Your endurance inspired by hope

1 Thessalonians 1:3-10 (TNIV) -

3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.8 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,9 for they themselves report what happened when we visited you. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

My thoughts -

Reading about first century Christians is a humbling thing. We just don't face the problems they faced, at least not in America. No one is aiming to make us martyrs. In fact, in the Bible belt, at least, we're a lot closer to a Christian Theocracy than we are to being executed by the state. That's one of the many things that the early church faced. They could be jailed, beaten, and killed for what they believed. The American church faces no such opposition. It's hard, then, amidst all of this comfort, for me to try to understand the mindset of most of the people in the Thessalonian church. When Paul talks about "endurance inspired by hope" and "welcom(ing) the message in the midst of severe suffering" that just doesn't mean the same things to someone like me as it would to the early church.

So here's the church in Thessalonica, an early plant of Paul's, that follows Christ through the example of Paul in an era when they face death for doing so. I have read that many Thessalonians believed that they would not be killed because their faith in Christ would protect and shield them and that Christ's return would be very soon. They did not expect to die before the return of Christ. As you could imagine, when they did face persecution and death in this life that was a challenge to their faith. My faith is challenged daily by some of the smallest things. I can have one bad thing happen and blow it out of proportion and question how there could possibly be a God who loves us. No one is trying to stone my family on our way to church. No one is arresting us after the service. No one is beating us for believing. I don't think my faith could survive that. I like being comfortable. I don't like that about myself but I'm honest enough to admit that it's true. If things got too tough I'd probably leave.

That's what is so humbling about reading Paul's letters to the early churches. He faced imprisonment (a lot of these letters were written from prison) and death (he was eventually martyred). Not only did Paul face these things but the churches did as well. And yet we read all of these encouraging words. And not just about their faith or belief, which we would consider to be more "academic" but their works, their actions.

In this introduction Paul is praising the Thessalonian church for its "work" and its "labor". The Thessalonians' actions and joy in the midst of their terrible suffering has become an inspiration to other churches. They have hope in Christ that is so powerful that they can follow Jesus in the face of death and know that death has no power over them, that Jesus has defeated death. Maybe they get some things wrong along the way. Maybe they misunderstand some things, but they do not lack for faith. And their faith is an active one.

So how do we, in 21st century America, live out a first century faith? How do we take more seriously the teachings of Christ in a world that is quite comfortable for us? Is it easier to cast off concern for this world and to acknowledge its limitations and your own mortality when you face death each day? Could we have stronger faith if we really knew what it was like to suffer for Christ? I don't know. I'm very happy not to find out. I don't think I'd make a very good first century Christian. And I think that is a big problem facing the church today.