Wilderness Wanderings

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

These are perhaps some of the more well known words from the book of 1 Thessalonians. I know I became aware of them in grade 7 after the death of my uncle. These are go-to words for funerals.

Some have twisted these words to suggest that Christians ought not to grieve. Instead, that we should just wave death away as if it were nothing to be sad about at all—"they're in a better place," we say. Or, "God has a plan." But in fact, when we use those statements or this text to skip over the pain and sorrow of losing some dear person, we have actually missed the point of all of it and perhaps even wounded ourselves or someone else in the process.

Paul never suggests that Christians ought not to grieve. Indeed, the Bible is full of examples of heart-sick and painful seasons of grief and weeping over the death and loss of so many things, including the people we love. Lament over the things that are not right but that we cannot change is a major thread through the Psalms. We even see Jesus weeping at the death of his friend, Lazarus—even though Jesus is himself the resurrection and the life!

So we ought not hear Paul wrongly here. Grief is not a sign of weak faith: it is a sign of deep love—the very thing that Christians are commanded most highly to have. What Paul does say is that when we grieve—because we will grieve—we do so with hope.

Our culture increasingly avoids death. A few years ago, an aunt of mine died in Las Vegas where she had lived for decades. A visitation was held before the funeral in a little chapel on site at the cemetery. A number of the people who came steered clear of the front of the sanctuary where her body lay. Some didn't even enter the room—admitting that the reason was their fear of facing the reality of death. They signed the guest book and got out. That was an odd experience for my family members who were present. Visitation lines around the casket are still a routine expectation in the rural small-town community I grew up in. But this is increasingly foreign to the secular world in which we live.

More and more often, the deceased does not attend their own funeral. Visitations happen less frequently, and sometimes the body or remains of the deceased do not show up there either. At least in part, that's because the secular world offers us no hope or story that can ground us in a world of meaning that transcends death's finality. So we avoid it altogether.

For Christians, this is different though. We do have a story. And we do have hope. It is a peculiar tradition that Christians hold of caring for the bodies of their dead, and accompanying those bodies every last step of the earthly journey—all the way to the graveside—and doing so with singing, confessions of faith, and proclamations of the hope of resurrection. Not only is facing death's cold reality an important psychological step in the journey of grieving—it is also an act of faith that our world without faith increasingly cannot take. They grieve without hope.

As Christians though, we are able to face the death of our loved ones. It is not easy. But we do it, because we stand together in the faith and hope that "Jesus died and rose again:" the sure promise that "God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." It is important that we do this together, because those closest to the loss cannot always hold on to this hope or sing the songs of resurrection themselves. So we do it for them as the Christian community. We carry them with our songs, prayers, and confessions of faith, trusting that this hope we've placed in Jesus' final word of life will carry us all until he comes again.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

And do everything you can to live a quiet life. You should mind your own business. And work with your hands, just as we told you to. Then unbelievers will have respect for your everyday life. And you won't have to depend on anyone (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

Yesterday's text encouraged the church to grow in the discipline of love. Christian charity always includes practical stuff like providing meals and offering transportation. Paul recognizes that this practice could be taken advantage of—some deciding to live off of the largess of others. Folks among the lower social classes might take up residence on the estate of a wealthy Christian, expecting the well healed to provide for their wellbeing. That is one issue Paul addresses here.

There is also another. Since Christians expected Jesus to return real soon, some had decided to abandon the normal pursuits of life, such as paid employment, and were camped on a hillside. With their noses turned up to the sky they spent the day singing Kumbaya and Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

They were creating a bit of a disturbance in the neighbourhood, expecting to be supplied with provisions and suggesting other Christians didn't have enough faith. As we might imagine, those who followed other gods, thought these Jesus followers had lost touch with reality. As a result, Christ's name was being discredited.

Whether one was camped on the hillside or illegally on some estate, without the normal pursuits of life these folks had too much time on their hands. As a result, they had begun to gossip and contribute their opinions into situations to which they had not been invited.

