1 Thessalonians 1:1 [NLTse]

¹ This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God give you grace and peace.

When you were a kid, who was your favorite team of heroes?

Batman and Robin?

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock?

The Lone Ranger and Tonto?

Obi-Wan and Anakin?

Others…?

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Genesis 2… This is the record of Creation. In Chapter 1 we read that “God created human beings in His Own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (v. 27) But as that gets spelled-out here in Chapter 2 only man has been created yet, only “Adam”. But then God said, in v. 18: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” And then, after creating all the animals to see if they might be a fitting “helper” for him, God made a woman from the side of the man. (What’s been traditionally translated, from out of Adam’s “rib”.) And when Adam awoke from the sleep God had put him in, he looked at the woman and said, “At last! This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!” (v. 23)

For many centuries this idea of woman as “helper” to man was seen as God creating her to be lesser – subservient – to the man: He the master; she the helper. But the Hebrew word ??? (ezer) is not one of position, with the man being higher and the woman being lower in the relationship. No. As a matter of fact, our Father uses the same word to describe His Own relationship with us.

Let’s turn in our Bibles to the psalms: Psalm 27… Look to v. 9 with me, where David sings: “Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my ??? (ezer) – my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation!”

And Psalm 70 sings: “But as for me, I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my savior; O LORD, do not delay.” (v. 5)

And Psalm 115: “O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.” (vv. 9-11)

A “helper” – an ??? (ezer) – is not a servant or a sidekick but an ally, a partner, one who has the ability to help and is willing to help. (And that help can be offered by one of greater power, lesser power, or equal but different power.) The point I believe our Father’s given me to make today is that “it is not good for us to be alone”: It’s not good for us to be alone in this life; it’s not good for us to be alone as we live this life by faith.

We see this applied to the life of faith when Christ Jesus sent out the seventy to go ahead of Him into the towns and villages He was planning to visit during His preaching ministry. Let’s turn to Luke 10… “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places He planned to visit.” (v. 1)

We see this two-by-two “staffing” continue among Christ’s people as we read the Book of Acts: Peter and John are always mentioned as being together; and Paul and Barnabas; and then Paul and Silas; and the “we” statements across Acts are recognized as indicating when Luke (who wrote Acts) was traveling and ministering together with Paul and the others.

In our reading today from Paul’s letter To the Thessalonians, the apostle is writing in partnership with Silas and Timothy. In another of his letters he writes with Sosthenes (who had been one of the leaders of the Corinthian synagogue before he became a Christian), and, of course, Paul’s letters are filled with the names of those he’s traveling with, ministering with, whom he is helping and those who are helping him.

Would you turn with me to Ecclesiastes 4… In v. 7 King Solomon writes: “I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, ‘Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?’ It is all so meaningless and depressing.”

Which inspires him to go on and write: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer…” (4:7-12)

I’m not trying to beat an already dead horse this morning, but I am feeling the Lord speak to me – speak to us – very clearly that we are not to live this life Jesus has saved us for alone. No, He’s made us and called us and put us to death and given us a new life to live together.

When we read a book we often like to find another who’s read it to discuss it and hear their what spoke to them and enjoy it more fully. We’ll often play sports against others – especially those of a similar skill level – to help challenge us and grow our skills. We often work out or diet with others for accountability, support, and encouragement. It’s nice to hike or dive with another for companionship and safety. Shopping with others gives us added insight and wisdom in our purchasing. We build or craft things together to share talents and tools. Adventures are better with a friend so we can retell the stories and relive the wonder and awe. We watch movies and share music with those around us to share the laughter and cry together and get to share our inspiration with those closest to us.

In just the same way, we need a partner, an ally, a helper in the Christian-life to discuss discipleship ideas, to encourage one another in following Jesus more fully, to stand together against the attacks and deceit of the Enemy, to benefit from each other’s wisdom, to be held accountable to promises we’ve made and commitments to repent and change, to learn from other’s experiences and share ours with them, to tell and re-tell each other’s stories of victory and forgiveness and transformation along the Way, and to laugh together and cry together as the Holy Spirit grows us more and more into Jesus’ likeness. The benefits go on and on…

But this “prayer partner”, this “accountability friend”, this “discipleship helper” God is calling us to is not just an “aid” our Father wants for us just so that we can enjoy and benefit more fully in following Jesus. No, we need this helper. Turn with me to the prophet Jeremiah 17:9… The Lord is telling Jeremiah that only He is able to fully and fairly judge people, because, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” (vv. 9-10) We need others to hold us accountable, to study the Bible with, and to challenge us as we live the Christian life because the human heart is deceitful: We rationalize, we misinterpret, we overlook, we pretend, we see only the log in the other person’s eye. We need a brother or a sister to “sharpen us” and help us see our life – the good, the bad, the faithful, and the unfaithful – the way it really is, more clearly than we are able to on our own.

Husbands and wives make a natural pairing for this except that men and women often experience very different kinds of temptations, and it can be helpful to have a discipleship partner who has insights and compassion for our trials. Another reason not to partner with your spouse is that men often have trouble sharing with their wives some of the things that tempt them, and women likewise. And our discipleship helper – our accountability partner – needs to be someone we can be transparent with: Laying the victories and failures of our souls open before them. We need someone we can be open and honest with, whom we can: u Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (5:16)

So you can partner with your spouse but I’d recommend that, men, you find another man, and that, women, you find another woman. There might be three of you together, but I wouldn’t recommend having four or more. Two (or three) is a nice grouping to allow everyone to share as deeply as each one needs, and to allow us to bear one another’s burdens without getting overwhelmed.

Reach out to someone whom you know and enjoy or whom you think you would like to get to know and would enjoy; somebody you can be honest and vulnerable with and whom you believe would be honest and open with you; someone who’s at a similar level of Christian maturity as you believe you are (because this isn’t a mentoring or counseling relationship but a partnership mutually caring for each other’s soul); and, of course, you want it to be a person you can meet with regularly to share, challenge, and pray with together. Your goal should be to meet in person together weekly, or at the most every other week. (You can meet over the phone occasionally, but try to be in person as often as you can.)

The agenda for your time together can be pretty simple:

Begin in prayer; then,

Share together what the Holy Spirit has been revealing to you (in Worship, in your devotional/quiet times reading Scripture and praying, in your daily experiences and ministry work, etc…); then,

Share those areas where you are currently struggling or facing ongoing temptation, asking for specific prayer and support, first one of you then the other; and then,

End your time by praying for one another and setting your next meeting time.

This isn’t an intellectual exercise: “Yes, I can see that the Lord is calling and how it would benefit me to have a prayer and accountability partner…” No. Look around you. Think about who might fit this critical role in your life. Pray: Ask God to show you this special helper. And then meet, challenge each other, support each other, pray for each other, and live! He has more abundance for us than we are enjoying…

Jesus says, “When two or three are gathered together in My name I am meeting there with them.” (Ch:vv) And after speaking about the blessings of life “two-by-two”, Ecclesiastes 4:12 ends saying “a threefold cord is not quickly broken”. When we commit and humble ourselves to live His Way with another Jesus promises us He’s with us binding Himself around us – and giving us His Own strength and empowerment: A threefold cord is not quickly broken.