On Friday, September 8, 2015, a perfect storm was brewing over north western Texas. With most of the area suffering from months of severe drought conditions, combined with wind gusts of 65 mph, all that was needed was a spark to create a nightmare.
That spark came at 9:40 a.m., when the Iowa Park Fire Department was called to a brush fire on the side of US RT 287. By the end of the day, 14 homes plus several outbuildings, oil equipment, power lines, and animals were lost. More than 100 families were evacuated by emergency personnel more than the 11,700 acres burned, but thanks to the efforts of firemen and rescue workers from several communities, plus help from the Texas Forest Service, there were no human casualties; just a few cases of minor smoke inhalation were reported.
In the days following the ferocious fires, hundreds of community members sent public thank you letters to the Iowa Park fire department. Here are a few of those letters:
I’m not sure words could ever express the gratitude of so many people to all of the volunteers who helped fight the massive wildfires over the past weekend. Although our home was never in immediate danger, it was much too close for comfort. The hours these volunteers spend away from their own homes and families can never be replaced. The families of these heroes deserve recognition, as well. A strong support system is a must for this type of dedication. It is sad that it takes a tragedy such as this to let these people know how much we appreciate them…What a great place to live! Again, thank you everyone!
James and Darla Jordan
Thank you to everyone who worked and fought so hard and diligently to contain the fire in the 367 W area on Friday. There are no words to completely express our deepest gratitude to ALL. Emergency and utility crews from all over passed by us as we waited for news on our home. Each of these crews were God-sent to us and may they be blessed abundantly for their service.
Again, thank you to ALL. We feel blessed our home was saved, but we have neighbors that lost everything. Please pray for healing and lend support to these families. Always support your area fire departments, you never know when you will need them. Iowa Park is a great place to live.
Mark and Tammie Patterson
We would like to thank the volunteer firefighters for their tireless efforts to control the fires this past weekend. A very special thanks to the Iowa Park Fire Department. After three days of fighting fires they quickly responded to the fire of our barns on Sunday evening. Even though they were fatigued, they fought very hard and were able to save one barn that would have burned. We so appreciate their dedication to the residents of Iowa Park.
Judy and Mike Mitchell
What wonderful letters from an appreciative community! When you sacrifice for people or serve someone, it sure is nice to be thanked. Some kind words and a thank you card goes a long way toward expressing gratitude and appreciation. This is precisely why we have organized today’s service: to recognize, thank, and pray for our local fire and rescue workers.
Although fire departments and rescue workers didn’t exist in Bible times (at least not in the way we think about them today), the Bible does express the theme of thanking God and the people who do good work in the community. In verses 2-3 of today’s Scripture reading, the Apostle Paul thanks God for the “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” of the church in the city of Thessalonica. Paul started this church by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, but was forced to leave town because of the growing persecution. As the months passed, he was deeply concerned about the condition of the congregation. But now that he had recently heard a positive report about the church, he sent them this letter to personally thank them for their faithfulness and to encourage them to keep up the good work.
Turning from Idols (9)
There are so many things that I would like to tell you about this whole passage, but I will reserve those comments for another day. Today I want to zoom in on just verses 9-10, which is the heart of Paul’s message. The news of the Thessalonians faith and faithfulness was spreading all over the Mediterranean world, all the way to the regions of Macedonia and Achaia. Even in the midst of fierce persecution, their faith was thriving.
So, how did these Thessalonians become Christians? Verse 9 says that “they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” The Thessalonians were Greco-Roman people; they were pantheistic, which means that they worshiped all sorts of created things like the sun, moon, stars, planets, and trinkets that were fashioned out of wood, stone, clay, or metal. They believed that these inanimate objects had special power to help them and make their lives better. But when they heard Paul’s message about Jesus Christ, they repented from their idolatry and put their faith in the only true and living God. They became Christians and started worshiping the Creator rather than the creation. They left their idols behind and made a commitment to follow the one true God.
This verse compels us to reckon with the commitments of our own hearts. It forces us to face our own idolatry. What is an idol? It is anything we worship other than God, and it is just as prevalent today as it was in Greco-Roman times. I don’t know very many people who worship the sun, moon, or stars today, but you don’t have to look very far to find people worshipping money, material possessions, work, hobbies, nature, or even their own kids. Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have things or that we should quit our jobs or that we shouldn’t love our kids—I am saying that when any of these things becomes more important than God, they are idols.
