A Congregation For Which To Be Thankful

Over the last several years that I have been the circuit counselor for this area of the Texas District, there have been five pastoral vacancies in our circuit. Three of them have been filled, one of them has a call out right now, and one is in the early stages of the process of calling a pastor.

Working with these five congregations has been an education. All of them have very definite ideas about what kind of pastor they want—a pastor for whom they can be thankful to God. But what they are less clear about is whether the pastor who has been called there will find a congregation for which he can be thankful—a congregation that will lead him to add his voice to that of the apostle Paul who said of the Thessalonians:

I give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in my prayers,

That’s what I want to talk about today- a congregation for which we can be thankful--and to guide our meditation on God’s Word as it applies to this congregation- I want to use the three-part report that Paul received that summarized the congregational life of the Thessalonians—how they had turned to God in faith—how they served God in love—and how they steadfastly waited in hope for the Lord’s return.

Paul rejoiced to hear how people from all over the Roman Empire were reporting that the Thessalonians had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

This is any pastor’s number one priority—that people he serves would repent of their sins and turn to God in faith.

We know that when Paul first arrived in Thessalonica, he went to the synagogue where he began to preach the Good News about Jesus and a number of Jews, many Gentiles, and quite a few of the prominent women of that city turned to faith in Christ. Paul said that the:

“Gospel came to them not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”

The Church at Thessalonica heard the Good News about Jesus and not only were they convinced of its truth in an intellectual kind of way, but they were convicted in their heart that this Good News of forgiveness and life in the death and resurrection of Jesus was for them-- and their lives were radically changed as they turned from sin to God.

That is the outcome that every preacher hopes would come from his labor in the Word of God.

Every sermon that I preach, every confirmation class that I conduct, every bedside that I stand beside, and every bible class that I teach has but one purpose—and that is that you folks would turn to God again and again by repenting of your sins and putting your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And thanks be to God--you have! I am blessed by your faith! In the conversations that we have, in the questions that you ask, in your faithfulness in worship and generosity in stewardship, it is evident how sincerely you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ and I always hope and pray that you would see the same thing in me.

Paul said to the Thessalonians, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” Dear friends in Christ, it is my sincere hope that you always see in me and hear from me that I am a sinner who believes in Jesus Christ and that I daily beg the help of the Holy Spirit to live a life worthy of him. That said…

As your pastor, I preach and teach-- not on the basis of my own righteousness (of which I have none) but because God has called me to share with you the grace and forgiveness that he has so abundantly (and necessarily!) given to me through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. May God always grant that the pastor and people in this place go through life as forgiven sinners, trusting in no one and nothing but Jesus-- come what may!

How necessary our faith is because we do not know from one day to the next what life will bring! When the Thessalonians repented of their sin and put their faith in Jesus, their day-to-day lives did not somehow miraculously become free of hardships—in fact, Paul said that they received the Word in much affliction. There were real hardships that came with following Jesus--but because their lives had been changed eternally and they were now united to the Father and the Son—their lives were marked by the joy of the Holy Spirit -- and that joy was obvious in how they served God. Paul wrote:

I remember before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is absolutely the worst mischaracterization of the Christian faith that somehow our life with God consists only of knowing a certain set of data and being able to correctly explain justification and if we’ve got that down we’re saved no matter how we live.

Nothing could be farther from the truth! A true and living faith in Jesus Christ will always show itself in how we live our life-- and Paul not only gave thanks that the Thessalonians had turned to God in faith--but also that they served him in love.

It’s remarkable to me, and always worth being reminded of, that the Christian life laid down in the words of Jesus and the apostles is really nothing heroic. There is no great pilgrimage to go on—no rigorous self-discipline to endure regarding food and drink—no hard asceticism to undergo, beating ourselves into submission.

Instead, we are called to fulfill the commandments by loving God and one another.
This life of genuine love flows from a sincere faith in Jesus and when it is actually lived out by Christians—a life of love is always a powerful witness to Jesus Christ—in fact, oftentimes the most powerful witness of all!

When the Romans wrote about the early Christians, the thing that amazed them was the love that they had for one another. Husbands treated their wives with kindness. Mothers did not abort or abandon their children. They shared their material goods with one another and the pagan world looked on in amazement at the early Christians because their lives were so completely different than the culture around them—and our lives are to be the same, imitating Christ and the holy apostles.

In the terms of the number of people who have ever lived, very few ever got to see or hear Jesus—very few ever got to meet one of the apostles. But in the lives of Christians over the last two thousand years, billions of people have come to know Jesus and the apostles through Christian lives of love. Paul said that the Thessalonians:

Became imitators of us and of the Lord, for they received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that they became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Imitators of Christ and examples to others--that is what we are called to be as those redeemed by the sacrificial love of Christ and I am so blessed to see that love evidenced in this place in your lives!

When I look out at this congregation I see marriages that reveal the love that exists between Christ and his church and families that love each other—I see countless acts of generosity that are largely unknown because of the humility of those who give—I see acts of mercy and kindness to those in need. I see Jesus in you. And I see a sincere desire to share the love of Christ with others—just like the Thessalonians had. Paul wrote that the:

“Word of the Lord had sounded forth from them and that their faith had gone forth everywhere.”

Their lives had been changed forever by Jesus Christ and they wanted to make sure that others also came to faith and so they witnessed to those around them and they supported the apostolic mission to take the Gospel to the world.

I am blessed to say that the same can be said of this congregation. We are rapidly approaching the time of year when we work together to produce a budget so that we can prudently plan to financially support God’s work. A significant part of that work is done in this place through preaching and teaching and administering the sacraments. But we all know how great the need is throughout the world for people to know Jesus.

And so we also give to support the work of missions. For years, we have given well over twenty percent of our total offering to the work of missions so that people throughout the world can come to know Jesus like we do—as their Lord and Savior. And I hope that we will step out in faith even in these uncertain financial times and do the same in the year to come.

But we also need to recommit ourselves as individual Christians and as a congregation to the great task of personally sharing Jesus with others because the day of grace and salvation before our Lord’s return will not last forever. Paul wrote that we:

“Wait for God’s Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

If you continue reading Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians you will discover that this is where they had faith struggles. Paul had taught them that not only had Jesus lived and died and been raised for them—but that he was coming again in glory for judgment. And they believed him. But they were confused about what to do while they waited and a number of them simply put their life on hold expecting the Lord at any moment.

Now the Lord may indeed return in any moment but waiting for the Lord is really about our attitude toward life at this moment. And so what should our attitude and outlook be as we wait for the Lord’s return?

Because we know that this world not only had a beginning-- but will have an ending-- we value those things that matter in the light of eternity and in the sight of the Lord’s final judgment. We have an eternal perspective about life right now- and what really matters- and that perspective guides how we live.

Over the life of any congregation there are going to be differences of opinion about building projects and budget issues and worship style. But these differences won’t divide us because we have an eternal view about what’s really important—and that is those things that will matter when the Lord comes again: our faith in him and the lives of love that has flowed from that faith.

That is what endures the grave- and that is what endures the day of judgment- and that is what matters.

Dear friends in Christ, I want you to know how thankful I am that I can add my voice to that of the Apostle Paul when he says: I give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in my prayers—thankful that you have turned to God in faith and that you serve others in love and that you wait in hope for our Lord’s return. And I pray that God would continue to richly bless our lives together as pastor and people in this place. Amen.