Tag Archives: 1 Thessalonians 5

On being the clay, not the potter…

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Here, O my potter, is thy making stuff!
Set thy wheel going; let it whir and play.
The chips in me, the stones, the straws, the sand,
Cast them out with fine separating hand,
And make a vessel of thy yielding clay.

(George MacDonald, The Diary of an Old Soul, 1905)

The Lord says…”You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing?

(Isa 29.16)

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord; “Go down to the potters house and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”

(Jer 18.1-6)

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

(1Thess 5.23&24)

The image of the potter handling clay, skilfully shaping and raising the material to create a useful and/or beautiful piece of pottery, is one which occurs several times in scripture to demonstrate the gulf between creature and creator. It is ridiculous to imagine the clay on the wheel stiffening indignantly under the potter’s hands and objecting to the relentless shaping process! In just the same way, as those who believe in Jesus, and who trust that God’s goodness underlies all he does, we submit willingly to the skill of our creator and Sovereign – especially when we cannot understand what he is permitting!

The verse by George Macdonald quoted above has caused me also to think about where the burden of responsibility lies between potter and clay as regards the removal of impurities…. I believe that it is not the task of the believer – the clay if you like – to be obsessed with looking for imperfections. The potter sees from a totally different perspective, and it is his objective goodness which leads him to reveal to us first one persisting sin, and then another – that we might in turn repent and, as his submissive and willing clay, put that sin behind us and move a step nearer glory. It is for the potter to decide which impurity to deal with next, and for his skill to decide how it should be done. As the clay, we have no idea what is right and good!

I accept that I will not be free from the remnants of sin, embedded in my body which will one day die, until I am made new in resurrection. And then I yield to the One who knows exactly how the rest of my life will be used under his skill, to melt and rub away all that is not like Christ in me, and to reveal the person that he made me to be. That is his responsibility, not mine. It is not for me to spend my days prying inward, determined to find sin in every corner, and utterly failing to live joyously in the freedom which is mine as a forgiven child of God. Such a life is filled with negativity, is blind to the glorious light in which I now live.

Will my Father not reveal what needs healed or cast out in his own good time? I am called rather to praise him, to live for and with him in love and gladness, looking for and doing the good things which he has prepared in advance for me to do. While it is wrong for a believer to live as though they were sinless – we should be alert to temptation, and not depend on our own strength to resist it – yet it is also surely wrong to live as though we had to earn our forgiveness by the diligence of our sin-hunting and self-examination…

Loving heavenly Father, thank you that I am utterly forgiven because of the death of your Son, my precious Jesus, on my behalf. Thank you that sin no longer defines me, and I am whole, free and glorious in Christ. Let me live then trusting in your refining and shaping hand. You will reveal to me what needs to be repented of, at the right time and in the right way. And your spirit will enable me to receive and respond to that revelation, in repentance and faith. And let me live in the meantime as one focussed on your goodness, on your kingdom, and continually thrilled by your love. Make me more like Jesus, for my blessing, and your glory, Amen.

a prayer upon parting

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However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has give me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace… Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

(Acts 20.24&32)

Peace to the brothers and sister, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.

(Eph 6.23, 24)

Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known…by the command of the eternal God, so that all ..might come to the obedience that comes from faith – to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen

(Rom 16.25-27)

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

(1 Thess 5.16-24)

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

(Heb 13.20&21)

And so it has come to farewell… the time has dragged, then raced, and all at once the day is here and we are at the parting of the ways. But how wonderful to know that as children of God, we never say goodbye for ever, only farewell, only ’till we meet again!’

It is a good, but humbling lesson, learning over again that other people do not depend upon us for their thriving in life. Our presence in this community has – we trust – been a blessing and a means by which God has worked to build his kingdom, to break down prejudices and to show his love to others. But once we are gone, that work will continue, and we hope it will grow and bear fruit in lives transformed and a growing church! We are entirely at the Lord’s command, and it is by his Spirit that the work is done; we give all the glory to him for the fruit which is produced and give thanks for the privilege of labouring in his name. We also confess to him the mistakes we have made, and pray that they will not hinder his work but prove an opportunity for grace to abound.

The apostle Paul knew all about saying goodbye to his fellow believers, to people with whom he had laboured and suffered, grieved and rejoiced. His prayers for those people are rich in inspiration for us as we have to commit one another to God and walk down different paths. They remind us of what really matters, and of where our true confidence and strength must lie – in Christ, through whom God has given us all things, by whom we now live, and who alone can meet all our needs in this life. It is God’s will that we might live to glorify him and serve him, so surely we can trust him to make this possible, no matter what our circumstances may be?!

