
Morning Evening
I Thessalonians 3:1-13
I have been looking at the videos which Rebecca has selected for our adult education program. They are all about St Paul and his letters. It occurred to me, when reading his letter to the church in Thessalonica, that I find myself in a situation similar to St Paul. He wrote the letters because he couldn’t be with the people in the church in person. He was separated from them and the written word was his only means of communication. In our day, we have more ways in which we can communicate, but the feeling of separation remains the same. This realization is making me read Paul’s letters with renewed interest. He writes in this passage from the heart about the pain of separation, he talks about “longing to see” the people. I know that feeling.
He says, in his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, even though they are apart, “I have confidence in the Lord concerning you”. I share the pain of separation, and I share also Paul’s confidence in his people. I am confident that this strange period of separation will be a time of spiritual growth. We may be out of our building and fasting from communion, but we are feasting on the Word. My prayer is that our congregation is turning to God in prayer during this time and hearing his voice in the pages of Scripture.
Mark