Key Verses: 3, 6, 10
Work,
labor, and endurance are three words we don’t necessarily like to hear spoken
to us about our future. We want to hear relaxation, pampering and ease. The
Jesus-followers in the large city of Thessalonica had accepted the faith in a
time of intense persecution. They had grown rapidly in their trust in Christ
and Paul wanted to encourage them. If Paul were writing this letter to us, what
in our lives would he have to encourage us about?
When Paul
presented the Gospel to them he did it with more than mere words. God confirmed
the message with powerful acts. We read about this moment in history in Acts
17:1-9. Over a three week period Paul preached and they responded. Then
persecution broke out and Paul was rushed away for his own safety. When someone
is ready for the Gospel it doesn’t take long for understanding and conversion.
They were Jews who knew the Scriptures. All Paul had to do was show them that
Jesus fulfilled the Scripture. The rest is history.
Part of
our difficulty in presenting the Gospel today is that people don’t have a
common understanding of how the world works. In our culture every “truth” is of
equal value and held to be equally “true” in spite of glaring contradictions
and the obvious errors. But so many have lost the ability to think critically,
to examine some fact being presented and evaluate it logically and critically. And
without this ability to actually use our god-given mind we fall for anything
that is presented to us.
The
Thessalonian believers accepted the message and applied it to their lives, even
in the middle of persecution. Their lives became a model to be followed, just
as Paul had become a model for them of how to live godly in Christ. We all need
models, flesh and blood examples of godly living. We need to see what endurance
looks like lived out in the face of suffering, so that we can do the same when
it is our turn. Our lives need to be more open to each other, allowing our
lives to be read by those around us.
Remember,
our reputation does spread. In the age of Facebook we know that everything we
post can be seen by future employers. With a few clicks of the mouse it will
all be present on their desktop. Criminal activity, mischievous activity, even
indiscretion will be seen. The pictures of the British royals recently caught
in exposed positions should be an example for all of us. We may not have constant
cameras pointed at us by outsiders, but we do often have cameras pointed at us
by our friends and immediately posted online.
Maybe we
need to think about what we are modeling before we act! We are allowed to
choose behavior that reflects what we say we believe. Jesus is coming again. He
did rise from the grave. He will rescue us from Judgment Day. Some objects of
worship are just idols, having no value in determining our place in eternity.
There are just as many idols today as there were back then. Ours just come in
shinier packages.