JOY TO THE WORLD

Recently, I stayed on holiday near a friary. Early each morning the bells would ring out, calling the monks to prayer and advertising to the whole neighborhood that Christ was being worshipped. Paul adopts a similar image to tell the Thessalonians how the Lord’s message ‘rang out’ from them across the whole region (v. 8); the Greek verb more precisely means to ‘resound’ or ‘roar like thunder.’2 Their example communicated the gospel so effectively that Paul didn’t need to tell other people about their faith—other people told him about it! This seems extraordinary in a pre- internet, pre-printing-press world. How did the Thessalonians witness to so many outside their immediate area? Well, Paul says that they became a ‘model’ (v. 7) for other believers because they had received the gospel with the joy of the Holy Spirit, despite this involving ‘severe suffering,’ presumably from persecution (v. 6). In so doing, they imitated not only the apostles but also Jesus himself, who endured the cross for ‘the joy that was set before him.’3 This is the kind of example that really speaks. The reason they could act like this was because they had received the gospel powerfully through the Holy Spirit and were fully convinced of it: it was never just ‘words’ for them (v. 5).

The church is called to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to all people, everywhere. Alongside preaching and programs, do we need to reconnect with the incredible truth that God loves us, and rediscover by God’s grace the utter joy of the Holy Spirit, whatever our outward circumstances? Let us pray that, as God’s Spirit lives in us together, our faith will roar across the world, just as the faith of the Thessalonians did years ago.

Unusually, Paul describes the whole church, not one individual, as a ‘model’ to others. Be encouraged, and encourage others, that we’re never alone: our witness is a joint effort.