GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Key Verse: 5:18

1. What was Paul’s purpose in writing the first letter to the Thessalonian Christians? (1 Th 3:11-13; 5:23)? How was Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica, and how much did he love the believers in Thessalonica? (Ac 17:1-9; 1 Th 2:17-20)

2. Read verse 16. What kind of joy is Paul talking about here? How is it different from worldly joy? What is the source of a Christian’s joy? (Jn 15:11; Jn 17:13) How can we be joyful “always”? (Jn 16:22-24; Ac 5:41; Mt 5:11-12; Ps 51:10-12)

3. Read verse 17. What is prayer? (Mt 6:9-13; 7:7; 26:39) What does “pray continually” mean? (Lk 18:1; 21:36; Phil 4:6) What happens to those who do not pray continually? (Mk 14:38) Why should we pray continually? (Lk 11:13; 1 Jn 5:14-15; Mk 9:29; Mt 21:22)

4. Read verse 18a. Why should we give thanks to God? (Jn 3:16; Ps 103:1-5; Ps 136:1; 1 Chron 16:34; Jam1:17) What happens to those who do not thank God? (Ro1:21) How can we give thanks in all circumstances? (Ro 8:28; Phil 4:11-12) How does God bless those who thank him in all circumstances (1 Co 15:57; Ro 8:18)?

5. Read verse 18b. What is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus? At this Thanksgiving season, for what are you thankful to God?

Give thanks in all circumstances

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Key verse 5:18: give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Thanksgiving Day is one of the most important holidays in America. Although many people think that Thanksgiving Day is all about a family meal with turkey and pumpkin pie, the Macy’s Parade and Black Friday shopping, we need to remind ourselves of the history of the Thanksgiving tradition in America. Pilgrims came to America from England to seek religious freedom and opportunity. After 44 of the original 102 colonists were killed during the first winter in America, the first thanksgiving celebration was held by the Pilgrim settlers in Massachusetts during their second winter in December 1621 to show their gratitude that they were still alive. In 1863, Thanksgiving was made a national holiday in this country by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1941, Congress passed a law to make Thanksgiving official on the fourth Thursday of November, and now we celebrate Thanksgiving every year to give thanks to God and others.

1 Thessalonian was written by Apostle Paul in approximately A.D. 50 from Corinth to encourage the Christians in Thessalonica to continue to grow in their faith in Jesus Christ. In Acts 17, Paul and his companions came to Thessalonica. When Paul preached the gospel in the synagogue, some of the Jews as well as a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women accepted the gospel and joined Paul and Silas. However, other Jews were jealous and started a riot in the city. Therefore, Paul and Silas had to run away from the city. Later, Paul prayed earnestly to return to Thessalonica to visit the believers because he cared for and loved them so much, but Satan blocked his way to Thessalonica. When Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica, Timothy brought good news about their faith and love. Paul was a good shepherd for them and was thankful for their faith.

Verses 12 to 28 in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 are the final instructions for the Thessalonian Christians, and today’s passage focuses on verses 16 to 18. Today’s passage is short, but very deep and powerful. Let’s read the verses 16 to 18 joyfully, prayerfully, and thankfully: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. We love these verses because they sound great. However, we realize that these verses are very challenging to practice because they seem in fact unrealistic. How can you rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances? Who can do this unless you are a saint? Perhaps, some may want to modify these verses to more practical version like “Rejoice sometimes, pray as often as possible, give thanks whenever you can”. But we know that we are not allowed to modify Bible verses as we want. What was Paul’s intention when he gave this challenging instruction to the Thessalonian Christians? May God help us understand and practice Paul’s godly instruction in today’s passage.

Part 1: Rejoice always

Paul commanded the Thessalonian Christians to rejoice always in verse 16. Besides this verse, Paul also encouraged the Philippian Christians to rejoice in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”.

What does rejoice mean? From the dictionary, a definition of the word “rejoice” is related to the word joy, meaning “to feel great delight; to be glad”. Joy can be considered an emotion. Humans are complex beings who are influenced by various emotions. There is a movie called “Inside Out”. In the movie, Inside Out 2, the mind of a 13-year-old girl named Riley used to be controlled by some common emotions such as Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. But when this teenage girl started to go through puberty, new kinds of emotions such as Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui began to take over her mind. Although these new emotions can be seen as negative feelings, these emotions are also essential for Riley to grow from a child to an adult. However, when Riley's mind was dominated by Anxiety, she lost joy and behaved like a totally different person. I am not going to tell you the whole story, but one thing I learned from the movie is that we should not let anxiety control our mind, but joy should be in control of our mind.

