SHAKEN

2 Thess 2:1-17; PS 96 The Lord comes to judge the earth; Matt 23:23-26

Warning label would be a good title for this post as well as Shaken.  Shaken just seemed a bit more electric.

Things are unraveling in Thessalonica in the time of Paul.  Preachers have begun to insinuate that the end is near.  The craze is taking over reason.  Something has to be done to bring calm and peace and harmony back to the people who have been swept way by this current of emotion and frenzy.

We see this happen time and time again.  For centuries so called preachers have come on the scene and create a frenzy about the immediate return of Jesus or the end of the world as we know it.

Too many to count for truth.

Paul is trying to bring the frenzy under control not by rational thought but by insistence of Faith, the rule of faith that is meant to be the measure that guides us.

Listen again to what he says, "Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours."

Here is the rule of faith that is meant to bring peace and calm into our lives.

The "traditions" are the oral teachings of the church and the letters could be either scripture or just that a letter written to the communities by the apostles and their successors, the leaders of the church.

I know, we have grown up in an age where authority is looked down upon.  I know we all want to be in charge.  I know we all want to make our own way and do our own thing.

Yes.  I get it.  But direction and guidance doesn't detract from our freedom but rather empowers it.  It gives a foundation to stand on so that we can move forward on solid ground.

Too often we mistake the authority of the church as control when in fact it is anything but.

It is that which enables us to get a foot hold in life, to "stand firm" as St Paul describes it for us.

Whose authority are we under?