Hello and good day. Welcome back to the 5 minute challenge. Let’s talk pizza. More specifically the universal appeal of pizza. Margie had most of the day off yesterday, so we went for a nice long walk at the Botanical Garden here in Fort Worth. I had a conference call with Hong Kong at 7pm so we decided to grab some quick dinner at our favorite pizza place near TCU, the Mellow Mushroom. It’s REALLY good pizza. I think we all know that pizza started in Italy but the pizza there is much different than the American take on pizza. I’ve had the pizza in Italy and it’s much simpler, much healthier than ours. Mostly just light cheese and tomatoes. I never did find a “meat lovers” pizza in Europe. Last Friday night we had a Christmas party with several of our international students from India and China. The topic swung to American food and their favorites. Their favorite food in the US? Pizza. Huh. It seems that pizza might just be the perfect international food. One that bridges all societies. When we were in Hong Kong earlier this year, we found ourselves longing for some good ol’ pizza come day 9. With the help of Google we found a great little pizza place right on a street corner in downtown Hong Kong. When we walked up the line was out the door. Even in Hong Kong, pizza was in great demand. Oh well, there’s our pizza talk for the day. Might be the only pizza talk you have all day…
This morning we have the great honor of starting yet another new book of the New Testament and yet another by Paul, 1st Thessalonians. This was the first letter written by Paul in 52 A.D. and was of course written to the church at Thessalonica. Paul visited Thessalonica on his second missionary journey and was only in the city for 3 weeks. This was one quick missionary trip and in those 3 weeks, Paul shared the Gospel, many souls were saved and a church was started. God moved quickly. Paul was subsequently run out of town violently and he fled to Berea. But the mob pursued him there too and he fled on to Athens and eventually Corinth. Timothy had stayed behind in Berea and as he caught up to Paul in Corinth, he had some questions from the church back in Thessalonica. This letter was Paul’s answers to those questions.
In chapter one today we will zero in on verse 1:2, the three graces of Christian life.
“remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, and labor of love, and steadfastness of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thes 1:2
You have three graces mentioned here and Paul uses these three abundantly throughout all of his 13 letters; faith, love and hope. These three words are abstract nouns and they can seem a little lofty to tie down as far as application in our lives. I mean how do you really apply hope to your walk today? How can faith make a difference today in how you walk this planet? Paul masterfully moves these three from the abstract to the concrete right here before our eyes.
Speaking of abstract to concrete, did you hear the one about the contractor that loved kids? He poured a fresh sidewalk one day and left it to dry overnight. When he returned the next morning, he found that some kids had walked on it and even wrote their initials in it. He was very angry and complaining loudly about the kids when a fellow worker said, “I thought you loved kids?” He said, “I love them in the abstract but not in the concrete.” Ha!
Well, that’s exactly what Paul is doing here, he is moving these three from the abstract to the concrete in a way that we can experience them each and every day in our walk with Christ. So, from this verse we get a ‘work’ of faith, a ‘labor’ of love and ‘patience’ of hope. Let’s take them one at a time and do a little exploring.
So it’s not just having or possessing faith, but Paul says it's a ‘work’ of faith. A call to put our faith into action. One of my favorite definitions of faith is “Faith is the response of the soul of man to the Word of God.” That’s a good one, I love it. You see faith is a reactionary response. Our faith is in response to God and His Word. Faith looks back. Faith looks at what God has done and we react to His message and His love. I heard it said that these three graces represent the three tenses, past present and future. Faith being focused on the past, love being focused on the present and hope being focused on the future.
The specific ‘work of faith’ Paul is mentioning here is the Thessalonian’s act of turning to God from idols. In verse 1:9 he says. “and how you turned to God from idols.” You see the Word of God they were newly exposed to, caused them to turn to God from the idols they had been worshipping prior. After they had been saved and exposed to the truth of the Word of God it changed them. It had a cause and effect reaction in their lives. It caused a reaction, a ‘work of faith.’
You see, today we are no different. When we are exposed to the Word of God, it will cause a reaction in us. It will cause us to turn from our sin and follow Jesus more closely. It will cause a ‘work of faith.’ This reverts back to the fact that we are all sinners and fall short of the perfection that God demands. His Word continually calls us to strive to follow His commands for our lives. (John 14:15) We should constantly be in this reactionary mode, reacting to His Word in ‘works’ of faith.
