PAUL'S FIRST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS
INTRODUCTION, GREETINGS, AND THANKSGIVING
1 Thess. 1:1-10
INTRODUCTION
Paul Heads for Thessalonica
It is 50/51 A.D. Paul is standing on the western shores of modern-day Turkey. He has tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit has stopped him. He has tried to go south to Ephesus in Asia, but once more the Holy Spirit has placed obstacles in his way. Which way to go? Surely not back east, a region he has already evangelized. Through a vision in the night the Lord instructs him to cross the Aegean Sea and go west, west to Macedonia.
Although many today correctly see this as a momentous occasion because this one act resulted in Europe, not Asia, being the center for Christianity for the next 2000 years, Paul would not have viewed it that way. In Paul's mind he was simply going from one province in the Roman empire to another one across the Aegean Sea.
According to William Barclay surely one person though did enter his mind whenever he crossed into Macedonia. Whatever else Macedonia was, it was the home of Alexander the Great. The Roman province of Macedon had been Alexander's home. The first city in Macedonia Paul evangelized (Philippi) was actually named after Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon. Paul later evangelized the Macedonian city of Thessalonica named after Alexander's half-sister. Like the Colossus bestrode the harbor of Rhodes Alexander dominated that part of the world.
Why was Alexander so important? Conquering the known world surely counted for something in Alexander's favor; however, he didn't conquer the known world for mere political gain. He had a vision, a universal vision of uniting the entire world under his vision. What was that vision? The Hellenization of the whole world, that is, the whole world adopting Greek culture. Instead of the world being broken up into tiny fragments of petty kingdoms, the world would be united under the umbrella of the highest culture of that day, the Greek culture.
Paul, like Alexander, had lofty thoughts. For Paul Greek culture was too small under which to unite the world. Paul was presenting a much loftier vision of uniting the world. He would unite the world under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Now that was a grand and lofty vision.
Paul's vision is really the only vision Christians should follow. We have adapted that vision recently in our church to say: "First Baptist Church says 'yes' to God by loving people where they are and encouraging them to follow Christ with passion." Now we ALL operate out of vision, whether we know what that vision is or not. The question you need to ask yourself is "Do you know what your vision is?" Second, are you operating out of God's vision? Third, if not, what are you going to do about it?"
Paul at Thessalonica
Although many DID yield to Paul's vision and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, Paul nevertheless experienced much opposition, first at Philippi and then later at Thessalonica. (The hostility he encountered at Thessalonica was so severe that his tormentors actually pursued and hounded him out of the next city of Berea.) The Philippian magistrates rejected him because they claimed that he was upsetting their ROMAN customs by proclaiming this Jesus.
The Jews in Thessalonica who didn't care one whit about Roman customs nevertheless used Rome as a weapon against Paul. Thessalonica was a free city; that is, it experienced no Roman interference because it was so loyal to Rome. When the Jews leveled against Paul the charge of treason, the Roman magistrates took the charge very seriously. If Rome thought that the magistrates were harboring traitors, she would revoke Thessalonica's status and privilege as a free city. This the magistrates simply wouldn't stand for.
Where in the world though would the Jews come up with such a preposterous charge? First, by spinning Paul's gospel, they could come up with the charge of treason. When Paul came to Thessalonica, he preached to the Thessalonians that the Messiah (God's king) was to suffer, die, and rise again, and that Jesus was this Messiah (Acts 17:3). Although Paul preached a spiritual kingdom, the Jews could very easily twist his words to mean that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman government and set up an earthly kingdom. Such talk would easily be construed as treasonous.
Second, the Jews could appeal to the fact that Jesus Himself, the founder of Christianity, had died on the basis of treason. Although Jesus did die for claiming to be God the Son, the Jewish religious leadership did at first level against Jesus the charge of treason. The trial of Jesus was certainly documented; those documents could be appealed to.
The Jews by using the charge of treason against Paul were able to stir up enough trouble that the city magistrates not only were able to force Paul out of town but also to make Jason, a new Christian convert, post bond. Jason had to put up a substantial amount of money guaranteeing that Paul would not stir up trouble again in Thessalonica. If Paul did cause trouble, Jason, not Paul would suffer the consequences. (It is quite possible that the magistrates would have imprisoned Jason and his family if Paul didn't leave the city.) For this reason Paul leaves Thessalonica.
Paul is naturally worried about the spiritual welfare of the church at Thessalonica. He had not been able to minister there very long because of the uproar. Such new converts were certainly vulnerable to lies and slanders against Paul and the gospel he proclaimed. Whatever else 1 and 2 Thessalonians are, they are the letters from a pastor's heart, from the heart of one who loves and cares dearly for them.
The Nature of the Letters
As was just stated above 1 and 2 Thessalonians are primarily letters of a pastor to his congregation expressing his concern and care for them. The first part of 1 Thessalonians deals with the attacks of Paul's opponents in Thessalonica against him.
Next, Paul will deal with some outstanding issues he had addressed while in Thessalonica but had not FULLY addressed. Through the letter he is now completing what is lacking in their faith:
GREETINGS (1:1)
Following the custom of letter writing in the first century A.D. Paul places the names of the writers of the letter first: Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy. He then names the recipients of the letters: the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Finally, he prays for grace and peace upon their lives.
