In 1971 there was an election for the Virginia House of Delegates, District 19, between William Moss and Jim Burch. When it was all over and the vote count was tallied, Moss had the lead, by a single vote. That’s as tight as an election can get. Or is it? A circuit court ruled that one of the ballots had been defaced, and so they invalidated it, making it a tie vote. They actually found the guy whose vote it was, and he said he did intend to vote for Moss, but they invalidated his ballot anyway because he had written on it, which you’re not supposed to do, that he didn’t really like either one of them. But Moss did end up winning in the end, when the blindfolded election board chairman picked his name out of a cup. They say that every vote counts. In this case it truly did.
Our American system of government is certainly not perfect. But it is a blessing that we have some ability to be involved in our governance and make our voices heard. Our choices do matter, whether we’re talking about elections or other parts of civic life. Of course it doesn’t always feel that way. Sometimes the political forces in the world seem powerfully against us. Maybe, like that man in Virginia, we’re faced with a choice and we don’t really like any of the options. But if our choice has any power at all, how much more does God’s? God is the one who gives authority and who raises and lowers the powerful men of this world. And he does it so that by their work or in spite of their work, we might be brought to him, we who are chosen with God’s power.
We’re focusing today on the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians, but all three of today’s lessons work together to teach us what God’s powerful choice is all about.
In the Old Testament we read from the prophet Isaiah, who lived seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. Isaiah spoke by God’s power of many things to come but here he spoke about God’s choice of a man named Cyrus. This is the sort of prophecy that boggles our minds and yet if we truly take to heart what God tells us when he says that he knows all things it shouldn’t surprise us one bit. God was going to destroy Jerusalem because of their unbelief. He was going to do it by Babylon, though when Isaiah wrote that must have seemed like an odd prediction because at that time Babylon was really no threat at all. But God also promised that he would not let his people be completely destroyed. Many centuries before he had made a promise to Abraham, that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. He had made a promise to David, that he would have a Son who would rule forever over an eternal kingdom. And so Babylon must fall and the captives must be freed. Who would do this? God calls him by name. Cyrus. Cyrus will conquer kings and kingdoms. He will have an honored name. The Lord would go before him so that doors would be opened and treasures brought out for him. The Lord would choose him. He would equip him, “though you do not know me.” he said.
And two hundred years after Isaiah, who should rise to power but a man named Cyrus? Cyrus the Great, he’s called, with an honored name. Chosen by God. Raised to power by God. For the sake of his people. Know that “I am the Lord, and there is no other,” he says.
Most people in those days had the mindset that gods are small. No one god, they thought, could rule over everything. There must be many gods. Choose for yourself which god or gods you will follow. But God said, “I will choose you with my power.”
God also demonstrated his powerful choice with Rome. The Jews hated Rome. They asked Jesus, “Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?” They figured that this was a trap he couldn’t get out of. Either he’d say, “Yes, pay your taxes” and they could turn the people against him as a Rome sympathizer, or he’d say, “No, don’t pay your taxes” and they could report him to the government as a dangerous rebel.
But Jesus didn’t fall for it. Instead, he reminded them of their place and of God’s choice. Why had God raised up Rome? Why had he allowed them to rule a vast empire? The very money they were using bore Caesar’s image and inscription. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” Jesus said.
It wasn’t all that many years later when Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, in Greece. Maybe 20 years had passed since Jesus corrected the Pharisees. A lot had happened. The Roman justice system unjustly put Jesus to death on a cross. A cross that Jesus used to conquer death and hell. In spite of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate Jesus rose from the dead. After he ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit on his disciples at Pentecost, the Roman roads served as highways for the Gospel. The Roman trade ships carried missionaries and the holy epistles of Jesus’ apostles. The Roman legal system often protected Paul even though they had no love for him or his work.
