“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
Why do you do what you do? It is not an easy question to answer. We all have mixed motives for our actions in life, but some will be more important to us than others.
So, what drives your life? A desire to seek pleasure or comfort for yourself? A belief that life will be much better and more secure if only you had more money? Wanting to please others? To look good in front of the crowd? To please a loved one, a boss or someone you admire? Perhaps it is a desire to feel that you have made a success of your life or that you have achieved something meaningful or lasting?
As Paul writes to the baby church in Thessalonica, he starts by giving thanks for what is driving their actions: faith, love and hope. These new Christians have found a new reason for living: Jesus Christ. Knowing that they have been saved through his death and resurrection, they have re-oriented their lives to live for God and to live like Jesus. Their faith has not just changed the way they think it has led to a life of action that is prepared to put in the hard graft and to keep going despite the challenges.
For us this raises two questions: “Does our faith lead to action?” and “Are our actions motivated by our faith?” The more we can honestly say, ‘Yes’ to both these questions, the closer we are to being true disciples of Christ.
Is there enough evidence to convict you for being a Christian?
C.S. Lewis once asked, “Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian?” It’s a challenging question. But what evidence would you look for. What do you expect to see a Christian doing?
The Letter to the Thessalonians
Today, we are beginning a series on Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica, which was an important Roman city at a key crossroad in what is now Northern Greece but was then part of the region of Macedonia.
He starts his letter as most letters with a thanksgiving. Paul is clearly delighted with what God has done in this brand-new church that Paul, Silas and Timothy had planted. But, in thanking God for what is good he is also setting expectations of what a true disciple of Christ looks like, in the hope that he may encourage them to live up to those expectations more and more. If you want to know what kind of evidence shows someone to be a Christian, here is a good place to look.
The Triad of Inner Change
But before we look for outward evidence, we need to remember that true discipleship is about inward change. Paul starts by giving thanks for three inner attitudes of the heart in the new Christians: faith, love and hope. Then at the end of the thanksgiving he gives three inner changes that have happened to the Thessalonians. I think these triads are linked:
Faith = comes from turning from idols to God – vs. 9a
Firstly, faith is what you put your trust in. We all have faith in something. But the key question is: what is the object of your faith? In verse 9, Paul says that the Thessalonians had turned from idols, to the true and living God. The object of their faith had changed. To become a Christian does not mean just adding Jesus to a list of possible people or things to guide your life. A true disciple puts Jesus as the ultimate person to trust, recognising that he is the living and true God and all the other things people trust are ultimately dead and false.
Love = comes from a desire to serve God – vs. 9b
Faith trusts that Jesus will save us and lead us in the best way. But, when we have truly understood that that salvation comes about through Jesus’ deep act of service, his death on the cross, then we will want to respond with a desire to serve God. But Jesus served us because he loved us. Christian love is not ultimately about nice feelings, but a desire to serve.
Hope = waiting for Christ’s return – vs. 10
Finally, there is hope. Hope is forward looking. It believes that even though things may be tough now, one day they will be a lot better. Christian hope is based on the promise of Christ’s return, a promise underlined by Jesus’ resurrection. For Christians there is hope for life beyond death, there is hope for our world that one day God will restore all things and make them good. To hope means to wait for something better, to wait for Christ’s return.
The Triad of Outward Action
So, we should expect to see these three inner attitudes growing more and more in a true disciple of Christ. Except you can’t see inner attitudes. But what you can see is the result of those inner attitudes, the outward action that flows from them. And this is what Paul gives thanks for in verse 3. But what is the work of faith, the labour of love and the endurance of hope?
Faith – sharing the good news – vs. 8
If faith is believing the good news that Jesus has died for us, risen again and will one day return and that he is the true and living God, far better than all the dead and false things people normally trust in, then isn’t the work of faith sharing the good news we believe in?
That is what the Thessalonians were doing. Paul puts it powerfully in verse 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,” (1 Thessalonians 1:8)
True disciples don’t hold on to the good news for themselves, they share it.
Love – loving others because God loved us – 4:10
If love is a desire to serve God, then it will include prayer in its broadest sense: praising God, listening to God, asking for God’s help. It will include sharing the good news so that God is glorified. But it will also include caring for others. Love for God should lead to love for others.
This is what the Thessalonians were doing. Later in the letter Paul says:
“And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.” ( 1 Thessalonians 4:10)
Hope – enduring suffering with joy – vs. 6
Finally, there is hope. Hope leads to endurance. If you know that God will see everything right in the end, then you can keep going even while things are tough – you can endure. More than that you can endure with joy. Before coming to Thessalonica, Paul and Silas had been arrested, flogged and thrown into jail in Philippi. Their response was to sing hymns of joy to God as they were chained in their cell.
In turn the Thessalonians were following their example:
“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.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6)
Triad of Questions:
Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians for these attitudes not because they were perfect, but to encourage them to grow in the inner attitudes of faith, love and hope and to live them out more and more in their lives.
So, what is the evidence of our discipleship? To help you reflect on that, a triad of questions for you to consider:
- Does my faith lead to action?
- Are my actions motivated by faith, love and hope?
- Can I say, “Yes” to both questions?
St. George's Church Ramsgate 