The word is out – Exodus 33:12-23, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

I read recently that if a church wants a better minister, what it needs to do, is to pray for the one it has. Now, in your case, you are going to be busy – because you currently have three. I know you are already praying for Chris as he prepares to commence ministry here!

The same is true for mission. If we want mission to be effective in our world, we must pray.

This morning we are joining with Baptist churches around this country to pray for nine people groups with whom Global Interaction works. It is estimated that approximately one third of the world, about 6,000 people groups, has not heard the life-changing message of Jesus due to cultural, linguistic, political or other barriers. These nine are among them.

So – after the message I’ll ask _________ to distribute prayer flags and we are going to write our prayers for these people and peg them onto these lines.

Before we do, however, let’s think about our lectionary readings this morning which – very appropriately – included prayers; Paul’s thanksgiving prayer for the impact of the gospel on the lives of the Thessalonians, and Moses’ bold prayer of intercession for the people of Israel. They inform – I believe - how we should pray this morning.

1. It is hard to read 1 Thessalonians and not be struck by Paul’s thankfulness. It was customary in the ancient world to begin letters with a prayer for the recipient – regardless of how you actually felt about them – but there is no doubting Paul’s joy that the Thessalonians believe.

Perhaps it’s helpful to backtrack a little. Paul, Silas and Timothy came to Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia (northern Greece), on Paul’s second missionary journey (Smelly Sandals Tour?). Acts 17 tells us that, initially, there was an encouraging response – especially among the Greek population of the Jewish synagogue – but, after only three weeks, the city was in uproar; thanks to an explosive combination similar to the events in Egypt this week; an anxious minority, ruffians and heavy-handed authorities. So real was the danger that ‘that very night’ the fledgling group of believers hurried Paul and his companions out of the city.

No wonder Paul is overjoyed when he hears that the group of believers in Thessalonica truly heard the message – that, in Jesus, God has come to us offering forgiveness and freedom – the grace of God – and that they believe.

So he writes to them, possibly the first Pauline letter, beginning with what becomes his trademark greeting, “Grace to you and peace;” a blending of the Greek salutation ‘chairein’ and the Hebrew ‘shalom’ – it’s good to hear things in your own language. But he also makes a subtle change to the Greek and it says not simply chairein (greetings) but charis (grace). Now they can know peace because they have experienced the grace of God.

I read a story this week about a gathering of pastors in Tanzania, East Africa. All of them spoke Zanaki, a regional language, but their Bible was written in Swahili, the national language, and so religious affairs are conducted in Swahili. At this gathering, an older minister was asked what language he prayed in when he was alone. "Swahili, he said. “I think I could pray in Zanaki. I think God would understand Zanaki, but I have always prayed in Swahili." 

At the end of the gathering it was suggested that they could try to pray in their own language. In Tanzanian fashion they all prayed aloud simultaneously. When their voices all quieted, one man closed in Zanaki, "In Jesus' name, amen." They lifted their heads and though Tanzanians don’t often cry in public everyone had tears running down their cheeks. 

Thessalonians, Tanzanians, people everywhere are hearing the word of God and believe. Let’s pray with joy!

2. Looking at this passage, Paul also articulates that the Thessalonians now belong.

”For we know” he says, “brothers and sisters, beloved of God, that he has chosen you. They belong to God. They are God’s beloved people.

Moses’ prayer in Exodus 33 also focuses on being ‘God’s chosen people’. At the beginning of the chapter, God has told Moses, “I will keep my promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I will not abandon my people, but because of their persistent sinfulness - for their own protection (for God is a holy God) - an angel will now go before you – but “I will not go up among you.”

Here we see the chutzpah (sometimes other languages say things better!) of Moses. (Brani in Indonesian.) He is brani enough to object (“you have not let me know whom you will send with me”), brani enough to remind God of their relationship (“you have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour in my sight’”) and another relationship! (“Consider too that this nation is your people.”)

And then! When God concedes a little… The NRSV translates verse 14: "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." But the ‘with you’ isn’t there in the original Hebrew so Moses keeps pushing! "…how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us?"

So God concedes fully, but Moses is still not satisfied. He begs to see God’s glory – to know God completely. But although God can reveal goodness, grace and mercy in abundance it is unfathomable that all of God can be completely known. But what is equally remarkable about this passage is that knowing God as he does – the God who has accompanied him since the burning bush – Moses knows that is equally unfathomable for God to abandon God’s people.

When God chooses you, you are God’s beloved. You are part of God’s family.

Let us pray with joy that others will soon belong, will be our brothers and sisters in God’s family!

3. Paul is certain of this family connection because he can see a family likeness – they, too, are becoming like Jesus.

The gospel words aren’t simply words. They haven’t just been be-lieved, but they are be-ing lived. There was evidence of this in powerful signs by the Holy Spirit in this community. There always is in missionary encounters; dreams in which people who have never heard the name of Jesus see him… huts provided with sweet potato and lit fires along the way to hear the word of God… And yet – what is more convincing to Paul is that there are ongoing signs of the Holy Spirit in the way this community has become imitators of them – and of the Lord.

There is a great youtube clip produced by Global Interaction. Google ‘Calling Charlie Culture’ and you’ll find it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTudCkQm3wM&feature=related.

Like an old-fashioned newsreel it says: So, you’re going to a foreign country to start a church. You’ll need to pack the essentials; some contemporary worship CDs and an acoustic guitar are a good start. The last thing you want is the local musical instruments destroying your worship to God. You can throw away that bilingual dictionary because you’ll be forcing the locals to speak and read God’s language – English… So there we have it, empowering communities to develop their own distinctive ways of following Western Christianity.

Funny, but sadly, often true.

Letitia’s story…

Missionaries or cross-cultural workers, like Paul and Silas and Timothy and those who work around the world today and all of us, can only hope that others are imitating us – that others resemble us – if what they are imitating – resembling – is actually Jesus.

The Global Interaction mission statement is actually - empowering communities to develop their own distinctive ways of following Jesus – and this is what we, too, are doing – finding our own distinctive way of following Jesus - so as we pray for others to become like Jesus; let us pray that we will be good models.

4. The Thessalonians have believed, they belong to God, they are becoming followers of Jesus – and finally Paul gives thanks that through their lives and witness the word of the Lord is being broadcast worldwide.

This is an extraordinary auditory image. The word that is rendered ‘sounded forth’ might describe a trumpet call or the roll of thunder and the verb is a Greek perfect indicating that the sounding out was continuing – that it goes on and on.

So much so, Paul says, that he is almost out of a job. Wherever he goes, the gospel message has gone before him; believe - turn from serving what doesn’t satisfy, belong to the living and loving God, and find your distinctive way of following Jesus.

This is aim of all cross-cultural workers – to do themselves out of a job – because it is not about them – but about that clarion call sounding forth in every language on earth: Grace to you and peace.

Let us pray that just as Paul heard the report of the Thessalonians, just as others heard the report of our faith, we will hear reports of this kind from the Yawo, the K, the H, the Begali, the Ethic Thai, the Khmer, the IB, the IS and IR people. Amen.