I. Introduction
Don't miss the prequel to this blog which you'll find HERE
Or the AUDIO of the prequel which you will find HERE
There's AUDIO of this item, to be found HERE
This chapter is all about the Apostolic team drawing a small, isolated, ostracised and ministry-deprived church closer to the team, encouraging them in mimetic learning from the Apostles' example when the Apostles' face to face ministry was withdrawn.
II. Team building: authentic ministry, vv.
1-2
"You know, brothers and sisters, that our
visit to you was not without results. 2 We had previously suffered and been
treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we
dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition."
What the Apostolic team are doing here is to both
model and find common cause with the Thessalonians to bind their hearts closer
to the guys on the team in authentic Christian fellowship: faith and following
of Christ working hand in hand together.
Now, you've got to bear in mind that the sort of
social group that exists at Thessalonica in the church there is NOT entirely
unknown to the Roman world.
It - at a human level - filled a felt need in
contemporary society to have groups about like this ... and there were lots of
small voluntary associations in the first century Graeco-Roman world.
There's a book called 'Group Survival in the
Ancient Mediterranean' by Richard Last and Philip Harland which shows churches
were by no means the only kinds of groups that existed for friendship and
mutual support in places like Thessalonica.
Some were centred on a common occupation, others
were 'neighbourhood' based (like a local WhatsApp group for contact and
support), some were more clan based and others were doing pagan rituals but
were basically social.
Most seemed to share meals, offer some sort of
worship and nurtured community ... so that's probably the guise under which the
persecuted church in Thessalonica outwardly operated.
Now, interestingly enough for us – and this is a
startling correction perhaps to how we often view NT churches we read of in the
Bible - there are NONE of these associations dedicated to a deity of which we
know that numbered much more than about 30 people ... the church at
Thessalonica (and elsewhere around the Empire) was in all likelihood going to
be SMALL by the standards of the church in the West.
Paul and the team's team building (which is going
on in this letter) takes place for the benefit of a SMALL church which is an
alienated minority.
And in THAT sort of context you can see EXACTLY what it is that the apostles are doing.They are drawing into themselves the small socially alienated church at Thessalonica, and given that all this takes place against the background of the 'imitators of us' and 'imitators of you' ideas referred to in chapter one ... what points of solidarity and of good example are the apostolic team going to highlight?
A. Authentic ministry - genuine results, v.
1
"You know, brothers and sisters, that our
visit to you was not without results."
This is a statement that authenticates the
example of the Apostles because it says there were results of what we're about
at Thessalonica.
What were those results?
THEY were ... saved Thessalonians reading or
hearing this letter were!
You KNOW this is the right stuff we're showing
you because LOOK at you - you are the fruit of it, and you KNOW how genuine what God did in you was!
They should imitate the faith of Paul and the
team, because they could see Paul & co.were genuine, because these folks were the fruits of their ministry.
Then Paul continues to bring their hearts
together, by citing NOT just their shared experience of conversion, but also
their shared hard subsequent Christian experience.
B. Authentic ministry - Paul's sufferings for Christ, v. 2a
"We had previously suffered and been treated
outrageously in Philippi, as you know ..."
The reason the hostile world treats Christians
badly ... particularly in a shame culture like the 1st century Roman world ...
is to make you feel shame as others see how weak you are.
Paul doesn't believe he has anything to be
ashamed about because He works on a guilt basis not a shame basis and His guilt
has been cleaned yup by the blood of Christ.
He is not concerned that others see him as
shamed.
He IS concerned that Christ has died for His sin
and that others should come to know and love the Lord.
And He also quite agrees about his own weakness
... but he also knows very surely that when he, Paul, is weak ... then He is
strong in his God.
This is an understanding of human nature worked out
so very, very helpfully in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 in the context of
boasting ... Paul boasts in his infirmities, his WEAKNESS, because when Paul is
weak God is strong and it is GOD Who gets glory thereby.
So Paul is therefore NOT humbled by his
persecutions and hardships but feels authenticated by them, because this is
walking the way of the Cross ... whereas it is the mark of the false apostle
and the false prophet to boast in their accomplishments, achievements and
this-worldly blessings.
And in modelling THAT, Paul is building a bond
with these people at Thessalonica who have been socially ostracised and
ostracised in their work and their trades by their following Christ.
Paul models the way of the Cross which authenticates them as they walk that way
too.
He is encouraging them and bonding with them, and
teaching by example that they should be affirmed that they are living this way.
C. Authentic ministry - daring faith, v. 2b
"(We had previously suffered and been
treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but)
with the help of our God we dared to tell you his
gospel in the face of strong opposition."
