1 Thessalonians 3:6-10

1 Thessalonians 3:6-10  But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love.  He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.  Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.  For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.  How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?  Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 

Often in our little church we have visitors who come to us with some sort of request.  Usually these people are asking for financial help in some way.  Most of them have similar stories to tell: They need money to get back home or to pay their rent or to put food on the table.  A minority of them have somewhere in their lives made a commitment to the Lord in some nominal way, but the majority of them have not ever made a sustaining commitment to God or even a religion.  Their primary reason for coming to us is not for spiritual help but for money.  Most of the time they want to wait outside to speak to the pastor rather than coming into the service. Therefore, when the money or the help they desire does not keep coming, they disappear over the horizon, never to be seen again.  Their pretensions about changing their destructive behaviors or dedicating their lives to God never materialize for their basic intentions were to use God's people for their selfish purposes, not to serve God.  I am sure as with every church, the Thessalonian congregation had people like the above initially attached to it for their own fleshly reasons, but they soon departed when persecution exploded upon the fledgling church.  Paul was able to say to this church that he was thankful for the good news about their faith and love.  Paul was not looking to see them again to give them material gifts or money but to increase their faith in Christ, for he says he prays most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.  When Paul was prevented from seeing the Christians in Rome, he wrote to them, I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.  He fully understood the importance of growing in faith and in casting aside worldly encumbrances.  He told the Romans: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”  (Romans 1:11-12 & 16-17)  

We have also seen, Christians moving from church to church based on their own whims, using the church of God to satisfy their emotional, psychological, and physical needs.  These people are not like the people in the early church under persecution and struggling to survive.  They have been firmly attached to a body of believers, given responsibilities as an integral part of a body.  But as their minds stray to thinking about themselves, they develop an uneasy feeling that their lives are not being satisfied by the local body of believers, so they either jump to another church or do not attend at all.  We wonder how these Christians would function if they faced real persecution such as rejection from their families and friends because they follow Christ, something more potent and serious than not being satisfied with the way a church is functioning or not meeting their needs.  If Thessalonica was the only place they could serve God, would they be there serving God boldly despite the trials and tribulations, growing in their faith in Christ and leading others to the Lord?  The obvious answer for dedicated, sold-out Christians is we don't serve God where WE want to serve, but where He sends us to serve.  Earlier, we spoke of those who come to church for selfish purposes: to get a meal, housing, transportation or just to get money for their destructive habits.  Of course their commitment to God is nominal at best, but there is hope for them to find Christ.  The church helps as seems appropriate and prays for them, sharing the gospel message with them.  But for those who name Christ as their personal Savior who are identified with a body of believers and know they are to love their fellow Christians as they love themselves, which is the second cardinal rule, to walk away from a community of believers is detrimental and dangerous.  Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)  As children of God, we are no longer our own.  We are not free to pick and choose.  We bloom where God plants us and serve gladly where He calls us.  Church is not about us.  We are there to minister, not to be ministered to.  Every time someone leaves our little church, it leaves a huge hole, especially when that person was a mentor, a leader, a doer.  People ask us, "Where did he/she go?  I looked up to him/her so much.  He/she was such an encouragement to me."  We do not know what to say because the answers we have seem so insufficient as we look at the faces of the hurting and the needy.  Paul told the Galatians, Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  (Galatians 6:2)  This command stands true today.

In our scripture from 1 Thessalonians, we see Paul rejoicing over Timothy's report about the good fruit coming from this body of believers.  These Thessalonians were in the midst of a fiery furnance of persecution and harassment, yet they were staying true to the faith and their work for the Lord.  They were not retreating nor abandoning ship.  They were all in for Jesus, new creatures IN CHRIST.  What a joy it was for Paul to hear Timothy's good news of the firm stand and dedication of the Christians in Thessalonica.  Now he knew his beloved Thessalonians children were authentic and trustworthy fellow servants of the Lord.  They had staked their faith steadfastly upon Christ, portraying the love of Christ to a heathen community regardless of the difficulties they were experiencing.   He knew now he could truly call himself their spiritual father, for they would not turn back and would faithfully exist eternally IN CHRIST.  How wonderful it is for any pastor who shepherds a congregation to know that his body of believers will survive regardless of the trials or failures the sheep face.  He knows the sheep are in the sheepfold of the Great Shepherd Christ Jesus, and nothing will separate them from God, for they have chosen to go all the way to the grave in faith.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:35-39)  As children of the Most High God we are called to serve, called to love, called to bring the Good News to hungry people.  We have the Bread of Life!  Lord, show us where you want us to go today and every day.