テサロニケの信徒への手紙二2:15-17 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17,

わたしたちの主イエス・キリスト御自身、ならびに、わたしたちを愛して、永遠の慰めと確かな希望とを恵みによって与えてくださる、わたしたちの父である神が、どうか、あなたがたの心を励まし、また強め、いつも善い働きをし、善い言葉を語る者としてくださるように。

（二テサロニケ2:16-17）

この祈りの言葉は二つの重要なことを私たちに教えています。一つは、神様に対する堅固な信頼です。「わたしたちの主イエス・キリスト御自身、ならびに、わたしたちを愛して、永遠の慰めと確かな希望とを恵みによって与えてくださる、わたしたちの父である神が」という長い主語は、パウロが神様に寄せる信頼の厚さを物語っています。神様は「わたしたちを愛して、永遠の慰めと確かな希望とを恵みによって与えてくださる」方であります。この世において、私たちは労働をして収入を得て、その収入で食べ物を買って日ごとの糧を得ています。いつかは衰えて死んでいくこの世の体を養うためにも、私たちは毎日働かなければなりません。ところが、来たるべき世の朽ちることのない永遠の命は「恵みによって」無償で与えられます。私たちのために十字架の上で死んで、復活したキリストを信じることによって、「永遠の慰めと確かな希望」が与えられるのです。なんとすばらしいことでしょう！このような堅固な信頼をもって信仰生活をしたいものです。

もう一つの重要なことは、心から信じる人がこの世においても言葉や行いの善い実を結ぶことができるという喜ばしい事実です。「どうか、あなたがたの心を励まし、また強め、いつも善い働きをし、善い言葉を語る者としてくださるように」という願いは、信仰がただ心の問題だけでは終わらないということを示しています。つまり、「心を励まし、また強め」てくださるようにという願いだけでは終わらないのです。その後に、「いつも善い働きをし、善い言葉を語る者としてくださるように」という願いが続くのです。信仰とは確かに心の問題です。心の最も深いところの問題です。しかし、私たちの心の奥深くに信仰の灯をともしてくださる神様の聖霊は、私たちの口から出る言葉の一つ一つや、その時々の顔の表情から手足の動作、そして日ごとに積み重ねていく働きに至るまで、すべてを導いてくださる方でもあります。そのことを信じて、いつも聖霊の御導きを祈って生活いたしましょう。　（1月14日の説教より）

The life of faith, which is lived by Christian faith, is a life-long affair. Therefore, the life of faith must be a steady one that moves forward tirelessly, step by step. It should not be the case that you live a fervent life of faith that burns brightly for a time, but after a while the fire seems to go out and you don’t go to church, read the Bible or pray any more.

In my first church as an evangelist, there were people whose names were on the church rolls but who never showed up for services. I tried visiting them and phoning them, but the results were not encouraging. One middle-aged man replied over the phone that he had indeed been to church for a time in his youth. Another older woman repeatedly said something to the effect that every time I visited her, “I was burned and believed fervently when I was baptised as a young woman.” The attitude of all of them was that their faith was in the past and that the Christian faith was no longer relevant to them now. People who stop believing may have some reasons for doing so. However, when they were baptised, they should have accepted the confession of faith and made an aoth before God to honour worship and the sacraments. Therefore, for whatever reason, it should not be the case that they abandon such a solemn oath and take the attitude that faith and the church no longer concern them. And if such a thing does in fact happen, then we must consider what are the causes that hinder a steadfast life of faith.

In order to live a steadfast life of faith, we need to be trained in what to believe and how to live our lives as Christians. Nothing in this world, be it study, art or sport, can be acquired without training. And even more so in the life of faith, which aims at eternal life beyond this world. Training for a life of faith is not something to be done by individuals, but by the church. As stated in the Confession of Faith of NIPPON KIRISUTO KYOKAI, our denomination, “The church is the body of Christ, the communion of saints called by God throughout all ages: on commission of the Lord she rightly proclaims the word of God, administers the sacraments, disciplines believers, and makes ready for the last day, awaiting the coming of the Lord.”

Of course, training does not mean worldly training that imposes quotas without regard for individual freedom. It is Christian training based on biblical truth and the freedom of the Holy Spirit. However, often pastoral care is conducted without sufficient intellectual and spiritual training, and often done by driving the emotions of the believers, such as just believing enthusiastically, or just coming to church enthusiastically. This does not help the faith of the believers to grow, but rather creates a misunderstanding of what faith is all about. And to top it all off, it may even make them feel arrogant, as if they have already graduated from the faith. Normally, a believer should be humbled by the awe of how profound the Christian faith is through proper training in the life of faith. Of course, it is not such a simple matter that if the training is admirable, everyone will be equally admirable. But how the church trains its believers and how the believers are trained, are something that we should all think carefully about with each other.

Having stated in verses 13 and 14 that the believers of the Thessalonian church was chosen as the firstfruits to be saved and invited to bring them to the glory of Christ through the preaching of the gospel, Paul builds on that in verse 15 with the following short exhortation. “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” “Stand firm” probably means not to be deceived by false teachings or “the man of lawlessness,” as described in 2:1-12. Also, “our spoken word” would be what Paul actually said when he preached in Thessalonica. Furthermore, “our letter” probably refers to his first letter to the Thessalonians. What exactly those traditions taught “by our spoken word or by our letter” are is not stated here. If we may infer from the first letter, its content was the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, as well as his Second Coming in the Last Day and the Christian life in preparation for the Last Day.