Now look ... these apostles have set the example of
putting their lives on the line for the Gospel.
They've not done so rashly, they've not done so without point or purpose, they have not done so in such a way as to prejudice the safety of others. But they have put their own lives on the line for the Gospel.
Let's be clear what this means:
Firstly, they have exemplified in their actions
what Paul says explicitly to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 as he
bids them farewell on his way to Jerusalem, then Rome and (ultimately) Glory:
" ‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am
going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know
that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are
facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is
to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task
of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."
Firstly, It is HIS life that HE puts on the line.
Not someone else's.
That is highly relevant in our current situation.
And at Thessalonica the fact is that the
Apostolic team left town at an inconvenient time for them and 'for the work'
when it was Jason and the others in the fledgling church at Thessalonica whose
lives had been put on the line by the civil magistrate if Paul and co. didn't
stop, cease and desist from their Gospel preaching.
PAUL's life on the line not anyone else's.
And secondly, the apostolic team put their lives on the line for or the GOSPEL.
Not for this or that civil liberty, not for some
earthly political purpose that he COULD find Biblical justification for, not
for being able to do church the way HE wants to, none of that.
Just this, the fulfilment of his personal calling
from God which is:
"... the task of testifying to the good news
of God’s grace." (Acts 20:24)
They considered their lives were to be lived for
the communication of the good news of God's grace so if THAT was the purpose of
their lives then THAT is what they would do, and if THAT cost them their lives
then so be it.
But their lives were bought for that purpose by
the Gospel.
Their lives were no longer their own but belonged
to their Redeemer Who had paid His life for theirs and now intended the life
He'd bought to be used for this purpose ... and not to be squandered
willy-nilly for another purpose.
Do you see the point?
1 Thessalonians 2 is holding out this purpose of
Christian life as a standard to which it invites Christians to aspire and with
which it urges and encourages them to identify, and as it does so it exhibits
this unifying purpose, this point of solidarity and exhortation to imitation
which builds the team of the Apostles and the young church at Thessalonica.
And this is going to boost the morale of the Thessalonian
believers!
This is the real deal, and we're in this
TOGETHER, says this letter, as it urges them to also make their choices so as
to imitate the choices of the Apostolic team and to be in sanctified saving
solidarity with them.
Team building: genuine life-changing results,
Christ following suffering, daring faith (which looks like you REALLY trust
Jesus) and then ministry integrity.
III. Team building: the Apostles' ministry integrity, vv. 3-7a
"For the appeal we make does not spring from
error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.
4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by
God to be entrusted with the gospel.
We are not trying to please people but God, who
tests our hearts.
5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put
on a mask to cover up greed – God is our witness.
6 We were not looking for praise from people, not
from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have
asserted our authority.
7 Instead, we were like young children among
you."
A. Motives
"For the appeal we make does not spring from
error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.
4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by
God to be entrusted with the gospel.”
B. Man-pleasing
"We are not trying to please people but God,
who tests our hearts.
5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put
on a mask to cover up greed – God is our witness."
C. Applause
"We were not looking for praise from people,
not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted
our authority.
7 Instead, we were like young children among
you."
There are two negative assertions and a positive
one here, and they describe conduct that is the opposite of natural human
behaviour.
1. Not looking for human praise
"We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone
else"
There are some VERY insecure Christian leaders
out there, and some very insecure preachers at that.
They are not secure in the sufficiency of Christ
and you can recognise them readily because they're the ones they play to the
Gallery (worse: to the deacons' seat'), and not to the Heavens as they should.
The Apostolic team here led by Paul sets this
example: 'we were not looking for praise from people' ... not the local
politicians or property magnates invited to the campaign meeting's front row
(that wasn't a 'thing' in Paul's days).
Neither were they looking for praise from their
prospective converts ... to impress them into the Kingdom of God.
Human praise wasn't at ALL their motivation.
And neither was POWER over people.
2. Laying aside the authority we have
"even though as apostles
of Christ we could have asserted our authority"
I want to stress these because we are living
through times of great sensitivity to carnal considerations in leadership,
attitudes that are the opposite of what Paul and co are saying here, and
attitudes that form up these days under the heading of what is (rightly or
wrongly) called 'spiritual abuse'.
Now 'spiritual abuse' is a secularly determined
phenomenon and it is sometimes made to mean things that reflect hurts of people
who've become hostile to God for reasons more about them than the people they
accuse, but Scripture has a definition and a decrying, too, of what we MUST
properly call 'spiritual abuse'.
