Put us out of a job!

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering 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. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-10)  From the Spirit-fired work of God among the Thessalonians, a beautiful thing began to happen.  Like yeast through the dough, their Christian witness began to spread everywhere! Believing the Gospel is one thing, but in order to live it in our daily lives, we all need some model to follow.  We have to see a Christian life in action so that we can practice the rhythms and habits of grace ourselves.  Jesus coming in the flesh initiated this means of transmitting the good news as he invited his disciples to watch, listen, and learn from his life, teaching, and eventual death and resurrection.  They in turn preached and lived this gospel message out among others.  And so it was, in pastor Michael's phrase from yesterday that "the church begat the church."   Now perhaps the Thessalonians were sufficiently unassuming in their living of the faith under severe suffering that they had not noticed the impact their Spirit-fired faith was having on the world around them.  So Paul tells them—they are putting Paul and his fellow missionaries out of a job!  Paul and the gang don't need to tell anyone about Jesus, because people everywhere have already heard the story of the faith of the Thessalonian Christians!   A good story of a Christian life lived preaches louder than any lecture or Sunday sermon.  The story of the Thessalonian Christians, like any good story, had a beginning, middle, and end.  The beginning was their past: they—residents of a Greek city in view of Mt. Olympus—had turned away from the mountain of the gods to the living and true God.  This no doubt has something to do with the "suffering" the Thessalonians now faced, but probably also something to do with the power of the message springing from their lives.  If they, people in the direct line of sight of Zeus and Herra, could thwart the claims of Mt. Olympus in favour of a higher power, even at great personal cost inflicted by neighbours—there must be something to this new God! The middle of the story shows the Thessalonians not just turning away from idols—not merely deconstructing an old faith, but also reconstructing a new one.  They have turned to serve the living and true God.  They have begun to mold their lives around new works of faith, labours of love, all grounded in a new hope.  And that is finally where the story ends: a people waiting steadfastly and actively for Jesus, their Lord, to come again.   Whose stories of faith do you model your faith on?  What idols in your life (and faith) need deconstructing and what new practices of faith, love, and hope is God reconstructing in their place?  It may seem like a tough slog in the present moment, but you never know how far afield your own life and story of faith might be preaching!  So hang in there!  Stay steadfast, and keep your hope fixed in Christ. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).