Thessalonian Pasta...

Let's review...

The church at Thessalonica was a flagship church of sorts. The people of that group displayed exemplary spiritual behavior in many ways. We studied about that in chapter one.

In the first half of chapter two we find that Paul has some strong attachment to these people. In fact, the context we used, (and the picture that Paul paints), was that of parenting. We discussed the things that you try to do as a parent and we talked about how some of those roles are "gentle and nurturing", but other roles are more forceful and challenging. Typically, society may group those into the "mother" and "father" roles. Some families fall right in line with that model, some don't. I mentioned briefly on Sunday that the functionality of a family has less to do with who does what role, (structure), and more to do with the fulfillment of the roles. If children are getting the gentleness, instruction, firmness, compassion, etc. etc. etc. that they need, then it does not matter quite so much who does it. Even single parent families can be very functional (not that its an easy thing).

Paul addresses these people like a parent- both a mother and a father. Paul expressed the gentleness and compassion of a mother in verse 7. In fact, the phrase, "like a mother caring for her little children" could have been translated along the lines of "like a nursing mother caring for her children (emphasis mine- that's twice in two weeks!!! Woot!!)

In verse 11 Paul comes along sounding like a father- talking of how he has tried to be encouraging and how he has challenged the people to a life worthy of God!

So, in these few verses we see how Paul has cared for these people in a great variety of ways- tender like a mother... challenging like a father... And like I said on Sunday, I am not sure if after reading this part of the book I think, "Gee, I understand parenting better in light of 1 Thessaolonians 2" or "Gee, I understand 1 Thessalonians 2 better in the light of parenting." Or maybe it is both- whatever. I am not sure its a bad thing any way you go.

One of the things we have to remember as we look at the rest of chapter 2 is that is was not an easy thing to boldly believe in Jesus at the writing of this letter- at least not in Thessalonica. Look at some of the language Paul uses as he writes this letter:

1:6 - severe suffering
2:14 - suffered from your own countrymen
2:14 - suffered from the Jews
2:15 - drove us out
2:15 - hostile to all men
2:16 - in their effort to keep us from speaking
2:18 - but Satan stopped us
3:3 - trials

(all word references are NIV)

You cannot come away from this book without the knowledge and the feeling that the atmosphere of the time was not exactly conducive to Wednesday night small group or Sunday morning bible class! So here we have the challenge for this church (and, I believe, for us). If we are to continue to grow in a hostile world, how will we do it? How will we continue? How will we survive?

Paul offers some help in the second half of the second chapter. None of it is really surprising, but all of it is valuable, and all of it is good to remember on a regular basis.

The Word of God:

Paul mentions the response to the Word. (2:13) It all comes down to the attitude with which these people treated the Word of God and the teachings. They received the Word and gave it due respect. The "internalized" it to the point where they lived out the things they learned from the Word. They accepted the Word as truth and built their lives around the truth they found there. As we walk through a world that is hostile to the truth, let us be as respectful and diligent about the Word as the Thessalonians.

The People of God:

We all have said it- "I don't know where I would be if not for the love and the kindness show by my friends- those all around me who care." (At least, I hope we have all felt that at one time or another) These Thessalonians could not have endured the difficulties had they not stood together. 1 Thess 2: 14-15 paints that picture of a group of people, firm in their belief, standing together in the face of opposition. That is one of the things I love so much about our class- I feel like I am standing firm, surrounded by people who believe that same as me. And there is, indeed, some safety in numbers.

The Hope of God:

We have spoken a fair amount about hope lately. And that's OK. Without it we are lost. In verse 17-19, Paul turns his eyes (and ours) toward the hope and the glory before us. Paul was training this church to be forward looking- to always remember the glory of God that is coming. We will see more of this as we progress through the book. There is nothing like the hope of something better to help one get through the difficult moments. Again, I say that we have the same challenge- to remember that we are "holding on" until the return of the Lord. We are often blessed with good things here on this earth- family, friends, relationships, black raspberry pie, but nothing here is better than what is coming, and it is especially good to remember that when things are hard. Remember Zoom.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon