The Thessalonians seemed to have their act together. What would Paul say to a Church that is doing exactly what they should be doing? What warnings and advice would he give them? What wouldn’t he bother saying?
Okay, this is completely unrelated…but it just popped into my head as I began to prepare my blog this morning so I thought “why not share it?” I confess ahead of time that it has no value. If you time is precious, skip to the next paragraph. Church people, that is “people who go to church all the time” have developed their own acronyms and slang. Because of that, you can spot someone who doesn’t attend church by the way they talk, especially when they mention Bible verses. For instance: I would refer to today’s reading as “first and second Thessalonians” but a person who doesn’t go to church all the time might say “one and two Thessalonians”. I I heard someone say “two Thessalonians” I might quickly make the judgment that they don’t really know their Bible. But is that fair? I mean, when I typed in the reference I didn’t type 1st and 2nd….I typed 1 and 2. (one and two). It got me wondering if I have been going to church so long (all my life) that I have become snobbish (I can’t think of a more appropriate word right now) about spiritual things? Who cares how someone pronounces the words, or whether they do it in a traditional way….what really matters is that we are discussing God’s Word. Hooray! And, who says that our way is “right” anyway? If early believers heard us speaking today they wouldn’t understand us anyway. They didn’t speak English, and they didn’t even have chapter and verse headings. The Apostle John wouldn’t have any idea what “John 3:16” even meant. It’s all our tradition, layers upon layers of doing things one way…for centuries. I’m not saying that it’s wrong, because it isn’t. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean that it’s the only right way either. So bring on one and two Thessalonians, I’m ready.
Paul is writing to a church that “gets it”. That’s my impression…there isn’t anything “broken” in the Thessalonian Church. They believed early, have grown in their faith, have resisted temptation and endured persecution. They have kept their joy and their witness has been felt around the region. Apparently people who travel around have been there and reported back that “God is doing something amazing in Thessalonica”. I celebrate that, because I feel like the church I am a part of is in a similar position. I don’t want to seem arrogant or proud, I’m just saying that God is blessing the church and things seem to be going well…the worship services are inspiring and the presence of the Lord is there. Lives are being changed….a few at a time, and steady progress seems to be ongoing. I hadn’t thought of this before, but maybe the letter to the church at Thessalonica is a letter for me, too. Hmmm.
So what does Paul say? It seems to me that he offers some reminders to stay focused and strong, and to “continue” what they have been doing. In the same breath he also reaffirms the church by saying “we don’t need to tell you this, because you already know….” or he will say “…just as you have already been doing.” Paul is simply reminding them….sort of like we might cheer on a football player who is running the ball by saying “Run!” The player already knows that, and has every intention of doing it before we say anything. We don’t need to tell him to Run!….he’s already running. It’s just our way of cheering him on. So when Paul says “Serve!” or “Endure persecution!” or “Live a Holy life!” he is simply cheering on what the church is already doing. And I think that the church probably received it in that way. Godly people tend to see the best in someone, and not be offended easily. I doubt anyone was offended saying “doesn’t Paul think we already know this? How dumb does he think we are…..what does he think we’ve been doing?” I think they read it, smiling and nodding knowing that Paul was proud of them, relieved that they were staying strong in their faith, and continuing to operate under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Having said that, there seems to be several things that the “healthy church” should be on their guard against. Sexual sin seems to be one of them. Apparently satan tempts believers to “fall in love with” other believers who are already married. Forewarned is forearmed….be on guard. A second one seems to be laziness. There must have been a few folks who decided to take advantage of the communal nature of the church and quit working. That happens in every church…even the healthy ones. So, Paul instructs them to make sure that everyone is involved in ministry. The Church isn’t a place you go to retire…it’s the front lines of spiritual warfare. Get up and fight. (the enemy…not each other…..good grief.)
At the end of “one” Thessalonians Paul rapid fires off a whole bunch of directions (commands, suggestions, directives). What were they again?
Encourage others, care for others, be patient with others, do good to others. (I’m seeing a theme here….)
He also says “pray, be thankful, hold onto what is good and avoid evil” I left out “don’t stifle the Holy Spirit” because I’m not sure if that is separate, or if he meant that the Holy Spirit would be stifled if they released what was good and engaged in evil. Either way, the work of the Spirit is integral to the health of the church. That is to say “you can’t be healthy without the Holy Spirit guiding you”.
Faithfully
PR