We each have a choice when God asks us to let go of a precious gift – either to release it with thankfulness for all that it brought and a prayer that we might have grace to do without it; or to resent God’s command, to let bitterness and self-pity have their way with us and blind us to God’s love, to the possibility of new gifts which are different, and to the reality of his command to trust him in all things to do what is good and right.

Heavenly Father, I worship you today and confess again your sovereignty. All that I have is of you, to give or to take away according to your good purposes in my life and those of others. I thank you for all the joy which this place and community have brought me over these seven years, and pray that I will release the gift back to you with a humble and hopeful spirit. May your work here be strengthened as your people depend on you and step out in faith; may the memory of our time together be an encouragement not a source of regret. May I step out in faith to the future you have assuredly prepared for me, although I do not yet know what it is. Keep my loss free from the infection of bitterness and self-pity; keep me thankful, humble and hopeful, and above all keep me faithfully loving to you, through our Lord Jesus, in whose name all your children are saved. Amen.

Thankfulness is not boasting…

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Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

(1Thess 5.16-18)

Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures for ever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate….

The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. they are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant for ever – holy and awesome is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

(Ps 111.1-4,7-10)

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

(Rom 12.15)

Job.. fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised….. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

(Job 1.20&21; 2.10)

I am in a season of abundance, shall I fail then to give thanks to the giver of every good and perfect gift? I am acutely aware that many of those near and dear to me are walking in shadows, living with open wounds of grief and clouded prospects of despair – but that should surely not diminish my desire to praise and thank the Lord for what he has allotted to me in these days. It is good and right that the greatest cause for our thanksgiving should always be our salvation, by the great redeeming work of God through Jesus Christ, but surely we should also recognise and fully appreciate the many other good things which we receive?!

I have known grief and trouble, I shall know them again. I have known fear and doubt, I shall know them again. I have known dryness of spirit and weariness of soul, I shall know them again. BUT…. today, when my life is overflowing with good things, today I should be as whole-hearted in my rejoicing as I am in lament when life is painful. My Father God knows my frame, and knows my heart, and delights to show his love to me – I will therefore not despise these gifts and this season of abundance, but rather boast in the love which he bears for me, and ascribe all the glory to him.

All that he gives, I will choose to receive with thankfulness. When it is loss or struggle, I thank him for his unfailing presence with me, his provision for and good purposes in me through the trials. When it is abundance, I thank him for the refreshment of spirit, the ease of mind, the upwelling of gladness which come to me by the gifts; and I pray that I might not take credit for them but lift each one up in thankfulness to honour him as the giver, and not myself as in anyway deserving or earning them. I make this wonderful and familiar psalm my own song and prayer in these days:-

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

In grass meadows He makes me lie down, by quiet waters guides me.

My life He brings back. He leads me on pathways of justice for His name’s sake.

Though I walk in the vale of death’s shadow, I fear no harm, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff – it is they that console me.

You set out a table before me in the face of my foes. You moisten my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Let but goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many long days.

(Psalm 23, R Alter translation)

Father God, as I survey the many wonderful ways in which I am blessed in this season of life, may I receive each one as your gift, and hold it ready to offer up again to you, for your purposes and your glory. My health, my strength and opportunities; my marriage and my children; my abilities, friendships and resources – all these are yours to give and to withdraw, and in all circumstances, I would choose to praise you and to give thanks for you as my God, the one whom alone I fear and worship, and who does all things well. Keep me thankful, humble and make me fruitful, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Out of a full heart…

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Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfall; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life.

(Ps 42.5-8)

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh… We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ…

(2 Cor 10.3&5)

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing…. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

(1 Thess 5.8-11,16-18)

In these summer days, my heart is full:-

Joy in the beauty of creation builds in my spirit as I bask in sunshine, swim in crystal clear waters over white sands, watch the growing and maturing plants in my garden and hear the birds calling from every thicket. I see the mountains across the waters, and the trees that cling to the hills like thick green fur; I see the moon rising full and palest yellow as the sun dips briefly below the horizon and the summer night begins.

Praise for the maker of creation rises in my heart as I delight in his power and artistry, and experience the blessing of beauty, light and growing things in satisfying my soul.

