It’s Not Fair!
by Hugh DeLong
Text: II Thessalonians 1
It's not fair! I thought God loved us! We are striving to follow His instructions! Yet, what we live with is persecution, trouble, and being ostracized by the people!
I don’t know if that is how I would react if I were one of these disciples in Thessalonica during the church's early years. How do you wrap your head around this? I would suggest three basic concepts.
First, you (if you were one of these disciples) were warned that this was part of what you were signing up for! Not an easy, comfortable life here and now. This is the part of discipleship that is often ‘hidden’ from people we study with and new converts. That wasn’t Paul’s approach to generating faithfulness. Read II Thessalonians 1 again.
Second, this is the very example that Jesus lived out for us! This is at the heart of the story we tell each Sunday in the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper. But in that there is always the ‘rest of the story’ (as Paul Harvey used to say!). Yes, he was rejected, he suffered, he died on the cross, but he was raised and glorified as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Thus, we declare his death until he comes. Paul wrote about this coming and tells us he talked about it while among them at Thessalonica. We must not let the troubles and discouragements of life now override our hope and expectations for the future.
Third, while it isn't, in our estimation, fair, Paul assures us that God is just. There will come a time of recompense! For us – relief from such persecution (II Thessalonians 1:6). But also for affliction, retribution, and eternal destruction (II Thessalonians 1:6, 8, 9) to those who ‘know not God and obey not the Gospel.
Many in the church at Thessalonica were living through this and living with hope, faith, and love. They lived with the expectation of Jesus' return and of our life in the new heaven and earth, where there is peace and the experience of God's very presence. These three basic concepts should be at the heart of our thinking as we struggle through this life.