There are 3 interesting things about this greeting. First, whereas Paul would normally write "the church OF God/Jesus" (indicating ownership), here he writes "the church IN God/Jesus." The preposition "in" used in this case makes God the sphere in which the church lives, breathes, and moves. It's like God is an ocean and we are fish swimming around constantly in that ocean, the ocean of God's Spirit/presence. God not only owns us, He is also the daily source of our life and being.
Is this true about us? Is God the ocean we swim in, or is He something we have simply tacked onto our lives, especially on Sunday mornings?
Second, it's not simply to the church "in God" Paul writes, but to the church in "God and Jesus." The Jews in Thessalonica would have had no problem with Paul writing to the church (assembly) of God; rather they objected to the church in "God and Jesus." Paul is linking Jesus inseparably with God the Father. According to Paul and contrary to the Jews, you cannot have God the Father without God the Son.
Third, Paul pronounces grace and peace upon the Thessalonians. We are so familiar with this pronouncement that we fail to understand the impact it made upon those early readers of Paul's letters. Normally, whenever you greeted a Greek, you would say, "Joy!" (chara pron. KAIR-rah). Paul substitutes grace (charis pron. KAIR-is) for "joy." By grace Paul means the unmerited, undeserved, lavishly-bestowed favor God has poured out upon us through Jesus Christ. It either comes through Christ, or it doesn't come at all. That is, the only way that we can receive God's favor is by being in a positive relationship with Jesus Christ.
Now notice how similar "joy" and "grace" are in the Greek. Paul may be implying the source of all true joy is God's grace.
Next, Paul pronounces "peace" upon the Thessalonians. "Peace" (in Hebrew "shalom" pron. shall-LOAM) was the normal Jewish greeting in the first century. It meant more than the absence of warfare. It meant the presence of good will, abundance, prosperity, welfare. It's the difference between having peace with Castro whom we are not nuking and having peace with Great Britain whom we are supporting.
The order in the greeting is important. Grace precedes peace. In fact, the only true way to experience God's peace is first to experience God's grace and favor. Only by being right with God can we ultimately be at peace with God, with ourselves, with others.
THANKSGIVING (1:2-10)
Content of Thanksgiving (1:2-5)
The letter-writer in the first century would follow his greeting with a short thanksgiving. Paul follows this custom and thanks not the Thessalonians but God FOR the Thessalonians.
Now this thanksgiving is not a curt, perfunctory note of thanks. The Greek says: "We are CONTINUALLY giving thanks to God ALWAYS for all of you, CONTINUALLY making mention of you in our prayers CONSTANTLY." It is as if Paul can't thank God enough for the Thessalonian Christians. That is how much Paul loves and cares for the Thessalonian Christians.
What does Paul thank God for with regards to the Thessalonians?
Although these are the 3 great Christian virtues, here Paul is not emphasizing these 3 virtues. Rather, he is emphasizing the life/the works they are producing in the Thessalonians. They don't simply have faith: their faith works! They don't simply feel love towards others: their love strenuously labors to do good for others. They aren't simply hopeful: their hope keeps them steadfast in their commitment to Jesus Christ.
This passage especially applies to our church. Our church tends to attract people who have at least graduated from high school and have spent some time in college. Many hold college degrees, even the higher degrees. We value education at First Baptist. We have got to be careful though about becoming too "knowledge"-driven in our relationship with Christ. Knowledge IS good and IS necessary; however, knowledge is not the goal. The goal is a wonderful relationship with God and others based upon that right knowledge. True Christian knowledge works. It produces transformed lives. Has your knowledge about Jesus transformed your life so that you are serving others in love?
At first blush this could be interpreted as meaning that the Thessalonians were so good that their good works saved them. "Not so!" says Paul. He goes on to make sure we understand that the Thessalonians' salvation (and OUR salvation) is the result of GOD working in our lives: "knowing, brethren, beloved by God His CHOICE of you." This does not mean that God chose the Thessalonians and rejected others; He wills that ALL people be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Rather it means that whereas some responded to God's choice and others did not, those who are saved RESPONDED, not initiated, BUT RESPONDED POSITIVELY to God. Salvation is a response. We can't save ourselves. We just respond positively to what God has done in Jesus. Paul thanks God that the Thessalonians have responded positively to God.
Assurances of Their Salvation (1:5-10)
How can Paul be assured though that the Thessalonians have responded POSITIVELY to God's offer of salvation in Jesus? Two ways. First, he saw supernatural movement upon the Thessalonians when he preached the gospel to them. Second, their transformed lives guaranteed that they had truly been saved.
First, the supernatural nature of their conversion assured Paul that the Thessalonians were truly saved: "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in POWER, and in the HOLY SPIRIT, and with FULL CONVICTION as you yourselves know." Maybe the Thessalonians spoke in tongues whenever the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just like He fell upon the Ephesian converts (Acts 19:1-7). Paul doesn't tell us how he knew for sure the Holy Spirit was in might and power in their conversion; however, the Spirit's dramatic working in that event assured Paul that they were truly saved indeed.
