Jesus, Who Rescues

2nd Last Sunday - November 13, 2005

1 Thessalonians 1:3-10

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Most of you know the Lord’s Prayer. It begins, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done - on earth as it is in heaven.

When we get to that last phrase, you may often what is the will of God that He wants done on earth as it is in heaven? That His name be holy and that His kingdom come. In fact, when you think about it, those two work really well together.

First, God’s will is that His Word be taught in truth and purity, and that we as Christians would lead holy lives according to it. His will is that our enemies: the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, might not have dominion or power over us - nor others.

Furthermore, His will is that His kingdom would come. That is, that His kingdom of grace would grow. That the message of salvation would be proclaimed to all and that many would be brought to faith in Him. God desires not the death of the wicked, but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.

Unfortunately, many reject His Word. Many reject the message of salvation and the free gift of forgiveness which was purchased by Jesus Christ, His only Son.

In our text this morning, we see an example of Paul writing a letter to those in the church in Thessalonika. He proclaims to them, as we heard in the sermon on that portion of this text, that God is the one who produces work, faith, labor, love, and endurance - all through the hope that is in Jesus Christ your Lord. He does this is in all of us.

In the letter we learn that they were chosen by God - that YOU were chosen by God - for a specific purpose. It wasn’t just because some word came to you, but this is the Word of God - it came with power, it came with the Holy Spirit. This Word worked a change in the Thessalonians, even as it has worked a change in you.

The question is, “what kind of a change did it work in you?” Paul talks about the fact that it is evident to others about the change that has taken place in the Thessalonian Christians. They became a model, imitators of both Paul and the Lord. In spite of their suffering, severe suffering, they welcomed the message of God with joy. They became a model to all the believers in the areas around them.

This is true also of you. It becomes evident to the world what kind of a Christian you are, or if you even are a Christian, by how you live your life in the world.

Yes, we are saved by grace, through faith, in Christ Jesus. Indeed, your faith itself is a gracious miracle which God works in you. It is not your good deeds or your life that saves you. Let me repeat this. It is not our works that save us. Our works don’t count in the least bit, they don’t even score points with God in regard to getting us into heaven. Our sinfulness stains even the good works we would do.

It is for this reason that Jesus must rescue us from the coming wrath. We are not the rescuers. We are not the ones who escaped under our own power. We are rescued.

How many were rescued from the ravages of the tornado in Kentucky? How many were rescued in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Florida after the hurricanes devastated their area? They were trapped, unable to get out, unable to get away, someone had to come to them and rescue them.

Now, in this life, what kind of an example are you? What example do you give to the world around you? Paul says that the faith in God of the Thessalonians had become known everywhere. These believers had turned from idols to follow the true God. They lived in a city of pagan culture, a hub of commerce both by land and seas, in which their faith was daily tested and tried. Not only that, but this was a city in which some Jews would also persecute these believers in Christ for their faith.

In the face of the pressures of the world, society, Satan, and their own sinful flesh’s desire to have it easy and go with the flow rather than be persecuted, they stood firm in the faith. Hey, they even could have gone back to their pagan beliefs and worship the false gods by indulging the temple prostitutes. Through it all, they remained faithful to God and were living witness of what it meant to be a believer - all by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, who built them up and kept them in the faith.

Are we the same? Today, in our Gospel and Old Testament lessons, we hear about the end of the age when Christ will return - as our creed says, to judge the quick and the dead. Christ will pass judgement on all people for how they lived their lives.

The question now becomes this, what will God see in you? Will He see a believer or and unbeliever? Not that your works earn heaven; they do not. Only through God’s gift of faith which trusts only the works of Christ, is heaven given to believers. But, your faith, God’s work through the Holy Spirit in you, produces works in you which give evidence of your faith.

I cannot see your faith. Maybe I can hear you confess it. Some, of course, confess it but do not believe it in their heart. Is it something you confess in the safety of these four walls, but when you pass out into the real world, what happens to your confession?

What is it you appear to be, to the world? What is it that is deepest down in your heart? What do you confess? What do you believe? How valiantly will you stand upon your beliefs and confessions? Will you fight for the poor, and the needy and the oppressed? Do you speak out to protect the innocent? Will you stand up for the Word of God in the face of ridicule and persecution?

Do you speak out against abortion? Safe sex? Homosexuality? Stem cell research, unless it comes from umbilical cords? Do you speak out when there is compromise on the Scripture promoted, supposedly for the sake of the Gospel? Do you reach out with a helping hand to your neighbor? What is your daily language like? Is it peppered with profanity and the blaspheming of God’s name?

These things are living examples of the faith that lies within you. What are you saying by the way you live your life?

You know, there are days when I can say with all honesty that I do not live up to the faith that lives within me. There are days I give in to my sinful flesh. Sometimes I’d rather just get along than boldly proclaim God’s Word and God’s Word alone. There are times I’d rather not speak out. There are situations in which I remain quiet or simply try to blend in with the worldly crowd, just so I don’t have to suffer ridicule or persecution. Sometimes it is just easier to “get-along” than to stand up for the truth.

Jesus said He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword - His Word. Getting along or fitting in isn’t always the right thing to do. This is true especially when to do so means we are no longer fulfilling the will of God here on earth.

Dear friends in Christ, this is why it is so important for us to remember the final words of this text. Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

You and I fail at every turn. And yet, Christ chose us to be His own children. Christ took an imperfect man, a man who was actively trying to arrest and persecute followers of His name, a man who stood by in approval while Stephen was killed for the name of Christ, a man named Saul - and made of Him a believer an apostle named Paul.

Jesus rescued Paul from certain eternal death, from the coming wrath, and made Him a believer. Jesus made Him a believer and proclaimer of great things - that Jesus died for sinners, and rose again three days later, and that in Christ Jesus, there is forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation. Paul was persecuted, even to the point of death, for what He believed and taught, and yet, by the grace of God, he continued to believe, teach and confess Christ. He was a living example of what it means to live in the faith, until he was killed for what he believed, faithful unto death and given the crown of life.

God has done the same in you. He has rescued you from the coming wrath, rescued you from having to answer to God for your sins, for He has borne them in His own body. You and I have a confidence and hope that is eternal. It is so because of Christ Jesus our Lord, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

You have been given the strength of faith that will carry us through all trials and tribulations. No matter what Satan would use to tempt us, He keeps us as faithful witnesses - not to how good we are, but to how gracious God is to forgive sin, no matter how incredible.

The world would like nothing more than to have us turn away from God and find our pleasures in the things of this world. Christ Himself rescues us, He brings a word of hope to us as we assaulted by the wind and waves of this world. Christ rescues us by feeding us with a meal that brings nutrition and strength to us in our hour of need.

I rejoice that you are walking this journey with me. You are a model to me and the world of the hope that lies within you, trusting solely in Jesus who rescues - now and forevermore. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Back to Sermon Archive.

Back to St. Peter's or Zion Lutheran

Back to the main page.