Hope for Tomorrow

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  December 1, 2024

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Read 1 Thessalonians 3:9 – 13 (NIV)     
 
Our New Testament lesson on this first Sunday in Advent comes from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church. 
 
It was written to the believers in Thessalonica in response to a report Paul had received from his young protégé, Timothy, about the Thessalonians’ faith and love and their desire for Paul to return to see them.
 
It was also written to express Paul’s joy and gratitude for them as well as to strengthen their faith and offer words of encouragement and assurance about Christ’s return.
 
Now, nearly 2,000 years later... we, too, can find hope and encouragement in Paul’s letter as we anticipate the return of our Savior, Jesus the Christ.  After all, that’s what this season of Advent is all about... anticipation, expectation, and celebration.
 
As we take a closer look at this text... according to scholars, Paul was writing to a group of fairly new believers.  The church at Thessalonica had been established on two or three years before Paul penned this letter... and there was a need for the believers to mature in their faith as well as to get a better understanding about when Christ was expected to return. 
 
This was actually a subject that had caused some confusion among the Thessalonians... because some of them thought Jesus was coming back right away... so, they did not understand why their loved ones were dying since they thought Jesus would have already returned before that happened.
 
And unfortunately, there is still some confusion among some believers today... as they try to figure out just when Jesus will make His long-awaited return for us.  But as we are reminded in both the Gospel of Matthew (24:36) and Mark (13:32), Jesus said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
 
So, for all those who would try to make predictions about when Jesus will return... just know that even your best guess is still just a guess.
 
In the meantime, we do have the confident assurance that Jesus will return... someday... which means that until that day comes, we do have HOPE FOR TOMORROW.
 
Let me suggest that this passage from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians that calls for our attention this morning identifies three things that Paul hoped for back then which should give the church today HOPE FOR TOMORROW.
 
In verse 11, we read, “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.”
 
Paul understood that as followers of Christ... we have been commissioned to go and spread the Good News.  As Jesus said in Matthew 28 (19 – 20) which is commonly referred to as the Great Commission:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
We should take note that Jesus did not say, “Therefore, stay inside the four walls of the church and wait for people to come to you...”
 
And that is something that some people miss as part of the church in the 21st century.  It would seem that some churches operate under the philosophy found in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams... “If you build it, they will come.”
 
And while that may work for some churches... it would be even more effective if believers were to “go therefore” and actually invite people to come. 
 
Paul and his companions made several missionary journeys... they went to places far and near to tell them about Jesus... they taught them about everything that Jesus had commanded... and they baptized them and helped them establish churches... not simply houses of worship made of brick and mortar... but true churches, bodies of believers, followers of Christ who came together to support one another and who were committed to sharing the gospel with others.
 
But the work did not simply stop with Paul and his companions... there is still much work for us to do to ensure that the Good News about Jesus is spread far and wide...
 
Knowing that there are still ample opportunities for us to go and make disciples by sharing the Good News about Jesus should form the foundation of our HOPE FOR TOMORROW... trusting that there is still work for us to do before Jesus returns.
 
Now, the second thing that Paul expressed hope for in this passage is found in verse 12, which reads, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”
 
This would seem to hearken back to what Jesus said when He was asked about the greatest commandment.  Jesus’ response was:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Because what it all boils down to is love for God and love for the people of God... which is something Paul fully understood.  In fact, Paul often spoke of this love in his letters to the various churches.
 
For example, in Ephesians 1:15 – 16 we read, “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
 
And in Colossians 1:3 – 5 we read:
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel.
And in addition to commending the believers for the love they had for others, Paul was quick to acknowledge his own love for them. 
 
He closes his first letter to the Corinthians with these words, “My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.” (see 1 Corinthians 16:24).  And he offered these words to the believers in Philippi, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!” (see Philippians 4:1).
 
What Paul knew from firsthand experience is that when we follow Christ’s command to love God and are filled with God’s love, it will overflow to others... and that kind love is what ought to give us HOPE FOR TOMORROW.
 
And that brings us to the third thing that Paul expressed hope for in our New Testament lesson today that is found in verse 13 which reads, “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”
 
Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians to be found blameless and holy in the presence of God when Jesus returns ought to be our prayer as well... that we and all of our fellow believers will be found blameless and holy in the presence of God when Jesus comes back for His bride... the church.
 
But what does it mean to be holy and blameless?  Is that even possible for us?  Well... based on our own strength and abilities, the answer would be no...
 
But we can find HOPE FOR TOMORROW as we listen to this familiar passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans (3:22 – 24):
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
 Listen to that again, this time as it is found in the Message Paraphrase:
The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
God loves us so much that He made a way for us to live a life of righteousness through Christ’s sacrifice for us at Calvary.  It was our sins that nailed Jesus’ hands and feet to that cross... He paid the penalty that our sins deserved... and as a result we do have HOPE FOR TOMORROW... because Jesus’ sacrifice for us brings with it the promise of spending eternity with Him.
 
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
 
That promise found in the Gospel of John is for “whoever believes” which means it is a promise for you and for me and for all the “whoevers” that are out there in this world... “whoever” means there is no regard for age, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or socio-economic status or any other demographic that could be used to ostracize and marginalize someone.
 
Whoever means just that... whoever.
 
And the promise that is extended to “whoever” is not ambiguous... it does not say “might not perish” or “perhaps will not perish” ... it says definitively “whoever believes in him shall not perish...” 
 
And it does not say they will simply have a long life... it says clearly, “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
 
Jesus gave His life in exchange for ours so that we would be made righteous through His love and sacrifice.  He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. 
 
And so, as we think about Paul’s message to the Thessalonians and to us... we have the opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission to go and share the Good News about Jesus... as we live out the Great Commandment to love God and the people of God... and as we live into the promise of eternal life that comes from the greatest gift ever given through Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
 
And if all of that is not reason enough for us to have HOPE FOR TOMORROW... I don’t know what is.
 
It was in 1923 that Thomas O. Chisholm wrote one of my favorite hymns, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”  The third verse of that song says:
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
We can have HOPE FOR TOMORROW because of all that God has blessed us with... not the least of which is His Son and our Savior, Jesus the Christ, the One on whom our hope is built.
 
And so, on this first Sunday in Advent as our thoughts are focused on the theme of hope not just for today or tomorrow... but for every day thereafter... I want to invite us to stand and join now in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: My Hope Is Built #537.
 

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