These things can be read from the whole of the first letter to the Thessalonians, but especially from the words in 1:9-10 of the first letter. There, the faith of the believers of the Thessalonian church is described as follows.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

This includes teachings about Christ, such as his cross, his resurrection, his ascension and his Second Coming. The phrase “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” includes faith in the forgiveness of sins through the cross of Christ, even if the cross is not explicitly stated. It also includes the Christian’s way of life as he looks forward to Christ’s Second Coming in the Last Day, as “to wait for his Son from heaven.” This is a teaching that is discussed in detail throughout the first letter, but is particularly well expressed in passage such as 5:8 of the first letter: “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” These basic teachings are expressed in the Confession of Faith of NIPPON KIRISUTO KYOKAI, which we confess together on the first Sunday of each month. The teachings expressed in the Confession of Faith are not only to be recited with the mouth, but also to be taken to heart and put into practice in our daily lives. That is how we can “stand firm” and “hold to the traditions” that we were taught.

What, then, prevents us from “standing firm” and “holding to the traditions” that we were taught? In terms of the intellectual side of things, this would be being influenced by the dominant ideas of the time and society. Each of us breathes the air of the time and society in which we live. Therefore, whether we like it or not, the dominant thoughts and ideas of the time and society invade our minds and influence our lives. Various ideas and ways of thinking have influenced many people in each era, such as militarism before and during the Second World War, socialism after the Second World War, mammonism, i.e., money-worship at the end of the 20th century and now, and the “own country first” mentality that prevails in the world today. It takes a great deal of resolve for us to maintain a spiritual distance and critical attitude towards the ideas of each era. As Christians, we need to live our lives with the teachings expressed in the Confession of Faith in our hearts, and we need to have a strong determination to live them out. In this light, living as Christians in the church means having the determination to live out our lives in accordance with the Confession of Faith and to encourage and support each other in doing so. In other words, in our weekly worship and prayer, we Christians share the encouragement and comfort from Christ in heaven, and together affirm that we “stand firm” and “hold to the traditions” that we were taught.

This is different from simply reading and studying Christian books privately. It is also different from listening to Christian lectures in places like universities. As I may have mentioned before, half-hearted study is a dangerous thing. Many books written or translated by university professors have major problems from the standpoint of the church’s Confession of Faith. Therefore, when reading Christian books, it is necessary to carefully examine their place in Christian thought as a whole. It is very dangerous to read a book without examining it, believing that because it is written by a well-known professor from a well-known university, it is correct and useful. In some cases, there is a danger that the influence of such books will make it impossible to “stand firm” as a Christian and to “hold to the traditions” that we were taught. In terms of reading, I would recommend reading the Bible itself over and over again, rather than books that explain the Bible. Read through the entire Old and New Testaments, the word of God, over and over again. And to read Christian classics such as Augustine’s The City of God, Luther’s On the Freedom of a Christian, Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion and Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, rather than those written by modern scholars. The classics are from an older time, so you will probably not understand many of them after reading them once. However, if you read them repeatedly, you will see passages that apply to you. The classics are the best commentaries for understanding what Christianity is, as they are books that have survived the ravages of time and society to the present day, and are therefore timeless.

Along with the intellectual aspect, it is the spiritual aspect, or spirituality, that is important to the Christian faith. And it goes without saying that the spiritual side is supported by a life of prayer. Paul writes the following prayer in verses 16 and 17 of today’s Bible passage.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

The words of this prayer tell us two important things. One is a firm trust in God. The long subject line, “our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,” shows the depth of Paul’s trust in God. God is the one “who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace.” In this world, we work to earn an income, which we use to buy food and earn our daily bread. We must work every day to feed our earthly bodies, which will one day decay and die. However, eternal life, which will not decay in the world to come, is given to us free of charge “through grace.” By believing in Christ, who died on the cross for us and rose again, we are given “eternal comfort and good hope.” How wonderful! We want to live our lives of faith with this kind of firm trust.

Another important thing is the joyful fact that those who sincerely believe can bear good fruit in work and word even in this life. The petition, “may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, … comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word,” shows that faith is not just a matter of the heart. In other words, it does not end with the request that he “comfort your hearts.” It is followed by the wish that he “establish them in every good work and word.” Faith is indeed a matter of the heart. It is a matter of the deepest heart. But God’s Holy Spirit, who lights the lamp of faith in the depths of our hearts, is also the one who guides everything, from every word that comes out of our mouths, to the expression on our faces from time to time, to the movements of our hands and feet, to the work that we accumulate day by day. Believing this, let us always pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives.

In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul wrote: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Through the work of the Holy Spirit, these good things become real, bearing fruits in the work and word of the believer in Christ. Eternal life is given by faith alone, not by works, but those who have been given true faith are gradually given works as the fruits of faith. In this way, knowledge, faith and works are combined so that one can live a consistent and solid life of faith as a human being. As I always say, I want you to live a life of faith that burns as quietly and as long as a charcoal fire. I want you to have in your hearts a faith like a steady coal fire that burns away the dirt from yourselves, releases the fragrant aroma of sacrifice to God, and keeps the people around you warm. I want you to live out your lives on earth based on that coal-fire faith. To keep the coals burning, let us keep the Sunday-by-Sunday service and always be open to the fresh wind from God – the wind of the Holy Spirit – in our hearts.