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. | 1 Thessalonians 2:19–20
Three weeks ago, I preached a sermon that included the verses above. Since then, they have stuck with me. I have been thinking about all of the ways that the members of this church are my glory and joy.
Let me remind you what Paul means when he says this. In referring to the Christians in Thessalonica as his glory, he is pointing to the fact that they are the fruit of his life’s work. When he mentions the crown of boasting at the coming of Jesus, he is referring to the same thing that Peter talks about in his epistle:
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. | 1 Peter 5:4
This is in a section about shepherds and overseers who do their job well, which he describes in this way:
shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. | 1 Peter 5:4
For those who care for the people of God, there is a reward waiting. The crown is not something of value in itself. The word for crown here is the same word used for the wreath given to athletes who win a race or soldiers who show courage. It is a reflection of achievement.
This crown is represented by the numerous people whose lives contribute to it. Pastors don’t win races or battles, they lead people. While the reward at the end is a crown, the honor along the way is getting to walk with people through life, seeing God work in and through them. It is being part of the sanctification process that God is doing. For the church to be the glory of their pastor means that the lives of the people are the work and reward for all of the effort. The thing a pastor can point to and say: my life has purpose.
That seems like a lot to put on a congregation. Obviously, a pastor should find purpose in working for the Lord, not for their own glory. God created us to work and to get value from the effort that we put into His creation. For pastors, that value comes through the people they lead; they are the glory for all a life dedicated to serving the body of Christ.
When Paul says that the people of God are his joy, he means just that. He delights in who they are and gets to spend time with them. Glory can start to sound a bit odd – it can begin to feel like a human relationship is drifting into the realm of the ideological. Paul makes it clear that the other part of this is the joy that comes from serving God together in this world. It is not always fun or easy, but it is always unifying. There is this amazing joy that comes from being co-laborers in this life.
The church being the glory and joy of their pastors is dependent on the pastors doing their job and both parties recognizing that their lives overlap. It only works when there is reciprocal love. When there is a shared trust and respect.
The reason that this text has stayed with me over the last week is because my love and appreciation for Communion Church has been in the forefront. I was gone for a week, which gave me some space and time to reflect on all the ways that I have been blessed by the people who call this church home. As I was asked about our church, and had to come up with ways to describe the people who make it up; I was reminded of how unique and lovely this group of people that God has brought together is. It isn’t that we don’t have our issues, but we know them and face them together.
Last weekend, we had a pastor’s retreat, where the elders of Communion joined together with the pastors of the other 3strand churches to unify for the sake of the gospel in the Pacific Northwest. This also included time for each of the individual church elders to spend some time and plan for the next year. We spent some of that time going through all of the people in our church, recognizing the joys (and maybe identifying some points of growth). It stirred our affections.
When we came together that evening to share with all of the other churches where our church is, the best word that we could come up with to describe Communion Church was sweet. There is a tangible joy and goodness that exists when we gather together. People love one another. Even though we returned from this weekend away to a memorial service and a sermon on loss and mourning, it felt right to go through that together. We wept together. We rejoiced together. I feel like I am failing to put into words the glory and joy it is to lead this church, so I will stop. Maybe it doesn’t need words.
Maybe it is enough to just acknowledge what exists and then to thank God for allowing us this opportunity to experience His goodness through the people that He has brought together.