And yet for the Christians in Thessalonica, they must have wondered why God had chosen to allow things to be this way. The persecution of Christians in Thessalonica was particularly violent. Paul couldn’t even stay for more than a few weeks because of the danger his presence was bringing to the new church that was started there. With every kind of suffering we face in this world we ask “why?” We know that most of the time we won’t have an answer, but still we wonder, “Why does it have to be this way? God promises me good things, but I see no good here.” That question is even more pressing for those suffering persecution. If God is truly God, why should anyone suffer for following him? Certainly God is powerful enough to save his people. So why doesn’t he? Why would a loving God not protect his people from suffering?
But as Paul, together with his fellow missionaries Silas and Timothy writes, he reminds them not of the powers and politics of the world, but of the greatest and most powerful choice of all; God had chosen them with his mighty power for salvation.
He says, Dear brothers, loved by God, we know that God has chosen you,* 5*because our gospel did not come to you with mere words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.
Paul had been very concerned about this fledgling church. Of course he was. I’d expect that he’d be concerned for two major reasons. First, he’d had hardly any time to train them. He was there for about three weeks. When people wants to join our church they take a Bible Information Class that goes for 15 weeks. I know some that do a class that goes even longer. How much can you teach in only three weeks? How easily these new Christians might fall for false teaching!
The other reason Paul was concerned surely was the persecution. The whole goal of the enemies there which was primarily being instigated by some of the Jews was to make being a Christian so terrible that no one would want to. If they were successful the church certainly wouldn’t grow and many who were there would leave to protect themselves and their families. They would look for something easier.
And so Paul had sent Timothy to go to Thessalonica and bring back a report on how the church was doing. And what a report he received! Timothy didn’t find a dying church at all. Yes, they were suffering. Some of them were facing the threat of death, perhaps some even were dying for their faith. But the church was growing. The Gospel was spreading. And the Christians there were living lives that were filled with love for one another and patiently enduring all the persecution they were facing for their faith.
So Paul told them how he prayed for them, all the time, giving thanks. He says, “we constantly remember before God our Father your work produced by faith, your labor produced by love, and your patient endurance produced by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s always a great encouragement to hear that someone is praying for you. I often tell people that it’s good to be specific. Don’t just tell someone “I’ll pray for you.” or “You’ll be in my prayers.” Tell them exactly what you’ll pray for. That’s what Paul did here. He gives thanks for their work produced by faith, their labor produced by love, and their patient endurance produced by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was clear to Paul that God had chosen them. That the Gospel was not empty, but it was powerful and effective. The Holy Spirit was at work in them bringing about a deep conviction that was not shaken even by death.
You and I may not have faced the same sort of persecution for our faith. And we might wonder then, “Do I have that kind of deep conviction? Do I have that patient endurance?” And we might ask, “How do I know that God has chosen me?” I do know that I don’t deserve it. Sometimes the works I’m producing are coming from doubt instead of faith. Sometimes I don’t labor at all, and when I do it’s not labor produced by love, but labor produced by resentment and grumbling. And many times in life I am not patient, I am not enduring, I am not putting my hope in Jesus. Why would God choose me?
He does it because of his grace, his undeserved love in Jesus. What did I do to deserve God’s love? Nothing. I don’t deserve it. Jesus did. Jesus looked at me and saw nothing worth choosing, nothing worth loving, and decided to love me anyway. He decided to choose me anyway. And his choice had to be the greatest and most powerful choice in the world, because what he did with me and with you is far greater than anything he ever did by raising up the mighty rulers of the world to conquer kings and kingdoms. Because what is left in the end? “Cyrus, you don’t know me? Caesar, who is that? But you? You,” he says, “Are my dearly loved. You are my chosen. I have called you by name so that you will know me.”
Brothers and sisters, God has chosen us. He’s chosen us to know the forgiveness of our Savior, and the power of his Gospel. He’s chosen us to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, gifts of faith and hope and love. He’s chosen us to sit on thrones in the mansions he’s prepared for us in his heavenly kingdom. Give him thanks and praise. Honor those in authority without fear. You’ve been chosen by God. Chosen with power. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson