The Christian church in Thessalonica was young. It needed maturing. But the apostle Paul was not able to spend a lot of time visiting with the Christians in Thessalonica. Shortly after his arrival in the city, he was forced to leave because of persecution. The young church had to grow up quickly.
The same people who opposed Paul and his missionary team also opposed the Christians who remained in the city. These new Christians were verbally and physically abused. They suffered financial loss. They were hated because of their connection to Jesus.
But a remarkable thing happened. Instead of abandoning their faith in Jesus, a deeper relationship with Jesus was developed. When just about everything else in their lives was taken away, they realized that what they had in Jesus far outweighed what they lost in the world. Not only did the faith of these individuals survive, it thrived. They took advantage of the many opportunities to show love for God and one another (WELS Devotion 1 Thess 1:3).
In our epistle lesson for this Sunday, the apostle Paul reflects on the journey of faith of these young Christians as they put their faith into action. The Hymn of the Day is “Brothers, Sisters, Let Us Gladly.” It also reflects on the stewardship of our faith as we put our faith into service to the Lord and our brothers and sisters in the Christian faith.
Verse one: Brothers, sisters, let us gladly give to God our all, our best: service hearty, thorough, honest, with a living love impressed. All our duty, all our striving, all our time to him belong; praise him, then, with true devotion, come before him with a song.
Through baptism, God us brought us into his holy family as brothers and sisters. God has given us his best. Now we want to return our best to God with hearty, honest, and thorough service. Our love is alive in our duty and service to God and his family of believers.
In his second epistle to the Thessalonian Christians, Paul mentions that he is grateful for their Christian love towards one another. “We are always obligated to thank God for you, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love that each and every one of you has for one another is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
Verse two: By his mercy, by his bounty, by the gift of Christ, his Son, what great goodness he has shown us, what high marvels he has done! Let us to him promptly, freely, yield our bodies and our souls, thankful that his love protects us, that his wisdom all controls.
As we serve the Lord, God warns us that persecution will come on us. Jesus tells us numerous times to expect our family to hate us, the government to oppose us, and culture to disown us. We yield our bodies and souls to God, thankful that his love protects us in the face of all this persecution.
Paul encouraged the Thessalonian Christians amid the opposition they faced. He reminds them they were counted worthy to suffer as part of God’s kingdom. “So we ourselves boast about you in God’s churches in regard to your patient endurance and faith in all your persecutions and in the trials that you are enduring. This is evidence of God’s righteous verdict that resulted in your being counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also suffer” (2 Thessalonians 1:9, 10).
Verse three: Gracious Lord, accept our service for the sake of Christ, your Son; lo, our hope abides now only in the righteousness he won. Bless and save us, help and guide us, watch to comfort and restore, till in heav’n we rest rejoicing, praising you forevermore.
Jesus Christ came from heaven to serve us here on earth. He blessed us by giving his righteousness to us. Now, we are blessed to live in Christ’s righteousness as we serve him here on earth. We pray that we will then be blessed to live and serve Christ one day in heaven.
Paul prayed that the Thessalonian Christians would praise and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in everything they did for him. “For this reason, we are always praying for you, that our God will make you worthy of your calling and use his power to fulfill every good desire and work of your faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him, in keeping with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:11, 12).
We pray to be like the Christians in Thessalonica. We pray that God uses us in service to others as we glorify him. Instead of abandoning our faith in Jesus, a deeper relationship with Jesus needs to be developed. Brothers, sisters, let us gladly give to God our all, our best.