23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 24
Lectionary 29
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
"Faith, Hope, Love"
1:1* ¶ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
2* We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
3* remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4* For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you;
5* for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
6* And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit;
7* so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
8* For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
9* For they themselves report concerning us what a welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
10* and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
"In the west during the torrential spring rains, the rivers frequently rise and flood the lowlands. There was a little girl who lived In the valley of one of these mighty rivers and one weekend "he was going with her parents to visit friends. As she was packing, she placed her dearest possession in her suitcase---a little rag doll. She had made it with her own hands and cared for it with a mother’s love. But her masher told her she could not bring it with her because it was too dirty, threadbare and falling apart. Reluctantly, she left it home.
Over the weekend, a sudden storm kilt the valley and the river reached over it banks and flooded all the homes The little girl stood on the hillside looking down into the flooded valley, all she could think of was her little rag doll. When she could return home she rushed into her room, and her worst fear was realized--the flood had washed away her little rag doll.
One day while she was in town, she happened to pass a salvage store where objects found in the muddy debris were sold to raise money for the flood victims To her surprise and overwhelming joy, there wee her little rag doll with a price tag on it---25 cent. She had not money of her own, she went back home and helped her mother clean up. She earned a few pennies, she also helped the neighbors and earned a few more pennies. Finally, she had her 25 cents. She rushed to the store and placed her little sacrifice on the counter and claimed her doll. AY she walked from the store clutching her treasure in her arms, she was heard to say, "I made you, I lost you, I bought you back and now your are really mine !!"!!!!"
This story speaks about God’s work, salvation. He made us, lost of us to sin, bought us back by the blood of his son and now we are really his. Salvation, God’s work.
But our second lesson this morning is about our work, faith. Faith believing in the work of salvation which God has done for us thorugh his son Jesus Christ.
Faith can be seen in the following:
A teenager was sitting in the pastor’s office saying,"Sometimes I don’t think I am a Christian. I don’t seem to have the same interest and excitement, or enthusiasm I once did. It isn’t easy for me to remember God, to come to church, and to pray. It is too easy to find excuses to stay away from church and then to make those excuses into reasons why I should stay away. Pastor, I know God hasn’t left me, but boy I sure feel as if I have left Him."
The pastor said, "Remember the time your father was away from home on those long business trips? Was it difficult for you to remember him?"
"Not a bit," the boy said, "I had letter from him and I kept thinking about him, and he sent me gifts in the mail so I would remember him ."
"Suppose," said the pastor, "there was no letters, no gifts and you never mentioned his name in conversation around the house. What then???"
"Then, maybe, I would have forgotten about him. That would have made a difference," said the boy.
"Well,"said the pastor, "that is the way it is with God. Sure it is tough to remember God, it is tough to stay a Christian in this world. But God has given us His word, like your father’s letters, to remember him. God has given us His gifts of Holy communion and Baptism as a physical reminder of His love for us, like the gifts your father sent you. God also wants us to include Him in our conversations, not just on Sunday, but throughout the week, so that we will remember Him. It is tough to stay a Christian, it is tough to remember God doesn’t leave you, it is tough to keep a relationship with God alive, exciting and fresh. God is working on His end and he wants you to continue to work on your end. He has given you all the tools, necessary, only, you have to decide if you will use them."
The boy smiled and nodded, yes.
The story is a good illustration of our second lesson from I Thessalonians. Paul is thankful they have kept their faith in Jesus Christ. He says, "For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you; for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction."
He knows the message of Christ has come to them and Paul knows how difficult it is for them to remain in Christ, so he prays for them. He says, "We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers." As he prays for these people, we recalls, he remembers how they have worked to remain faithful to Christ. He says: "remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
This morning I want to focus on those phrases as we think about our faith, as we remember each other in prayer, and as we uphold each other in faith. I want you to be clear though, we are not speaking of salvation, we are speaking about remaining faithful to the salvation message God brought to us through the Spirit as He accomplished it through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith, is at the same time, our work and the work of the Holy Spirit.
