For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
The church in Thessalonica was founded during Paul’s second missionary journey, and this letter was written not too many years later. Acts records that Paul was only in Thessalonica for a short time before he was run out of town (Acts 17:1-10).
His initial audience had been those in the Jewish synagogue. But the comment in the passage above that they had turned to God from idols indicates that by the time of this letter, the church was composed mainly of Gentiles. It seems they had diligently shared the good news about Jesus with everyone who would listen.
In this passage, Paul related some of what he had heard about the believers in Thessalonica. First, they were serving the living and true God. How do we serve God? We can’t go wrong by following the example of Jesus. He went around caring for the hurting and proclaiming the kingdom of God (Mt. 4:23). We can serve God by getting out of our building and sharing God’s love with a world in darkness. Both in what we say and what we do.
And secondly, they were waiting for Jesus’ return. They expected his return at any time (1 Th. 4:13-5:11). His imminent return would have impacted everything they did. And it likely lent an urgency to their service and proclamation of the gospel message. They had a limited time to bring as many as possible to know the living and true God, helping them escape from the wrath to come.
To serve God and wait for the Lord. What difference would the church make today if we followed that example? If we modeled Jesus’ love and service with the urgency that time was short?
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