Next Paul addresses how we are to serve God today. Not just ‘with’ love but through a ‘labor of love.’ Love of God is expressed through obedience to Him and as we follow God, He WILL ask us to serve Him. As He does ask us for our service, how will we respond? Complain? Grumble? Refuse? We should do it with love, a ‘labor of love.’ One of my favorite quotes is “find something you love to do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” So true and it rings true serving God as well.
As Paul addressed the Thessalonians with this, he was speaking of their service to God. “to serve the living and true God.” 1 Thes 1:9. First the word of God spurred their faith and they chose God over false idols. Next their love for God caused them to desire to serve Him as they heeded His call. You see this is the present tense of the three graces. Your love of God will stir a desire inside of you today. You will feel the deep desire to serve God today. This is what it looks like today, in the present. Us choosing “to serve the Living and true God.”
Your ‘labor of love’ to God can look like just about anything. It’s really a personal thing between you and God. You could be a full time minister. You could be part time help at your church. You could serve God at your full time job. You could go on a mission trip. You could help to fund raise for Christian charities. You could sew clothes for children overseas. You could host a bible study in your home. You see, how you serve God depends on what He asks you to do. I see many people that look at what others are doing to serve God, start doing that and then they don’t enjoy it. Well, no wonder, your doing what God asked them to do, not what He asked you to do. If you’re not feeling a deep love and satisfaction for what you’re doing for God, you need to go to God and have another conversation. God will not ask you to do something you hate. That would not be a ‘labor of love.’ Seek out God’s will for your service to Him and He will speak to you.
The third grace, and this would be the future tense of the three is the ‘patience of hope.’ After the Thessalonians had turned from idols in their faith, they had chosen to serve the living and true God with love, now they were waiting for the return of Jesus with the ‘patience of hope.’ You see hope looks into the future. Whether believer in Jesus Christ or not, it is a fundamental belief of all humans to hope for a better tomorrow. But it’s more than that. What should we hope for? Do we hope for a better job? Do we hope for more money? Do we hope for peace? For joy? You see, we can hope for everything and receive nothing if it is not based on the will of God. We have hope in that Jesus will return one day for His bride, His church. Jesus will return one day to take His church out of this world to be in Heaven in the presence of God. My friends, that is a reason for hope in tomorrow and it is based on the Truth of God. That’s where you want to put your hope.
Speaking of that, when we talk of hope it’s also important to look at where we get our hope for tomorrow. Do we get our hope from our world leaders. They will let you down. Do you get your hope for tomorrow from a political party? They will let you down and probably be out of control in a few years as we finicky voters’ waiver and vote them out. Do you get your hope for tomorrow from a religious organization? They too will let you down. You see the one constant in this world is men and women. We run everything and regardless of what you may be told, we ALL have one thing in common. We are all prone to failure and will one day fall. No one is prefect, and everyone will stumble. Have you evert heard of a politician that got caught in deceit? Absolutely. What about a movie star getting into trouble? Yes. How about a preacher caught in scandal? Check. What about a school teacher? Yep. Husband? Wife? Lawyer? Yes, yes and yes. The point? I dare you to name one person, profession, race, religion, sex or nationality that has not experienced failure, scandal, wrongdoing, misconduct, unethical behavior or immoral activity. You can’t do it. All you have to do is turn on the news today to see the latest in an endless list of people being found guilty of one of these. So where can we truly put our hope? You can put your hope in the tomorrow that Jesus Christ holds for us. He will not leave us, forsake us, lie to us, or abandon us. Put your hope in Jesus and your tomorrow is a bright one indeed.
What a great practical lesson God provided today. How to apply faith, love and hope into our lives today. But remember, all three of these originate in one place…the Word of God. I pray that you are spending time in His Word today to hear Him speak into your life. This is not a generic, cookie-cutter walk. This is not a one size fits all walk. This is a personal relationship that God offers you and He will speak to you specifically through His Word. Open it up today and listen to God speak to you.
Merry Christmas
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
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