We hear idolatrous idioms all the time. Here are a few of my favorites: 1.) “I put in 80 hours at work every week”—and they never have time to attend or serve at church. 2.) “I feel closest to God when I am out in nature”—which is almost always a recreational copout (a form of religion with no accountability to anyone but themselves.) 3.) “I love my kids more than anything in the world”—which sounds like good parenting, but is really flat out idolatry.
Where is your heart’s commitment? Do you worship the creation or the Creator? Have you repented and turned away from your idols? Do you really serve the only true and living God?
Rescued from the Flames (10)
After Paul asserts the necessity of turning from idols to the one true and living God, he continues to unpack the gospel of Jesus Christ by highlighting what Jesus did for us. Christians are to wait patiently for God’s Son, Jesus, who will return to the earth someday.
The biblical gospel, as expressed here in verse 10, is both bad news and good news. The bad news is that everyone will stand before God on Judgment Day and will give an accounting of their life. Since God is eternally holy and perfect, he must judge all sin and evil with eternal punishment. If he didn’t do this, he would not be just, and therefore could not be God. The Bible affirms that this eternal judgment is hell, which is described as a “lake of fire” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This is the “coming wrath” that Paul mentions here. This is bad news indeed, especially because none of us has lived a perfect life. We are all sinners who have fallen vastly short of God’s glory.
But the good news is that those who make a faith commitment to Jesus Christ will be saved from this coming wrath. Jesus died on the cross to offer forgiveness and atonement for our sins. He was raised from the dead to conquer death and offer eternal life in heaven to anyone who would give their life to him.
When you stop and think about it, Jesus, God’s only Son, is really the greatest fire/rescue worker who has ever lived! He is the only one who can save our souls from the coming wrath! He climbed onto a wooden cross to deliver us from the eternal flames. He stretched out his arms to rescue us from the fires of hell!
I think we all wonder where we will go when we die. Will you allow Jesus to rescue you? Will you make a faith commitment to him today?
Allow me to conclude with a little story. Rev. Sam and pastored the church in a sleepy little town called Epworth. The large parsonage (or rectory) was located next to the church and Sam and his wife Susanna wasted no time filling the bedrooms—they already had eight children and another one on the way. (After all, what else is there to do in a small town.)
On the fateful night of February 9, a fire sparked in the upstairs and quickly swept through the parsonage that housed the pastor’s family. Around midnight, Rev. Sam was awakened by a shout from the street, “Fire!” He flung open his bedroom door and found his home filling with smoke. He woke Susanna, and his two eldest daughters, then he raced for the nursery where the five youngest children slept. He grabbed the youngest child, Charles, and hastily urged the others to follow his lead out of the house. Three other children did. But little Jacky, who was only five years old, remained sound asleep and hidden by the thick haze.
By the time the family realized that he was still inside, Jacky finally awoke and called out for his mom and dad. His cries were heard from the street, and Rev. Sam darted back into the house and attempted to mount the burning stairs, but hey quickly gave way under his weight.
Fearing Jacky was lost, Rev. Samuel knelt down in the burning hall and commended his soul to God. With the flames licking the ceiling of his room, Jacky attempted to run through a doorway, but found it impossible. He then climbed onto a chest near the window and was spotted by those in the yard downstairs.
While a ladder was called for, one courageous man from the community stood on top of the shoulders of another and reached for the terrified child. At the exact moment the little boy leapt into his rescuer’s arms, the roof came crashing down and fell inward, sending debris and flames into the night sky.
As the rescuer reunited the boy with his family, Rev. Sam cried out with a sense of relief, “Come, neighbors, let us kneel down. Let us give thanks to God! He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go, I am rich enough.”
This fire in Epworth, England happened back in 1709. The pastor’s family bore the surname Wesley. Little Jacky’s real name was John Wesley, the one who would grow up and establish the Methodist church and become one of the greatest preacher’s in Christian history. Reflecting on the life-and-death situation years later, John wrote that he was “a brand plucked from the burning.” Just like the rest of us, God had a mighty purpose for young John Wesley.
Do you believe in the on true and living God? Have you repented from your sin and idolatry? Have you leaped in to Jesus’ arms and been rescued from the flames?