The Strengths of the Thessalonian Church
| We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually 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. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 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 to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1Thessalonians1:2-10) |
Three things that remain are faith, hope and love. These three are visible in Paul's praise to the Thessalonians. They had faith in God, visible in their acceptance of the word which they had received. These believers were people of a different faith and had a different God but after Paul had preached to them they zealously received Christ as their Lord and Savior in faith. This is a strength to cherish because through faith that we are able to live for Christ and to be witnesses of the living hope in Jesus.
When COVID-19 was at its peak, when we lost many of our loved ones, when we nursed those who tested positive, when companies declared incapacitation to pay workers because of the lockdown regulations, we had to rely on hope. The hope that we had is that God will come to our rescue, those were terrible times for many of us and the church suffered a great blow. However, what sustained us is our hope in God. The Thessalonians waited in hope trusting that Christ will rescue them from the coming wrath. Hope was the substance of their faith, for they knew that the sorrows of today are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed. If they hoped like that, then friends, let us not lose hope in God.
Above all Paul says, three things remain: faith, hope and love but the greatest of them all is love. The church had so much love for God as they remained resolute in their new faith. They also loved the Apostles who had preached to them. I'm of the conviction that in the days we live in and the days to come, love is a strength we need, for through our love for each other Christ is revealed and those who have not believed will see him in us.
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I am Pascal Sibanda serving within the bounds of Zimbabwe Presbytery at Natabazinduna Presbyterian. Married to Sandie, father to Musa and Lihle.
