(SERMON FOR SUNDAY)
Salutation
1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the
Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and
peace.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our
prayers, constantly 3remembering before our God and Father your work of
faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we
know, brothers and sisters beloved
by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our message of the gospel came to you not in
word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction;
just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. 6And you
became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you
received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7so that
you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For the
word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no
need to speak about it. 9For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10and to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues
us from the wrath that is coming.
I have used the
commentary by William Barclay in preparation for this sermon.
My text is written in 1 Thessalonians
1.2-3:
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you
and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3remembering
before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and
steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church in Thessalonica
is described as being ‘... in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ ...’ The word
translated here as ‘church’ is translated in the New English Bible as
‘congregation’ – ekklesia – which
originally meant a properly summoned assembly of the citizens and was not originally used for a religious
gathering. But it was used in the
Greek translation of the Old Testament – the Septuagint – to denote a gathering of Israel as God’s people and
because of this it was adopted by the early Christians as the term they used to
describe their gathering together.
Coming together as the
people of God is something special. When people are reminded that this is what
happens when they come to Church – and when this is their actual experience –
you cannot keep them away.
God was present in every
part of this fellowship, just as the air is in us, and we are in the air, and
we cannot live without the air, so the true Church of God is steeped in the
presence of God who is also the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot
begin to imagine what God is like, but we have a glimpse, because Jesus
revealed the true nature of God when he walked this earth before us and as his
presence fills us especially when we gather together as his people to worship.
Barclay suggests that in
the beginning of this important letter we see Paul at his most winsome – most
attractive and appealing. Soon he needs to turn to warning and even rebuke, but
it was never his aim to discourage, always to uplift, and so he is careful with
his choice of words.
In every person there is
something fine and often the best way to get a person to get rid of the lower
things is to praise the higher things; as Barclay suggests: ‘... the best way
to eradicate faults is to praise virtues so that they will flower all the more,
for every person reacts more to encouragement than they do to rebuke.’
From verse 3, Paul explains
three ingredients of the Christian life:
Firstly, there is work that is inspired by faith. There is nothing that tells
us more about a person than the way they work: some people work hard because
they are afraid; others because they want to be recognised and want personal
gain; some from a grim sense of duty. But there are those who are inspired by
faith – they believe that the task that they have been given, have been given
to them by God, so they are working not for others, but for God. Barclay writes:
‘Someone has said that the sign of true consecration is when a person finds
glory in drudgery.’
Secondly, there is work that is inspired by love. When a person loves the person
they are working for, or because they love what they are doing, they will go to
great lengths to see that the work is done well.
I want to pause here,
because this is so important. Have you noticed that it is very seldom that Paul
ever speaks of our love for God; rather he focuses on God’s spirit who pours
divine love into believing hearts – that is hearts filled with the faith that
they too have received as a gift from God. Believers, when they gather together
as the ekklesia – the Church or
Congregation they share this with each other. As they go into their places of
work – whatever that may be – in our homes or places of employment we work
filled with love; not because we have to, but because love spurs us on.
Thirdly, there is work that is fuelled by hope. A person can endure just about
anything so long as they have hope. And being a follower of Jesus is not always
an easy thing. As a rule, the world has been and will be generally hostile to
the Gospel. Just as Jesus caused offense in his day with his radical way of
love, so when Christian live authentically, in radical discipleship, this will
often bring hardship and even persecution, because the ways of God are not the
ways of the world.
Verse 4 has an
interesting phrase ‘... beloved by God ...’ In Jewish tradition, this phrase
was only used to describe men who were extremely great, people like Abraham,
Moses or Solomon. Now the greatest
privilege is given to God’s people and even in this case to the humblest of the
Gentiles. I like the way the NRSV translates this as ‘... brothers and sisters
...’ because we know that this is the truth of the matter and for too long,
women were treated – even in the Church – as second class citizens.
We have all received
grace and the gift of faith, and even in this receiving, we have been helped by
God and all this because we are beloved by God who wants us to live well. He
wants our work – whatever we do – to be inspired by faith and love and to be
fuelled by hope.
As verse 5 points out, it is useless to have what seems like profound
wisdom, it needs to come with power and the evidence that it is from the Holy
Spirit – ‘... with full conviction ...’ We know when all this is present when
people practice what they preach. It is always most effective to see someone
whose life is holy; it is this that attracts people to the message, it is this
that makes them want to listen and learn and change. The people at Thessalonica
began to imitate Paul and the other leaders just as these leaders had been
imitating the example of Jesus. This is what makes the Gospel really effective
and even in the midst of persecution people experience joy inspired by the Holy
Spirit. In Thessalonica, as a result of the example of holiness set by these
people, others were inspired by their example at the time. Even today, as we
read these verses, their example rings for us like a trumpet or a roll of
thunder.
Barclay comments:
‘There is something tremendous about the
sheer defiance of early Christianity. When all prudence and all common-sense
would have dictated a way of life that would have escaped notice, and so
avoided danger and persecution, the Christian defied their dangers and blazoned
forth their faith.’
And in the midst there is a sense of joy. I remember this well, when
Christians faced persecution for the Gospel in South Africa. My earliest memory
of the Christian faith was in a small Church on the border of a township where
people of all races met. This was radical anywhere in the world in 1962; it was
radical in Apartheid South Africa. This left an indelible impression on me. In
the midst of all the persecution, there was a deep sense of love expressed in
joy, something that always made the security police spies feel so uncomfortable
that they could not stay. This defiance eventually won the day.
So let us be reminded of the fact that God is present with us as we
gather as the ekklesia – not only
when we worship together but as we share his love in our homes and our other
activities. Let us share the radical love of Christ with others and so fill
them with hope and joy as we live like those eagerly waiting for the return of
our Lord. Barclay writes: ‘The Christian is called upon to serve the world and
wait for glory. The loyal service, the patient waiting, the unconquerable
expectation were the necessary preludes to the glory of heaven.’
The Apostle Paul reminds
us of our focus in 1 Thessalonians 1.2-3:
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you
and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3remembering
before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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