“We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 1:12)
This week we begin a mini-series on the short letter of 2 Thessalonians.
Faith and Perseverance (2 Thessalonians 1:1-12)
Starting a Journey
It’s wonderful to be baptising …. this morning.
Although, baptism in itself is a wonderful event and a great celebration,
more importantly it symbolises the start of a journey, a journey which lasts for the whole of life. It is a journey with Jesus through all the ups and downs of this life and ultimately, through death itself to the promise of eternal glory.
Everyone’s Christian journey will be different. We all have different gifts and skills to use, we will face different challenges and encouragements, but there are some key things in common.
In our reading from Thessalonians, Paul writing to a fairly new church is encouraging them on their journey with Jesus. He celebrates the progress they have already made, encourages them to keep on despite the challenges they face and reminds them of where they are heading – eternal life with God.
Although, he is writing to Christians who lived only twenty years or so after Jesus’s death and resurrection, his words are relevant for all Christians, including us today.
So, let’s look more closely at what is being said.
Grace – Our Ticket for the Journey
If you wanted to travel to Australia, then you would need to go by plane and to go by plane, you need a ticket and a passport. The ticket shows that you have paid for your journey, whilst the passport shows you have permission to travel.
But how can we pay for our journey to eternal life with God? What gives us a right to enter his kingdom?
The answer is that we cannot pay our own way and we have no right to enter his kingdom. In fact our sin, which someone has summed up as being the attitude which says to God:
“Shove off God”
“I am in charge”
“No to your rules”
means that we are very far from being able to journey to God’s eternal home. Why should God let us in with that attitude? Why should he help us on the way? Why should he bother with us at all?
The reading from Thessalonians has an important word at the beginning and the end of the passage. The word is, “Grace.” In Greek, it can be just a greeting, and in the previous letter to the Thessalonians, he had just said, ‘Grace and Peace to you.’ But notice that in verse 2, Paul says, ‘Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the LORD Jesus Christ.’ Paul seems to be emphasising that grace comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Then in verse 12, he again talks about “the grace of our God and the LORD Jesus Christ” a grace which seems to make possible the journey being talked about in this passage. It is almost as though grace is both the ticket and the passport we need for the journey to God’s eternal home.
So, what is grace? It is a gift that is not deserved.
In our gospel reading, we see a great example of grace. Zacchaeus lived in Jericho. But the people of Jericho were all agreed that Zacchaeus was a nasty greedy man. He worked on behalf of their enemy the Romans as a Chief Tax Collector, collecting money from his fellow countrymen to make people in Rome rich, and at the same time making himself rich. He even used his power to squeeze even more money out of people for himself.
So, when Jesus came to Jericho, you can imagine the shock, when of all the people he could visit in Jericho, Jesus decided to visit Zacchaeus’s house. Surely, people were saying, this is the last person that deserves to have Jesus visit. How can Jesus spend time with such a greedy and wicked man.
But, Jesus somehow knew that Zacchaeus was ready to repent and needed to be shown that God would accept him and welcome him. Zacchaeus needed to know about God’s grace, a grace that Jesus showed him by visiting his home. He needed to show Zacchaeus that God’s gift was available even to someone as corrupt and greedy as Zacchaeus. That even someone like Zacchaeus could be given a ticket and a passport to begin the journey with God.
So, God’s grace gives us the ticket for the journey, but we need to choose to make that journey. We need to decide to abandon our attitude of sin and embrace a life with God.
That is what repentance is all about. It is saying, actually, God, I don’t want you to go away, I want to be near you, I realise that when I am in charge of my life, I make a mess of it and that actually following your rules leads to a much better life. If grace is the ticket, given to us freely and undeservedly by God, then repentance is the decision to start the journey with God.
Growth – Progress on the Way
And as we journey we will want to see progress on the way. We will want to see that we are becoming closer to the destination.
Several years ago, we as a family went to visit my sister in Vietnam. It was a very long journey, but to help you to see how far you had gone, the plane had displays with maps on, that showed where you were in the world, how far you had come and how far you still had left to go. I don’t know about you, but I like to know the progress I have made on any journey I am on.
