Monday, August 31 –
We have arrived at the end of
August and we begin a new letter, Paul’s first epistle to the
Thessalonians. Today’s reading is in 1
Thessalonians 1:1 – 2:12. Come back here
after you’ve read the passage, if you can, to gain some more insight into the
text.
Paul first visited Thessalonica on his second missionary journey. Dr. Luke described the visit in Acts 17, as
Paul, Silas, and Timothy moved from the first city, Philippi, south to
Thessalonica. Paul spent three Sabbaths
preaching in the local synagogue making the argument from the Old Testament
Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and die. He told them about Jesus’ life, ministry,
death, and resurrection, and lastly, he put it altogether proclaiming that
Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah. Luke says that some of the Jewish people
believed, but so also did “a large number of God-fearing Greeks”, as
well as, “a few prominent women” (Acts 17:4). Like so many times, opposition arose and after
a near-riot, Paul and his team moved on to Berea. Still, they were followed by the Thessalonian
Jews, forcing Paul to sail south to Athens.
Thessalonica was not a friendly place for Paul’s work, but nevertheless,
the church was formed and grew.
Paul’s time
in Athens was unsettling. Before he sailed to Athens he had sent Timothy
and Silas back to Thessalonica and Philippi.
He was waiting for word from them as to what had happened to the
church. Timothy returned with good news
–
“Timothy now has come back to us from you and has brought us good news about
your faith and love. He told us that you always remember us in a good way and
that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you” (3:6).
When Paul heard what the Jews were saying against him, he sat down to write a
letter to share his heart to them, and encourage their ongoing faith.
Paul begins
with a greeting from not just himself, but also Silas and Timothy. Notice that he uses his familiar formula of
giving thanks to God for them as he recalls their “faith, hope, and love” –
“ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of
love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3).
Paul focuses on God’s faithfulness by reminding them that God chose them in His
love (1:4). He did not choose them
because of their love, or their virtue, but because of His own love. Their
response to the Gospel is the fruit of that love. By placing their faith whole-heartedly in
Christ they demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit at work in their hearts.–
“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because
our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy
Spirit and with full conviction...” (1:4-5).
How a person
responds to the Gospel is clearly in the mind of Paul. The Gospel had first “come to them” (1:5) in
the preaching of the Word, and they personally had received the word (1:6), and
it bore fruit in “full conviction” (1:5), as well with joy even when they were
opposed (1:6). Lastly, they shared the Gospel
with others (1:7-8). The Gospel didn’t
just inform them, it changed their lives –
“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among
you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus
who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1:9-10).
It is one thing to believe the Gospel, it is another thing to allow the Gospel
to transform our lives. They turned
their hearts and minds toward the truth of the Gospel, and looked at the future
in light of Jesus Christ’s return, “turning from idols to serve the living
and true God”. Idols are “God-substitutes”
and we ought not to think they exist “out there” in pagan cultures. The idols of our day are numerous: materialism, entertainment, power,
addictions, and more. Paul had written
before – “ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually
immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5).
The issue of idolatry is not considered in our churches these days. Yet idols exist in every generation. John Calvin once said, “man has become an
idol-making factory. The irony of idolatry is that those who worship
idols turn into the idols that they worship. As the psalmist observed, ‘Those
who make them [idols] become like them, so do all who trust in them’” (Psalm
135:18).[1]
The means to avoid idolatry is clear – “…you
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for
his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from
the wrath to come” (1:9-10). We turn
away from and turn towards. The past
holds on to the things we once relied upon but proved futile to satisfy, and in
turning from those things, we turned towards Christ, who alone liberates and
satisfy our empty souls.
We turn the
page to discover Paul is still speaking about their response to the Gospel and
his work during the few weeks he was in Thessalonica. He does this, in part, to answer the
accusations of some that if Paul cared he would not have left, or at least, would
have come back. Paul’s pastoral heart is
on display as he speaks to them about what he did, and why he did it. After reminding them of the hard time in
Philippi that preceded his arrival in Thessalonica (2:1-2), he reminds them
that he openly proclaimed the Gospel with boldness to them. His manner, style, and approach was direct,
and done without embellishing, or manipulating their minds –
“For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to
deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with
the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our
hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a
pretext for greed—God is witness” (2:3-5).
Paul is clear – God
is the one who entrusted us with the Gospel, and we are doing this to
please Him, and no one else. It was
something the Reformers understood as they created the five “Solas” to
describe the fullness of the Gospel: The
Gospel is “by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in
Christ alone (Solus Christus), according to the Scripture alone (sola
scriptura), for the glory of God alone, (sola Deo)”. The Gospel is not something we peddle, or
market (“words of flattery, a pretext for greed”). It is the truth of God for the souls of
people. The heart of ministry, whether done
by a pastor or someone else, has to be a sole focus on these Gospel truths. There
is no need for coercion, deception, arrogance when the Gospel is so powerful in
touching the heart of one who needs to hear it.
Now twice in
the verses that follow – 2:6-12 – Paul borrows two images as metaphors for the
way they did ministry among them. First,
as a nursing mother taking care of her child (2:7-8), they didn’t come
expecting something from them but came to give themselves to the Thessalonian
believers with the care and compassion that a nursing mother displays. Paul was not self-centered, nor autocratic.
He ministered in the truth of God’s word, not in the authority of his
personality. Good ministry is
transparent and authentic. The right
ministry will “labor hard” (2:9) to do things the right way.
This leads into the second metaphor Paul uses to describe the work he did among
them - that of a Father:
“For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day,
that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the
gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous
and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how,
like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and
encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you
into his own kingdom and glory” ( 2:9-12).
Paul’s pattern
of ministry was a combination of love with truth. He didn’t come to people to show off, or to
win their hearts through his showmanship.
He came to tell them the truth, and to do it with love. Leaders are all different. Good leaders inspire people to look beyond
their own interests to see what life could be like when Jesus Christ is Savior
and Lord. They win people to Christ, and
not to themselves. They lead people, not
drive them. The goal of ministry is relationships
– another way of saying, people matter.
Projects, buildings, programs, goals might all have their place in the
life of a church, but they can never be at the expense of people.
He did have
a goal in mind – or should I say a focus for what he did – “we exhorted each
one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of
God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (2:12). Always and only, Paul’s goal was to call
people to love God, put their trust in Him, and enter into his Kingdom and
glory through Jesus Christ. Our life as
God’s people begins with God and will end with God, and in between, it all
works better when God is our sole focus.
Peace
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