 Exercise great faith | 1 Thessalonians 5 | Image: Jeff Jacobs 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it! Probably the most significant revelation I’ve had this last year has been the importance of exercising great faith. Of trusting God when I don’t understand what he’s doing. Of holding on to all his promises. Of not losing heart. Of trying to see things as God sees them. Because in the best moments - when I‘ve seen the selflessness of frontline workers and the rush of volunteers and the care we’ve shown each other by keeping our distance and wearing our masks - I have heard a shout from heaven of celebration. A “Yes, Lord!” that has echoed in the throne room of God. Because, in those moments, God has proved that he is right not to give up on us, right to love us, right to have so much hope in us because from time to time we’ve demonstrated that when he said he created something good, he did. And in the worst moments - when I’ve been confronted with injustice and discrimination and watched fear and protectionism drive people to stockpile and make very, very selfish decisions - I have heard a different shout from heaven. A shout that recognises how badly we get it wrong sometimes, and how desperately we need a Saviour. A shout that tells us that Jesus is the only one who can answer the deepest needs of every human being. But the shout isn’t directed at Jesus, he’s already done what he needs to do. The shout is directed at us - his church. “Come on. Come on Church! Don’t give up. You’re not done yet. There is more. Exercise great faith.” You see, the truth is however unprecedented 2020 has been, however much change we’ve had to adapt to, we’re not done with change. I don’t think the shaking is finished yet. There is more to come. And the Church needs to be front and centre of helping people navigate their way through an ever-changing landscape. But to do that we’re going to have to exercise great faith. And this is why we’ve read this passage from Thessalonians today. As a church, they, too, were facing uncertain times and needed instruction on how to be united as a body of God’s people and how to impact the community for Jesus. I think there are three things in this passage that help us, too. I'm going to cover them in the next three blogs. Starting with… If I were to summarise the beginning of this passage I would suggest Paul is saying “you have to be in it to win it.” You have to be in it to win it It’s been suggested there was confusion in the church because they were assuming Jesus was returning imminently and, as a result, a number had stopped working - both to earn a living and in service of the Kingdom. But Paul writes two letters to the Thessalonians and in both he reprimands people who are not pulling their weight. Which suggests there wasn’t a misunderstanding that needed to be addressed but a mindset. And - translations vary - some describe those who are caring for others in the Lord as church leaders but I’m not sure Paul is particularly concerned about titles; I think he’s much more concerned about heart. So, he directly compares those who are working to care for others in the Lord and those who aren’t. Those who are working hard are to be held in the highest regard in love. But the others - the ones he calls idle and disruptive - are to be warned. Because the implication is they are getting in the way of God’s purposes. The word Paul uses here describes a soldier who has left the ranks, who is out of order. This year, I have seen our leaders and the discipleship group leaders, our children's workers and tech team, the pastoral team and countless others serve and care for us. And I estimate that it has probably taken them four or five times as long and four or five times the effort to fulfil their roles because of the physical limitations, the way we’ve been separated, the technology challenges, and the constant need to communicate with us in order to care for us. And I haven’t been able to watch people in their workplaces, but I suspect they would say they have been impacted in the same way. Paul says as church we should hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work of care. Because Paul knows that doesn’t just build unity in our church it speaks powerfully to others in our community about the importance of honouring Jesus and each other. And, obviously the description “idle and disruptive” doesn’t apply to any of you because you’re all lovely. But as we move in to 2021 I suspect there will be times when it will be difficult for us to exercise great faith. To exercise great faith in each other, and in the greater purposes of God. But we will need to do it anyway because it is impossible to preach the gospel in a place where there is no faith. So we will need to continue to be the people who say we will do something and then do it. And we will need to continue to be the people who are in the centre of what God has for us, never the ones who criticise others from a distance. Never the ones who are out of order. We have an unrivalled opportunity to reach our community, our nation, the nations for Jesus, but we will have to be in it to win it. Until next time L x 
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