1. Thessalonians 1,2-10. 14. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

1. Thessalonians 1,2-10   4418 

14. Trinitatis  059

Hannah

Stephan, King of Hungary, ✠ 1038 

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig, Pastor and Danish Hymn writer. ✠ 1872

2. September 2018 

1. О Triune God, plenteous in mercy, kindle in us the light of faith, so that we can rightly confess You as the One True God who has revealed Himself in the Word to be our Savior and Deliverer. (Starck 209).  Amen.  

2. »We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel arrived to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the Living and True God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to arrive.  

3. The Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians Christians that he and his missionary companions pray for them and give thanks to God for all their work of faith, their labor of love, the steadfastness of hope they have in Jesus and the proclamation of His gospel. Paul also exhorts Christians to pray in his Epistle to Timothy: »I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for rulers and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, Godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior« (1. Timothy 2,1-3). Paul also exhorts us to pray for people to hear the gospel and believe in Jesus for salvation (1. Timothy 2,4). 

4. In exhorting us to pray for people, St. Paul is simply exhorting us to follow the 8. Commandment, as Luther explains it: we should not tell lies about our neighbor, betray them, slander them or hurt their reputation, but we should defend them, speak well of them and explain everything in the kindest way (Luther). Praying for others is a great way to defend and speak well of our neighbors before God.  

5. Jesus’ healing of the lepers in today’s Gospel pericope exemplifies caring for and speaking well of the neighbor. He showed them mercy, healed them merely by the power of His words and one returned to offer thanks and praise to Jesus for His gracious gift.  

6. The Psalmist likens this thanksgiving to sacrifice, where he writes: »The one who offers thanksgiving as a sacrifice to Me, the Lord; I will show the salvation of God to the one who orders his way rightly!« (Psalm 50,23). To order one’s way rightly is to walk in faith that trusts in Jesus. »The righteous will live by their faith« (Habakkuk 2,4; Romans 1,17; Galatians 3,11; Hebrews 10,38). And the Apostle Paul tells us that the Thessalonians live by and walk in their Christian faith and that their faith has gone forth everywhere. This gospel preached by Paul and believed by the Thessalonians is the same gospel preached today and believed by us. The true path of righteousness and salvation runs through Christ. He has paid the ransom price of sin for us; He has done it all for us. Believe the gospel, for Jesus freely gives us forgiveness and salvation. 

7. Paul continues to unpack the blessings of this gospel, for it has real world consequences. We may and can live our lives without fear. Nothing in the world can undo Jesus’ vicarious sacrifice; no one can snatch us out of His hand. If you believe in Jesus, then you have eternal life, for Satan, the accuser of mankind before the Heavenly Father, has been judged, condemned and defeated by the crucified and risen Christ. The gospel will triumph over the rebellion waged against it. When the Last Judgment arrives, the wicked will be castaway and the believers will be welcomed into heavenly fellowship. Christians do not fear the day of judgment for before Christ will be our Judge He was first our Mediator. He has borne our judgment upon His own body and in doing so He has redeemed us and He declared us righteous by His own merit. Those who were scheduled to be judged have instead been justified. 

8. Such blessings go forth as we receive the gospel and accept it not as the word of men but accept it as what the gospel really is: the Word of God which is at work in us, believers in Christ and His gospel (1. Timothy 2,13). The Word of God is a Lamp to our feet and a Light to our path (Psalm 119,105). The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God endures forever (Isaiah 40,8). For Jesus says: »If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, then ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you« (John 15,7). Thus we give thanks to Jesus for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we daily remember them in prayer as we await for Jesus to return from heaven.  Amen. 

9. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, who shows compassion to His children; help us to show compassion to our neighbors, so that they see in us Your great compassion in Christ Jesus, that they turn from their sins, that they believe in Your Son and rejoice in the last day when Jesus returns to bring all His believers into heaven.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, Vol. 4. © 1963 Henry Regnery Co. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.