Inspired By Hope

??? 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 “INSPIRED BY HOPE”

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Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.? Amen.? The text for our meditation this morning is taken from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, the First Chapter, Verses One through Five:? Paul, Silas, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:? Grace and peace to you.? We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.? We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.? For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.? This is the Word of the Lord.

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In the Name of Christ Jesus, Dear Christian Friends:? I suppose that it is a fruit of our fallen human nature, but disasters, whether natural or of human origin, draw our rapt attention.? Hurricanes, earthquakes, mass shootings, or horrific accidents on the highway draw us to the television news like moths to a flame.? Many years ago, western Pennsylvania was transfixed by the drama that unfolded when nine coal miners were trapped in a flooded mine shaft nearly two hundred feet underground.? I remember that during the days that passed, I was inspired by Pennsylvania’s governor at the time and by those who were working on the rescue operation.? I was inspired because of the hope that everyone was expressing, a hope that declared that nine miners would be recovered alive.? In spite of difficult conditions endured by the miners below-ground, they endured the hardship, encouraging and supporting each other, trusting that they would be rescued.? In spite of broken drill bits and set-backs above ground, the rescuers did not give up hope.? They endured and overcame the hardships.? The families, many of whom were believers in Jesus, persevered in their faith and in the hope that their loved ones would be rescued.? And, as we all rejoiced in seeing, all nine miners were rescued.? Who could not come away from that event not being inspired?

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As I watched, and perhaps as you watched that national news event unfolding at the Quecreek Mine, we learned in the process how dangerous the work of coal mining can be.? As we read the Bible, particularly the book of Acts and the Epistles, we discover that being a Christian can be a dangerous proposition.? Take, for example, the church in the city of Thessalonica.? Thessalonica was a seaport with a population of 200,000 in the Roman province of Macedonia.? It was the province’s largest city and capital, as well as the junction point of two major highways of the day.? Paul, Timothy, and Silas had founded the congregation at Thessalonica, and were immediately met with severe persecution.? The new believers who had received the missionaries’ message had helped at least Paul and Silas escape from the persecutors; but now, as new believers had to face virtually alone the wrath of their fellow citizens.? It wasn’t easy for them, but hope had inspired these Thessalonian Christians, even to the point of suffering for their faith.? That hope had come through the message that Paul and his co-workers had preached, a message that proclaimed forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation through faith in Jesus’ name.? That faith that had been created in the hearts of the Thessalonians had not remained stagnant.? As Luther often said, “Faith is an active thing.”? Faith produces good fruit, works of faith.? When those works are done in the midst of severe trial and persecution and opposition to the faith, it takes on the characteristic of labor, or toil involving hardship.? The progression then leads to endurance, which is hardship sustained, kind of like the marathon runner who is hurting after 20 miles, knowing he has six more miles to go, but he keeps pressing on in spite of the pain, the hills, and the heat.? They continued to work in the name of Jesus in spite of the opposition and suffering that came upon them.

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As Paul writes this letter, Paul and his co-workers are inspired by the Thessalonians, so much so that they make mention to them that they are being constantly remembered in their personal prayers.? Paul, of whom God had said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name,” would also be inspired through such people as these.? Early in my ministry in Detroit, I was serving a vacant congregation.? Among the shut-ins was a gentleman who was in chronic pain from the ravages of cancer.? He was always grateful to receive the Lord’s Supper, but whenever I would go to visit him, he would bear witness to his faith in Jesus.? Though he would always receive the blessing of forgiveness and the assurance of eternal life through the sacrament, I often left feeling that I had received as much of a blessing as he had.? His hope in the midst of suffering was inspiring.? And as I’ve continued through the years in ministry, with each congregation that I’ve served, I’ve had the privilege of meeting people like that gentleman whose hope is unshaken by suffering or hardship.

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Hope inspires us.? It inspires others.? The Christian’s quiet acts of committed love and service may not receive public fanfare, but they often make deep and lasting impressions, one individual at a time, and leave the beneficiary “thanking God for all of you.”? That is the way it was for Paul.? He had preached the Gospel, and like many preachers, perhaps he sometimes wondered whether the message that he was preaching was having any effect on those to whom he was giving the message.? Well, hope in Christ had inspired these Thessalonians to work, labor, and endure; and these, in turn, had inspired Paul, giving him yet more evidence of the power of God’s “weak” and “foolish” Gospel.? Theirs was an inspiring hope, but that’s because it came from God Himself, and freely, in Jesus Christ.

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Our hope in Christ is God-given.? It comes from the Gospel of Jesus, a Gospel that seems weak and foolish to the worldly wise, but nonetheless is the very power of God unto salvation for those who believe.? That hope is not mere wishful thinking, like hoping that the Browns will regroup during this Bye week and win the following Sunday!.? Hope as understood by the Scriptures is the sure confidence that we have in Jesus for our salvation, and the firm confidence that Jesus will come again.? It is through the Gospel that God calls us and makes us God’s beloved and chosen ones. Working through the Gospel and the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit brings us to saving faith and sustains us in the faith.? God works out our whole salvation, from first to last.? Therefore, we are made sharers in his kingdom.? Precisely because it does not depend on what we are supposed to do, but on what Christ Jesus has already done, nothing is more sure or certain than the Christian’s hope in Christ.

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I would not be surprised if there were some heart-felt “Hallelujahs” and “Praise the Lords” among the people gathered at the Quecreek Mine when those nine miners were rescued.? It’s only natural to sing out praise when one’s hope is realized.? Just think of it…We know that someday, our hope will be realized when Christ returns in all of His glory, and that hope does not disappoint us.? In the meantime, we join with the hymn writer and declare, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.? I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.? On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”? Amen.