Did Jesus, the Son of God have emotions? Yes, he also had various emotions as a human just like us. Jesus experienced sadness. When Jesus saw Mary and others weeping for dead Lazarus in John 11, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled, and he wept. Jesus also showed his anger. In Matthew 21, Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. Jesus also struggled with his anxiety in Gethsemane before his death on the cross. When Jesus was praying in Gethsemane, he began to be deeply distressed and troubled, and said “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Despite showing a full range of human emotions, Jesus was never dominated by negative emotions, but he was always able to restore the joy coming from God, and he also gave us the joy of salvation through his sacrifice on the cross. Jesus said to his disciples during the last supper in John 16: “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete”.

It would be impossible to rejoice always if we rejoice only when we are prosperous. Whether you are believers or not, you would rejoice when you are blessed and successful, but it would be very difficult to be joyful when you are going through many trials and hardships. However, in Acts 5, the apostles rejoiced even when they were persecuted by religious leaders. The apostles were put in prison and flogged for preaching the gospel. However, the apostles were rejoicing when they left the Sanhedrin because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for Jesus’ name. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 5, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” In this world, we may face a lot of troubles, persecution, and suffering while living by faith as a Christian. However, we can still rejoice because of the hope for the reward prepared in heaven that Jesus promised.

To rejoice always, we must not seek the pleasure of sin in this world but repent of our sin. Sins take away our joy and control us with negative emotions. David rejoiced through a faithful relationship with God. However, when he committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba, he lost his joy. He wanted to restore his joy in God through sincere repentance after he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan. Psalm 51:10-12 state “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”. May God help us repent of our sins, renew our faith in Jesus, and restore the joy of salvation through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Part 2: Pray continually

We know that we cannot pray all day long because we have many jobs to do. Even the devout Jews pray only three times a day, not continually throughout the day. Therefore, this verse doesn’t mean that we should kneel down and pray all day long, but I believe this verse emphasizes a prayerful spirit and mind that lasts continually.

Unceasing prayer essentially means continual dependence upon and communion with God. We should keep connected with God spiritually. Think about an internet connection. What happens when the internet is disconnected? We fall into panic because basically we cannot do anything without the internet. We cannot check email or social media and cannot attend Zoom meetings or watch YouTube videos without an internet connection. Then how about the spiritual connection with God? Is your spiritual Wi-Fi still connected with God or disconnected?

Prayer is a great privilege given to all believers. When Jesus died on the cross God himself ripped open the curtain that separated sinners from The Most Holy Place. Now we can come to Almighty God directly and with confidence through our faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, prayer is like a personal conversation with God through a spiritual phone line. We can pray continually because God is available for us on the other side of the spiritual phone line all the time, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. However, many people only make a one-way request to God and then quickly hang up the phone without listening to God although God has something to tell us. To pray continually, we must not only talk to God but also listen to him.

Continual and persistent prayer is also essential for us to rejoice. We can overcome our negative emotions and feelings through prayer. Paul said in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Prayer is our spiritual weapon to defeat fear and anxiety. Jesus also overcame his anxiety in Gethsemane through his earnest prayer. In Luke 22, Jesus knelt down and prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Prayer has great power to transform lives, strengthen the weak, heal the sick, and save people from troubles because our Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth hears and responds to our prayer faithfully. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 21, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”.

Although I don’t deserve to say that I am a man of prayer, I have experienced the power of prayer in my life. One of them is the first prayer of my life. When I entered elementary school, I was one year younger than most kids. I wasn’t prepared for school at all, and I didn’t study either, so I always got zero in exams and I couldn’t even write my name on exam papers. I was so dumb and was teased by my classmates. I desperately wanted to be a smart student, so I decided to pray to God because I had a chance to learn about God from a local church at the time. I knew nothing about the Bible, but I remembered a painting of a praying little child, so I knelt down toward the window in my house, and prayed, “God, make me a smart student. Amen”. It was short but was the purest prayer in my whole life. I didn’t become a smart student right away, but God responded to my prayer in several years. A new public library was built near my house when I was in the fifth grade, and I began to go to the library. I loved the library because it was like my playground. I read books every day in the library. I read 300 books in 6 months, and then I was transformed into a smart student in my middle school and high school, and I was able to enter one of the best colleges in Korea. God surely heard my prayer as a child and responded to my prayer in his time. I pray that everyone of us may spiritually communicate with God through personal prayer every day and experience the great power of God.

