Our Abba Father has a plan to save His out of control creation. Through His Incarnate Word and Holy Spirit, the Father leaves eternity and intervenes within the limits of time and space. He is finding a way to accomplish His purposes, sometimes through human actors. In Isaiah, today, God declares that Cyrus, the Persian ruler is His Messiah. This is an amazing claim. A pagan king called Messiah? Revelation: Our Father is the God of unbelievers and He can use them as tools of salvation. Perhaps this is why Jesus is not worried about giving Caesar his due? Jesus trusts His Father. The Kingdom of God is bigger than human politics. God's Kingdom encompasses all the earth, even as it penetrates our minds and hearts. The human and demonic powers at odds with God are already defeated. We can live in shalom peace trusting our loving Father.
The early church was small and weak, yet trusted in the power of God. The power of the Roman Empire seemed unassailable, yet Jesus followers in Thessalonica received the Gospel even as they suffered persecution. Rome's pagan culture seemed to be eternal. Yet today there are over two billion Christians while Rome's pagan temples lie in ruins. Jesus is worshipped as Lord while Caesar is only a salad.
1st Thessalonians, the earliest New Testament letter, says that the church is in God. The two word greeting says it all: grace (that which provides joy, pleasure or delight; kindness bestowed) and peace (security, tranquility, quietness, rest, translates Hebrew shalom- completeness, contentment, prosperity, friendly relationship with God and others) are the gifts of God to His church. Hear this gospel message in your own heart.
Paul's gratitude challenges us to constantly thank God all day.
Paul commends their faith, hope and love. He calls it the work of faith and the labor of love. Sometimes it is (Greek ergos) labor/work to trust God and be faithful. It is a (Greek kopos) "difficult struggle" to truly love God and others. The daily journey of faith and love requires steadfastness. The Greek hypomenos can also be translated as patience or endurance. People of hope are patient during theosis/divinization--as we grow in faith and love we enter deeper union with God. Becoming holy takes a lifetime and more, yet the moment we turn back to God (repentance) it is already begun. The church is in God, after all.
The early church was small and weak, yet trusted in the power of God. The power of the Roman Empire seemed unassailable, yet Jesus followers in Thessalonica received the Gospel even as they suffered persecution. Rome's pagan culture seemed to be eternal. Yet today there are over two billion Christians while Rome's pagan temples lie in ruins. Jesus is worshipped as Lord while Caesar is only a salad.
1st Thessalonians, the earliest New Testament letter, says that the church is in God. The two word greeting says it all: grace (that which provides joy, pleasure or delight; kindness bestowed) and peace (security, tranquility, quietness, rest, translates Hebrew shalom- completeness, contentment, prosperity, friendly relationship with God and others) are the gifts of God to His church. Hear this gospel message in your own heart.
Paul's gratitude challenges us to constantly thank God all day.
Paul commends their faith, hope and love. He calls it the work of faith and the labor of love. Sometimes it is (Greek ergos) labor/work to trust God and be faithful. It is a (Greek kopos) "difficult struggle" to truly love God and others. The daily journey of faith and love requires steadfastness. The Greek hypomenos can also be translated as patience or endurance. People of hope are patient during theosis/divinization--as we grow in faith and love we enter deeper union with God. Becoming holy takes a lifetime and more, yet the moment we turn back to God (repentance) it is already begun. The church is in God, after all.
A second set of three describes their response to the gospel. "He has chosen you" Paul says to them and to us. The word ekloge literally means "called out/from." How awesome, God calls you out from the broken world into relationship. The message has POWER--the empowerment of being beloved and chosen. The message is Holy Spirit filled--God Himself is the gift. The message evokes pleroporia--full conviction, absolute assurance--that it is true. When we turn from fear and doubt and embrace God's Promise amazing things happen.
Faith, then and now, opens us to transformation. We are made into imitators (mimetes - mimic or follow; a mime) of the Lord. Even persecutions can not diminish the real joy. Is there joy in being called? Yes, and we must affirm that joy regularly. We must say I am called, I am beloved and my Father wants me to be with Him forever. It is okay to have joy in your heart, especially if it is the joy from a love relationship with our Lord.
A life of real faith becomes its own witness. The third set of three illustrates for us. We turn FROM false gods, idols of our own making, the futile search for salvation and life in the temporal circumstances of a dying world. We turn TO serve a living and true God. The Christian life is the best of lives, and it is time for us all to experience more deeply. And we WAIT. Jesus taught frequently of the need to watch and wait. Hope gives us patience until all things are made new. This is the in between time: Christ has come, Christ will come again. In the meantime, chosen by God, we are to do the work of trusting and the labor of loving. In the meantime, we serve our God as we await Jesus return. In the meantime, together, as the church in God, we live in joy as the chosen people whose way of life is a witness to all those around us!
Amen, so be it.
Faith, then and now, opens us to transformation. We are made into imitators (mimetes - mimic or follow; a mime) of the Lord. Even persecutions can not diminish the real joy. Is there joy in being called? Yes, and we must affirm that joy regularly. We must say I am called, I am beloved and my Father wants me to be with Him forever. It is okay to have joy in your heart, especially if it is the joy from a love relationship with our Lord.
A life of real faith becomes its own witness. The third set of three illustrates for us. We turn FROM false gods, idols of our own making, the futile search for salvation and life in the temporal circumstances of a dying world. We turn TO serve a living and true God. The Christian life is the best of lives, and it is time for us all to experience more deeply. And we WAIT. Jesus taught frequently of the need to watch and wait. Hope gives us patience until all things are made new. This is the in between time: Christ has come, Christ will come again. In the meantime, chosen by God, we are to do the work of trusting and the labor of loving. In the meantime, we serve our God as we await Jesus return. In the meantime, together, as the church in God, we live in joy as the chosen people whose way of life is a witness to all those around us!
Amen, so be it.
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