A Week in 2 Thessalonians: Day Four – A firm hope

The Introduction

It’s taken me until this small, relatively unknown corner of the Bible to admit that I need help. We’ve been on quite a journey to this point, haven’t we, but here I am admitting that I am out of my depth. So I’ve turned to Tom Wright for help and I will be sharing my thoughts on his thoughts on 2 Thessalonians in his ‘Paul for Everyone’ series. Because yes, even the most obscure bits of the Bible and the hardest to understand hold something for everyone.

Tom Wright reminds us that these letters to the Thessalonians are some of the ‘earliest documents we possess from the beginning of the church’s existence’ – how exciting is that? These letters are bursting with enthusiasm and excitement for this new thing that is happening among them, but also with questions and confusion and disagreement. This is a completely new way of life, challenging everything these people have ever believed before.

So let’s get stuck in!

The Passage: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

We must thank God at all times for you, friends, you whom the Lord loves. For God chose you as the first to be saved by the Spirit’s power to make you his holy people and by your faith in the truth. God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, our friends, stand firm and hold on to those truths which we taught you, both in our preaching and in our letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope, encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.

Reflections:

Thank God – Paul finds himself thanking God for these people, because they were the first. Can you imagine it? The very first believers in this tradition that will go on to be the largest world religion nearly 2000 years later. They were the creators of the tradition. They had no history of the church to fall back on, to inspire and guide them as we do. They were finding their way, working it out as they went.

That’s why the truth is so important. Their faith in the truth – with nothing added and nothing taken away – is what will keep them on the right path.

Calling – Just as God called these early believers, God is calling each one of us to listen, really listen, to the good news of his grace and salvation and embrace the opportunity that is offered to each one of us to live life as God always intended it to be lived.

We are called to share in the work that God has already begun through Jesus to bring His kingdom to earth. That’s what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer – ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.’ This glorious work of love and light and redemption and forgiveness and wholeness and integrity and grace and mercy and so much more!

Stand firm – There are troubled times on the way for the believers in Thessalonica. It’s going to be a rough ride and they’re going to have to cling on tight. And when the boat is being tossed about on turbulent waters, it’s important to grab onto the right thing to steady you, isn’t it? You have to be holding onto something steady and secure or you’ll stumble and fall in. This is Tom Wright’s image, not mine. I’m thinking of standing on an underground train as it careers around corners – holding onto the person next to you is never enough; you have to hold onto a pole, something solid and immovable. Tom Wright suggests that these truths for the believers in Thessalonica fell into three categories: ‘the basic facts of the gospel; the central actions of the worshipping church, such as baptism and the eucharist; and the fundamental principles of Christian behaviour, particularly the mutual support he calls agape, ‘love’.’

We too are called to stand firm by clinging onto the truths that have been revealed to us. The unwavering truth of who God is. The truth revealed to us yesterday that good will always triumph over evil. If you feel yourself getting swayed about by the opinions of people around you or find yourself adrift in a sea of doubt and uncertainty, then list the truths you know about God. Focus on them. Hold onto them, whatever your feelings want you to believe.

God’s unfailing courage and firm hope are always available to us – not a hope that wishes today away in the hope of a trouble free future, but a hope that can stand firm amidst the suffering and confusion and know for sure that God knows what He’s doing, that He is always with us and that He will see us through. That is all the courage we need right there.

Then there is no excuse: we can always do and say the right thing, whatever our circumstance, for God is there to encourage and strengthen us.

So may Paul’s blessing manifest itself in your life today as you pray this prayer for all those around you that also need His blessing today –

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope, encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.

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