A Model Church

Hollow life

The world around us offers us a lot of excitement.

With a few clicks, you can watch almost any movie ever made, right on your own TV screen.

Pay a bit of money, and you can be entertained at a massive concert. Or some major sporting event.

Feeling bored with the way you look - you go to the shopping centre where endless opportunities for new looks are on display and ready for you to purchase.

And here’s the best part about the age we currently live in - if you can’t find what you want at the shopping centre, well, you jump online, and there really does seem no limit to what you can get.

Once you’re bored with all the stuff you can buy, well, it’s not too hard to find a new exercise regime, or maybe a meditation practice. There’s lot of hobbies you can take up. Maybe you want to learn an instrument.

Some people like to give themselves a challenge - perhaps you want to be able to run a marathon.

Whatever your thing is, you can fill your life with any sort of thing you like. You can have glizt and glammer. You can have calm and serene. It’s all there for you.

But here’s the thing. In a world where we can have everything we want - why are we so miserable?

You know, while there are many reasons that people will give for why they don’t want to be a Christian - things like: abuse in the church, clash with science, hypocrisy in the church - my observation is that the real reason is much more simple. Our lives are too full, and Christianity is just one offering among many, and it doesn’t really have anything I can’t get elsewhere.

I remember someone who visited church a few times a couple of years ago, and when I spoke to her after she decided to not keep coming, she said: ‘oh, it’s nice and all, it’s just not my thing’.

There’s a sense in which she saw the church as just another thing to fill her life with.

What I believe she failed to understand, is that church is not just about the songs we sing and the other various actions we go through on a Sunday morning - it’s actually something deeper.

It’s in discovering what this is, that means church is not just another experience among all the other experiences we have… it’s an understanding of who we are, why we’re here, and why it all matters.

This morning we’re going to start a new series looking at a letter written to believers in the city of Thessalonica.

What I want to explore is the change we see in the lives of these people and what it means for us as we embrace thee Christian faith.

Background

But first, let’s have a look at the background to this letter that is written, starting with the city of Thessalonica.

This is a city with a long history and a city that is still prominent today with it generally being known as Thessaloniki. Part of it’s prominence is due to the significant port is has which makes it a bit of a gateway for a lot of trade.

So this city became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia.

Now, another thing you need to be aware is that around this time - and we’re in about the middle of the first century AD - there had been quite a scattering of Jews around the world.

We know that various synagogues popped up in various cities and nations, including in the city of Thessalonica.

God-fearers

But there is another interesting phenomenon that was happening around this time. Many non-Jewish people started showing up at Jewish synagogues.

These people got the name God-fearers.

You see, it would appear that these God-fearers had become disastified with the pagan religions that they were surrounded by - and it wasn’t as if they weren’t spoiled for choice.

It’s a little bit like what I was describing in my introduction where we can have what we want - only for them it was in a religious sense.

There were the Greek and Roman gods who controlled various aspects of life. They had various household gods. For those who wanted something a little different, they could explore the eastern mystery religions that were around at the time. For the more educated, well, they could go for the philosophical religions.

But with all this choice, there were a growing number of people who were disatisfied - and this led to the rise of the God-fearers. Because the Jewish religion offered something different. Not different in the sense that a new god was on offer but a fundamental difference in how it viewed the world.

There was a morality code unlike any they had heard before - and as foreign as it sounded to this culture, there was something beautiful about it. There was a new kind of community - one that actually cared for each other. And there was a new kind of hope - a hope that things will change because there is a God that cares.

But as we’re about to see, even in this Jewish community, there was still something missing. It was like it was getting there, but just not quite. But let’s keep this in mind.

Paul

You see, this was all happening in Thessalonica well before Paul turned up.

Those in Thessalonica wouldn’t have had much awareness, but Paul had been taken a new message around various cities. A message that connected with what the Jews were saying, but hitting the part that was missing.

You see, he had already done what we refer to as Paul’s first missionary trip.

In Acts 16, Paul starts what we call his second missionary trip - and initially, he was going to visit many of the same places that he saw on his first time around - but he has this vision - it was of a Macedonian man begging him to come to Macedonia - and so, Paul, along with some travelling companions that included Silas and Timothy, went over to Macedonia.

The first stop was Philippi - and you can read all about the big changes that occured in this city in Acts 16.

But after establishing a new work in Philippi, he then moves on to Thessalonica - and we read about this in the start of Acts 17.

Reasoning in synagogue

Now, remember I mentioned the synagogue that existed in Thessalonica? Well, Paul’s routine that he has established throughout his travels up to this point is to always start at the Synagogue, and so on the Saturday, which of course was the Sabbath Day for the Jews, he rocks on up to the synagogue.

And we’re told that he goes there for three Sabbath’s in a row.

For these three Sabbath’s he’s able to tell them - ‘hey, you know how you’re waiting for a Messiah to come, well, have I got good news for you’.

Acts 17:2 tells us how he reasons with them, proving how their very own scriptures actually show that this Messiah will have to suffer and that he will rise from the dead. They might have thought the Messiah would come in some show of strength - but Paul tells these Jews, even their own prophets disagree with them.

And then he says to them: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah”.

So how was it received?

Well, on the positive side, some Jews were persuaded and they joined with Paul and Silas.

But Acts 17:4 tells us that there was a bigger group that also came over - remember those God-fearing Greeks I mentioned a moment ago… those Greeks that had become disastisfied with the pagan religion around them… well, we’re told a large number of them came over to Paul and Silas.

You see, I’m going to suggest that the message that Paul was giving gave them that missing piece that was missing in what the Jews were teaching. The Jewish teaching was going in the right direction but it wasn’t able to save. It needed something more, and Jesus was it.

It’s also interesting to note that Acts 17 tells us that among the new converts were also quite a few prominent women.

These new believers in Jesus made up a new church - however, while Paul convinced quite a few people about who Jesus really is, there were also many Jews who really didn’t like what Paul was saying.

After three Sabbath’s, Paul wasn’t going back into that synagogue, but quite likely did stick around for a time working with the mostly gentile believers.

Those Jews who didn’t like what Paul was saying were not content with Paul ceasing his synagogue visits - they wanted him out of the city altogether, and so they cause enough trouble to run Paul out of Thessalonica.

This leaves Paul in a tricky situation. He’s got these new believers who he has started teaching them about Jesus, but now he’s had to leave them.

This is the context in which Paul writes the letters that we know as 1 and 2 Thessalonians. It is thought that he actually writes these letters probably only a matter of months after he was with them - although just to be clear, it is difficult to be certain about the timing of when the letters were written.

This makes these letters some of the earliest letters of Paul that we have recorded. For those who are interested, the one letter that is believed to have come before this one, is the letter he wrote to the Galatians.

Thanksgiving

Well, let’s turn to the letter now.

The opening of the letter is perhaps one of the simplest opening of any of the letters Paul writes. He includes Silas and Timothy in listing who it’s from, but it’s generally considered that this letter was written by Paul, and lists Silas and Timothy to show that they are all in this together.

The letter then starts with Paul giving thanks to God for these new believers which you’ll see in verses 2 and 3.

But what I want you to notice, is that this more than just pleasantries. I think this is clear because verse 3 reads to me like Paul is seriously impressed with the change that he has seen in these people.

A change has come over them, and there’s a clear reason for it. They are living their life with a new sense of purpose.

There is this work they are doing - and it’s being driven by their faith. Their labour - it’s not longer labour to meet some end they don’t care about - it’s a labour prompted by love. And there is new kind of endurance - an indurance that is inspired by hope in Jesus.

You see, these believers might only be relatively new to this faith, but yet they have experienced some life changing. Not just an experience that stimulated their senses - but an experience of a love unlike anything they’ve experienced before. A hope that isn’t futile, but based on something real.

They’ve experienced the gospel.

Now this word “gospel” - it literally just means good news. But it’s the word we use to describe the good news of what Jesus has done. How he has come to earth and established a new kind of kingdom that will not falter with opposition, but will continue to grow.

It’s a gospel that say - you are loved and valued. You are precious to God. You matter, not because of any effort you’ve done, but because you’ve been chosen by God and are being transformed in his likeness.

They’ve experienced this gospel, and their lives will never be the same. As it says in verse 5, it was a gospel that came on them not simply with words, but with the power of the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.

By comparison, everything else this world has to offer feels hollow. That why many of the believers who had previously come from idol worship were now so excited by this new faith. It was anything but hollow. It filled their life and gave them life to the full.

Becoming a model to others

Now, as we read through this first chapter, there becomes something that becomes very apparent about how the gospel has effected them.

And that is, that the gospel has this tendency to push outwards towards other people.

You see, here’s the thing. Our natural tendency is to focus on ourselves. You might think that after you receive the gospel, you just want to soak it all in for yourself. And while it is life-giving for your own soul - yet the gospel has this ability to overflow from our lives into others.

Let’s look how this is happening… you see, because of Paul’s experience with the gospel, his life became a model that the Thessalonians were able to follow.

But this was not just a model in the sense of doing nothing wrong - it was rather a model in the way Paul approached life.

Just look at verse 6, it says: “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”.

Now, he doesn’t elaborate here what that severe suffering is that he is talking about, but I strongly suspect that given that we know that shortly after this new church was establised, Paul, Timothy and Silas had been chased out by a mob of angry Jews, I suspect that might have had something to do with their struggles.

But this is the kind of model that Paul was. He showed that life is not always easy - in fact sometimes it is very difficult, sometimes even to the point that you could be die - and yet you approach life with a new certainty because you have a hope that death can not extinguish. And what’s more, it all done eith a new kind of joy - a joy in the Lord.

Paul’s modelling of this had a profound impact on those in the city of Thessalonica.

But something remarkable then happens. Because of the impact of this modelling, those who were changes by what Paul modelled, then became models for others to follow.

The change that the gospel causes is like a fire that spreads.

As people see that you don’t need to stay in a hollow world with superficial people - you can live differently even if the world around you doesn’t change. You can have hope even in when the world around you has no hope.

This church in Thessalonica might only be a matter of months old - yet it has gained a reputation. Paul says in verse 8 “your faith in God has become known everywhere”.

They have a new kind of hope. Just look at the end of this chapter. It’s a hope that turned them away from the worthless idols that make no difference, to a living and true God that changes everything. More than that, as it says in verse 10, they have a hope that Jesus will come again. In fact, this hope of the return of Jesus will become quite a focus as we move through these two letters.

But for now, we just recognise that the return of Jesus is a hope that says, even though we can live in joy in the present because Jesus is with us now, but a time is coming when all things will be made right because Jesus is coming again.

An invitation

This morning as we just start this series, I want to also issue an invitation.

Some of you might still be living in a hollow world and haven’t yet found the hope we have. Your life is full of stuff. Maybe even some really nice stuff. But yet, it all feel superficial - or transitory.

If this is you, know that the gospel is there and it will change your life.

In the gospel you will find forgiveness for whatever you’ve done. In the gospel you will find a chance for redemption. In the gospel you’ll find meaning.

And all you have to do, is accept it. You just have to say, Jesus, I accept you and I need you to change me.

If this is you, then talk to me afterwards. I would love to talk to you about how the gospel can change your life.

For those of you who have already made that decision can I ask you - are you allowing your life to be a model for others. Are you demonstrating what it means to have joy even in the midst of suffering? Are you showing what it is to have the deep joy of knowing that you are loved?

If not, then can I encourage you to just dwell on what the Holy Spirit has done in your life. Think of the change that it has made. Think of what life was like before you knew Christ, and what God has done in you. And just allow that to change how you live your life.

Conclusion

The remarkable thing about these Thessalonians is that there knowledge of Christianity was quite basic in that they had only come to this faith relatively recently - and yet, they allowed what they knew to change them.

I hope that as we go over these two letters over the two months or so, you’ll be encouraged in your faith. These letters will fill us with hope in knowing that God will always be there for us, no matter how hard things get.

You to can have this hope if you draw close to God.

Let me pray...