Part 3: Give thanks in all circumstances

Let’s read verse 18: give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. What do you usually thank for? We have many reasons to thank God. We can thank God for providing clean air, clean water, food, housing, jobs, family, and friends. Although there are so many things to be thankful for, we often take them for granted. We are ungrateful about hundreds of things that we already have but complain about one thing that we don’t have.

What does “give thanks in all circumstances” mean to us? The Living Bible version says, “No matter what happens, always be thankful”. Therefore, it means that we have to keep our thankful heart in all circumstances no matter what happens. Many different things happen to us every day and throughout our life. Our life is a cycle of up and down, success and failure, happiness and misery. We cannot experience only blessings in this troubled world. Then how can we keep our thankfulness in all circumstances?

Apostle Paul learned how to be thankful in all circumstances through the secret of contentment while going through many trials and sufferings in his life. In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want”.

We can be thankful in all circumstances when we are content with what we received from God, but we can lose our thankfulness and become bitter toward God when we compare ourselves with others. God blesses each person differently according to his will. Others may look more blessed than us, and it may be true, but God is a good shepherd who takes care of each of us according to his will. In God, even suffering has meaning. Romans 5:3-4 state, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope”. We can give thanks to God even during trials and sufferings when we believe that we can grow mature spiritually through hardships. We must believe God’s absolute goodness and love for us to give thanks to God regardless of our current situation. Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”. 1 Chronicles 16:34 states, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever”.

What we have in this world, whether blessing or suffering, is nothing compared to what we will have in the Kingdom of Heaven. Romans 8:18 states, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. The glory or sufferings in this world will eventually disappear because no one can live forever. However, God promised us eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we can give thanks to God in all circumstances when we know our current suffering and hardship are going to end not in defeat but in ultimate victory through Jesus Christ. Paul exclaimed in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

I give thanks to God for his guidance and blessing on me and my family in the last two decades in America. This year is my 20^th anniversary for my missionary life and my marriage life. I got married 5 days after arriving in NYC from Korea in 2004, and had my daughter, Julia in 2006 and my son, Chris in 2008. After serving God’s ministry at Columbia University Fellowship for about 5 years, we moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 2009 and then to Richland, Washington in 2011 for my first and second postdoctoral positions. After moving from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast via the Midwest, we made a big U-turn and came back to NYC and joined Queen UBF in 2014. I was jobless for a half year, but God provided me with a full-time faculty position at a state university in Jersey City, NJ. I got promoted and received tenure there by the grace of God. Tenure means that your job at the university is secured permanently. However, when my university suffered a financial crisis two years ago in 2022, many academic programs were eliminated and thus many faculty members including tenured faculty were laid off. I was one of them because my department was one of the smallest departments. It was devastating, but I wanted to still give thanks to God for providing me with a faculty position for 8 years. However, I also became bitter toward the administration of the university who made this decision despite my hard work and dedication. After praying and talking with my wife, I started to apply for jobs located within only a few-hours driving distance because we didn’t want to move again. But I hadn’t heard any positive news about my job search for many months although my faculty position was going to end soon. I became desperate and began to think outside the box. I decided to become a YouTuber making traveler videos. I bought a GoPro camera and started walking around some famous places in NYC, filming with my GoPro camera. I posted videos on my YouTube channel. My goal was to become a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers in three years. However, I got only 15 subscribers including my wife and my sister-in-law. Thankfully, I didn’t have to continue my YouTuber career because God provided me with a full-time faculty position at a CUNY college soon after my previous faculty position ended last year. I thank God for his provision and mercy. God has been good and faithful to me throughout my life. May God help each of us be full of gratitude and be thankful in all circumstances. May God also enable us to rejoice always and pray continually because this is his will for us in Jesus Christ.