What’s it worth? A question we ask about numerous things.
We ask it about material things. In the T.V. program ‘Antiques Roadshow’ people bring their articles to the experts
because they want to know, “Is this worth something; has it some value or is it just a piece of junk?” We’re
asked to serve on some committee or invest our time in some activity and if we are sensible we will ask, “Is this worth
my time? Do I have something I can offer? Is it worth the effort?”
We contemplate some new health kick “Will this diet work?” “Will giving up this
and that or taking on a new exercise regime give us the results we are looking for?” What’s it worth to us to
get in shape or alter our body weight or do this or do that?
Then there is the question of our faith. What of our beliefs? What is our religion to us? What is
our church to us? How much does it matter? How much is it worth to us? How much of us is invested in our relationship with
God?
What of God? Let me pose the question in a peculiar way. How much is God worth? Is God a commodity that we can put a price on? Is time for God something we can choose to invest in or
dismiss? What is God to us?
To Paul, God was worth investing his whole life in. The gospel inspired him and his fellow missionaries
to go to extraordinary lengths that the message may be believed. The very question “What is God worth?” would
be a no brainer to Paul.
Put a value on God? A price tag on the gospel? That idea would be incredulous, maybe even offensive,
to Paul. His whole life was built upon the notion that what he had discovered through the Holy Spirit, the life of the resurrected
Jesus Christ which was in him and around him and working through him was a priceless treasure! Paul’s heart response
to God was quite simply, “Thou art Worthy O Lord.”
So it was in this morning’s lesson that he explained to the Thessalonians that when he came
to them it was with the aim of preaching a gospel that had no price tag attached. In our reading last week we saw how Paul
was reluctant to accept the sort of hospitality that should be afforded to an apostle of God, but as he here explained he
worked “Day and Night” so as not to be a burden to them.
This
idea of worth – he doesn’t here apply to God – but turns it around. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 “You
know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to lead a life worthy
of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” He exhorts them, he encourages them, and he charges them
to “Lead a Life worthy of God.”
In
other words - Respond to the love and light that God has cast in your way – in a manner that is appropriate –
that fits in with who God is and what God has done – that goes along with the amount that God feels that your life is
worth.
Ever
considered that one? How much your life is worth to God? What are you worth? What value is there upon your head from God’s
perspective? We shouldn’t have to search too hard this morning to find an answer to that one. The Bread and Wine of
communion that are laid before us on the table, answer that question in a way that goes beyond words.
God so loved the world… Whose world? Our world! The one that we drift
through day after day after day. Our family, our friends, our people, our situations,
our problems, whatever it is that makes up our world, God so loved our world.
That He gave His only begotten Son… Well, we’re clever are we not?
We can answer that one. We know who God’s only begotten Son was. We’re almost programmed to respond “Jesus”. God sent Jesus…
So that everyone who believes in Him… ‘Believes in Him’.
What does that mean? Believe He was a historical figure? Believe that He existed? Believe that He died? Believe that He rose
again? No. That’s not belief – that’s assent – that’s just saying “Well O.K., that’s
what happened.” When Paul spoke about belief he meant an activity that
revolutionized the way you lived your life.
Believing
in Jesus meant believing something about the purpose and nature of what happened on the Cross that touches you so deeply that
you live free and forgiven. Believing in the resurrection of Jesus meant that something had changed about the way the world
is – something wonderful - that you can be part of - a something that is more powerful than death and decay and destruction.
So that everyone who believes in Him…
Should Not Perish... Perish? What do we know about perishing? Look at what
they did to Jesus! They accused Him falsely. They lied about Him. They spat upon Him. They beat Him and tortured Him. They
forced Him to carry His cross through the insulting, unseemly, crowds that lined the street. They took his hands and feet
and nailed them to the Cross. They pierced his side with a spear.
They
left Him to die, as though he were some animal that had been hit by a truck and was left at the side of the road, of little
consequence to those who speed by. Christ perished. His body was broken as we break the bread. His blood was poured out as
we pour out the wine. He perished that we may not perish…
But have everlasting life… That we might not begin our days, live our
days, or end our days far from God but live every day in the presence and with the blessing of God. Life today. Life now.
Life Tomorrow. Life with God. And when this little slice of life is all burnt out and over, a life that continues with God.
Paul
exhorts ... Paul encourages… Paul charges... “Live a life worthy of God” ... a life worthy of the
God who loved our world with such great depth that Christ died for us whilst we were yet sinners.
In
verse 13 Paul praises the Thessalonians for the way they received his message. “You accepted it not as a human word
but as what it really is, God's word, which is at work in you.”
They
knew that the gospel wasn’t just words. This wasn’t just philosophy, or theology or any-ology. It was the power
of God transforming the way they lived. They sought to live life in a way that was worthy of the God before whom they worshipped
with the angels song, “Thou art Worthy O Lord.”
This
morning we have a chance to place our lives before God as we break bread and share wine in the way Jesus bid us remember Him.
Here and now we are confronted with the value He placed upon our lives. He lived and died and rose again for our salvation.
Let
us then consider Paul’s challenge.
I exhort you,
I encourage you,
I charge you,
Live a life worthy of God.
AMEN.