Heaviness at the prospect of leaving this place drags at my heart, threatening to drain the joy from each moment of pleasure and to cause the days to fly past.

Love for the friends who have been given to me here fills my heart, all their generosity, their kindness to me and their beauty as God’s children – whether they know and acknowledge him or not.

Grief for my friends here who follow Jesus and feel bereft at our departure; and deeper grief for those who do not know him, and who have not chosen to trust him for their eternity, yet. These griefs well up in my heart, continually pressing on me and clamouring for my attention.

There is a deep longing to be obedient, fruitful, and God-glorifying in all I do, which in these days of uncertainty is quickened to urgency as I seek to find the path, as I have to wait on his direction and perfect timing.

In the midst of all this, I am called to be thankful in everything, in order to fulfil his will for me. How can I do this when I am subject to such a mixture of emotions all the time and every day? Paul gives me instructions, and the means to fulfil them as well, by reminding me that as the Holy Spirit dwells in me, and I follow day by day, I will bear fruit, in Christ-likeness. Part of that fruit is self-control, not a very popular notion, but central to our maturing as believers. By the Spirit, I can choose to recognise, acknowledge and then step away from those emotions which threaten to overwhelm and distract me from obedience and to silence my thanksgiving. Because Christ died for me, and lives in me by his Spirit, I can choose to exercise my will in order to trust. My emotions do not have mastery over my will, my thoughts can and shall be directed by the truth of the gospel which has saved me.

Therefore I will choose thankfulness for God’s compassion for me, his own child and creation. All that is welling up in me, conflicting and disturbing; all the mixture of pain and joy which is the human condition, this is known to him and completely understood. My reactions are not a surprise to him, because he knows how I am made. I can therefore pour it all out before him, full of thankfulness for his acceptance and love, and confident that he can guide and keep me through this season of upheaval and uncertainty.

Lessons in construction..

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Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

(Prov 12.18&25)

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building..Each one should be careful how he builds. For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is…It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.

(1 Cor 3.9-13)

..to each one of us grace has been given…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.

(Eph 4.7,12&13)

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

(1Thess 5.9-11)

One body, one people under Christ, one holy temple where God is pleased to dwell and reveal his glory, power and love. This is where I belong, and where in addition to rights as his beloved child, I have responsibilities to exercise for the good of others and the glory of God who has called me here.

In the same way that the constituent parts of the human body work together for the good of the whole, so also God’s people are charged with being good for each other. I am challenged to consider how I behave to others, but also what that behaviour springs from – what is the condition of my heart? Jesus pointed out to his disciples that unclean thoughts and actions spring from an unclean heart – and only he can make that heart clean again. But if I have accepted the forgiveness which he offers, and believe that I am being transformed into his image, then I should not settle for remaining less than holy. While I remain impure, I weaken the body of which I am part, and cannot fulfill my tasks properly. My sanctification is part of God’s work in building up the church – am I happy to settle for being a weak spot? Do I want to know that it is my persisting sins which are undermining the witness of the gospel, or creating divisions and suffering in the body of Christ?

I am thankful to rest on God’s grace as I strive for perfection, knowing that in this life I cannot attain it and that he can overcome all that results from my failures, to fulfill his purposes and reveal his glory – there is no limit to his forgiveness. BUT I do not want to harbour or cherish persistent sins as if they were unimportant. Such an attitude undermines all that Jesus died to do, and devalues his sacrifice. Sin, is Sin, is Sin, no matter how intimate or – in the world’s eyes – unlikely to cause problems.

So I continue to submit to God’s discipline, asking him to reveal and deal with my sins; enabling me to turn away from them and pursue holiness for love of my saviour.

As God continues his work in me, so I am able to perform my task in building up my fellow believers – as my heart is changed, so my words and deeds become more Christ-like, my spirit more responsive to his leading, my desire ever more for his glory. I want to build in material that will last – in love, joy, hope, grace, so that my companions on the road are blessed by what God does through me. All that I am and have is a gift from God, given for use in his plans, and primarily for the encouragement of his people. I may not be an apostle or teacher, but I can always choose kindness over indifference. I can always point others to Christ, to the word of God which feeds their spirit. I can always be honest about my own need for grace, humbly offering my own experience of God’s goodness to encourage others who are struggling.

May God graciously enable us to build wisely, so that his church grows in strength and is built up, not torn down. May we build in the name of God, on the gospel of Christ, in the power of the Spirit.

To do lists…

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Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.

(Ps 119.97-99)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.

(Rom 12.1)

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

(Gal 6.9&10)

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people..

(Eph 6.18)

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

(Col.3.23&24)

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ..always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

(1Thess.5.14-18)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves….whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

(Jm 1.22&25)

One of the most insidious weapons which the devil uses against me – and very possibly against many other believers – is to play on my desire to glorify God in my life, my desire to become more like Jesus.

Does that sound like a contradiction? I can assure you it is not. This very good and proper thing – like so many other good things – can be manipulated and twisted into a weapon which disables the believer and causes them endless trouble. I know, because it happens to me so often.

The great love of God for me, his grace in forgiving and making me a child in his family, call forth a response of love, of a hunger to please him and show how much I value all that I have been given, and also how amazing he is. This is very right and proper…but then with a very clever twist, the devil gets me to begin thinking about just what that right response should look like in my life – what is the “right” thing to do here and now? For an over-thinker, a perfectionist, and one who hates to upset anyone, that question is a lethal, paralysing power that goes straight to my heart and destroys my peace.

Firstly, the list of things which we are called to ‘do’ in response to our calling as redeemed children of God is quite daunting – so much to be prayed(continually?!) for, so much scripture to be meditated on (day and night!); so many people in physical and spiritual need to be reached out and ministered to. How does anyone manage to hold down a full-time job, run a family, pursue their God-given talents and skills in recreation, as well as doing these things which are commanded? How can I hold conversations with people at the same time as praying continually? How can I study and write essays, or take part in meetings and make business decisions at the same time as meditating on scripture?

When I put it that way, you can see it is nonsense, and since God has called us to interact with people, to serve him in our labours, to be godly parents, spouses, siblings, then these things also must be right. But just how does it work in practice? Perhaps now you see why I described it as a ‘paralysing’ question?!

Secondly, when I begin to think about prayer and scripture meditation, about serving others and sharing the gospel, I am invariably overwhelmed by the awareness that I do none of these things ‘as well as other people’. That is a dangerous phrase – when you hear it in your thoughts, take warning and realise that the devil is needling at your peace of mind, at your acceptance as a child of God and perfect in his sight.

I do not have answers to this challenge, I live with the questions; what does God desire that I should do with the limited time, talents and opportunities he has given me?

But I take great comfort from the word given to the Colossians – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” – and from the sure knowledge that God sees my heart, and understands my weaknesses. Let me learn to trust his grace to be sufficient – I can never be ‘right’ in what I do, and that is ok with him, because his strength is made perfect, seen most clearly, in all the ways that he does things ‘right’, weaving all my best efforts into his beautiful whole.

A prickly character….?

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Now we ask you brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you , brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

(1 Thessalonians 5.12-15)

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

(Romans 12.18)

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of  no advantage to you.

(Hebrew 13.17)

One of the most amazing signs of God’s love and grace is the continued existence of his church in the world. Think about it for a moment..Within a few short years of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gospel had spread across the known world – all very good and encouraging – BUT the infant church was riddled with divisions, hostility and false teaching. The letters to the young churches in the New Testament address a depressingly familiar set of problems, and Paul, Peter and John must have wondered what on earth the future could possibly hold for the church as a whole!

Although I have referred to the problems as ‘depressingly familiar’, there is also a sense in which we can be profoundly encouraged..Why? because in spite of the chronic weakness and persistent failures of believers from the very beginning, the church still exists! God has preserved the witness of his people, has extended the reach of the gospel and continues to transform lives around the world through the power of the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross.

I have been struck afresh recently by just how very hard it must be for our leaders to maintain their energy, hope and vision for the work to which God has called them. Consider the gulf between the ideal church, as described in the extracts above, and the gruesome reality.

Instead of being respected, leaders are taken for granted, put upon and made to suffer unrealistic expectations. Instead of being a people on fire for the gospel, with hearts full of love and practical ways of reaching out, we are largely lukewarm, nominally committed, preoccupied with other parts of life, and indifferent to the call to pray and dig into the word that we might grow and share our faith. Instead of regarding ourselves as fellow labourers, we sit back and criticise when our favourite hymns are not sung, or a visit is not made, or someone sits in our seat. Instead of seeking to live lovingly and peaceably, we indulge our grudges and become touchy, prickly, hard to work with and dangerous to cross.

