“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief… But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
1 Thessalonians 5:1-4; 8 NIV
Nick Saban is the well-known and successful coach of the University of Alabama football team. No matter what you think about Nick Saban, no one can deny his success. He has won seven national titles as a head coach. Whatever he is doing works. One thing he is quoted as saying to his players is “nothing good happens after midnight.”
That might sound like a very old person thing to say, but as I personally observed my friends and classmates through high school and college, I realized this saying is often true. There is something about the darkness of the night that makes us put our guards down. We stop seeing and thinking clearly. Coach Saban knew that teaching his players to expect bad things to happen late at night helped them avoid bad decisions (or the consequences of their friend’s bad decisions).
Paul uses the imagery of a thief coming in the night to describe Jesus’ second coming. A thief comes in the cover of night to avoid being seen, but nighttime is not his greatest strength. His greatest strength is that no one knows he is coming. What if you knew someone was plotting to rob your home? Even if you didn’t know exactly when they were coming, you’d turn on all the lights and be on the lookout, right? There is a big difference between an unspecified timeframe and an unexpected arrival.
Paul tells the Thessalonians to be prepared for Jesus’ second coming. He instructs them to live in spiritual light instead of spiritual darkness by putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation. Basically, be ready for the coming of the Lord by living out Jesus’ teachings and protecting yourself from spiritual attacks.
Through Paul’s affection for the Thessalonians and their affection for each other, we learn that faith, love and hope bring ultimate fulfillment in our lives. No matter what we are going through, hope will bring us through it.