First Letter to the Thessalonians, 1:1, 7-10
I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God’s amazing grace be with you! God’s robust peace! .....
Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.
After Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus he apparently spent some time, first, around the Damascus area and then in Jerusalem, trying to undo his previous image as a heretic hunter – meeting at various times with greater or lesser acceptance. I remember growing up thinking that Damascus was someplace terribly exotic – far removed from any other biblical locale. I can still remember the first time I looked it up on a map and realized just how close it is to Palestine and especially to Capernum and the Sea of Galilee, which is definitely Jesus territory. People in that area would easily have known Saul/Paul’s past history and not been too eager to forgive it.
This shunning of Paul lasted until Barnabas, whom everyone apparently trusted, first spoke up for the authenticity of Paul’s conversion and then took Paul with him to work among the established community in Antioch in northern Syria and in the surrounding area.
The two traveled around to Cyprus and then the southern part of modern day Turkey for a while, then back to Antioch, where they found “men of Judea” trying to undo everything they had taught – insisting that to be a Jesus-follower meant the gentiles had to first become observant Jews, with circumcision and dietary laws and everything. Paul and Barnabas headed back to Jerusalem to resolve this issue – hopefully once and for all. Somewhat surprisingly, the church leaders agreed with Paul and sent Paul and Barnabas, along with two other evangelists – Silas and Judas – back to Antioch to reassure the community there and to continue teaching, using a particular set of guidelines they had developed.
This is a long and complicated story I’m throwing at you today – there are an incredible number of moving pieces, not to mention all the place names – but I’m trying to get you the most stripped down version I can because I still hope to actually get us to Thessalonika before we quit today. If you want a more detailed read of the story, read Acts.
In time, Paul and Barnabas got into a kerfuffle and went their separate ways. Paul chose Silas as his new traveling companion and another young man – Timothy – whom he had met along the way. This was the Timothy Paul would later refer to as “my true son in the faith”. The three traveled to Galatia, in the eastern part of the Turkish peninsula, and from there, ended up on the far western edge of the peninsula, in Troas, the ancient site of the Homeric city of Troy. It was there that Paul had his 2nd life-changing vision – this one of “a man of Macedonia standing on the far shore and calling across the sea, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us!’”
Paul and Silas went first to Philippi, but we will skip over that visit for now, because, while the actual visit to Philippi came first, Paul’s letter to the community at Philippi will be the fifth letter written, chronologically. After many stirring adventures in Philippi, Paul and Silas finally made it to Thessalonika – where they almost immediately got into trouble with the local hard-line Jews. In the 17th chapter of Acts we are told:
Some of the locals were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy. But the hard-line Jews became furious over the conversions. Mad with jealousy, they rounded up a bunch of brawlers off the streets and soon had an ugly mob terrorizing the city as they hunted down Paul and Silas.
Their Thessalonian friends had to smuggle them out of town. This became of course, a theme that runs all through Paul’s journeys. And I said “almost immediately” but this surely is an exaggeration. They would almost certainly have preached publically several times to stir up that much opposition and likely have met in small groups in homes before going public – perhaps a matter of weeks, or even a few months. Certainly long enough to create and build a community strong enough to have stood against the Judaizers after Paul and Silas were forced to leave. And when they did leave Thessalonika, they only moved to the next town, Berea, where they were better received for a while, until the “Jews” found them again, and eventually then, on to Athens.
From Athens Paul quietly sent Timothy back to Thessalonika to check on the community there while he kept everyone’s attention on himself in Athens. The First Letter to the Thessalonians was Paul’s response to what he learned from Timothy.
Paul is clearly pleased and gratified to hear that the community in Thessalonika remembered him fondly and looked for his speedy return. They have not been infected by those who would tear Paul’s teachings apart.
We have to remember that this is Paul’s first pastoral letter -- or at least, the first that survived and made it down to us. It is relatively short – only five short chapters. And Paul does not have to immediately go into defense mode because, unlike many of the later letters, there is no open controversy tearing them apart. They actually seem to be doing well. There are issues and questions – and they wish Paul was there in person to teach them – but there is no open schism. It is a refreshingly innocent letter. That innocence will not last long in some of Paul’s later letters.
In its short five chapters (and do remember those chapters are a modern addition. A letter is not written in chapters. Later editors inserted those divisions for what they assumed would be clarity.) In these 5 chapters, there are only two actual theological points made. The first is found in the content and wording of the letter. The second is obviously a point of belief, discussed and explained. We’ll look at the first today, and hold the 2nd for next week when we have more time to go into it.
The first is the “family” imagery that Paul uses throughout the letter. This is language that we still use right here, two thousand years later – language that is commonly used throughout much of the church. Fourteen times Paul refers to the Thessalonians as “brothers and sisters.” The original Greek text does translate as “brothers” not “brothers and sisters” but those who study such things assure us that the context and language here indeed do make it perfectly clear that Paul was not discussing “those who are male among us,” but “those who are siblings in this new family of faith.”
Think how important this image of “the family of God” is in our understanding of our faith. And then think how revolutionary it must have been in a power-dominated world – a wealth and caste-stratified society such Jesus' and Paul’s world would have been. Think what that language would mean to a listening slave, or a woman, or a beggar on the street. Family. It is a hugely powerful concept – one that many of us, even today, need to expand to include all God’s children -- and thanks to Paul, among others, it is enshrined at the very heart of our faith.
