Dear fellow travelers,

One of the apostle Paul’s earliest (if not the earliest) surviving letters is the one we know as 1 Thessalonians.  Early in that letter, Paul wrote about his confidence that the church in Thessalonica had experienced true conversion to Christianity, and part of that confidence came from the strong evidence of changed lives witnessed by others.  In 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 Paul said that the Thessalonian Christians “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.”  This witness was a result of receiving the gospel from Paul and others, then imitating Paul and Jesus as much as they could.

What were the people in Macedonia and Achaia saying about the Thessalonians?  Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, “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 come.”  The report can be summed up in three words: turned, serve, and wait.

Turned – The Thessalonian Christians showed true repentance when they “turned to God from idols.”  Some say repentance is a U-turn on the road of life, and they definitely had turned around!  Leaving behind the things they used to worship, now they seek and worship the God they now have faith in.  So much that their reputation spread far and wide.  When we don’t prioritize the things those around us do, it’s noticeable.

Serve – After repenting, they began to “to serve the living and true God.”  Not only did their newfound faith affect their worship, but it turned their lives into continual acts of service.  We serve God by loving Him and by loving our neighbors, even when it is difficult or laborious.  Even when we don’t like our neighbors.  This service was visible and obvious to outsiders, because in the world, most people only love those who they like, or who are similar to them.

Wait – They learned “to wait for his Son from heaven.”  They put their hope in the future return of Jesus to this world, instead of putting their hope in this world and its things.  Their hope in Jesus shows that they know this world isn’t going to save itself but needs to reconnect with its Creator.  When Christians hope this way, it can lead to a massive shift in attitudes and priorities.  Peter wrote that we should always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15). Unless we have a hope that people can see, why would they ask us about it?  Are our attitudes changed by our hope, as we wait for Jesus?

Note that the turning, serving, and waiting correspond to the triad of primary Christian virtues: faith, love, and hope.  Paul used this grouping earlier in 1 Thessalonians 1, in verse 3, and in the very familiar end to 1 Corinthians 13: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  While “faith, hope, and love” may be hard for people to see, if we turn, and serve, and wait, these can be a strong witness to the world of the reality of Christ, the God we worship.  We can show the world the reality of what we believe, true marks of conversion, and evidence that our God is real.

“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 come.”