We are not a beautiful sight, we sheep of the great shepherd. We are lazy, ignorant, easily distracted and selfish. These are not pleasant words, but if we consider our own lives and look around us, we can see their truth. If all the people who – on paper – are members of our churches were living as the apostles describe, and living with a passion to see God glorified in their lives and communities, what a difference there would be. How our pastors and teachers would rejoice when they came to meet with their flocks, seeing the eagerness to learn, to praise, to seek God’s will and power at work in this world. How their labours would be lightened as they humbly wrestled with the word, preparing to share it with the people that we might all learn and grow.

Yes, of course, this side of heaven the church will always be full of sinners who have been saved, and who are being transformed – but is that an excuse for not trying to engage more enthusiastically with God as he seeks to change us? Does the love of God in Christ not call forth a stronger response in us than dutiful attendance, and occasional participation?

I don’t want to be a burden on my pastor, a drain on his enthusiasm, a quenching of his God-given vision for the work. I want to be one of those who encourages him, whose attitude and presence gives him hope that God is working and can make a difference, one in whom he can trust and find sympathy and love.

May God find me eager to submit to his transforming work in my life, so that I might be good for his church, good for my leaders, good for my community, and above all, might bring glory to him!

And by the way…

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May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

(1Thessalonians 5.23&24)

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 1.3-6)

I think I have written before about how I have been blest throughout my christian life by teachers who believe that all of scripture is God-breathed and necessary to my growth in faith and godliness. I am thankful to them for their faithfulness in helping me to study unattractive texts, and learning how to hear God’s voice as I read lists in Numbers, and gloomy, violent curses in the minor prophets!

But there are bits of the bible which I find much easier to learn from than others – namely the Psalms, and the apostolic letters in the new testament (basically everything after the book of Acts, but possibly not Revelation!). The writers of the letters to the young churches were urgent and focussed in their messages, and every phrase counts. The letter to the church in Rome is perhaps the ‘meatiest’ in that it requires careful reading and thought to follow all Paul’s reasoning. Some of the others are more direct and even pithy, as the authors fire out clear instructions to the young believers about how to live godly lives, to recognise and deal with heresy, and to bear witness under severe persecution.

I love instructions, for every area of life! I am the person who is most unhappy when faced with a responsibility or task for which she can find no ‘this is how to do it right’ kind of manual, so it is perhaps understandable that these relatively short letters appeal to me so much. Of course, the fact that the instructions are so clear does not mean that they are easy to fulfill – how many of us can truthfully say that we are always ‘alert and self-controlled’, or that we always ‘live in peace with each other’? But these types of writings do help us enormously to see what christian love should look like, when lived out with God’s help, in our daily lives. They help us to put high-sounding sentiment into hard demanding action, dealing with the sometimes brutal realities of life for ourselves and other people.

In his letter to the very young church in Thessalonica, Paul has been principally concerned to encourage and strengthen them in the face of persecution, and self-doubt, and the whole tone of the writing is full of wonderful affection for the new believers whom he had to abandon so early in their growth in faith. The latter half of the final chapter however is an almost breathless list of things which Paul asks them to do. One can almost picture the apostle realising that he has only limited space or time left in which to complete his writing, and so his thought becomes concentrated on the really important things he wants to say – and how briefly he can say them!

After firing out ‘respect those who work hard among you;‘ and ‘help the weak, be patient with everyone‘, he goes on to even briefer and harder hitting phrases, ‘ be joyful always‘, ‘test everything‘ and ‘avoid every kind of evil‘. We are left almost breathless, and certainly rather daunted by the weight behind his bullet points! Who could ever hope to keep up this level of perfection in the daily battle of following Jesus in a world which rejects him, where the remnant of sin in our own selves so easily drags us off course?

And so the great apostle suddenly changes tack, the whole tone of the writing changes again, as his compassion for his audience swells up and he remembers that they – like himself – are still frail human creatures, easily discouraged and vulnerable to despair. He launches into a great prayer to God on their behalf, a prayer which puts all the burden back where it belongs, into the hands of their Creator, Redeemer, Father and Lord. It is God who is called to make them perfect – to ‘sanctify them’ and to make sure that when Jesus returns, they are still safe within his grasp.

We are called to the utmost effort in loving obedience, but it is God who is responsible for creating perfection in us – what a relief! And what joy and peace there is for us in those wonderful words, ‘The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it!’ 

Amen Lord, so let it be!