Wouldn’t it be nice to know the future? It’s what I call the ‘almanac factor’, taken from that series of films “Back to the future”. Biff, who’s a total air-head, has nevertheless managed to procure from his future self an almanac which gives all the sports results for his own time. It doesn’t take too many bets for him to accumulate an absolute fortune.
History has thrown up its prophets, or more precisely its seers. People like Nostradamus, a French doctor who published a book of predictions in the 1550s – credited for foreseeing the Great Fire of London (1666), the French Revolution (1789), the atomic bomb, as well as the lives of people like Louis Pasteur, Adolf Hitler, Charles de Gaulle and Mikhail Gorbachev. Some early Christians were convinced that Jesus would return in the year 1000, and thereafter many tried to put a date on it. The Methodist John Wesley plumped for the year 1836, Joseph Smith of the Mormons 1861 and Herbert Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God 1975. It’s funny that Christians should think they know better than Jesus! Jesus said that His return would come suddenly and unexpectedly: No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36). And Paul, doubtless reflecting on those words of Jesus, said it would come like a thief in the night (verse 2) – suddenly, unexpectedly, like labour pains on a pregnant woman (verse 3).
Jesus’ return triggers two thoughts for Paul relating to the idea of day and night, light and darkness.
Firstly, a lot of bad stuff goes on at night as darkness provides a good cover … crime, drinking, partying, prostitution, murder. And he goes down a path of contrasting the people of the night with the people of the day. Christians are supposed to be people of the day, so our task is to bring light into the darkness.
But then the other feature of night-time is sleep, and Paul sees that as a metaphor for the Christian life. Following Jesus is not something you switch on and off. We need to be alert at all times, not just avoiding evil but positively doing good. He writes: We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let’s not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober … putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet (verses 5-8).
Paul lived his whole life in the Roman Empire. The emperor was in total control. Successive emperors had built the empire through brute force and repression – a significant percentage were slaves. And yet ironically one of Rome’s favourite slogans was ‘Peace and Safety’ (verse 3). Rome was an autocracy and it was hot on law and order. It offered a sophisticated, state of the art experience. There were roads and sanitation systems and entertainment and very lax morals, where citizens were encouraged to satisfy their appetites and cravings, no matter how perverse, invariably by abusing their slaves.
Such is empire through the ages!
Communism was very popular among intellectuals during the years between the two world wars. Much of what had happened in Russia was somehow kept under wraps e.g. the fact that there was a six-year civil war following the 1917 revolution in which 10million died, the appalling government-inflicted famine on the people of Ukraine during the early 1930s in which a further 3million perished. When the Nazis invaded Russia in 1941 they were applauded in by the Ukrainians as liberators, but the Nazis rapidly set about executing Ukrainian Jews.
All empires, it seems, repeat the cycle of initial butchery, later artistry and eventual collapse.
1st Century Rome was no different. If you ever stepped out of line and challenged the ‘Pax Romana’ (Roman Peace!!!), you would be crushed. The lucky few who had Roman citizenship drifted through life thinking ‘this is as good as it gets’. They were not about to jeopardise their own good fortune by standing up for the victims of Roman butchery!
And yet that’s exactly what Jesus calls us to do – to step out of line, to live by His rules, to live in the expectation of His imminent return. And if Christ is going to return, then we must not drift through life. We must be alert, prepared for the challenge of what following Jesus means. We are called to be children of the day, to live in the light, to see life differently, to live by a narrative which draws Christ-like actions and reactions from us.
We are all called to be purveyors of a better world. We can all see what’s going on outside our windows, but does how we speak and act promote a better way? I once came across some words that I subsequently used to read before communion – they explored the thought of re-membering, of putting the broken members of Jesus’ body back together again.
