"A Splendid Start"
1Thess.1:2-10 Jan.9/05
1Tsunami-stunned: Challenge to"the Good Life"
The tidal wave of Dec.26 took everybody by surprise. Within a few hours, tens of thousands of people in many different countries had been killed, and many more will be forever affected by the losses caused by the 10-metre waves. It's even caught our attention over on this continent. Millions of dollars have been donated for immediate relief efforts, and even former American presidents from different sides of the political fence are getting together to raise money for rebuilding in the long term. Industrial companies are contributing, and even the credit-card companies have announced they'll be donating the customary 2% finance charge levied on transactions to the charities involved.
The news certainly caught our attention. It has upset life for some time to come in a large portion of southeast Asia. But some good is coming of it, as people's hearts respond with compassion, and even political foes like Bill Clinton and Mr.Bush Senior can bury the hatchet and work together constructively for a change.
In some respects, the news about Jesus may be as upsetting as the news of a tidal wave. It changes many lives and can cause great upset; there's no going back to the way things were beforehand. But despite the suffering that may arise because of the change, in the long run the joy and hope that result make it sensational news that others can't help but notice and be drawn to. In the first chapter of one of the first letters of the apostle Paul, he briefly touches on the sequence of stages in becoming a believer that makes the tidal wave of the gospel not just big news, but good news.
Attention
Imagine a major metropolis along a busy international highway. Make it biggest city in the region, and capital of the province. Now throw in the fact that it's not only on a major highway, but a principal seaport as well; ships are coming and going all the time, unloading their passengers and freight, then heading on their way again. It's a the head of the bay where ships have to unload if their cargo's going to continue on its way. Maybe you're visualizing Toronto, or Detroit, or Chicago, or Montreal, or New York. Business is good, things are bustling. Don't get in the way of progress - there's a buck to be made, big deals are going down all over; so what if fellas cut a few corners here and there, it's all part of the game. Just don't interfere with the action - (as the saying goes) "It's the economy, stupid." "All in the name of progress." Did I mention that, being such a mobile cosmopolitan centre, this is where the newest religious fads and lifestyle trends are introduced first? Seaports have always been notorious for immorality. To top it all off, this city has been granted a special degree of political freedom by the imperial powers-that-be: self-rule, exempt from some of the restrictions placed on lesser towns in the boondocks. The sentiment is positively bullish.
Such was the city of Thessalonica when Paul first visited it, about 50 AD. It straddled the 401 or TransCanada or I-75 of the day: the major international highway, the Egnation Way, went all the way from Rome in Italy to the Far East. Thessalonica was located where this busy road met the north end of a large gulf of water off the west coast of Greece. It was the capital of a large province and boasted a population of 200,000 people.
Yet this bustling, preoccupied commercial centre was about to be rocked by a tidal wave - not a real one, but a message that radically altered people's lives irreversibly. Paul's visit began quietly enough; he preached from the Hebrew Scriptures in the Synagogue for three Sabbaths in a row. But a large number of people believed him, and that made the Jewish leaders jealous. Acts 17(5) tells how they rounded up some thugs, "formed a mob and started a riot in the city". They dragged some of the believers before the city officials, protesting that they had welcomed what they called "these men who have caused trouble all over the world." They accused them of political subversion, that they had defied Caesar's decrees and were following a rival king - Jesus. Luke records (Acts 17:8), “When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.” There was such a ruckus that as soon as dark fell, the believers sent Paul and companion Silas quickly on their way to the next town.
Like a massive tsunami, like the uproar of a riot, the gospel gets people's attention. That's how one's walk with God begins: He attracts our notice. Paul recalls in 1Thess.1v5, "Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power..." Like the force of an earthquake, the gospel breaks in upon our comfortable world of selfish pursuits and upsets everything. It sticks in the craw of the industrial-military complex. It's not some slick marketing technique we can use to beef up sales. It's not merely another theory to discuss or attitude to adopt for a while then discard when we're bored, or something more exotic comes along. The truth of the gospel challenges our allegiances to Caesar, to self, to anything this world idolizes. The gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom.1:16) and when a person really hears it for the first time, it's like a tidal wave sweeping over the world as we previously beheld it.