The 2nd big point to be found here has to do with Jesus’ return – the Second Coming. That requires much more time than we have available to us today, so we’ll stop here and come back to it next week. You might want to take a look at First Thessalonians this week to better prepare yourselves.
(NOTE: a map of the area is always helpful to have on hand when reading Paul's letters)
This shunning of Paul lasted until Barnabas, whom everyone apparently trusted, first spoke up for the authenticity of Paul’s conversion and then took Paul with him to work among the established community in Antioch in northern Syria and in the surrounding area.
The two traveled around to Cyprus and then the southern part of modern day Turkey for a while, then back to Antioch, where they found “men of Judea” trying to undo everything they had taught – insisting that to be a Jesus-follower meant the gentiles had to first become observant Jews, with circumcision and dietary laws and everything. Paul and Barnabas headed back to Jerusalem to resolve this issue – hopefully once and for all. Somewhat surprisingly, the church leaders agreed with Paul and sent Paul and Barnabas, along with two other evangelists – Silas and Judas – back to Antioch to reassure the community there and to continue teaching, using a particular set of guidelines they had developed.
This is a long and complicated story I’m throwing at you today – there are an incredible number of moving pieces, not to mention all the place names – but I’m trying to get you the most stripped down version I can because I still hope to actually get us to Thessalonika before we quit today. If you want a more detailed read of the story, read Acts.
In time, Paul and Barnabas got into a kerfuffle and went their separate ways. Paul chose Silas as his new traveling companion and another young man – Timothy – whom he had met along the way. This was the Timothy Paul would later refer to as “my true son in the faith”. The three traveled to Galatia, in the eastern part of the Turkish peninsula, and from there, ended up on the far western edge of the peninsula, in Troas, the ancient site of the Homeric city of Troy. It was there that Paul had his 2nd life-changing vision – this one of “a man of Macedonia standing on the far shore and calling across the sea, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us!’”
Paul and Silas went first to Philippi, but we will skip over that visit for now, because, while the actual visit to Philippi came first, Paul’s letter to the community at Philippi will be the fifth letter written, chronologically. After many stirring adventures in Philippi, Paul and Silas finally made it to Thessalonika – where they almost immediately got into trouble with the local hard-line Jews. In the 17th chapter of Acts we are told:
Some of the locals were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy. But the hard-line Jews became furious over the conversions. Mad with jealousy, they rounded up a bunch of brawlers off the streets and soon had an ugly mob terrorizing the city as they hunted down Paul and Silas.
Their Thessalonian friends had to smuggle them out of town. This became of course, a theme that runs all through Paul’s journeys. And I said “almost immediately” but this surely is an exaggeration. They would almost certainly have preached publically several times to stir up that much opposition and likely have met in small groups in homes before going public – perhaps a matter of weeks, or even a few months. Certainly long enough to create and build a community strong enough to have stood against the Judaizers after Paul and Silas were forced to leave. And when they did leave Thessalonika, they only moved to the next town, Berea, where they were better received for a while, until the “Jews” found them again, and eventually then, on to Athens.
From Athens Paul quietly sent Timothy back to Thessalonika to check on the community there while he kept everyone’s attention on himself in Athens. The First Letter to the Thessalonians was Paul’s response to what he learned from Timothy.
Paul is clearly pleased and gratified to hear that the community in Thessalonika remembered him fondly and looked for his speedy return. They have not been infected by those who would tear Paul’s teachings apart.
We have to remember that this is Paul’s first pastoral letter -- or at least, the first that survived and made it down to us. It is relatively short – only five short chapters. And Paul does not have to immediately go into defense mode because, unlike many of the later letters, there is no open controversy tearing them apart. They actually seem to be doing well. There are issues and questions – and they wish Paul was there in person to teach them – but there is no open schism. It is a refreshingly innocent letter. That innocence will not last long in some of Paul’s later letters.
In its short five chapters (and do remember those chapters are a modern addition. A letter is not written in chapters. Later editors inserted those divisions for what they assumed would be clarity.) In these 5 chapters, there are only two actual theological points made. The first is found in the content and wording of the letter. The second is obviously a point of belief, discussed and explained. We’ll look at the first today, and hold the 2nd for next week when we have more time to go into it.
The first is the “family” imagery that Paul uses throughout the letter. This is language that we still use right here, two thousand years later – language that is commonly used throughout much of the church. Fourteen times Paul refers to the Thessalonians as “brothers and sisters.” The original Greek text does translate as “brothers” not “brothers and sisters” but those who study such things assure us that the context and language here indeed do make it perfectly clear that Paul was not discussing “those who are male among us,” but “those who are siblings in this new family of faith.”
Think how important this image of “the family of God” is in our understanding of our faith. And then think how revolutionary it must have been in a power-dominated world – a wealth and caste-stratified society such Jesus' and Paul’s world would have been. Think what that language would mean to a listening slave, or a woman, or a beggar on the street. Family. It is a hugely powerful concept – one that many of us, even today, need to expand to include all God’s children -- and thanks to Paul, among others, it is enshrined at the very heart of our faith.
The 2nd big point to be found here has to do with Jesus’ return – the Second Coming. That requires much more time than we have available to us today, so we’ll stop here and come back to it next week. You might want to take a look at First Thessalonians this week to better prepare yourselves.
(NOTE: a map of the area is always helpful to have on hand when reading Paul's letters)
RSS Feed