We come to re-member Jesus …
the hands that touched the untouchable, healed the hurting and did no violence;
the feet that got dusty along city streets and at the lake’s shore;
the arms that welcomed the stranger and embraced the outcast;
the legs that entered homes and synagogues and danced at celebrations;
the eyes that blazed against injustice, knew how to cry and saw the potential in everyone;
the belly that shared table with unexpected people and shook with laughter;
the lips that wove stories and painted pictures of a new community and a better world.
This blessèd body that was broken, abused and rejected, we come to re-member.
Is this the person that inspires you and shapes the way you think and live? Are you a child of the night or a child of the day? Have you bought into the consumerist values of this age, or are you driven by the hope of the age to come? Has Jesus radically changed the way you think and the way you behave? I still remember the evening I first turned my life over to Jesus – there have been ups and downs, and no end of regrets and recommitments, but the perspective of Jesus has always made sense to me.
Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life. There are plenty of competing claims, but His is worth your full consideration. Christians look forward to His return when God will establish a better empire of justice and joy.
A dying Christian once dictated a final letter to a loved one.
I am still in the land of the living, he began, but then paused and began again.
I am still in the land of the dying, but soon I will be in the land of the living!
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. This is our faith and hope. This is our compass through life.
This new and improved course will help you discover how Bible characters, stories, and themes are connected, from Genesis to Revelation. A great opportunity to be equipped for your own engagement with the Bible, whether you are exploring the Christian faith or a long time believer.
We will be running the course on two sessions each week:
Mondays, 7:30-9:00pm, St. Luke’s Church Hall, from 8th September
Thursdays, 11:30am-1:00pm, St. Luke’s Church, from 11th September
Please note these sessions are a repeat of each other, so you only need to come either on Mondays or Thursdays.
Everyone is welcome. Just turn up to the first session and give it a try. We will be providing the course book for free to those who attend, but a donation of £10 to cover the cost of the book would be welcome.
“For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14)
Last week our reading from St Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians was full of simple, practical advice for Christian living. ‘Lead a quiet life, mind your own business, and work with your hands, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders’ (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12), that kind of thing.
This week by contrast, the reading throws into the deep end of the frustration the Thessalonian Christians were having at the long delay they were experiencing in waiting for the Lord Jesus to return imminently to wrap up all of human history and gather his faithful people together. They had thought it was all over, bar the shouting, but contrary to their expectation, human history was continuing to roll on, so long that some in the congregation had died of old age waiting. This was a serious problem as far as the Thessalonians were concerned. Since the Lord had delayed his return, how could he gather together those who had already died waiting for him?
Two thousand years later, the Thessalonians’ problem is a difficult one for us to relate to. Many Christians have lost the anticipation of the imminent end of the world as we know it, and regard those who retain such an expectation with a healthy dose of suspicion. A person might be forgiven for wanting to get back to the shallow end of the pool, and just hear some simple, practical advice for Christian living. But the passage we have heard read this morning encourages us first to grapple with the Thessalonians’ problem, second to consider a different paradigm, or point of view, for the solution of the problem, and third to get through to the wonderful promise that forms the basis for all Christian living.
The reason this is important is that no-one can learn to swim in the shallow end of the pool. We need a deeper basis for Christian life than simply to be told to ‘lead a quiet life, and mind your own business’. In fact, there is nothing specifically Christian about this, or any other moral advice, considered in isolation. But in grappling with the Thessalonians’ problem, in shifting the paradigm we use to understand it, and in hearing the promise of the Lord, we can find a secure footing and deep foundations that are located outside of ourselves for living our lives.
The Thessalonians’ problem was as I have already begun to describe it. They lived in the expectation that the Lord would return and wrap up human history in their lifetime. They were unprepared for the fact that some of their number, all of whom they knew and loved, would die waiting, and they had given no thought to their fate.
