Tom writes:

If you want to explode your vision of what is possible then digest this; Paul planted the church in Thessalonica in a single month. One month! It can take us that long to order a new PA cable. The staggeringly speedy formation of the church happened because Holy Spirit moved in power. Holy Spirit added conviction to Paul’s words and sparked joy in the new believers. And I’m convinced that Holy Spirit could work so effectively because of Paul’s clarity. In these short letters from Paul we find some of his simplest and clearest explanations of our faith; turn from idols to serve the living and true God and wait for his son from heaven. Choose each segment of this glorious sentence and suck up the sustenance it brings.

“Turn” - the message is for us to act, to do something different, to press into something. This isn’t passive reflection - this is a surge of energy to spark something new.

“From idols to serve the true and living God” - this isn’t obligation but freedom. The gospel calls us to be free from bondage to fear or misplaced attachment to things that lack power. The gospel works on our inner being; it shows us the inclination of our hearts towards destructive or unsatisfactory stuff. And it enables us to lean instead on the true one, on the one who is always right, always good, always insightful. It bids us to yield to the one who is alive, stewarding and serving all of creation, tinkering and transforming, bending and breathing. The gospel connects us to the empowered, true and beautiful God.

“Wait for his Son from heaven”. Waiting admits that now is not all there is. Waiting acknowledges the grubby battle in which we now stand… but it does so with sincere hope and joy. Waiting knows that we can rely on another - a much stronger one - for our destiny. Waiting knows that Jesus will come, in his way, when he decides; that he won’t leave me hanging like a child forgotten after school. And in that sense I think waiting is probably a way of living - an attitude more than an activity. It is a slant towards reliance on another and grateful expectation of a good thing I could never earn. When the gospel is presented as clearly, and as attractively as that, it’s no wonder a church was formed in a month. What might Holy Spirit do through you this month, if you can speak with the clarity of Paul?

Question for reflection

What does waiting look like in your life?

1 Thessalonians 1 - Wednesday 24th July