Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost 2020 (A), "Righteousness in Action"
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. We continue our Reformation month theme of “righteousness”. We opened by checking two very different claims we can make before God. Only claiming Christ’s righteousness by faith meets God’s approval. Last week in the wedding parable we saw the robe of Christ’s righteousness is the only acceptable garment at His banquet. Today, we’re going to talk about a different aspect of righteousness. Those first two weeks focused on righteousness as God’s gift—the righteousness that comes by faith. We call this “passive righteousness”, because we didn’t do anything to deserve or receive it—it’s simply GRACE—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. But today I want to talk about “active righteousness” or “righteousness in action.” Consider, if faith is a channel or receptacle for God’s gift of righteousness, does the received gift stay sleeping or quiet within us? No! It’s a living gift we use! Hal...