The resources they had to draw on in trying to understand the situation were more limited than the ones we have available today. We know from Mark 13 verse 27 and Matthew 24 verse 31 of Jesus’ teaching that he would gather the elect from the four winds, and we know from Luke chapter 14 verse 14 and John chapter 5 verses 28 and 29 that he promised a resurrection of the just and the unjust. But the Thessalonians didn’t possess any of the Gospels, or any of the rest of the New Testament, because none of it had yet been written. All they had to go on were the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and the memory of the teaching of the apostles who founded the Thessalonian church, and the teaching of the leaders of the church of Thessalonica. All this was not enough to reassure them about the fate of their loved ones who they feared had been lost forever.
The response of the apostle Paul was to do something which was at that time completely without precedent. For the first time in history, he put the apostolic teaching on this question – and others – into writing and sent it to them. His first letter to the Thessalonians is by common consent the earliest book of the New Testament. In this letter, he told them (in chapter 4, verse 15) that ‘according to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep’ – presumably relying on the reports of Jesus’ teaching that later found their way into Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as I have already mentioned. In this letter, he drew a connection (in chapter 4 verse 14) between what the Thessalonians already knew to what they needed to know to dispel the fears they had for their loved ones. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again,” he wrote, “and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him”.
It is difficult for us, as I say, to completely relate to the issue the Thessalonians had. On the positive side, we have been given all the assurance we need of the resurrection of the dead by the gospels and the letters of the New Testament. On the minus side, 2000 years further along we are somewhat in danger of losing the expectation of the Lord’s return entirely. Nevertheless, the death of our loved ones still poses a problem for us. We still speak of having ‘lost’ relatives who have died. ‘Sorry for your loss’, we rightly say to those who are grieving; because in the death of loved ones we do suffer grievous loss. The problem we share with the Thessalonians has to do with the appropriate maintenance of hope in the face of death. We too need reassurance that our loss is not irreversible. With the Thessalonians, we need to hear and receive the apostolic teaching that because Jesus died and rose again, God will also bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
We also need to understand that the phrase ‘fallen asleep’ is not another euphemism for death, of which there are many such euphemisms. Contained within that phrase is, instead, the essence of Christian hope, linked inextricably with the death and resurrection of Jesus. He died a death which was “the wages of sin; and because he endured the full horror implied in that death, he has transformed death for his followers into sleep”,1 and his resurrection is the guarantee of ours. In the final analysis, this is the answer to the problem of death that has faced humanity in every generation. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him”.
Earlier I said that those Christians who maintain an expectation of the imminent return of the Lord to earth are often regarded with suspicion by others. I don’t know when you last saw a street preacher with a sandwich board reading ‘the end of the world is nigh’, but you know the kind of thing I mean. When I was a teenager, I heard someone insist that although they did not know the day or the hour of the return of Christ, they could make an informed guess at the month and the year – which was June 2007, in case you were wondering. These kind of preachers, sandwich boards, and actually ill-informed guesses operate within a paradigm, or model of thinking, which is completely foreign and false to the New Testament. When the New Testament speaks, as it often does, of us living in the last days, or even in the last hour, it is operating within a completely different paradigm, or frame of reference.
The best way I can think of to explain this is by saying something about Francis Fukuyama’s concept of ‘the end of history’. In 1989, the same year as the Berlin Wall came down, an American academic called Francis Fukuyama wrote an article, which was later published as a book, called The End of History and the Last Man. In it he reflected on the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe. “What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War”, he wrote, not just “the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such”. In speaking of the end of history, Fukuyama did not mean the end of time, or the actual cessation of events. Instead, he had in mind “the endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution”. He believed the ultimate result of this evolution to be “the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final [and most perfect] form of human government”. It was not that he thought that the human society was about to come to an end, or that things would stop happening entirely. Instead he thought that the triumph of liberal democratic, free-market capitalism over communism, which he was living through at the time of writing the article and the book, would be the final significant political and economic development of human society, the conclusion of that development. Even if liberal democracy suffered setbacks in the future – from a return to totalitarianism, for example – eventually he thought it would prevail, and that capitalism liberal democracy could not and would not be improved upon. Stuff would still keep happening in the future, but Fukuyama thought that nothing more could take place that was significantly new in terms of the way human society is organized.
