fast in the Lord.” Paul has a profound joy in these people! Shocking joy. He is deeply connected to these people. His very spiritual life is somehow tied to them. This is an uncomfortable joy to us bowling-alone types.

Let me add two more texts that clarify the problem and may even turn the volume up. The first is in the immediate context. Just a paragraph earlier in 2:19-20, Paul gives the reason why he is so eager with such great desire to see the Thessalonians face to face (verses 17–18), “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” What audacity! Come on, Paul, the Thessalonians are your joy at Jesus’ second coming? The second coming? Are you not afraid to toy with all things sacred? What about Jesus himself? Is he not your joy at his own second coming? Will you not say in 2 Thessalonians 1:10 that Jesus is coming back “to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed”? But here in 1 Thessalonians, Paul seems so googly-eyed over the Thessalonians! This kind of intense joy in the lives of others is so out of step with what we’re used to.

The final log on the fire of the problem is 3 John 3-4. This text isn’t from Paul, but the similarities are striking with 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20:

• A report comes back
• That involves the good condition of the author’s children in the faith
• And the author then expresses astounding joy over that good report.

In 3 John 3-4, John writes to his beloved child in the faith, Gaius, “I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

No greater joy. Really? If you were looking over John’s shoulder when he was writing to Gaius, and he paused after the phrase “I have no greater joy than…” and he asked you, “How would you complete this statement?” What would you say? You know what I would say? Jesus! I have no greater joy than in the person of Jesus, my Treasure, who loved me and gave himself for me! But that’s not what John says. He says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that you, Gaius, are walking in the truth.” Gaius!? Who’s Gaius? This kind lavish language toward fellow believers is our problem. So now we ask, “Is there a solution?”

2) The Solution: “Before Our God”

Back to 1 Thessalonians 3:9. The phrase that we used to sum up the problem was “all the joy that we feel for your sake.” And I think the next three words will help point us toward the solution. All the joy that Paul feels for the Thessalonians is, he says, “before our God.” This is just a little indicator, but I think it helps us. Here’s what it means: Somehow his lavish joy in them is a holy joy that is “before our God” or “in the presence of God.” This joy in other believers is somehow not in tension with joy in God.

So how do we put these two together? How can Paul feel such lavish joy in the lives of others, such uncomfortably profound joy in the Thessalonians, and yet his joy is a holy joy, a joy that’s “in the presence of God”?

Here’s my effort to state the solution. Deep joy in others is not at odds with true joy in Jesus but is a necessary expression of it. Paul’s joy in the Thessalonians does not compete with his joy in Jesus but complements it. Joy in others, when rightly pursued, is not the enemy of joy in Jesus but the evidence of it. Joy in others is an inevitable expression of true joy in the person and work of Jesus.

Joy in Jesus is like an infinite reservoir that is so full, so limitless—1 Peter 1:8 says that it’s “inexpressible and full of glory”—a joy so full that it irrepressibly overflows its banks into little pools (the lives of others) all around the perimeter of the reservoir. The surrounding pools of joy in others are then a living testimony to the fullness of the reservoir of joy in Jesus. The pools don’t compete with the infinite reservoir; they display its fullness.

Notice the similar phrase in 1 Thessalonians 2:19—it’s as if Paul is anticipating our problem and leaving us this little trail toward the solution. “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?” Paul’s joy is not apart from Jesus, not in competition with Jesus. Rather, it is “before our Lord Jesus.” Paul’s intense joy in the Thessalonians at Jesus’ second coming doesn’t detract from his joy in Jesus. The two profoundly bolster and strengthen and complement each other. True joy in Jesus is so rich and full and deep that it can’t help but overflow into the lives of others, even at Jesus’ own second coming, and forever into the new heavens and new earth.

So Paul and John don’t just barely get off the hook talking in the way that they do, but their language is seriously permeated with the gospel—a gospel so big and so sweet and so all-encompassing that it will not only free us to treasure Jesus but also to treasure others. As we saw last week, the gospel shapes us toward sharing both the gospel message and our own selves with the nonbelieving. And as we see here, it moves us toward what some today may consider shockingly deep and close relationships with fellow believers. And it frees us to discover deep delight in the lives of others.

Paul’s fullness of joy in the Thessalonians speaks to his fullness of joy in the gospel and the fullness of joy in the magnificently soul-satisfying person of Jesus. But we 21^st-century Christians who love this Jesus, and his gospel and his cross, are so prone to bowl alone. What are we to do? What effect does this truth that joy in Jesus and joy in others are not at odds have on our lives? Let me offer two implications as the gospel shapes our lives.

3) Two Implications

First, we are freed to pursue Jesus as the single ultimate source of joy. This is no new idea for many of us. This is the theme of Pastor John’s book When I Don’t Desire God. Jesus is the single ultimate source of joy, “the surpassing value” Paul says in Philippians 3:8, and so let’s do what we can practically to position ourselves for that through the means of Bible study, prayer and “wielding the world” (nature) in seeking joy. In reliance on the Holy Spirit (who gives what we can’t give ourselves), we take up whatever God-given means we can in cultivating a heart that finds its chief joy in Jesus.

And in pursuing Jesus as our single ultimate source of joy, we’re guarding our hearts from the danger of rejoicing in the finite pools without glorying ultimately in the infinite reservoir. Joy in the lives of others is no substitute for joy in Jesus. They aren’t the same thing. Joy in others can’t stand in for joy in Jesus. That’s called idolatry—what Kenny will address in the next two weekends. There’s a particular relationship between the two. Joy in Jesus is ultimate and foundational. True joy in others is derivative but both are essential (now we’re about into the second implication). One is the essential ultimate; the other is the essential expression of that ultimate.

So this first point is incomplete without the second. The first point doesn’t only happen by us getting alone with the Bible, prayer, nature, or whatever means. There’s a kind of reciprocity between our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with others. Joy in others not only flows from joy in Jesus, but joy in Jesus is built, strengthened and sustained in relationship with others who love Jesus. Joy in Jesus will be truncated without others. God didn’t create us for solitary confinement.

Second, we are freed to double our joy by pursuing joy in the lives of others. Not only do we not have to stiff-arm each other in our pursuit of joy, but we are essential to each other’s joy. Feel the freedom—and the divine encouragement—to love others so radically and at such depth that portraying it takes language that is scandalous to the 21^st-century bowling-alone mindset. Jesus is the single ultimate source of joy, but as Pastor John says a shared joy (in community) is a doubled joy.

What does it mean to position ourselves practically on the path of joy in others’ lives? Now we can apply some of what we said last weekend about sharing our own selves with the nonbelieving, like practicing hospitality and “killing two birds with one stone,” which means taking advantage of things that you would normally do alone—like running errands or shopping or exercising or cleaning or eating or traveling—and bringing somebody along and do it together. Also, it means carving out time, against the grain of bowling-alone individualism, to keep other Christians regularly in our lives. It takes extra energy and intentionality and planning to do, but the payoff in joy is worth it—double the joy (the central outlet we’ve designed for this at Bethlehem is small groups).

It can be hard and takes everyday-intentionality in our bowling-alone world, to make time for people, and then value that time and seek your joy in them. It can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, and it takes initiative. It may often wreck your schedule. People do that. But it’s so worth it for all the holy joy that we will feel before God on account of those we have given ourselves to. After all, a shared joy is a doubled joy.