Labour of Love - Rev Allister Lane
READINGS: PSALM 99 AND 1 THESSALONIANS 1: 1-10
This year all our four children are at the same school. This will be the only year this happens. Our youngest is in year 1, and our oldest goes off to high school next year.
And I was reflecting on the changes over the years. The biggest is how we, as parents, have changed – from when we took our first child to school and now seven years on! I think we’ve got a bit of ‘swagger’ now! We aren’t as ‘green’ as we were.
Our second reading today is very likely the earliest letter of Paul in the New Testament (circa 51 AD). What might we expect to find in the earliest of letters…? Are there noticeable differences from the many subsequent letters of Paul?
The start of this letter is characterised by an extended expression of thanks – thanks to God for what is happening in this community of Christians in Thessalonica.
I’d say that this feature is less about the date of the letter, and more about the context of those Paul writes to. They were a small minority group in that city, and experiencing persecution for their faith.
By giving thanks for what is happening in Thessalonica, he encourages this church community to continue to live lives of faith.
I invite you to open up the passage in your pew Bible (or App), as I want us to do a bit of an old-fashioned Bible study with this passage.
The second verse says:
We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father…
‘Always’...? ‘Constantly’…? Is it possible to pray ‘constantly’? How realistic is that? Surely this is this hyperbole on Paul’s part?
What we do see in this letter is Paul describing the connection he has with this church being like a family. Later in the letter Paul talks about how he treated each person in the way a father does with children (2:11) .
As a parent, something like ‘constant praying’ becomes more understandable. Because for parents, children are never far from our thoughts; and always in our hearts.
So, Paul says
We always give thanks to God…
Let’s be sure we recognise what Paul is ‘always giving thanks for’ – there are three things he mentions in the life of the Thessalonians:
their work of faith
their labour of love, and
their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (vv2&3)
Now, is there something familiar in this language? I’d be very surprised if anyone here has never heard at any wedding the reading from 1 Corinthians 13:
now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love…
Although the order has changed, Paul consistently uses this language as three authentic signposts in the Christian Church.
And he sees these in the Church community in Thessalonica. In this letter he is giving thanks for the:
faith in the Gospel which has been born in the city of Thessalonica
love that identifies this community of believers
hope held by this community for the return of Jesus Christ.
Faith, love and hope is what Paul is thankful to God for in the lived lives of the Church in Thessalonica – they had all three.
Do we have all three – as a Church?
Let’s think about love. Paul talks about a ‘labour of love’. We know what that is right? It’s a common expression. Did you know this is where the expression comes from? Paul coins the phrase to describe the Church’s efforts together, as lives embodying Christian love.
What can a ‘labour of love’ mean in our Christian lives…? Doing a load of laundry, visiting someone, a meal cooked and shared, routinely mowing lawns for a neighbour. The labour/effort/task is less interesting than the motivation of love that makes it happen. Love is the motivation that brings our faith out into the open, makes faith public and shared.
And what about hope? Hope is of course much more than ‘wishful thinking’. Paul describes it fully as
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (v4)
This expression of hope is very similar to what we have in our St John’s Mission Statement:
[we]…live and share Christ’s hope for our world.
Hope is for sharing.
Paul gave thanks for the fact that the Thessalonian Church gave an example of Christian life for those around them. And as Christians in this city, we can give an example and reach out to those who need help to deal with the stresses of life.
The future is uncertain for us all, and yet we have a solid reason for hope – the resurrection of Christ is our hope. Because of this hope we have, we reach out to others who (perhaps more than knowing hope in Christ) know poverty, mental illness, loneliness, pain, suffering, dementia, unemployment, crisis, grief, violence, relationship breakdown…
Hope is something we can share beyond our circle of family and friends, if we can go outside our comfort zone, motivated by love to show care and compassion to those in need.
We bring a message of hope for the future, to those who are dealing with difficulties right now.
And I want to land this message somewhere very real for almost every family in this country. This year, during times of physical distancing, we have benefitted enormously by technology that allows us to connect online.
But there is content online that is not beneficial – at all. Pornography is freely available online, and this content is especially harmful for young people. Young people are all very curious (naturally). They are learning about themselves, relationships and appropriate sexual expression.
Pornography misrepresents and distorts all these.
What can parents do to protect young people from this on-line content? It is not at all straightforward. However, we have an event on Tuesday that takes the issues seriously, has some Kiwi parents who have become experts (by doing their own research), and have practical tools to share.
This may seem like a shameless promotion of the event (!) – but isn’t this exactly the sort of thing a Church today can offer as faith and love in action that shares hope?
You might find it hard (on your own) to find ways to express your faith and love in action and share hope. How do I do it? Who can I reach out to?
This event we are offering as a church is for ANY family – this issue is so incredibly relevant right now, and despite the grim realities, it is an area in which we can offer hope.
And, let’s be very clear: the realities ARE very grim. It is very easy for children to find porn online – and for children to be found by predators online.
The stats in NZ …
67% of teens have seen porn
66% have not talked to a parent/caregiver about porn
Porn online is basically free, and is increasingly violent and degrading
40% are engaging with strangers online[1]
So we are not just talking about it – we are DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. And we are doing it THIS WEEK.
I believe this is a work of faith, a labour of love, in steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are doing this as a church living lives that give an example and reaches out to others.
Let me finish with an observation I read by an author recently:
In his letter Paul strengthens the borders of love and respect that identify and protect the community, but which also maintain its attractiveness to others.
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[1] From the Office of Film and Literature Classification report NZ Youth on Porn, released December 2018 and Netsafe report New insight into Kiwi kids’ online interaction with people they don’t know, released December 2019.