Do you remember handwritten, from-a-friend letters? The deliciousness of a thud on the doormat, careful penmanship, maybe an exotic stamp? Then, the careful slice of the envelope, the contents spilling out into your hands full of news from days or weeks ago? The conversational tone, the intimacy of secrets, the ending – so important. Is it ‘sincerely’ or ‘yours truly’ (apparently out of fashion now)? Or might you have imagined, tucked right into the middle of it, sheer love? An expression of loving joy, sincere prayer, longing for joining in person, and a blessing of increased love and righteousness flowing into advice for a beautiful life?

The midpoint of 1 Thessalonians is a joy to read, don’t you think? It’s got it all. It’s an expression of highest regard, praise, encouragement, and hope. It smacks of possibility – of the vision for these friends, that they may be immersed in God’s love – for them and for each other. Slipped into it is a connection that is powerful for us as we enter into a season of waiting for Jesus’ nativity all over again. Undergirding these sentences is the central commitment: God’s love is for us. And this is what that means: God’s loving action in Jesus means our lives are an expression of love: we are to abound in love.

This waiting time, where we get ready to celebrate together, is important. We look again at our hearts – how ready are we to receive Jesus? Sometimes we think about the characters of this time of year – Mary’s Yes, Joseph’s big adopting heart, the wise people and their pursuit of the Light, the shepherds and their joy and witness. All of this, though, is about getting prepared for who’s to come. ‘Jesus, come again,’ we say.

Some of the other readings we could wrestle with this week prompt us to be on our toes – alert, aware, expectant, guarded, careful with our lives. The day of the Lord is coming, thunders Jeremiah. Signs and times, portents, hardship are coming, so guard your hearts, watch and see in faith, reminds Luke. These things are true – be wise, be watchful, be alert for the ways anti-God stuff might look. (Top tip, anything that makes you hate, despise, or have contempt towards others is anti-God; anything that brings you to hopelessness in the world or the future is anti-God; anything that makes your heart harder, your face bitter, and your soul shrink is anti-God.) But also – wait for God revealed in Jesus!

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 starts with a waiting too: in it we hear what kind of people these are:

‘And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, … wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. … they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven – Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgement.’

And, here it is: we have a mood board for our lives. We are to be those confident in Jesus’ coming, who display what God looks like in person! Love amongst God’s people and hopeful-holiness lived out, moment by moment – so that we’re ready. This love is an ordinary-everyday love. An open-your-heart-to-others love. A generous love that becomes MORE through practice.

This is a different take, isn’t it? Don’t be anxious about The End, live in love. Don’t lack faith (though you might, because faith is hard to have all the time he reassuringly admits!) but, be strengthened. Your innermost being tilting towards loving God and each other. This is a love-in-practice kind of a letter: the author loves these people – he longs for love to be woven into their lives.

Of course, hands up those who find this very simple challenge very hard?! I know I do: love in the Thessalonian way takes grit. But, love in this way is made possible: we’re assured of this. It’s through Jesus – did you catch it in the reading? ‘And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless (think ready and waiting with clean hearts and hands!) before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.’ What hope! To quote the end of the letter: ‘the one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’