Stewards of Hope: A Transformational Encounter
The Church in Thessalonica was in crisis. They had at first joyfully embraced the Gospel of Jesus under Paul’s teaching, and were enthralled by the promise that Christ Jesus would soon return in glory. But after Paul had left them, a season of persecution and suffering had set in, a hardship that was over time was growing more severe, not less. The Thessalonian Church was able to cope at first by holding out hope that Jesus would come at any moment. “There may be suffering,” they seemed to say, “but we can hold out for awhile…Jesus will come soon.”
But days ran into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. The persecutions remained, members of their fellowship began to pass away…and still they had to wait. A kind of faith-crisis emerged when some meddlers came to Thessalonica with the startling message that Jesus had already come, and the Thessalonians had missed the event. Even Paul, they said, had certified that this was true. The Thessalonians were devastated and frightened to hear that they had missed out.
Paul, in his love for them, wrote swiftly and forcefully to tell them they were being misled and to remind them that the surest way to know the fullness of Christ when he comes in glory is to tend to Christ’s work in this present age, submitting to the Holy Spirit and growing from day to day into the likeness of Christ himself.
