It is great to awaken on an Easter Sunday knowing we have a place to worship and proclaim the resurrection. I awakened to that prospect for the forty-fourth consecutive year yesterday. Pastor William Sangster was stricken in his later years by a voice condition that made it hard for him to speak. He awakened on Easter Sunday morning, unable to preach, and wrote, “It is a terrible thing to awaken on Easter and have no voice to shout, ‘He has risen.’ But it would be worse to have a voice and no heart to say it.”
The church in Thessalonica was not a mega-church. We don’t know the names of the pastors who preached there. They were almost certainly not famous. Further, under Roman authority, these Christians had very little political and financial influence. So who were they? For that matter, who are we?
First, the Thessalonians were chosen by God. This involved the Holy Spirit setting them apart to God as they believed the truth. Second, the Thessalonians were called through the good news that Paul and his companions preached to them. This calling would lead them to certain glory in the presence of Christ. Third, these early believers continued to hold on to the teaching which they had learned.
From the smallest house churches to the largest churches in our world, these are the hallmarks of the faithful: chosen, called, and continuing. Our claim to fame as twenty-first-century Christians resides not in our buildings or our budgets, but in the blessing of God who has saved us. What is our outlook for the future? God is encouraging us, strengthening us, and giving us good hope. Our confidence is not in ourselves but in the power of the risen Lord to finish what he has started in us. We have been chosen by God and called to salvation in Christ. Let’s continue in him. He, alone, is faithful. Christ is risen indeed!
