The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost ---- 16 November 2014

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. 

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

• The theme of the end of all things continues and will go on for the next week. It's a theme that we don't really wish to hear, but it is one the the Scriptures place in front of us often.
• We all know that the Scriptures are full of comfort for us and we all know that they are full of challenge. We really can't have one without the other. There are times when the challenge can be the avoidance of despair.
• Both the reading from the prophet Zephaniah and the reading from Paul's letter tell of “the day of the Lord.” This is a coming calamity of cosmic proportions. The prophet warns the people that if they think God will ignore them, they are wrong. He warns of war and battle, of darkness and gloom, of terror and distress, of things their money cannot buy their way out of.
• Paul speaks of the day of the Lord coming like a thief in the night and like labour pains coming to a pregnant woman. But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
• Paul speaks of wakefulness and sobriety as opposed to being senselessly asleep and out of control. These are to be the sign of the Christian in the face of what is to come.
• He goes as far as to compare the Christian to a soldier fully armoured with the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. Paul uses a similar example in his letter to the Ephesians. The armour of a soldier would be something that all his hearers would be familiar with.
• Notice though that he attaches something to each piece of the armour. He identifies them with certain virtues. So we hear again of the three virtues that Paul recommends – faith, hope, and love.
• These are the attitudes that will make a difference for the Christian in the face of what might be considered a disaster. Paul says that the Thessalonians know of the coming day of the Lord and he has no need to tell them more about it. They have had concerns about those who have died before Christ returns. They showed themselves to be well aware of what is to come, of the reality of judgement in a future day. Paul advises them to hold fast to faith, hope, and love as an armour to defend them from what is to come. He assures them of the grace of God: For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. The coming Day of the Lord may be frightening and beyond understanding, but Christ's disciples are given over to salvation rather than destructive wrath. They are to encourage each other with this.
• We are to encourage each as well. We live in a time and a place that does not always support any sort of faith. People who believe are often seen as strange or “unscientific.” Believers in Christ are faced with many voices that challenge our faith.
• When we think of it, it has probably always been that way. Society doesn't like to deal with things out of the ordinary. What this does mean is this: to believe and live out those beliefs takes courage. It also takes support and encouragement. This is why following Christ is never a solo adventure. We need each other. We need to come together for worship, for the Lord's Supper. We need to hear the Good News proclaimed and explained.
• We need to hear – believe it or not – that we are sinners, for fear we become complacent. We need to hear – believe it or not – that our sins are forgiven, for fear that we might despair. We need to hear that we are blessed through no work of our own and that God's love precedes any sort of conversion on our part.
• We need to hear it from each other! Please don't think that since I'm a pastor, I'm somehow different from all of you. I need to hear the Gospel from you!
• So we armour ourselves with faith and love to cover our hearts and the vital parts of our lives... like a breastplate. And we make hope for our ultimate salvation as the guard of our thoughts... like a helmet. Once again, faith, hope, and love are our strength in this day and in all the days to come. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul states: And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
• This is how the Gospel is spread. This is how the Gospel is shared with our fellow disciples and with those who hunger to hear the Good News. This is what flows from the very grace of God to sustain us through troubles, even to the coming day of the Lord.

But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.