2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost Sunday, November 13, 2022 “God’s Righteous Verdict Will Be Revealed”
“The waiting is the hardest part.” So says singer-songwriter Tom Petty in his 1981 hit. Whether it is the hardest part or not, waiting can be very difficult. When we wait for something about which we are excited, the waiting seems to take so long and just delay our joy. When we wait for something we fear, the waiting fills up with dread and anxiety. And then there are times when we don’t know what the result will be. We are waiting for an answer. What did the medical tests show? Did I get the job I applied for? We don’t know whether the result will make us happy or sad, and the waiting remains a challenge. Perhaps you were one of many who watched the news on Tuesday evening and followed along with incoming election results. The people had voted, but we had to wait to learn what the result of the vote would bring. Even those who stayed up late into that night ultimately needed to sleep without knowing some of the answers. Which party would have the majority in the House? Which in the Senate? And one of the most common criticisms I heard in the past few days was “Why does it take so long to find out?” You have heard already today that the focus of our service is on the Last Day. On that day, Jesus will return in a visible and physical way to the earth on which he once lived. Only this time, he will come as Judge. And there are many unanswered questions for us. When will that be? How long before he comes? Will it be in our lifetimes? Will it be many years after our deaths? And perhaps at times you wonder “Why does it take so long?” The waiting was hard for a group of Christians long ago in a town called Thessalonica. The Apostle Paul had once visited there. He had shared with them good news about Jesus Christ. That’s when many of them, Jews and Greeks alike, became believers. But others were jealous. They started a riot hoping to capture and at least get rid of Paul if not kill him. They didn’t succeed, but they did cut short the time that Paul spent in that city before moving on. Paul went to additional cities on his missionary journey, but he left behind a congregation of believers. And some time later he wrote to them. The opposition he had faced in Thessalonica would be, he warned, opposition that they would face in Thessalonica. They were persecuted and would continue to be. Paul also encouraged them to remain faithful in spite of that persecution. And they did. Our Second Reading today comes from the next letter that Paul and his missionary associates sent to the Thessalonian congregation. They had heard the report about the Thessalonians remaining faithful in spite of continued persecution, and he wrote to encourage them again. And right in the very first chapter of this book of the Bible, Paul points these believers to the Last Day. He reminds them that even in their present suffering, they can look forward to that day when Jesus will be revealed and his righteous verdict will be fully known. The Last Day, Paul says, would mean trouble for those who trouble God’s people. Those Thessalonians had faced a lot. Paul was forced out of their town on false pretenses after he had given them so much. They had lost the personal contact of their mentor and friend, the one who had first shared with them the good news. And the trouble just kept coming. Even after Paul was gone, even after the missionaries had continued their journey far away from Thessalonica, the persecution continued. Perhaps these Christians faced some of the same accusations Paul had: that they were opposing Caesar by claiming Jesus as their King, that they were not good citizens of the Roman Empire or patriotic enough. Perhaps they were physically beaten or threatened. They certainly suffered. They may have wondered whether it was worth it. They may have considered how much suffering would go away if they gave in and abandoned Jesus, if they gave in to the pressure they were facing. They must have wondered about how any of this was fair or just, that they suffered while their enemies prospered. And no doubt at times they thought that perhaps they should fight back or seek revenge. But Paul’s answer was to point the Thessalonians to God’s justice. The time would come when the enemies of God’s people would receive the trouble that they deserved for the trouble they brought. “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels, he will exercise vengeance in flaming fire on