That Church
(1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10)
When I first got introduced to the church leadership ten and a half years ago, I was asked what my vision for the church was. I’ll admit the question caught me off guard as I had not anticipated it but, much to my surprise and the surprise of the committee, I had an answer that seemed to resonate. I said that based upon my experience as Jefferson County’s Prosecuting Attorney and my four years overseeing our Drug Court Program, that I believed that the Tri-Area (Port Hadlock, Chimacum, and Irondale) were ground zero for drug addiction, alcoholism, unemployment, homelessness, domestic violence, and petty crime, that the county wasn’t doing anything to address these issues, and that we would. Yeah, I know, a pretty bold statement from somebody who had just been voted out of office. It made me wonder how many at the table even voted for me. The follow-up question to that bold answer was what did I have in mind? I asked them to give me some time to figure it out and we’d see what we were called to do. After six months had passed I came back to the Administrative Council and told them that we needed to start giving away some of our money which did raise an eyebrow or two but I told them we would start out gradually giving $100.00 a month to three nonprofits on a rotating basis beginning with the Tri-Area Food Bank, Ecumenical Christian Helping Hands Organization (ECHHO) and Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP). From there we followed the lead of the Holy Spirit helping individuals as they came to us, to hosting Peter’s Place in our backyard, to operating a clothes closet, food pantry, and soup kitchen on Saturdays along with all of the other mini missions that popped up from time to time. And, as a result of our compassionate work we’ve developed a reputation in the community as being “that church”. That church that helps the homeless serving as an example of what Christ can do in our lives if we just let him.
And in his letter to the Thessalonian church that is exactly what Paul is commending them for, for becoming an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia as to what a Christ-led church should do and be for all people.
Paul established the Thessalonian church during his second missionary journey around A.D. 51. Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia with a population of around 200 thousand people located along the Egnatian Way which ran from Rome to the Orient. The city also boasted an active seaport which contributed to its international flavor. This wasn’t a little church planted in a quaint and charming community. Along with the many travelers passing through there were many pagan religions and cultural influences that challenged the faith of this very young Christian church which was only two to three years old at the time and still trying to get established in the community.
Paul starts his letter out with his customarily warm and gracious greeting praising them for being a church that is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to all of you. It definitely makes you want to read on. He tells them that he, Silvanus, and Timothy always thank God for them when they mention the church in their constant prayers. He says: This is because we remember your work that comes from faith, your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. Paul acknowledges how in their short time as a growing church they stood firm in the face of persecution for being different, commending them for their work which produced faith, and their hard work which was prompted by love resulting in an endurance inspired by hope. These characteristics would be the marks of effective Christians in any age, and even more so today.
He continues by telling them that they are loved by God and that he has chosen them for the work set out before them. God has chosen them and planted them in a very cosmopolitan environment where they will certainly have their work cut out for them. It won’t be easy. Paul says: We know this because our good news didn’t come to you just in speech but also with power and the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. Paul is reflecting back upon their time with the Thessalonians and how they bonded as people of deep and genuine faith. They understood the mission of Paul and his companions and became imitators of them, following their lead and example as they accepted the message that came from the Holy Spirit with joy in spite of the great suffering they were experiencing. Paul writes: As a result you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. What he’s telling them is that they became “that church” that church where the message of the Lord rang out from them not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place. He tells them the news about their faithfulness to God has spread on its own to the point where they, Paul and his companions, don’t need to mention it. What they are doing in Thessalonica speaks for itself. He tells them that as a result they are serving the living and true God as they wait for the return of God’s Son from heaven as promised.
What Paul knows, what he feels in his heart, is that God has chosen the Thessalonian church, as he chose Israel, as an instrument of his saving mission because of the impact the Spirit-empowered gospel proclamation had on them, and because their public witness showcased their believing allegiance toward God under extreme social and political pressure. Through this letter, Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of their status as God’s “chosen” ones which had to have been quite impactful. No other issue causes more confusion and even arguments among Christians than the issue of election, being chosen by God for a particular task or mission. If God’s plan or intention gets misinterpreted or goes to our heads, we can do more damage than good, damage that is often irreparable. Is what’s being done for the good of God or to advance some personal nefarious agenda? That’s a can of worms I’ll not open today.
The point is that being chosen comes from the heart of God and should be an incentive to please God and, as a result, it should give birth to gratitude. Our responsibility as human beings requires that we actively confess Christ as Lord, focus on living to please him, and share the gospel with others. God’s choice of us energizes us to obey and serve, and our choice of God challenges us to build lives worthy of him. The challenge is in how do we respond to this election?
Just as the gospel came with power to the young Thessalonian church with a powerful message forever changing their lives, so too has the gospel come to Community United Methodist Church. The difference is that we aren’t a young church. The Tri-Area has had a Methodist presence for over 100 years with two churches that were planted between 1900 and 1910 that eventually resulted in the two small churches joining together sixty years ago to continue the growing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a community that needed to hear and see the message lived out in real time.
The key to our survival as a church is to continually listen to the urgings of the Holy Spirit that guides and directs us in the way we should go as Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ. And like the little church in Thessalonica, we too will be known in our community as “that church” that church that makes a difference in the lives of those who come to worship the living God and the neighbors to whom we extend the love of God.
Let us pray.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Yes, gracious and ever-present God, how grateful we are for your blessed assurance that Jesus, your Son and our Savior, is central to our lives and beings in all that we do in your service. We just pray that by your Spirit we are guided in the ways of what it means to be a devoted and faithful follower of Jesus Christ. We pray for those opportunities to be the church that you need in this community and out into the world. We pray that everywhere we go that we will let the light of your love shine so that others may be drawn to the life we have as we share the good news of your gospel love. This we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
To view service, click link below;
10/18/26
That Church
God’s choice of us energizes us to obey and serve, and our choice of God challenges us to build lives worthy of him.