It just might be that the Thessalonians themselves could attest to the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. When it is all said and done, you know whether or not the Spirit of Jesus lives in you. Nathan became a Christian when he was only 7 years old. A few years later I was a little anxious, wondering if he had indeed become a Christian. So one night while he was lying on his bed reading a book, I asked him how he knew for sure he was a Christian. He matter-of-factly said: "Because Jesus is my heart." No hesitation. Just straightforward confession. From that point on I never wondered if Nathan was a Christian. The presence of the Spirit of Jesus in our lives is THE conclusive proof that a person is truly saved (Rom. 8:9). Can you say with the same assurance that Christ lives in you?
Second, Paul was assured that the Thessalonians were truly saved because of their transformed lives: "You also became imitators of us [the apostles] and of the Lord." Today we don't value imitation. We value originalists. Yet probably the most boring predictable people in the world are originalists. They really are adding nothing new to the discussion. I tell young people today who are imitating the culture of the 1960's that the 60's weren't even good the first time around. C. S. Lewis said that when he was an atheist, the only interesting writers he could find were Christian writers. He thought it strange that he thought them interesting because he thought they were so wrong-headed in their beliefs. Yet we should not be surprised that followers of God in Christ are interesting people. Christians follow the God who is so creative that the first thing the Bible says about Him is that He is creative: "In the beginning God created . . ."
The word translated "imitators" could be better translated "mimics," somebody who mimics somebody else. Children are good at mimicking others. The other day I was walking past the playground and my nephew walked alongside me. I started laughing because he had stuck out his stomach. I laughed even harder when I realized he was imitating ME AND MY BIG BELLY! Just like kids imitate adults, so we too should imitate certain godly people in our lives. No one is a complete originalist. We are ALL imitating somebody. Who are YOU imitating?
Paul now lists 2 ways that the Thessalonians imitated him, the apostles, and the Lord. First, they received "the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit." Now this does not mean they received the Bible. The "Word" here refers to the word Paul spoke about Jesus, the gospel. Not only did they receive this word about Jesus, they received it in spite of undergoing tribulation.
We are so fortunate in 21st-century America not to have undergone tribulation for Jesus' sake. (That might change though.) The truth is that the world-wide church itself though has been undergoing tribulation for the past 2000 years. More Christians died for Jesus during the 20th century than in the previous 1900 years COMBINED! Richard Wurmbrand, one who suffered terribly for Jesus in Romania during the reign of terror of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, was actually upset with the American church for not supporting Christians suffering martyrdom overseas. The National Council of Churches in America threw salt into the wounds of those suffering for Jesus by supporting the "official" churches of the communist countries. One prominent conservative evangelical leader went to Russia during the days of the old Soviet Union and declared that there was religious freedom in Russia. We go to church, sing the latest choruses, get that warm fuzzy feeling, and then go home happy, totally oblivious of the suffering our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering overseas.
The wild thing is that our Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering are doing so with a spirit of joy. Wurmbrand underwent solitary confinement for three years. THREE years! Three years all alone by himself in a cell. Yet HE HIMSELF was truly humbled when he met a fellow Christian who had suffered TWENTY-FIVE years in solitary confinement and emerged from that confinement with great joy in his heart. Only Christ can give that kind of joy in that kind of situation.
Unless we are dead, we all suffer in one way or other. How do YOU respond whenever you suffer? Gripe? Complain? Whine? Make life miserable for your spouse and/or family and friends?
How accurately did the Thessalonians imitate Paul and the Lord Jesus? To such an extent that others started imitating the Thessalonian Christians themselves! That is the true measure of spiritual success. I am impacted by Christ and follow Him so that others may follow me and thereby follow Christ.
The second way the Thessalonians imitated Paul was that they proclaimed the gospel after they believed it: "For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you." The word translated "sounded forth" is actually better translated "trumpeted forth"! This wasn't a mild, meek spreading forth of the good news about Jesus. Just like Jesus and Paul after Him, they BLASTED forth the goods of Jesus.
Just how loud was their trumpet? The noise they made for Jesus was not limited to just their little area, their neighborhood in Thessalonica. Rather their clarion call to faith in Christ was heard throughout all Macedonia, Achaia, AND everywhere else people have heard about them.
Ask yourself the following question: are you making a little pip-squeak when you speak about Jesus or are you a trumpet blasting forth your faith in Christ?
What were people hearing about the new Thessalonian converts? That they had turned from idols to serve the living and true God and that they were waiting expectantly the return of Jesus. Their Christian life could be summed up as (1) serving God and (2) waiting for Jesus. It wasn't trying to make as much money as you can to buy the biggest and best toys. Rather it was to serve God and wait for Jesus. The Christian life IS that simple.
A side note. For all practical purposes in the thanksgiving part of the letter Paul has introduced the major themes of the rest of 1 Thessalonians: his relationship with the Thessalonians, their need to imitate him and the Lord Jesus, and finally the second coming of Christ. Paul definitely writes with purpose and with economy of words.