Reflection on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

The pain came out of nowhere.  It happened while she was in yoga class performing a particularly muscle soothing downward facing dog, but the pain was so great that it caused her knees to buckle to the floor. 

Those around her stopped what they were doing and asked if she was alright.  “It’s just a muscle cramp, I’ll be OK,” she replied as she left for the locker room, but the pain was greater that any muscle cramp she had ever had. 

In fact, the pain felt like.  No it couldn’t be.  It’s impossible.  How could she have gotten this far along without knowing?  But, it did feel just like a contraction.  Another pain hit while she took a drink at the water fountain and she clung to the fountain for dear life.  Many contractions later, it was all over and she was the unexpected mother of a baby boy.

You, my friends, are not this mother.  You, my brothers and sisters in Christ, are the young mother who knew from the very first bout of acid reflux that you were pregnant with the Holy Spirit. 

God’s work in your life does not come as a huge surprise.  It is not as if God has shown up in your life like a thief in the middle of the night, exposing the fact that you had failed to lock the doors.  Not at all. 

When the Lord comes, you will be the young mother who has bought all the baby clothes, decorated the baby room with soothing colors, and bought that one special stuffed animal that will stay with the baby their entire life.  You will not assume the first kick is a bout of indigestion, nor will you mistake the first contraction for anything else other than what it is in the middle of yoga class. 

You are Mary who expected the Lord to come to birth.  You are Joseph who heard the angel’s whispering and followed the instructions. 

You are children of the light.  You know you are children of the light.  You desire to live as children of the light.  No darkness shall overtake you.

In fact, if the end of the world were to happen tomorrow and the Lord would come back, descending from billowing clouds fashioning a heavenly staircase down to the earth, you would not fear as others fear.  You would not fear the end as if there were no hope. 

You are children of the light after-all.  The birth of the second coming would not shock, nor would it confuse. 

It would be a joyous day; tough but joyous none-the-less.  It would be an unsurprising day of labor pains that leads to joy in the end as your savior embraces you in those long expected, everlasting arms. 

Let me remind you then, children of the light, to not fall asleep. 

I do not mean that literally.  Go ahead and make sure to get your full 7-8 hours of sleep every night so that you can be fully awake during the day. 

So, I should really say, do not fall asleep in the waking hours.  Do not let the darkness overcome you; for there is certainly a lot of darkness out there in the world. 

Wars and rumors of wars, nuclear fears, and unneeded destruction all cast a shadow of fear over the world that lulls us into a type of waking sleep that entices us to look away. 

“For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you” (Isaiah 60:2). 

Do not let fear overshadow.  Do not let darkness lead you to believe that darkness will win.  Do not say to one another, “It has gotten worse and worse, I am glad that I will not be living in the days to come.” 

You are not darkness.  You are light.  Evil that lurks, hidden in the dark will not overtake you.  It cannot.  You are children of the light.  And, you most certainly will not be surprised that light wins, because light always banishes the dark. 

The morning always comes. 

Light always wins.

Of course, darkness will always continue to threaten.  It always has.  The evil one has always lurked in the shadows. 

But, on that day of darkness, do not grieve as others grieve, as if there is no hope.  Rather, when the day of grief comes be sad that a life has come to an end and be sad that you will miss all that you love, but darkness shall not overtake you. 

For you know the truth.  You have the hope of eternal light that spans the skies forever and ever, beyond the horizon.

Do not let the fear of the dark entice you “get away from it all.”  You do not need a vacation from the world that God has created.  You do not need to hide in the comfort of drunkenness.  You do not need to get accustomed to the dark. 

Listen, I know that it is easy.  I know that it is natural to hear about tragedy and ignore it because to think about it would bring too much pain. 

It is easy to become accustomed to living in the dark, hiding in the shadows, ignoring the labor pains. 

But, children of the light, you know that darkness will come to an end.  It was promised to you on that day when the cross turned from a device of terror into a symbol of redemption, and when Jesus’ tomb transformed from a locked door of death into an open door leading to new life. 

Rather than being lulled into a sleep that ignores the world, put on the breastplate of faith and love.  Put on the helmet of hope of salvation. 

Do not hide in the dark, face the dark.  Be the light of faith and love for all those around.  After-all, Jesus has made you the light.  You are the light of the world.  You shall not be snuffed out. 

Never forget, God has made you the soon to be mother who prepares a small world of love and bright color in her home.  You are the soon to be mother who glows that pregnant glow even on the rotten days.  You are the soon to be mother who knows that the days of love and giggles and snuggling will soon be here. 

You are the one who walks through life as if the light will win, because you are children of the light. 

After-all, “God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10). 

Shine with the glory of the light of the Lord, even when the day is dark and long, because God has destined you for light.

Do it together though.  Because, let us face reality here, the lull of the darkness, the pull of depression, the desire to escape, and the reality of the world can become overbearing.  There will be days when you want to sleep through the darkness.  There will be days when the darkness is just too much to bear.  There will be days when the weight on your shoulders is far too great.  All of that is true, but one other thing is also true.  We are not the light by ourselves. 

God has given that glorious eternal light to those brothers and sisters in Christ who are a part of your life.  Their light will shine on you when the darkness seems too much.  Their hope will get you through when the labor pains seem unending and unbearable.  Their hope will remind you of the joy through the pain when you have no joy to offer. 

WE are the light. 

WE are the light of the world. 

WE have been destined for salvation. 

WE hold the promise of eternal life. 

WE do it together.

“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). 

Pray together that Jesus might keep us awake until that day when the shadows fade and the light shines from all sides. 

Awaken our souls, and set our sights on that day.