Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

The great concern among those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ is, whether or not they are truly saved. We have our doubts. We doubt because we know ourselves so well. We know all of the hidden sinful thoughts and deeds that deserve God’s wrath and punishment. We doubt because we know all of the opportunities we have had to do good to others and we have not bothered to act or to speak or even to pray.

 

On top of this we have so many other believers around us who are doing so much better than we are. They are more generous, more joyous, more steadfast, and more confident in their faith. We are struggling, scrimping, wearing painted smiles, and wavering daily in faith and confidence. And there are so many internet posts of perfect families in which we would not belong, and songs of emotional exuberance which we feel unfit to sing.

 

Our lives are full of affliction. We face accusation from a world that does not understand our faith. We lack any obvious signs that we will be among those who are saved. So, do we belong here where the church of saints gathers together before God? Will we be among those saints of God in Christ Jesus when they arise from the dead? Will we be granted to accompany them in welcoming and rejoicing in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Martin Luther certainly felt these kind of concerns. He recognized that most Christians felt this way. And he knew all too well that there were those who took advantage of Christians who feel as we often do, and so coerce them into obedience and payment and fear. When Luther realized that God’s Word had something different to say, he began to point people to the good news of the freedom of the Gospel.

 

Jesus said, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31). That Word of the Gospel is that: despite the way you feel, despite what the world has to say, despite the lack of any obvious sign that you are a holy person, even despite your own sins and failures, you have been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that is what guarantees your salvation.

 

St. Paul knew that Christians felt this way and his letters are full of the declaration that we are saved by God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus, which we receive freely by faith, by believing this precious message from God to us in His Word. One such letter of Paul is his First letter to the Thessalonians, which supplies today’s and some of our upcoming Epistle Readings. It is very much a letter of encouragement to Christians who had doubts.

 

They doubted if the Gospel of salvation had really come to them, because of the afflictions and accusations that they faced. They doubted if their loved ones who had died were with the Lord. They doubted if they themselves would be ready for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in response to these doubts, St. Paul pointed them to the place that Martin Luther not only found comfort but to which he also pointed those who suffered such doubts—to the Word of God, the Gospel.

 

Paul begins the First Letter to the Thessalonians with the declaration: “For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you” (1 Thessalonians 1:4). Paul was sure of it and he wanted them to be sure of it, too. But what was the proof, the sign, the indication? “...because our Gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v. 5).

 

Well, here we go again. Where are we to find such power and the Holy Spirit and conviction among people who are weak and full of doubts and wavering? It may not be where you think. In a time when the Holy Spirit made His presence and action known with the sound of a mighty wind, and with the appearance of fire, and with miraculous healings and speaking in unlearned languages, and things like that (Acts 2), St. Paul mentions none of these to the Thessalonians. This is not how the Holy Spirit usually works. He has worked in outwardly wondrous ways as those listed above as a proof of the truth of the Word preached, but not as a proof of the salvation of the hearers.

 

Rather, the proof that St. Paul references for the Thessalonians and for us is something different. It was not in the outpouring of miracles, or even in the absence of any trouble. It was that despite the trouble and affliction that the Christian message brought from their community, the hearers listened and repented. They turned by faith from their sinful ways. They “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” (1:9-10).

 

The proof and sign is simple repentance and hope in the message of Jesus Christ. It is not the sound of a mighty rushing wind, but the sound preaching of the resurrection of Jesus; not the appearance of fire but a hope to escape the flames of hell; not the performance of miracles but a turning away from the performance of sin. And it was only due to the hearing of the message of Jesus crucified and risen from the dead for your salvation.

 

Throughout the letter Paul continues to point the Christians in Thessalonica to the effective working of the Word of God, not seen in wondrous, extraordinary acts, but in humble reliance on God’s message of salvation. Paul assured them, “For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain” (2:1). It was not in vain because when they came they declared the Gospel of God (v. 2).

