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1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 NRSV)
May this find you enjoying a great day, dear Friend! May the blessing of the Lord be rich and wonderful in your life is my prayer. As we pray, please celebrate the arrival of baby Adena Walden, born last night close to 8 p.m. to Ioana Walden and her Daddy, The Rev. Clay Walden. She weighed in at 7 lb 4 oz. We celebrate her arrival! Thank you to all who prayed for her arrival! On the flip side, The Rev. Ellen Ely, senior pastor at Marble Falls UMC, and colleague of Rev. Walden, tonight announced on Facebook that her cancer may have returned. We ask prayers for Ellen's healing and peace. Please keep Wade, her husband, in prayers too. Pray for one another. Pray for yourselves.
One can only imagine the urgency that a face-to-face encounter with the Risen Lord would place on your heart and life, as it did the Apostle Paul. In his earliest writings, you can read the sense of joy and expectancy about Jesus coming again soon. And for years he preached and wrote with that excitement even in the face of strong persecution against him and other believers. The persecution raged on to the point where many believers began to lose loved ones and ask, "Where is Jesus and what's taking so long?" This passage is part of his response to those growing impatient and fearful, and also to us. What was happening to Paul's crowd was that false teachers and preachers began to spout things to, in their opinion, calm nerves and give hope, however false those things were. Paul boldly responds with his words in this letter. Hear his hope. Don't be quickly shaken or alarmed; for there is much to happen according to the biblical prophecy. God would send Jesus to the earth to gather all who believe in Him!
Paul also reminds them that through their faith they are being molded and shaped in the process called "sanctification." Our theology says that God operates in this way: Prevenient Grace comes when we are in the searching phase, seeking to know God. All that God shared while we are there is helping us come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. When we decide to accept God's invitation and make the confession of our sins and surrender our hearts to God, that is Justifying Grace. And from that instant of acceptance, we begin the final and ever-shaping process of becoming just the people God wants us to be. That is Sanctifying Grace. As the name implies, it is a holy process, as the root word sanctus makes up the word sanctification. Paul's instructions to the believers, and to us, "Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word or mouth or by our letter." The urgency is still there as Paul encourages the work to continue, for this would comfort and strengthen their hearts.
We affirmed in worship before our Communion sacrament, that Christ will come again. I believe that, and until He returns for you and me, we have a lot to do. Onward and upward. Marching, loving, helping, and bringing others to faith. As Paul closed his letters, Maranantha, Come, Lord Jesus!*
PRAYER: Eternal God, come now into my heart again, and again. Make my heart stronger and bolder for You. I pray that when the challenges of today seem more than I can face, remind me that You are coming again. And when that happens we will see things like we've never seen before. Until then, keep us in love with You and with each other. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Blessings of love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
* Maranatha is an Aramaic word that means “the Lord is coming” or “come, O Lord.” The early church faced much persecution, and life for a Christian under Roman rule was not easy. The Romans required everyone to declare that Caesar was god. The early Christians knew that there is only one God and one Lord—Jesus Christ—and in all good conscience they could not call Caesar “Lord,” so the Romans looked upon them as traitors, persecuted them, and put them to death. Living under those adverse conditions, the believers’ morale was lifted by the hope of the coming of the Lord. “Maranatha!” became the common greeting of the oppressed believers, replacing the Jewish greeting shalom (“peace”). The followers of Jesus knew there would be no peace because Jesus had told them so (Matthew 10:34; Luke 12:51). But they also knew the Lord would be returning to set up His kingdom, and from that truth they drew great comfort. They were constantly reminding and being reminded that the Lord is coming (Luke 21:28; Revelation 22:12). Jesus taught several parables on this same theme of watching and waiting and being prepared for His return (Matthew 25:1-13; Luke 12:35-40).
