Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Mar 28 2020 - 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 – Faithfulness, love and perseverance

Paul asks the Christians at Thessalonica to pray for him and for his ministry. He wants the word of the Lord – the message of the Gospel – to run through the world and to touch the lives of many. He knows, however, that wherever the word is preached it also stirs up opposition; "not everyone has faith," says Paul (1 Thessalonians 3:2). "But," he immediately adds, "the Lord is faithful" (3:3). In a world where there are those who oppose the message of Christ and stir up difficultly for those who seek to make him known, the Lord himself is faithful. Jesus who said that all power in heaven and earth has been given to him promised also to be with his servants to the very end of the age. He is faithful to his word and will "strengthen and protect" those who belong to him.

Paul concludes this section with the words, "May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance" (3:5). This is the path Christ calls his people to tread. We are called to live in the love of God: to rejoice in his great love for us; to reflect his love in our behaviour towards one another and towards those who do not yet know him. We are called to follow Christ: to remember all that he has done for us; he persevered, he went on to the end; for our sake he endured the cross with all its shame. We also are called to persevere; to go on following him to the end. The Lord's faithfulness is to be reflected in a life of faith, a life of faithfulness, a life of discipleship, empowered not only by his example but his living presence in us and with us.

The apostle Paul reminds the Christians at Thessalonica that he not only taught them how to live as disciples of Christ, he left them an example in the way that he lived among them (3:7-9). He calls upon them to follow his example of applying themselves to mundane things such as their daily work so that they might provide for themselves, their families and for others – in short, that they might be model citizens. Christ does not call us to abandon the normal duties of human life in order to pursue a spiritual and unworldly way of living; he calls us to live well in this world as models of the way Christ transforms every aspect of life with his presence and power. The way we work, the way we care for and provide for our families, the way we live as good citizens in our communities – these all are aspects of our Christian witness. These also are ways in which our hearts are to be directed into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

Each new day is an opportunity and challenge to live faithfully as a disciple of Christ in all that we say and do – to model the love of God and perseverance of Christ in the mundane issues of life.

Teach me, my God and King,
In all things thee to see,
And what I do in anything,
To do it as for thee:

A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
Makes that and th’ action fine.

This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold:
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.

Lord Jesus, fill me with your Spirit and enable me to follow closely in your footsteps. Fill me with your love and keep me strong by your faithful presence and perseverance with me. Enable me so to work for you, in little things as well as great, that on the day of your appearing I may receive the commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Mar 28 2019 - Joshua 2:1-24 – Rahab and the spies

Forty years earlier, Joshua had been one of twelve men sent to spy out the land which God had promised his people. Now Joshua sends two spies across the river Jordan to spy out the land and particularly the city of Jericho. This spying expedition is not to discover whether the land is all that God had promised – that had been established forty years earlier – but to prepare for the battle ahead. What would they encounter as they crossed the river and approached the city?

When the two men arrived in Jericho they, "entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there" (v.1). No doubt they reasoned that two strange men entering the house of a prostitute would not attract any particular attention. But somehow, whether from their clothes or their voices, these men were recognised to be Israelites and the news was quickly passed to the king of Jericho.

The king's messengers were sent to Rahab demanding the Israelites be produced. Rahab, perhaps hearing the approach of the messengers, hid the men under a pile of flax laid out to dry on her flat roof. She then sent the messengers off by telling them that the men had already left before the city gate was locked; they should hurry off in pursuit if they are to catch them.

Now we learn why Rahab showed such kindness towards the spies. The fame of the Israelites had gone before them. The people of Canaan, or at least of Jericho, have heard of the way these people miraculously crossed the Red Sea when they left Egypt and had heard of the victories they gained in battle against the kings of the Amorites on the other side of the Jordan. The people of Jericho and its surrounding lands are afraid that they will be next. Rahab is convinced that Yahweh, the God of the Israelites "is God in heaven above and on the earth below" (v.11). Rahab is convinced that this mighty God will give the land to the Israelites – they will not be able to withstand his power.

Rahab may not have been alone in drawing these conclusions, but while others may be preparing for a battle, she is ready to submit to Yahweh, the God of heaven and earth. She wants her and her family to be numbered among the people of Israel.

It is easy to suppose that Rahab's request for mercy when the Israelites invade was a simple concern for self-preservation, but subsequent events suggest that it was more than that. Rahab is recorded among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 (v. 31) and is referred to as "righteous" by James (James 2:25). She married an Israelite called Salmon and together they bore a son called Boaz who appears as a key figure and a godly man in the Book of Ruth. So she became an ancestor of King David and of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). In this chapter of Joshua we witness the awakening faith of Rahab marking the beginning of her notable history among the people of God.

The spies promise that Rahab and her family will be spared, asking only that she says nothing of all this to the other inhabitants of Jericho and that she hangs a red cord in the window of her house to ensure that it is easily identified and spared when the Israelites invade the land. Rahab's house was built into the city wall and the spies were let down from a window and so escaped the city. The spies returned to Joshua with the news, "The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us" (v.24).

Father God, we recognise that you are the living God, the only God, maker of heaven and earth and of everything in them. Gladly we trust in you and in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We rejoice to be numbered among your people. Help us to spread the news of your mighty saving work and so encourage others to come and join your people.

Peter Misselbrook