 

And its power was not seen in speaking in tongues, but in speaking despite the fact that it brought conflict. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and whoever else just spoke about Jesus, knowing that it was simply the historical facts of His life, death, and resurrection. Some were persuaded, but others were jealous and formed a mob (Acts 17), making it necessary to send Paul and his company away for their own safety.

 

Paul had stuck to the determined truths about Jesus, without dressing up any of the history or telling it in any deceptive way. It is tempting to do some of those things when facing conflict, but because he recognized that God had entrusted him to deliver this message on His behalf, he did not compromise in any way. Because speaking the Gospel was pleasing to God, he did not need to worry about pleasing men. The Gospel does not need any added flattery or even any added signs of wonder to do its work.

 

Rather, the Gospel is a gentle message, as gentle as a nursing mother caring for her children (2:7). It provides what is needed for life, even to those who are kicking and screaming, wailing in hunger, distressed over discomforts, and fussing over fears. The Gospel draws us toward God’s heart. Through the Gospel He takes us in His arms and provides the comfort and affection that we need—not because He is obligated to do so, or so that we will be indebted to Him, not even just to keep us quiet and subdued. He speaks His word of forgiveness in Christ in order to adopt us as His own because He desires to pour out His love upon us.

 

Not only did the Gospel reach the hearts of the Thessalonians to turn them from their idols, despite the message coming to them in a gentle way against such fierce opposition, but Paul also noted how the message of the free forgiveness and grace of God was demonstrated in his own life while in Thessalonica and then became obvious in the lives of those who received it.

 

Paul and the others worked hard to support themselves so that they would not be a burden as other travelling philosophers meant to gain wealth through their alluring talk. Rather, the kinds of things that Paul preached were not going to earn him any profit. He did not come to speak to them things that would be easily received. For the message of forgiveness in Jesus leading to repentance and faith includes being told what to repent of. It was not popular for Paul to tell them to “abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honour, not in the passion of lust” (4:3-5). That’s not a welcome message in our own society.

 

The Church cannot rely on making ground today by preaching such a message in the public sphere. And yet, these commands of God along with the preaching of the forgiveness of God in Christ, were received by those who recognized them like the words of a loving father to his children. For a father will direct and encourage his children to do what is good and right and true, against the twisted and depraved morality of a corrupt society. For a father desires for his children to share in his good name and to share in the honour and respect that he receives from others.

 

Again, the signs of the power of the Gospel are not things like having others fall weakly to their knees before you or to survive snake bites and poisons, but the gentle care as of a mother and the loving exhortation as of a father, so that the effect in those who hear is an imitation of that gentleness and encouragement, not in the way of playacting but as pouring forth from the source of all gentleness and encouragement, the preaching, suffering, and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.

 

So, despite the lack of mighty winds and flames of fire and other wondrous workings, Paul could point out to the Christians in Thessalonica, “when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers” (2:13).

 

Our confidence and encouragement has to be grounded on the Word of God and nothing else. The signs and wonders that first accompanied the spreading of the Gospel message confirmed its truth. As long as the message remains the same, the signs and wonders are no longer needed. For we have the same Word of God at work in us. The same Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection for sinners has come to you. Place your faith in that Word of God which brings you to repent of your sins, to desire to be with Jesus, and brings about a gentleness and encouragement within you, even in the face of afflictions and persecutions and questions and struggles.

 

The Lutheran Reformation is primarily about directing people to God’s Word of promise, the truth that sets us free from fear and coercion and despair. It is the good news that your sins are forgiven by God’s grace because of the death and resurrection of Jesus for you. It is always this Word that brings repentance and encouragement. In your Baptism it is “the word of God in and with the water” (Small Catechism. Baptism) that does these things. In the Lord’s Supper it is the words and promises of God which “show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words” (SC. Sacrament of the Altar).

 

“If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31). If you have doubts and worries, look not for signs and wonders, but to the Word which comes “in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction,” “the Word of God, which is at work in you believers” (2:13).