So we come this week to the end of St. Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica; and I’m sure it’s worth reminding ourselves that Paul wrote this letter to the people of the church. He did not write his letter to the leaders of the church. He wrote it to the Church.
The letter began like this (1 Thess 1:1): “To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.”
The letter ends with these words (1 Thess 5:27-28): “I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
Grace and peace to you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Paul wanted the church to be immersed in grace - the unmerited favour of God.
Perhaps we could stop for a moment and ask ourselves if we are aware of God’s grace at work in our lives, and God’s grace at work in and through his church: God’s unmerited favour. Of course, you could easily be thinking, “What’s that all about? The grace of God - God’s unmerited favour!”
I believe that God created the universe. I believe that God created us to be in a relationship with him; and I believe that God gave to men and women a good and perfect set of guidelines by which to live – guidelines by which to live in healthy relationships with each other, and in a healthy relationship with God. I also believe that many people on this planet have rejected God’s plans for human relationships, and I believe that many people on this planet have rejected even the idea of being in a relationship with God. For the most part, humankind have rejected God, and I know that there are times when I reject God.
What does God make of all this? He sent Jesus to show God’s love to us, and when we think about the things that Jesus said and the things that Jesus did, we get to know what God is like. We get to know about God’s grace towards us; we get to know about the unmerited favour of God.
God wants us to experience his grace, and as we put our trust in him, as we put our trust in Jesus, we will experience God’s unmerited favour – God’s undeserved favour.
So St. Paul finishes his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica and he prays that it will be a Church full of God’s grace. In particular, Paul has words of encouragement and words of instruction for the men and women of the church concerning their relationships with Church leaders, with one another and with God. It is therefore with a little trepidation that I approach the first of those three relationships!
Relationships with Church Leaders:
Addressing the men and women of the Church, St. Paul asks them “to respect those who work hard among [them], who work hard among [them], who are over [them] in the Lord and who admonish [them]. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work; live in peace with each other” (v12-13).
Once again we have a section from the Bible which I might prefer to skip over, because to say anything about it could suggest that I am hoping to set myself up; and yet it also applies to me in my relationship with our local Bishops for example. I may not always agree with them, but I am called to respect them, to love them in the Lord Jesus, to pray for them, and to live in peace with them.
On one occasion a Church leader was on a passenger plane and he noticed that the lady sitting next to him was praying – mumbling under her breath.
When she seemed to stop and she opened her eyes he asked, “Do you mind if I ask what you were praying about?” She replied: “I was praying about the marriages of Church leaders. I was praying that they would fail.” It turned out that the lady in question was not praying to God – she was praying in completely the opposite direction; praying for the marriages of church ministers to fail!
Friends, will you join me in praying for the leaders of our Church; for John Gladwin the Bishop of Chelmsford; for Laurie Green the Bishop of Bradwell, and for Rowan (Rowan Williams that is, not Rowan Atkinson) – praying that they will do the will of God and that they will be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ in all that they do; and please would you pray for me in a similar vein.
Relationships with one another:
Here again, Paul addresses every Church member!
Essentially, Paul is urging the members of the church to be very patient with one another (v14). Are we patient with one another?
Paul writes (1 Thess 5:15): “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong.” It was a church where some folk had become idle, just biding their time, just marking-time, doing just about nothing of any use; some folk were genuinely timid about their status in the eyes of God – and perhaps that describes you. Perhaps you feel unworthy of God’s love. Well, the truth is that no-one is worthy, no-one actually deserves God’s loves, but he loves us anyway. God has lavished his grace (his unmerited favour) upon us through his Son Jesus Christ. It was a church where some were very unsure of their faith, and it was a church where some of the folk were very ‘trying’ in deed. It was as if they existed in order to test the patience and the endurance of those around them! Yet we’re called to be very patient towards each one.
Being a Father continues to teach me about patience. It is an ongoing lesson. I can remember thinking, “When will he start walking? When will he talk? When will she say my name? When will he learn some manners? When will he learn to be polite?” As we together develop and grow in our love for God and our love for one another, let’s be patient! A child does not learn manners instantly. Crawling usually comes before walking, and walking comes before running. It’s not that different to our spiritual growth as we come into a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Our relationship (as a Church) with God:
Paul helps us to think about our worship. When Paul says (v16-18): “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” he writes everything plural. When he says “you” he means all of you, not simply ‘little old you’! He also uses the plural when he says “be joyful …pray …give thanks.”
This is about the worship of the Church.
Elsewhere Paul categorically says that worship must be orderly and worship must be decent but never does Paul say that worship must be bland, or boring or sombre or soporific! Sadly, the church too often falls way short. I wonder if I could take a quick vote. Who thinks that the worship in heaven is going to be bland, boring, sombre and soporific? Who thinks it will be full of joy, full of prayer and full of giving thanks?
There will be times when we come to worship full of sorrow, wrecked by grief, torn by temptation and sin, and angry with life. Some of you will relate to that today; and yet God is good. God is faithful. God is trustworthy. God is forgiving. The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace – he is the God of all comfort. Whatever our circumstances there is joy to be found in worshipping God. Prayer deepens our love for God, and there is always something to be thankful for.
If we have clean water to drink we can give thanks. If we have eaten food already this morning we can give thanks. If we have had access to free NHS medical treatment recently we can give thanks, because that is not the experience of many people in our world.
As a church St. Paul asks us to respect our leaders, to be very patient with one another, and to be joyful towards God in our worship.
Amen!