In the meaning to the Third Article of the Creed, Luther speaks about this duel aspect to faith as he says:[ repeat along with me if you can ]" I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts and sanctified and kept me in true faith." Notice, we have been granted gifts by the Spirit which enlighten us, or keep us in our faith. Gifts need to be used. Faith is at the same time the work of the Spirit and our work. But I think far too long Lutherans have used the excuse that God does all the work and I do not have to be involved at all. Which translated into living by, I don’t come to church, I don’t commune, I don’t read my Bible, I don’t go to Bible Study, I don’t talk about my faith with others, I don’t become concerned about another’s faith, and we could go on and on.
Paul speaks about a work of faith among the Thessalonians.
Their work of faith can be described as laboring to keep their relationship alive with Christ. As we stay in our relationship with Christ, we become new people, a new creation. Paul says in Romans 8,"it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." We must keep our relationship with God alive and fresh. God will never leave us, but we can leave him.
Peter speaks about us staying in our status with God," But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." He says the genuineness of our faith is more precious than gold because without seeing we believe with joy.
Our works of faith are grounded and rooted in the word and the sacraments. It is in these and the faith of our fellow Christian that we remain those children of light, as Paul says in Ephesians who walk as the light of the world.
I would like to tell you a story which describes for me the life of one who is in Christ:
Two butterflies - colorful and majestic monarchs - sat side by side on a tree limb. Beside them was the ruptured cocoon from which they’d just emerged. "Come fly with me," said the one.
"Caterpillars can’t fly," said the other.
"But we’re not caterpillars anymore," said the first, flexing his new wings, stretching them their full span till they looked like magnificently crafted stained glass windows. "Those caterpillar days are gone forever."
"Don’t be silly," said the other. "We were born caterpillars and we’ll always be caterpillars. That’s the way it is."
"Well, then, why did the Maker see fit to give us these wings?" said the one.
The other butterfly thought for a moment and then replied,"I don’t know. Some sort of cruel joke, I suppose. He did the same thing to the ostrich, you know."
"Nonsense!" said the first. "Look at all the other butterflies. They’re flying. What do you say to that?"
The second butterfly looked out over the meadow and said, "They’re not flying. They’re just being blown about by the wind. Stupid of them, too. Can’t they see it’s dangerous? Easy prey for hungry birds and, when they land, mischievous children as well. I’ll stick to crawling and climbing, thank you very much. It may be slow, but it’s safe and sure."
"It may be slow and safe and sure but it’s.....well, it’s unnatural. Butterflies fly!!! That’s the way the maker made us. That’s our role, our function, our fit: to dance on the wings of the air; to play tag with dandelions seeds; to soar; to dart; to float; to light on a single blade of grass to the delight of all who see; to inspire awe and wonder; to fascinate; to add a note of grace to this world’s dreary song." (1)
Can you imagine us, you and I to be the butterflies of this world, to delight others with our faith, to inspire awe and wonder, to fascinate, to add a note of grace to this world’s dreary song. Can you be that new creation in Christ, that royal priesthood, the chosen people?? Can you remain faithful in Christ ??
Paul also speaks about their being a people of hope. He is thankful for the steadfastness of hope the Thessalonians have in Christ. A hope I think which sees the circumstances of life as not in a negative way, but positive in Christ. I think this means you and I can be triumphant in life through Christ. We can be triumphant because of the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit and the promise of the resurrection.
We are a people of hope. A people of faith, who can see the endless possibilities in life. We see, not dead ends, but ways through the dark tunnels of life. We see and we experience a hope of overcoming our brokenness not by ourselves, but only through Christ.
A favorite play of mine is The Man from Lamancha, which is about a knight, Don Quiote, who wanders in an imaginary world fighting for right and bringing hope to those in despair. Maybe his words can be ours as we live in the real world, bringing hope into lives filled with despair.
To dream the impossible dream;....to fight the unbeatable foe....To bear with unbearable sorrow....to run where the brave are not go....To right the unrightable wrong...to love pure and chaste from afar....To try when your arms are to weary....to reach the unreachable star!!!...This is my quest, to follow that star, ....No matter how hopeless, no matter how far....To fight for the right without question or pause....To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause!!!...And I know, if I’ll only be true...To this glorious quest, that my heart will lie peaceful and calm...When I’m laid to my rest...And the world will be better for this....That one man, scorned and covered with scars...Still strove with his last ounce of courage....To reach the unreachable stars!!!!"
Paul says of the Thessalonians and I pray of us: "We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale
(1) Mark Radecke in "In Christ: A New Creation"
