1 Thessalonians 2:13 – 3:1 13 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God’s wrath has overtaken them at last. 17 As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you– in person, not in heart– we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. 18 For we wanted to come to you– certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again– but Satan blocked our way. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 Yes, you are our glory and joy!
What would make someone accept the Bible as God’s Word? Some use what is called Apologetics, originally meaning to give a defense of one’s faith before others, to try to set forth intellectual reasons to believe. When Bob Kolb taught at Concordia and was department chair, he asked me to teach the Apologetics course. I told him I could not do that since I did not believe in the approach. He told me that is why he wanted me to teach it! Some students in the last Apologetics class were surprised that I was skeptical about the Left Behind Series, Veggie Tales, and other approaches that seek to make an impression on the mind.
God obviously works through words. The Word was made flesh. God spoke and there was light. God spoke to His people of old through the prophets and then through His Son. Things happen when we say: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you your sins.” “Take eat, this is My Body, My Blood, for the forgiveness of your sins.” But the words go through the mind to the heart.
Paul rejoiced that the Word entered the heart of the believers. We are witnesses. So many people are turned off by the arguing. But we “simply” say that we believe and what we believe, teach, and confess is true for everyone. The Thessalonians hear Paul’s message as from God, not Paul’s babbling. Those who resist in their heart hear only human words. It is so strange that the sinful heart resists and rejects God’s forgiveness through Christ. If we do not hear that message, we slip back into thinking that God judges behavior, not faith.
When I served in my first parish, we talked about visiting any member who had not worshiped and communed over a three month period. We were concerned about their salvation. I still am, for all of us. Not hearing the Word as from God hardens us into our old sinfulness. One lady tried to get me to change that to once every six months, since her husband came at Christmas and Easter. My lay minister Elwood and I talked about how dangerous it would be spiritually to go even three months without worshiping and communing, confessing sins and faith. Let us gather together regularly and rejoice together that God’s Word gives us eternal life. Let us be careful that Satan does not get the upper hand with us and fool us into listening to ourselves, not Christ.
Pastor Tom Trapp, Mission Pastor
Walking the Emmaus Road with the Risen Lord!
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XIV, Number 7, February 2013)