Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Wednesday, 12 November 2014 - Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Wednesday, 12 November 2014 - Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
4-8 But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
9-11 God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.(The Message)
These people get it. They know what to watch for and how to be prepared when the day of the Lord comes (and I don't mean they've built and stocked bunkers under their homes.) They aren't afraid like a child in the dark without a flashlight. Their eyes are open, their hope secure and their minds and hearts ready for what may come.
We too, are children of the light and day, awake and ready. We choose what we live out in this world, just like we choose what to wear in the morning. We, too, "put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." If we expect a chilly reception from a co-worker, we can choose to put on the warm kindness of love. When we expect harsh words of judgment, we can offer back the hope we have in Christ.
Wake me up to the lives of the people around me. Help me see from their perspective and keep a level head when my first reaction is anger. Instead, may I reflect my hope in Christ. Amen.
Amanda Kempthorne
Pastor, Lord of Life Lutheran Church
North Pole, Alaska 
Master of Divinity , 2009
1 Thessalonians 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.
2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
3 When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!
4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;
5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;
7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.(New Revised Standard Version)
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