"Wiggle Room" 11-24-24
Overview
No Wiggle Room
In everyday life, we're skilled at finding wiggle room. When we hear an "all or nothing" demand, we instinctively look for the small space where we can rest, ease up, or excuse ourselves. A friend's frustrating moment doesn't erase years of faithful parenting; even Olympic-level discipline allows for sleep and the occasional Snickers bar. So when we come to Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18—"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"—we instinctively start hunting for the loophole. Always? Without ceasing? In all circumstances? Surely the Lord understands my situation, my schedule, my strained relationships. But the words leave no room: always, never stopping, every time.
The harder truth is that God's holiness leaves no wiggle room on the other side either. Romans 3:10-12 declares that no one is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks God; all have turned aside. Romans 3:23 closes the door entirely: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We cannot build a case for ourselves before the Lord. Left to ourselves, we bring nothing—because in our sin, nothing is all we are capable of giving. The "all or nothing" Almighty cannot meet us halfway in our holiness, because there is no halfway to be had.
And yet the same God who allows no wiggle room in His holiness allowed no wiggle room in His mercy. Hebrews 9:26 tells us Christ "appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," and Hebrews 10:12 declares that "when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God." Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, lived perfectly under the law as our brother and bore the entire weight of our sin—not in part, but the whole. The redemption He won for you is full redemption, all redemption, with no wiggle room left in it.
This is why Paul's command is not a burden but a gift. Rejoice always—even in illness—because in Christ you are already healed, whether on this side of heaven or the next. Pray without ceasing—even when life is calm—because your Father delights to hear you in every circumstance. Give thanks in all circumstances, because not every moment will feel good, but every moment is held within the eternal circumstance of belonging to Jesus Christ. The will of God for your life is not hidden behind a riddle; it is right here, in Christ Jesus, where your sins are forgiven, your redemption is complete, and your soul can sing with the hymn writer: "My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more."
Transcript
If you would please open your Bibles to first the Salonians the 5th chapter. 2s
If you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, this can be found on page 181 of the New Testament. 9s
First, the Salonians the 5th chapter. 18s
All or nothing. 24s
We know that that is a concept that we sometimes bring into our lives. 31s
But as we bring that into our lives, we always seek out the wiggle room within that. 39s
For example, if a friend comes to you and says, my child is angry with me and I know 45s
because my child is angry with me today. 50s
All of my parenting up until this point has been worthless. 53s
None of it has been good. 59s
Or think of Simone Biles. 63s
She had to put all of her efforts into training because she wanted to be in the Olympics. 65s
Does that mean that she never rested or that she never ate a Snickers bar? 73s
All or nothing. 81s
With both of those examples, we can potentially find some wiggle room. 84s
A little bit of wiggle room for us to rest and relax in. 91s
We know that in life there is always some wiggle room to be found. 98s
And today, today we're going to really hone in on that wiggle room. 105s
So let's look, please, at the reading for today, where Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 113s
says, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. 119s
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 126s
Do you hear what he says? 132s
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. 135s
Always without ceasing in all circumstances. 147s
At all times, never stopping, 156s
incessantly, each and every time. 163s
Where is the wiggle room? 174s
Where is the wiggle room in any of that? 178s
Well, the truth is there is no wiggle room. 185s
The Lord does not grant us any wiggle room in that directive to rejoice always to pray without ceasing 190s
and to give thanks in all circumstances. 200s
And we can look at this and we can say, well, yes, okay, that's nice. 204s
That's nice, but rejoice always, but Lord, don't you know what I'm dealing with in my life? 209s
How can I rejoice when the person I love so dearly is ill? 222s
Pray without ceasing, but Lord, I have a lot to do today. 232s
How am I supposed to pray without ceasing? 241s
Give thanks in all circumstances, but Lord. 248s
I have a relationship that I am just not thankful for, 255s
and I really don't want to give thanks. 262s
Each of us can look at our lives and we can find a point in our lives in which we respond 272s
to the directive that we receive in first Thessalonians where we want to respond but Lord. 282s
And we seek out the wiggle room. 291s
We search for the opportunity of that wiggle room within our lives. 296s
But my brothers and sisters, in God, in God, the wiggle room is not 306s
there. 312s
In God, there is no wiggle room. 314s
We search and search and search for that wiggle room, but the truth is that in the holiness of God, 318s
in the holiness of God, not only isn't there, but there can't be any wiggle room. 327s
In Romans 3, we hear about God as the all or nothing, Almighty. 339s
In the 3rd chapter of Romans Paul writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 349s
there is no one who is righteous, not even one. 354s
There is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. 359s
All have turned aside. 364s
Together they have become worthless. 367s
There is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one. 370s
In the 23rd verse of this same chapter, Paul writes, 376s
all have sinned and full short of the glory of God. 380s
I remember as a child laying in bed on more than one occasion and thinking about my life and 390s
thinking about God and having heard that at some point there would be an end time. 399s
At some point we would all stand before God the Father in judgment. 408s
I remember thinking because I was not raised Lutheran, I remember thinking, 416s
I hope and I think that if I tell God, I'm super, super, super sorry for everything that I've done, 425s
maybe maybe he'll let me go to heaven. 437s
I remember thinking how I could build a case for myself before the Lord. 441s
I was eight, maybe ten. On several occasions I had this dialogue with myself in my brain as I was 450s
falling asleep and I was looking for that wiggle room. I was seeking out that wiggle room. 460s
And then I remember as a teenager hearing for the very first time 472s
that there is no wiggle room that all have sinned and fall short of the glory 482s
of God. I remember that crisis of thought when I realized that I couldn't build a case for myself 490s
that there was no wiggle room to be found. Where is the thankfulness in this? 506s
How can I rejoice in this? Because God, God who is the all or nothing Almighty, 519s
sovereign Lord, He knew that if I left, if He left it to ourselves that He would receive 536s
absolutely nothing, that He would receive nothing from us because in our sin, 546s
we are capable of only giving nothing. 557s
In Hebrews, in Hebrews the ninth chapter, we read where our rejoicing comes from. 570s
We read of the God who is the God of all or nothing. When we hear that Jesus has appeared 580s
once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of Himself. We know that 593s
Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity. God Himself and fleshed, living the life, 601s
the same life under the law as His brothers and sisters, but unlike His brothers and sisters, 612s
you and I living perfectly according to the law. We know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second 618s
person of the Trinity entered in to humanity so that He could do what we could never do. 628s
And Jesus Christ received all of our sin upon Himself on the cross. He took upon Himself the entire 642s
cost of all our sin and the sin of the whole world and it's not for one time only. 654s
But it is for all time. One sacrifice for all sin of all time. In Hebrews the tenth chapter, 665s
we read when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins. He sat down at the right 677s
hand of God. God Himself was the single sacrifice for our sin and it is because He is the all or 685s
nothing God that He gave us all of Himself. Taking all of our sin, the we bring nothing to Him. 696s
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the 718s
will of God in Christ Jesus for you. The will of God for your life is to give thanks. 728s
The will of God, the will of God is for you to know who He is and who He has claimed 738s
you to be in the waters of baptism. The will of God for your life is in Christ Jesus and in 749s
Christ Jesus the will of God is that your sins are forgiven. That you have been redeemed and there 760s
is no wiggle room in the redemption that Christ has won for you. He has brought a full redemption, 770s
the all redemption for you for your sins. This is the will of God for your life. 782s
It's in Christ Jesus because in Christ Jesus we have all that we are called to be thankful for 795s
and we have everything that we are indeed thankful for. I was reminded of the beautiful Him. 804s
It is well with my soul as I was preparing this sermon and that that verse especially where it says, 814s
my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole is nailed to the 823s
cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul, when we understand where our sin 834s
has gone, when we understand not in part but the whole, when we understand that our response 848s
by God's grace and through His Spirit is a resounding praise you Lord and thank you. 861s
It is indeed rejoicing in all that He has done. Paul says rejoice, always rejoice, always! 870s
Even in illness, yes, rejoice because you know that by Christ we are already healed, 885s
whether we will be healed this side of heaven or post Easter. We know that we are healed 895s
in Jesus Christ so rejoice. rejoice, pray without ceasing? Well what if everything is going okay? 903s
Yes, pray, pray because God is so good that we get to communicate with Him at all times in all places, 916s
in all circumstances, pray, speak to your Father because He hears you, give thanks in all circumstances. 928s
Because quite frankly as we continue to walk this side of heaven, all circumstances are not 948s
that great in the moment. But we can still give thanks because we know who has called us to be his own. 956s
We know that this is just a short time that we walk this side of heaven, but that in the fullness 970s
of time we will be called into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and that eternally 979s
of which today is one day eternally. We are in the beautiful and perfect circumstance 987s
of Christ Jesus and being called as His own. rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks 998s
in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1010s