There is a parallel here with the New Testament’s concept of ‘the last days’ or ‘the last hour’. Given that the authors of the various books of the New Testament lived the best part of two thousand years ago, what can it mean for them to say that their times were the last times, their days were the last days, their hours were the last hours? Were they perhaps being a little extreme, or a bit bonkers? Were they simply mistaken? And if Christians today affirm, as part of their faith, that they believe themselves to be living at the end of the ages, in the last days, or in the last hour, are they being too extreme? Is this an idea that is just too out-there, too dangerous even, for people to seriously take on board?
No, it’s not, not if we think about the ‘end of the age’ and the ‘last hour’ in the same way as Francis Fukuyama thought about ‘the end of history’. Remember that Fukuyama wasn’t predicting the imminent end of the world back in the late 1980s, or the complete cessation of events. What he was saying was that, in the wake of the triumph of liberal democracy over communism, human society had reached the pinnacle of its political and economic development. Stuff would still keep happening, but he thought there would be nothing significant enough to make us revisit and revise that conclusion. Behind that conclusion lies a secular faith in representative democracy and free markets, a paradigm – or way of thinking – in which they reign supreme. But there is a rival to this secular faith, which is Christian faith in the coming kingdom of God, and Christian faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus as the true pivot upon which the entirety of human history turns.
In speaking of the ‘last days’, the authors of the New Testament were not saying that after Jesus, the world would soon wind itself down. They weren’t saying that events wouldn’t continue to take place. What they claimed was that his triumph over sin and death by his cross and resurrection had ushered in a paradigm shift. They claimed that there would be no events that could take place in the remainder of human history, no matter how significant the events could otherwise be regarded, no matter long or short human history turns out to be, that could force a re-evaluation of this claim about the centrality of what Christ has done for fallen humanity. If on the day of crucifixion, they thought it was all over, on the day of resurrection they would have to say: ‘It is now!” The writer to the Hebrews gives a one-sentence summary of human history in chapter 9, verse 28, by saying: “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him”. We have been living between those two times for the past two millennia, and that is how we may understand what it means to be living in the last days, or the last hour. Whether it is a long time, or a short time, until all human history is wrapped up, this is the paradigm within which we may live in expectation of the imminent return of Christ, who is truly the ‘Lord of history’.
And now we approach the wonderful promise of this passage in reading verses 16 and 17 of chapter 4. “The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
Please note well: Paul is not here saying that those who have died in the Lord, together with those Christians still living, are going to be snatched from the earth in advance of its total destruction. The day of the Lord’s return will be about his arrival to reign upon the earth, rather than the final turning of his back upon it. It will be about the renewal, rather than the destruction, of the world.
This image of Christ’s followers, both living and departed, being caught up in the clouds to meet him in the air, mirrors the Gospel parable of the ten virgins, whose job it was to look out for the approach of the bridegroom, and to come out, meet him on his way, and accompany him in joyful procession to meet his bride.2 Or think of the football fans who invaded the pitch at Wembley Stadium in 1966 at the precise moment they thought the World Cup Final was all over. Bobby Moore was hoisted up on his team-mates’ shoulders, and the crowd formed a victory escort for the whole team.
This kind of welcome would have been very familiar to the citizens of Thessalonica, because in the classical world it was the custom for the leading citizens of a city to assemble outside the city walls and form a welcoming party when they were expecting visits from conquerors returning from battles and dignitaries on diplomatic missions. The honoured visitor would then be escorted back into the city in pomp and circumstance, just as in 1966 Bobby Moore and the England team was accompanied by cheering crowds off the pitch.
