1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Sharing is timeless. It reveals itself in many forms and through various expressions. An elderly couple walked into a restaurant and ordered a hamburger and a soda. The waiter noticed the elderly gentleman cut the hamburger in half and slide one portion over to his wife.
Taking pity, thinking the poor couple couldn't afford much to eat, the waiter offered to bring another burger to the table.
"No, no," said the husband. "We share."
Later, the waiter approached them again, saying he would be more than happy to give them another hamburger. But the response was the same.
"No, it's all right. We share."
When the waiter noticed, however, that the wife was not eating, he could restrain himself no longer. Approaching them, he asked the husband, "Why isn't your wife eating?"
"Oh, she's just waiting for the teeth."
How do you share yourself with others? Perhaps sharing your teeth is a bit extreme, so what are some other ways we share?
Paul writes in our text this morning that “our coming to you was not in vain”(1 Thess. 2:1). Paul shares his motivation and purpose. It reveals much about a steward’s approach to the life of faith. Paul is responding to reports about members of the church in Thessalonica who were questioning Paul’s motives as an Apostle of God. For the church Paul started years earlier was no stranger to conflict. The church in Thessalonica was born out of violent upheaval. We read in Acts 17 of the rather unhospitable welcome Paul and Silas received when they first arrived in Thessalonica. They went to the local synagogue on three Sabbath days argued with the leaders from the scriptures, “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead…” (Acts 17:3) And several who heard them were persuaded to join them. But not everyone was happy to have these outsiders in their city, so they accused Paul and Silas, before the city magistrate, that these men were “turning the world upside down”. Later on there were other free-lance teachers of religion and philosophy who sought their own interests and worked for a fee, who sought to earn a profit, expecting a pay day for sharing their knowledge and gifts. They were working for themselves with their own personal agenda and purpose. Paul, in contrast, worked a side job in order to not be a financial burden in those early years. They shared the Gospel and their whole selves with these new believers of Jesus. Paul outlines his and his companions’ deeper objective for engaging the Thessalonian church. Despite the great opposition they faced, Paul acknowledges that through much suffering he mustered the courage to speak the gospel to the church. He does so because as he writes, “you have become very dear to us”. Paul’s desire is not only to share the Gospel with those he loves, but also to share the lives of Paul’s fellow workers with the people.
In other words, Paul and his co-workers came with purpose in order to share the life-giving gospel of Christ.
Our society today trains us to specialize in trivial pursuits. Whether it involves wasting time watching TV with no real purpose, surfing through the newsfeed on social media sites, playing video games or reading trifling, indulgent literature, our culture dedicates itself to spending time engrossed in vain interests, interests that simply have no real value in the long term. In contrast with past generations, most of us don’t chase after our next meal or work constantly to merely survive. And perhaps we have made an idol of our idle time.[1] An idle mind is the devil’s playground.
The late George Burns once said, “When you stop sharing yourself and offering something to the rest of the world, it's time to turn out the lights.”
How often do we find ourselves simply staring at our phones as if we are waiting for it to ring or hope to discover something amazing going on in the world or hearing of some gossip that’s traveling through cyberspace. How often do we find ourselves flipping through the hundreds of TV channels available today and conclude there is nothing on worth watching. How often do we find ourselves going through one web page after another for hours at a time? How often do we find ourselves majoring in minor things?
To be effective stewards of God, we must discern the true value of time, the value of money, the value of gifts and share them. Effective stewards recognize that God creates all things for a purpose, for a reason, and that our life’s end is to honor God with our time, talent and treasure. And to that end, we come to know, perhaps in a new way, we are to fulfill God’s purpose by sharing ourselves with others; by sharing and expecting nothing in return; by sharing ourselves without reservation. And in doing so, we share the gospel.
Bobby was a special-education boy. He was just bright enough to remain in a regular classroom but was still noticeably different. He was the constant butt of jokes by his classmates, but he never seemed to mind. Every day, as the neighborhood kids walked home from school, Bobby’s mother would look out the window to see them all laughing and joking together—all except Bobby. He was always walking behind the others, all alone. It was obvious that the other children felt uncomfortable around Bobby and shunned him.
One day Bobby burst into the kitchen after school. “Mom, guess what?” he said. “Valentine’s Day is two weeks away, and our teacher said we could make valentines and give them to the other kids in our class!”
His mother’s heart sank as she pictured yet another opportunity for Bobby to be excluded. “Mom,” Bobby continued, “I’m going to make a valentine for every person in my class!”
“That’s very nice, Bobby,” his mother answered, fighting back the tears.
Over the next two weeks, Bobby worked every afternoon on those valentines. They were truly labors of love. When the big day finally came, he was so excited about taking his valentines to school that he couldn’t eat breakfast. But he was also a little worried.
“I hope I didn’t forget anybody,” he said as he dashed off to school.
Bobby’s mother made a fresh batch of his favorite cookies and prepared herself to comfort her son when he returned home brokenhearted from the valentine exchange. She knew how disappointed he would be with the response he received from the other children.
That afternoon she saw the same cluster of neighborhood kids walking home together. A half block behind them, all alone, was Bobby. Bobby’s mother turned away and placed a plate of cookies on the table; expecting the worst.
Much to her surprise, Bobby came through the door with a huge smile on his face. “What is it, Bobby?” she asked. “How did it go?”
With a shout of pure joy, Bobby said, “Guess what, Mom! I didn’t forget a single kid!”
Bobby was so focused on sharing that he didn’t consider the response he would get. He was so concerned about others that he was blind to the fact that he was being slighted.
Sometimes when we share, our motive is to make people think we’re wonderful or to prompt others to share something in return.
The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes, “Share what you have: To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.” Paul and Silas shared their whole selves to kickstart the church in Thessalonica, amid the risks that they faced, not afraid to fail, not looking for a return on their investment, knowing it was all in God’s hands.
May we be so focused on sharing our time, talent and treasure that we don’t consider or think about what we’ll get in return. As you consider your stewardship commitment of your financial resources for 2015, remember your purpose for being here on this earth is to share your whole self with others; “to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to notice the wounds, to toil and not seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, except to know we are doing God’s will.”[2]. Amen.
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