In 2 Thessalonians, Paul encourages the Christians to see how far they had already come. Look especially at verse 3:
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing…” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
When he says their faith is growing, he means that as they are on this journey with God, they are learning more about God and that he is trustworthy, that he will not let them down. It is a growth in confidence that they can depend on God.
When he says their love for one another is increasing. He is not talking about warm fuzzy feelings for each other, but a desire to serve and care for one another. To have an attitude which is not about getting what I can for myself, but thinking what can I do to help others.
When Jesus showed Zacchaeus that grace was available to someone as nasty and greedy as him, Zacchaeus changed. He repented, abandoning his old life, which was all about getting as much money for himself as he could no matter what harm it caused to others. Instead of being greedy he became incredibly generous.
He promised to give away half of his wealth to the poor. The Old Testament Law says that if you have cheated anyone out of money, you should pay them back the money plus 20%, to show restitution. Zacchaeus however goes way beyond the Law. He offers to pay people back four times the amount he had cheated them out of. This was a beautiful sign of his growth in faith and love. This was the kind of growth in faith and love being shown in the Thessalonian church.
When we see such transformation in people, it demonstrates something beautiful or glorious. This is the kind of glory springing from grace that Paul talks about in verse 12. This is what it looks like to be making progress on the journey.
But, Paul also talks about something else that shows they are making progress on the journey. Their perseverance.
The Thessalonians were under a lot of pressure from people who were giving them a hard time for being Christians. When Paul was in the city, some of the Jews were jealous that people were following Jesus instead of joining the Synagogue. So, they caused trouble for Paul and the other Christians, accusing them of causing trouble and promoting Jesus, as an alternative king to Caesar, the Roman Emperor.
Imagine living in a world, where to be a Christian meant to be seen as an enemy of the state. It would take real faith and perseverance to keep going in such a situation. But the Thessalonians were and people today in many parts of the world, like Iran, continue to follow Jesus despite being branded an enemy of the state as a result and facing imprisonment or worse.
For most of us to be a Christian in the UK today, will probably not be as bad, but we can be treated as weird or pressurised to give up or conform to ways that are contrary to our faith.
But Paul says to the Thessalonians, that their perseverance in the face of such pressure, is more evidence of their progress on the way. If God’s enemies are their enemies, then it shows them they truly are on a journey with God.
As Jesus said,
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
Nonetheless, it is not always easy when we face such pressures as Christians. When we do we need to be reminded where our journey is taking us. And the answer is Glory…
Glory – The Destination
Paul reassures the Thessalonians that, although, they may be being treated as out of step with the ways of the world. Being accused of being enemies of Caesar, that the journeys end will reveal who the ultimate king is: Jesus. He reminds them that one day, Jesus will return, and when he does his full glory as the Son of God, coming with the powerful angels, will bring them relief from their persecution and judgement to those who are persecuting them. No matter how tough the journey is now, the destination makes it worth it.
There will come a day, when Jesus is revealed in glory and comes bringing eternal life to those who have chosen to accept his gift of grace, and join him on the journey of faith. But on that day those who have refused to know God, who persist in an attitude of sin, that tells God to shove off, and disobey the gospel, that is reject his gift of grace will be told by Jesus to shove off away from the glory, beauty and goodness of God, to eternal destruction or hell.
The journey we choose now, determines our ultimate destination. Will you chose a journey whose destination is glory with Jesus or one that means being shut out of his kingdom for ever.
The good news is, that it is never too late in this life, to change direction, to accept Jesus’s gift of grace and choose to join him on the journey as Zacchaeus did. When we do, then like Zacchaeus, Jesus will say of us, “Today Salvation has come to this house!”
As we baptise … today, we are celebrating God’s gift of grace that enables them to walk on a journey with God. We are praying like Paul in verses 11 and 12 for their progress on the journey, that they may grow in love and faith and persevere through the pressures and difficulties, that God may bring to fruition their desire to do good and that in this life and in eternity they may bring glory to God, and discover his glory for themselves.
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate 