"Living Messages”

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett

Preached at Pleasantville United Church of Christ, October 19, 2008

Psalm 96:1-9 & 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

“For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you,
because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction;
just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.”
(1 Thessalonians 1:4-5)

Last week one of our lessons came from the 32^nd chapter of the book of the Exodus.  In that chapter we studied the story of the Golden Calf and how the Hebrew people became nervous when their leader, Moses, delayed his return from the Mountain of God – so nervous, in fact, that they anxiously melted down all of their gold jewelry in order to fashion for themselves an idol in the shape of a golden calf.  They gave over their loyalty and their love to this thing they had created themselves.  Considering the fact that these same people had just established a covenant with God (He would be their God and they would be His people), the whole golden calf was not a very politic decision.  Needless to say the God of Israel, the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, was not happy.  It was a lesson that pointed to how very easy it is for well-meaning people to lose their way in times of fear and difficulty and begin to worship things that are not God.

This week our primary lesson comes from a very different book: a brief passage from one of Paul’s letters.  We are reading from Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica, which was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia.  Thessalonica was a city strategically located on both land and sea routes.  This letter was probably written around the year 50 AD, making it Paul’s earliest letter, and the church in Thessalonica had in all likelihood been together for a year or less when Paul wrote this letter. 

This young congregation had done a remarkable thing in the midst of Roman culture: they had “turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God” (1:9) and in this letter Paul in celebrating that.  He writes to encourage them to withstand the strong forces of the surrounding Roman culture so that they did not go back to worshiping idols.

Now notice the connection between this week’s lesson and last week’s lesson.  There is a difference of roughly 1300 years between the time of Israel in the wilderness and the writing of this letter of Paul in the first century and yet the issues remain strikingly similar: how difficult it can be to stand firm in our trust in God when the surrounding culture does not support our faithful decisions.

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians celebrates the fact that this young congregation has been able to do this remarkable thing of turning away from the Roman gods and as a result, they are living examples of faith to others in the region – and to us today.  They are, in fact, living messages.

Read 1 Thessalonians 1-10.

Were we to study this letter in its entirety, we would be able to see that the central message of it is Paul communicating and reinforcing the idea of the lordship of Jesus Christ over and above the idea of the lordship of the emperor of Rome.  This phrase (“the Lord Jesus Christ”) is used eleven times in the letter.  And this is significant because in doing this, Paul is pushing back against in the Roman belief that the Emperor was Lord.  One aspect of living in a Roman colony like Thessalonica was that if enemies threatened, people could expect the emperor to “save” them.  By using the phrase “the Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul is reminding these new converts to Christianity that their salvation comes from God, not from Rome.  And so this letter is Paul’s attempt to strengthen the Christian community in Thessalonica; to praise them for their faithfulness and to urge them to stay faithful to Christ in the midst of the surrounding Roman culture.

The theme for today is living messages.  The tiny community of Christians in Thessalonica in the year 50 AD was an outpost of faith in the midst of the huge Roman Empire.  Surrounded by a world that was selling other choices and other demands for their allegiance, this little congregation remained steadfast in their faith – and that is why Paul wrote to them to praise them; and that is why his words are still relevant to us today.

Today we are celebrating those who have been living messages of steadfast and faith for us.  Today we are being challenged to become living messages of steadfastness and faith for others, because whether we live in the Roman Empire or not, it is still a struggle to stay faithful to God when the world is selling something else.

In a few moments Marie Watson/Don Weisel will share a word about a person in her/his life who was for her/him a living message of faith.  But before she/he does, there is someone else I want to introduce you to. 

Bobbi and Vernon Benson are in our Fellowship Hall this morning leading games to help the children better understand the bible story they are studying this month about Jacob and Esau.  They have a tough job because the Jacob and Esau story is a tough story.  It’s a story about sibling rivalry, and the damage that can be done in a family when a parent favors one child over another.  I asked Bobbi and Vernon how in the world they were going to add to the children’s understanding of these bible stories by playing games and they said that, basically, the common theme in the games they are running is: “it’s not fair.”  That is indeed a central theme in the Jacob and Esau narratives.

I tell you all this because the person I want to introduce to you is Bobbi’s mother, Gladys Derr.  Gladys was and is a living message of faith.  Bobbi would be here this morning to share that story except for one thing: as you will see, she listened so well to the living message of her mother that she is teaching church school this morning.

I was blessed to know and love Gladys Derr.  She was born August 17, 1910 and she went to glory on April 23, 2005.  And this is what her daughter has to say about the living message of faith that was Gladys Derr:

Read Bobbi’s letter.

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

In the midst of a culture in which there are a multitude of other voices calling for our allegiance, let us celebrate those in our lives who become for us living messages of faithfulness.  For the issues have ever been the same: are you frightened? Are you weary? Are you lonely?  Are you feeling forsaken?  To what will you turn in these hours of need?

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…For the word of the Lord has sounded forth…in every place your faith in God has become known…For the people of those regions report…how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus” who saves us from ourselves.
                        (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, selected verses)

We are invited to become living messages of God’s good news in a word that is often hostile and resistant world.  Striving to live as disciples of Jesus, let us encourage one another in lives of faith that can be a witness to others.

May it be so.  Amen.