Church of Steel; First Thessalonians

May the mumbling commence!

This will be the summer of the Man of Steel – Superman.  Superman is having a milestone birthday this month.  In celebration of that milestone birthday, the movie Man of Steel will be coming out in theaters.

If we embrace the Way of Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit that comes along with that Way, then we will become of church of steel.  We will be able to withstand the temptations that surround us.  We will have a faith of steel.  Read from First Thessalonians chapter one (Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

Every time we think of you, we thank God for you.  Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father.  It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special.  When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words.  Something happened in you.  The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, determined to live that way yourselves.  In imitating us, you imitated the Master.  Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit! – taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble. (Verses 2-6)

Faith is hard work.  Love is labor-intensive.  Waiting well is based in our hope in Christ Jesus.

When we work diligently and labor well, the light of Christ will shine through us.  Everyone will see that we are waiting well – even as we suffer at times.  We wait well because we know how it all ends.  We wait well because of our justified hope in Christ Jesus. 

When we do these things, we are something special in the eyes of God our Father.  The Word of God has penetrated our deepest soul and the cracks and crannies of our hearts.  Then the door to our lives is thrown open to God’s Holy Spirit, who puts steel into our convictions.

So, if we are a church of steel, then what is our Kryptonite?  What can possibly make us weak?  There is a one word answer to that question – DIVISION.

Even though Paul and his fellow workers were geographically far away from Thessalonica, they were still near and dear to them in their hearts.  The feeling was mutual to them.  Geographic distance means very little in this idea of division.  Whenever we are divided (and we can be in the same room when this happens), we are split in mind and heart. 

Though we may be physically close to one another, we are miles apart.  And we can feel alone and weak.  Yes, my friends division is the Kryptonite for the Church of Steel.

Let us work hard and labor well to avoid division in our midst.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

P.S. I will be leaving for camp later today, and I will be away from technology.  I will not be able to post my blog again until I get back a week from today.  But, I will be continuing my reading from First Thessalonians and blogging in an old fashioned paper notebook.  I will catch up my posts sometime the week following camp.  May God’s grace be with you this coming week…  And pray for me as I seek to minister to 5^th and 6^th graders… and to the rest of the staff as well.  Pray as God also ministers to me through them.