F.F. Bruce, the biblical scholar, tells us that the Greek word used in classical literature for these meetings with returning conquerors is used by Paul in verse 17 of chapter 4 to describe our meeting with the Lord.3 We will be caught up in the clouds to meet him in the air. But our heads won’t stay in the clouds on that day, any more than the crowds remained on the pitch once the team had departed. Still less will the Lord depart the earth, having only just returned. Rather, on that day we will welcome our King to the earth which is rightfully his, and which will be renewed to be a fit dwelling-place for him, just as in the parable, the virgins escorted the bridegroom to his bride, and as in 1966 the crowds escorted their champions. “And so”, Paul says at the end of chapter 4, verse 17, “we will be with the Lord forever”. That is the essence of the promise, and that will be heaven for us, more than we have ever hoped for, far more than we are even able to conceive. That was the hope of my mother, and it was the hope of my father. It was the hope of all our forefathers and foremothers in faith. It is my only hope; and it’s yours as well. “We will be with the Lord forever”.
And this promise, we read in the final verse of our passage, is where we find a solid foundation for true encouragement. “Encourage each other with these words”, it says in verse 18. There is no encouragement to be gained, really, from mere moral advice, not least because we find ourselves incapable before long of abiding by the most basic guidance. Moral advice is the shallow end of the pool. Once we make our way through to the deep end, we will discover that the Lord is there, the risen and exalted one, and that he will carry us through life, and death, and the fear of death.
1 Leon Morris, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, p. 85.
2 Cf. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics: Index Volume with Aids for the Preacher (T&T Clark, 1977), p. 536.
“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1)
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
This week my son, Jonah had an interview for a job. He says it went well, but he won’t hear whether he has the job until next week.
However, one of the questions he was asked, was “Where do you see yourself in five years time?”
It’s a classic interview question and a good one, because it reveals something about the interviewees ambition. What they want to see change for the better for them in the coming years.
Our Vision: Dare to Share
At St. Luke’s and St. George’s we spent last year in discernment for what our ambition should be for the coming five years. We prayed and sought from God a vision for 2030, what we should be wanting to change for the better in the next five years.
The vision we have is called, Dare to Share. Perhaps because the controversial parts of the vision are to do with selling and developing buildings, the danger is that we think the vision is all about buildings. But the vision is really about seeking to release us from the burden of too many buildings so that we can focus on growing communities of faith. We want to be ambitious about growing people and less concerned about buildings.
Paul: Relief turns to Ambition
Our reading today comes from the middle of Paul’s letter to the fledgling church in Thessalonica. Up to this point the letter has been a celebration of what God had done amongst the Thessalonians through the ministry of Paul and his team.
But, Paul had been forced to leave Thessalonica because of the persecution of the Jews and had not been able to return to them. So, he had sent his colleague Timothy to them. As he did so, he was worried, had the persecution in Thessalonica caused them to give up on their faith?
Look at what he says in 3:5:
“For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.” (1 Thessalonians 3:5)
As a leader in the church and actually just as a Christian, one of the greatest sadnesses is to see those who used to be Christians giving up on their faith. It is so sad when people who seem to have grasped the wonderful truths of what Jesus has done for them fall away. They have seen that the God who created the whole universe loves them so much and wants to call them his children and give them eternal life but have decided it is not true and walked away from church and faith. Sadly, it happens far too often.
Recently, however, I met someone from a church in another part of the country and after talking to them for a while, I realised they were from the same town as one of my best school friends who had come to church with me. But we haven’t really been in touch for many years apart from Christmas letters and I did not really know whether he was still taking his faith seriously or not. So, on meeting this Christian from the same town as my old school friend, I asked tentatively, whether they knew my friend and his family. “Oh yes”, he said, they’re a key part of our church! It was wonderful and joyful to hear that this friend was still continuing in their faith.
In the same way, Paul tells the Thessalonians how overjoyed he was when he learnt on Timothy’s return after week’s of anxious waiting for the news that they were indeed continuing in the faith. Look at how ecstatic Paul is in verses 8 and 9:
“For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.
How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?” (1 Thessalonians 3:8-9)
But Paul does not just sit back and celebrate. His relief and joy, drives him on to ambition.
What is Paul ambitious for? Their growth in faith and love.
So, what can we learn from Paul’s ambition? What does it mean to be a church that seeks people’s growth in faith and love?