Acts 17(3) describes Paul's gospel presentation in a few words: he reasoned with people from the Scriptures, “explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said.” That is, the Messiah had to suffer in our place to atone for sin; and Jesus' resurrection shows that He's the One God has appointed or specially designated to be the Judge at the end of time. We're now in the interim, waiting for "Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath." (1:10)
Doom-talk isn't good for business. If you know Judgment is coming, it takes the fun out of sowing wild oats. If you knew a tidal wave was going to strike, you'd start saving up for the costs of reconstruction. The people in Thessalonica who didn't believe objected to Paul's message. There was shouting, rioting, and turmoil. When we truly hear the gospel, it grabs our attention -- "not simply with words, but also with power".
Conviction
God has created people as moral beings, equipped with a conscience, and a quest for ultimate meaning in life. The message about Jesus addresses those needs and that guilt buried deep inside us, that we're longing to unload. Paul writes in v5 that "our gospel came to you...with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction," fullness of assurance. You sense God is talking to you in particular, He knows everything about you and is offering you a chance to start over - or face the consequences eternally. It's stark but unavoidable -- “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom.3:23) - haven't we all felt that error and inadequacy in those moments we're most honest with ourselves? "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom.6:23) The offer is plain, the decision is so clear - but it requires a choice to be made. Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Counselor; He brings us face to face with the fact of sin, righteousness, and judgment -- Jesus' righteousness and our sin, to be exact; though God has made possible a great exchange (Jn.16:8; 2Cor.5:21).
Transition
Real repentance leads to a rearrangement of your life. Jesus comes in and starts house-cleaning. We might call this step "transition". Paul writes in v9 "how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God". There's an about-face in our direction; we're no longer headed our own way - "all of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" - but that's how sheep fall off the cliff! (Is.53:6) Few things are as aggravating to deal with as someone who is right in their own eyes and won't be persuaded otherwise - except that's exactly how we start out as fallen individuals, justifying and excusing ourselves with all our might before a perfectly holy God.
Repentance requires that we turn from idols to serve the living, true God. Pagan idols were plentiful in the market-town of Thessalonica; idols are even more abundant today, just shinier and smoother and air-brushed and even more potent in kick-value. Non-material things like control and privacy can be an idol. Christmas can be mighty difficult for those who are alone. It can also be stressful for empty-nesters who find their tranquility rocked by a renewed houseful of offspring; having to "make adjustments" for people shows how easy it is to start to hallow our own space, our own way of doing things, our own timing. But when you opt to definitely yield control to the Lord, He begins to nudge and bend us to be flexible in new ways. There's a transition stage as we learn to follow His leading in choices of what we buy, where we go, what we do with our spare time - generally, what we're living for. For Him, not other powers that would hijack us.
Imitation
Genuine conviction and conversion result in observable changes in lifestyle. We start to copy Christ and those from whom we heard the gospel. Paul writes in vv5-6, "You know how we lived among you for your sake.You became imitators of us and of the Lord..." And in v7, "so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia" (the two main provinces in Greece).
When we become a Christian, there's a change in our behaviour; we start to resemble Jesus increasingly more, as well as pick up the good characteristics of those believers who've influenced and mentored us. This is a desirable sort of imitation. Rom.8(29) says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Jesus' siblings in faith come to copy Him in various respects, there's a family resemblance. Paul urged the Ephesians (5:1), "Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children;" and in 1Cor.11(1 NRSV) he went so far as to say, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
We see more evidence of the transition and imitation of the new believers up in v3. Paul refers to their "work produced by faith" and their "labour prompted by love". Faith that's alive can't help but take effect in our lives, producing positive evidence that we're under new management, using our energy for God's constructive purposes not just self-satisfaction.
Opposition
Change makes people uncomfortable. Change in an organization often draws strong criticism, whether it be an established church trying to make its music style more contemporary, or a radio station altering its approach to programming. When our family members and acquaintances see us changing to be more Christ-like and holy in our lifestyle, that often draws criticism if there's the slightest chance of us coming across as "holier-than-thou" (even if we're not trying to be). Those who trust in Christ need to be prepared to encounter opposition, because people will be noticing the difference Jesus makes.
After talking about how the Thessalonians became imitators, Paul writes in v6, "in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message..." Recall the mob and riot and upheaval during Paul's evangelistic outreach. This hardship must have continued after he left, for he notes in the second chapter (1Thess.2:14), “For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews...” The history of the church is filled with accounts of people who faced persecution and were even killed for their faith, making them martyrs. When we become a Christian, it's a new allegiance, a new loyalty to Jesus as Lord; and that automatically puts us at odds with other people who have attached themselves to different worldviews and principalities.