- You see it in the Lord's warning to His disciples
in the Upper Room (no less) in Luke 22:25-27
"A dispute also arose among them as to which
of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the
Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call
themselves Benefactors.
26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the
greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the
one who serves.
27 For who is greater, the one who is at the
table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am
among you as one who serves."
We lay aside any ambition for PERSONAL authority
... authority as if it were our own possession ... because we lay aside worldly
ideas of desiring STATUS.
We KNOW we're not great, but that our God is, and
that conditions Paul's conduct amongst God's people, which is the model also
for ours.
That is a POWERFUL testimony to the Gospel of God
because it models a God-induced change to fundamentally self-centred behaviour
RIGHT at the point where conviction of sin and salvation impacts human life.
That is the outworking in lifestyle of the
doctrines of sin and salvation and that speaks POWERFULLY to people whose
world-view is so far at the moment from the Christian one … it’s the sort of thing
that transforms the existing narrative of people who are currently far from
God.
And humanly speaking, it can be FAR more powerful
in that sort of situation in bringing about Gospel transformation than QUITE A
LOT of forty minute Sunday sermons.
Living like this is what makes you one of 'us',
is Paul's idea.
What were these Apostles like among them?
3. Then positively: Being 'Like children among you'
What is Paul getting at here?
The child is a person without status in Hebrew
society ...
Matthew 18:1-3
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus
and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the
child among them. 3 And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and
become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name
welcomes me."
Luke 9:4-48
"An argument started among the disciples as
to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took
a little child and made him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, ‘Whoever
welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who
is the greatest.’
It's really no more complex than that.
We were like this among you, and you imitated us
showing yourselves to be the real deal and that has spread out as your mission
in the rest of the world ... that was the point made in 1:6-8.
IV. Team building: Paul's tender care, vv 7b-12
"Just as a nursing mother cares for her
children, 8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were
delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 9
Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked
night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the
gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy,
righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we
dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging,
comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his
kingdom and glory."
So here now Paul mixes his metaphors ... which he
loves to do.
I'm going to want to come back to this, and there
are textual issues to be decided, which will take more time than we can
possibly take now ... let's hold onto this one and come back to it later
There IS something here Paul points to as a teaching
point for the Thessalonians, not it appears to correct them but to affirm what
they're doing as they are (1:6-8) had become
"imitators of us and of the Lord, for you
welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the
Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and
Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia
– your faith in God has become known everywhere."
Here's Paul's big point in vv. 13-16 ...
V. Team building: You also are part of this team, vv. 13-16
"And we also thank God continually because,
when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at
work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of
God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: you suffered from your own
people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews 15 who killed the
Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are
hostile to everyone 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles
so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the
limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last."
Conclusion
So, look, Paul and co. are addressing a situation
where their ministry appeared to have been dealt a heavy blow.
The apostolic team's PREACHING mission in
Thessalonica had been going hard but well when it had to be ended APPARENTLY
prematurely on account of the bind-over order placed on the new believers there
to put a STOP to what Paul & co. were doing.
It was no longer the apostolic team's lives on
the line ... they had to vanish.
But the cause of God had gone forward without the
preachers.
However God NORMALLY works ... and He normally
works to save souls and start churches through the culturally appropriate
proclamation of His Word ... on this occasion His providence allowed the
subversion of the usual pattern.
God can do that when He wants to, and we have
seen something very similar to that this last year with our very own eyes!
Paul and co. in this epistle are saying to the
Thessalonian church that they have imitated the apostles lives in the lives
that they (the Thessalonians) have led while deprived of good Bible teaching
leadership ... and the letter encourages them in following that example - God's
Word written in their human lives - and encourages the Thessalonians they are
part of the Apostolic effort because the lives they've lived in mimicking the
apostles have proclaimed the Word and ways of God and His Gospel throughout the
world.
The message to them is that 'you are one with us'
... it's a bonding thing, a reinforcing of faith and an encouraging thing, and
it shows them their place in God's work in the world.
What greater encouragement to go in faith could
there be, when more regular and historic ways of preaching the Gospel and
worshipping the Lord have been removed from them because of the changed
situation?
And what PRIORITIES this passage sets here for
us, who have our accustomed world turned upside down by the lockdown and the
pandemic our God has allowed to us.
These are methods and priorities we haven't been
used to adopting much.
But this every-member modelling of the Gospel in
the ways Paul describes is certainly an outreach approach even more open to us,
with our modern media and resources, than ever was left open to the
Thessalonians.
As we are deprived of our public worship services and our face to face meetings may the Lord lead us forward in our work for His Kingdom, as we learn from this chapter.
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