Ambitious for their Faith – vs. 10
When Paul talks about faith, he is talking about faith in the God and Father of Jesus Christ. Faith is trusting that the good news about Jesus, that he opens a way to become part of God’s family, that his directions for life are true and that in him is the gift of eternal life. Faith deepens the more we discover that God is trustworthy.
Faith is not easy. It can be hard having faith in God, when others around us don’t. It can be even harder if people actively ridicule or mock us for that faith and harder still, if like the Thessalonians you are hated and threatened because of your faith. Under such pressure many people’s fledgling faith can wither and die.
Faith is standing firm – vs. 8
But Paul says in verse 8, that the Thessalonians are standing firm in the faith. Despite the pressure from those around them, they are sticking to their guns about Jesus and God. Those who were Jews are not returning to the Synagogue that had rejected Paul’s message about Jesus, and those who were not Jews are not turning back to the idols that they used to worship and no doubt many of their friends and neighbours still worshipped.
They believed that Jesus is trustworthy, that he would not let them down. They believed the life he promises is worth all the pressures, ridicules and threats they were facing for following him and rejecting their old ways.
Does that describe your faith? Have you grasped that God is trustworthy, that you can be confident of his promises? Have you also grasped that following him is definitely worth it no matter how costly it is in this life?
That is the kind of faith that stands firm, that is the kind of faith that shows you are truly a Christian. Are we ambitious to see more and more people hold this kind of faith?
Faith needs completing – vs. 10
So, faith is standing firm. But Paul says in verse 10, he also wants to come to them and ‘complete what is lacking in their faith’. The same Greek word is used in the gospels of Peter, Andrew, James and John repairing their fishing nets.
A net with holes in it, needs sorting out, if you are going to use it for maximum effect. So, to complete the net is to plug the holes. A net with holes, will catch fish most of the time, but if the fish swims at the hole, it will slip through.
In the same way our faith needs completing. This will involve learning more about God and what it means to live as a Christian in this world, so that we can have increasing confidence in him, in every situation that life might throw at us. An incomplete faith may keep you standing firm most of the time, but you may not be equipped to stand firm in every situation in life, or every doubt that may arise in your mind. The more we learn about God from the Bible and being with other Christians the more we are equipped to see God’s trustworthiness and to stand fast in every difficulty we may face in life.
So, do you want to see people stand firm in faith. Are you investing in helping them to be fully equipped so that their faith will hold firm no matter what? That is why we need to invest in the church by sharing our gifts, our resources, ourselves and God’s word with the others in the church. We should be ambitious to see one another’s faith made more and more complete.
Ambitious for their Love
But Paul is also ambitious for their love to grow. Look at what he says in verse 12:
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
Love in the Bible is exemplified by Jesus’ love. He loved us so much that he died for us. It is a sacrificial love. A willingness to share what I have, for the sake of others. Paul’s ambition that their love increases and overflows is an ambition that they would share what they have more and more abundantly as their love grows.
The marriage service includes the lines: “all that I am I give to you, all that I have I share with you.” Love is about sharing.
Let’s think about this in terms of our vision. Our vision is to dare to share:
our Gifts. God has given all of us talents and abilities, some natural, some from the Spirit, but we are to use them for the good of others. In fact when Paul talks about the gifts in the church in Romans, he follows it up with a call to sincere love. When he talks about Spiritual gifts in Corinthians, he follows it up with 1 Corinthians 13, one of the most profound chapters about love ever written. We are to use our gifts with an attitude of love, for the good of one another. Using or sharing our gifts is a fundamental part of what it means to love one another.
our Resources. The bottom line here is money. Unless people share a significant portion of their finances to support the work and life of the church, it will decline. We recently asked people to consider their giving to support St. Luke’s ministry. It wasn’t for building work at St. George’s or even to fund any of the aims of the vision, we need £10,000s more giving per year in order to sustain what we are doing now. Without a greater generosity there is a danger that our ambitions to grow the people of the church will fail. But, a growth in love, must surely result in a growth in generosity.
Ourselves. For Paul love is not just about doing things with his gifts, or giving financially, it is a deeply personal engagement with the people he works with. That is why he longs to see them again. Sharing ourselves means wanting to meet with and be with others. Please do not underestimate the importance of coming weekly to church on Sundays and meeting with others once or twice at other times in the week. Doing this too is a sign of growth in love.
God’s Word. Finally, if we are growing in love for others, we will want them to hear God’s word. We will want to spend time with other Christians discussing God’s word so that their faith may be made complete. We will want to take opportunities when interest is shown to share our faith with people we meet or friends and family, perhaps inviting them to hear more at a church service. If some come to know Jesus and find life in him as a result, is there any more of a loving gift you could have given to them?
So, are we ambitious for our own love to increase and overflow? Are we ambitious that the same is true for those in the rest of the church? Do we pray for it?
Ambitious
Paul was ambitious for the Thessalonians that they would grow in faith and love. But his ambitions did not stop there. In verse 13 he also says he is ambitious for their holiness and hints at the idea of hope as well. But this is really the introduction to the next two sections of his letter. We will look at the section on holiness in a couple of weeks and the section on the hope we have in Christ, the week after that.
In all these ways let’s be ambitious for the growth of the church like Paul.
“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
“He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)
The Lion and the Mouse, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Tortoise and the Hare are just some of the fables attributed to Aesop, a Greek fabalist traditionally known to be a slave in ancient Greece.
As fables often have one key point, the boy who cried wolf teaches not to lie, the parables of Jesus have intrigued people to this day with how to interpret them, how deep their meaning runs, how many layers the stories have and whether they should be interpreted in multiple different ways or seen simply with one moral takeaway.
In our story of the Good Samaritan, we could see it simply, as scholar Adolf Jülicher did, as a story with the message to ‘be kind and help others whoever they are’ and nothing more. However, we could understand it on the other extreme, how St Augustine of Hippo writes about it, that it’s a parable where every element and character is symbolic, serving together as an allegory for the fall of man.
However, there’s a significant challenge here when we consider the context in which Jesus shares this story. Jewish Scholar Amy-Jill Levine suggested a more balanced approach between the two above, highlighting the importance of context in understanding parables and their nuanced meanings. Before sharing this parable Jesus is asked ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. It shows kindness, compassion and neighbourly love between enemies, between people that are not similar in their beliefs, culture or location. This raises a difficult question for us today: who are the people we, both individually and collectively, would be tempted to exclude, ignore, or turn a blind eye to in their suffering, and how do we truly love our neighbour?
This is the last email until the beginning of September – so do pay close attention!
Opening Reflection
The Lion and the Mouse, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Tortoise and the Hare are just some of the fables attributed to Aesop, a Greek fabalist traditionally known to be a slave in ancient Greece.
As fables often have one key point, the boy who cried wolf teaches not to lie, the parables of Jesus have intrigued people to this day with how to interpret them, how deep their meaning runs, how many layers the stories have and whether they should be interpreted in multiple different ways or seen simply with one moral takeaway.
In our story of the Good Samaritan, we could see it simply, as scholar Adolf Jülicher did, as a story with the message to ‘be kind and help others whoever they are’ and nothing more. However, we could understand it on the other extreme, how St Augustine of Hippo writes about it, that it’s a parable where every element and character is symbolic, serving together as an allegory for the fall of man.
However, there’s a significant challenge here when we consider the context in which Jesus shares this story. Jewish Scholar Amy-Jill Levine suggested a more balanced approach between the two above, highlighting the importance of context in understanding parables and their nuanced meanings. Before sharing this parable Jesus is asked ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. It shows kindness, compassion and neighbourly love between enemies, between people that are not similar in their beliefs, culture or location. This raises a difficult question for us today: who are the people we, both individually and collectively, would be tempted to exclude, ignore, or turn a blind eye to in their suffering, and how do we truly love our neighbour?