Around the year 1850, John Vassar of Poughkeepsie, New York, was converted and abandoned beer-making for soul-winning. An agent for the American Tract Society, on one occasion he visited the home of a praying wife whose husband was not a Christian. She begged for a Bible; Vassar gave her one and went his way. When her husband came home, he saw the book and was enraged. Seizing the Bible with one hand and the ax with the other, he hurried to the wood-pile where he placed it on the chopping-block and hacked it crosswise in two. Returning to the house, he threw half of the destroyed Bible at his wife, saying, "As you claim a part of all the property around here, there is your share of this." [I think we could call this 'opposition'!]
As it turns out, the husband tossed the other half into his tool shed. Months later on a wet winter's day, wanting to get away from his Christian wife, the man retreated to his shed. Time passed slowly, so in boredom the man looked around for something to read. Thumbing through the mutilated Bible, his attention was caught by the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. He became absorbed in the parable only to discover that its ending belonged to his wife's section! He crept into the house and secretly searched for the bottom half of the book, but couldn't find where his wife had hidden it. Finally he broke down and asked her for it, and read the story again and again. In the process, he believed and came to the Heavenly Father like a penitent prodigal returning home. His previous opposition to his wife's faith disappeared.
Jubilation
Despite the hardships, turning to God results in joy in our lives; in the list of "fruit of the Spirit" in Gal.5(22f), joy is mentioned second, right after love. In v6 of our reading, Paul notes that "in spite of severe suffering" the Thessalonians "welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit." Knowing Jesus as Saviour personally does provide us with a constant source of joy, not dependent upon outward circumstances. That doesn't mean we go around all the time with a smile on our face; but that God helps us overcome our "down" times, and strengthens our soul to keep going and even rejoice despite disappointments. We rebound better, with the Holy Spirit's help. Romans 5(3) says, “...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance...” This is hard for non-believers to figure out. Peter counselled, “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1Pe.4:13) We're privileged to share our hardships with the Lord, who suffered so we could be forgiven. We have even more reason to rejoice knowing that any undeserved suffering here will be compensated for when Christ returns.
Sensation
Finally, these visible effects of genuine conversion create quite a sensation. People can't help but notice the difference Jesus makes in our attitude, our patience, our caring. We see this in vv8-9: “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia— your faith in God has become known everywhere.Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.They tell how you turned to God from idols..." The term "rang out" in the Greek carries the sense of a trumpet sounding, thunder booming, an echo reverberating. You can't help but hear it. That gets noticed by others in turn, drawing their attention - and so the propagation of the good news goes on.
New Life, New Attitude
Chuck Colson (Loving God) tells the story of Dr Boris Kornfeld, a Jew who lived in Russia. For some reason - maybe a slip of the tongue in which he referred to Stalin as finite - he was dumped in the Gulag and was to live there the rest of his life.
Since Kornfeld was a medical doctor, he was to keep practicing medicine and keep the slaves alive so they could die with all the right things said on their records. He was to rewrite the records to say, "This person is healthy," whether they were or not. The slave was then put back into the slave block and expected to do the work. If slaves died out there of starvation, that was fine -- but they were not to die in the hospital.
Slowly, the physician began to see through all of his misapplied politics and philosophy of life. He finally decided there must be another way. And through the influence of a fellow inmate, he heard of Jesus Christ and ultimately came to know the Messiah: Dr Kornfeld received Jesus personally into his life.
The transformation was slow but steady. On one occasion he worked on the very guard who had beaten slaves. He had a chance to tie an artery loosely so the man could bleed to death and no one would know it. But now that Christ lived in him, he found himself unable to kill. He even mumbled to himself on occasions, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Strange words to come from the lips of a Jew in a Russian prison camp! He didn't realize what a model he was and probably didn't think much about the cycle of how faith gets handed on. But on another occasion he was treating another inmate who had cancer of the intestines. The man looked like he wouldn't live. Boris Kornfeld was so concerned for that man's faith that he leaned over and spoke quietly to him as the patient drifted in and out of the anesthesia. He told the man about Christ and explained God's love which was demonstrated in the Saviour's death and resurrection. When the man would come to, he would tell him more. At one point, the patient awoke, and in his groggy state, he heard a noise down the hall. His surgeon, Dr Kornfeld, was being brutally murdered.
When the patient finally did regain consciousness, he realized what it meant for the doctor to have given his life for a cause, and the patient himself trusted in Jesus. Because Kornfeld had a vision of the cycle, he used his influence to shape a life that did not die, but lived on to challenge and exhort the thinking of prosperous and materialistic North America. You see, the patient's name was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Let's pray.