Beth Keenan
Key Notices:
Thanet Christians Prayer Diary
Copies of the July and August prayer diary are available at the back of church or here.
Charity Support
At our last PCC meeting, we decided rather than paying from church funds into a few chosen charities, we would seek to promote the charities at special services through the year and encourage people to donate generously at those times.
In order to start this, we want people to suggest charities to support. We will choose three charities: one with an international focus, one with a national focus and one with a local focus. Ideally, the charities should be Christian. Please send suggestions for charities to support to Sue Martin by the end of July, so that the PCC can consider which three to choose.
Safeguarding Training
If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years. This only takes 45minutes to an hour to complete. If you are involved in working with children or vulnerable adults you also need to do the Foundation Module, which takes a similar amount of time.
If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@churchramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.
Why not find time over the summer to complete these courses and help us ensure we are a safe church for all?
Over the Summer
Dare to Pray, St. George’s, Saturdays 19th July and 16th August
It was great to have 18 people from both churches at the first of these last month. Join us as we gather to pray for our plans as we move towards Vision 2030 from 9:30-10:30am.
Ramsgate Carnival – 27th July
It’s that time of year again! Ramsgate Carnival on Sunday 27th July, which means that our Regeneration Officer, Jemima is looking for volunteers to pull the St George’s lantern and carry our flag. The route is shorter than last year so it shouldn’t be such a slog. We need a minimum of 4 pulling the lantern at any one time, but if there are more we can share the work and take turns.
We’ll be getting start time details etc shortly but last year we gathered at Government Acre at lunchtime/ early afternoon.
Please let Jemima know if you are interested by WhatsApp message or text to 07971782477.
Vicarage BBQ – 5-8pm, 27th July
If you did not make the last vicarage BBQ on 5th July and are able to come on 27th, then please sign the sheet at the back of church and come along with some meat or equivalent to be cooked.
Small Groups
If you are interested in connecting with one of our small groups over the summer, please contact:
Deanery Roadshow – 7pm, 3rd September, St. Luke’s Church
Everyone is welcome to hear from Diocesan Officers on various themes around the theme: The Next Steps to Growth. Refreshments from 6:30pm.
The Bible Course – Coming in September
Starting on Monday 8th September, 7:30pm in St. Luke’s Hall, we will be running The Bible Course (new edition), a great opportunity to understand how the Bible fits together as a whole. It is ideal for both those new to the faith and those who have been Christians for years. This will last for eight weeks and replace the small groups for September and October.
Ride and Stride
The annual Friends of Kent Churches ride and stride event takes place on Saturday 13th September. People can be sponsored to cycle and walk around as many churches as they can on the day. Alternatively, you can volunteer to welcome people into the church. See Jennifer Smith for more information.
Kent Women’s Convention, 4th October, Canterbury
The Kent Women’s convention is to be held in Canterbury this year. 4th October, St. Mary Bredin. Tickets cost £10. See flier in church. Book early!
The Birth of St. George’s, 3pm, 4th October
Join us at St. George’s Church to hear our very own historian, Margaret Bolton, share the history of the original setting up of St. George’s church nearly 200 years ago. Tickets, £5. More information to follow.
Interesting Blogs to Share
Letter from Istanbul: How many neighbours is it possible to love?
In this 6 minute read, Becky Ruth shares her experience of living in Istanbul and the enormous pressure of immigration in Turkey as she ponders the parable of the Good Samaritan. Read more…
Line Judges replaced by robots? You cannot be serious!
In this 3 minute read, Matt Lewis bemoans the loss of line judges at Wimbledon, wondering if our humanity is being lost to technological efficiency. Read more…
What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.
Finally, let’s make sure we love whoever we come across as our neighbour!
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8)
We will be considering how Paul and his team went about sharing the good news of Jesus in the early days of the church and what lessons we can learn today.
St. George's Church Ramsgate 