Paul recognizes that if the rule of love is to be effective, the rule of work must also be practiced. Christians must learn to live peaceably, not creating social disturbances. They must mind their own business not always prying into what other people are doing under the guise of 'family' interest. And they must do their best to find paid employment or something else that will benefit society.

Outsiders, looking at a movement that claims Jesus is Lord of the world, will be interested to see what effect this claim has on behaviour. Healthy financial behaviour, like sexual behaviour, is one telling indicator of the fitness and integrity of a community. Of course, within the fellowship, those in need should be provided for. This was why the place of widows, women left without a breadwinner, so quickly became important in the early church (Acts 6.1; 1 Timothy 5.3-16). However, these recipients should make themselves useful in other ways.

These are not side issues, away from the real theological heart of the Christian gospel. If God has created a family in Christ, and if that family is based on and characterized by nothing less than self-giving love, these things are vital. Happy the church that discovers what love in practice looks and feels like. Equally blessed in the Christian community that contributes to the wellbeing of the society in which they live. So that our daily living may win the respect of outsiders and that we will not be unnecessarily dependent on anybody (4:12).

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God's family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more… (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10)

There is a similar pattern here to what Paul said about sexuality in yesterday's devotion. It goes something like this: "you already do this in response to the teaching you have received—now do so more and more." What's different here is that the Thessalonians have not been taught by the apostles to love one another, but by God himself. This promise of God himself teaching his people echoes with a few Old Testament texts, and in the Thessalonians it is fulfilled. The Holy Spirit is at work among them. Praise God!

Indeed, Paul has already given thanks to God for just these things in chapter 1. This is quite likely their "Labor prompted by Love" and the way they have become "a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." Paul thanks God for it.

God's work of love through Jesus for and within these believers has very naturally led to their love for one another. This love is so overflowing that it has been a mark of their presence and ministry—not just within the city of Thessalonica—but throughout the province of Macedonia. We sing "they'll know we are Christians by our love" and it really is true. An overflowing, abundant, ready love for neighbours, strangers, enemies, and friends is a mark of God's own love having so filled someone that it flows over and splashes out everywhere in a ready smile, dedicated care, and a conciliatory, peace-making posture.

One of the signs of the health of our own congregation is exactly this. Members and visitors alike will often mention how this church's people care for one another. There are deep relationships here, without members being cliquey. There's always room enough to invite another to the table. And when someone is in need: prayers, cards, visits, and meals arrive! This is a gift of God's own love spilling over in our congregation! Praise God!

Paul's encouragement points to the fact that this is a gift that must be tended, though. Stewarded. Love can grow cold. People can get busy and distracted, weary and grieved. In order for our love muscles not to atrophy, they must continually be used. So the invitation for the Thessalonians to love like they already are loving—and to do so "more and more."

The same invitation comes to us—firstly to recognize and give thanks for the good work of multiplying his love among us that God is already doing, and then to lean into this good work of love more and more.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8).

Having prayed that their love and holiness would increase, Paul moves on to a hot topic of his day and of ours. We could travel down various rabbit trails to avoid his main concern. Let's not do that.

His primary concern is that we all learn to live "to please God", even in our sexuality. One of Canada's late Prime Ministers is famous for declaring, "There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation". God, however, reserves the right to inspect our conduct there. But this too, misses the purpose. Paul's concern for our sexuality is the same as his concern with alcohol. It should not control us; we should be controlled by the Spirit of Jesus.

In Paul's day, it was assumed that men could not be monogamous. What ever sexual pleasures they could afford was available to them: mistresses, slaves as concubines, prostitutes, etc. They were expected to fulfill whatever sexual desires they had. Its not much different in our day, except this goes for all of us.

But that is the way unbelievers, who do not know God, behave. They are controlled by these passions. No so the Christian. The Christian is under the sway of the Holy Spirit. The Christian's chief desire is to be holy, sanctified, to be of service to our Lord and Saviour. For the Christian, sexual fulfillment is not primary. It is not our identity.

Our identity is in Christ and our sexuality is subject to this reality. To borrow from the Heidelberg Catechism, "My only comfort is that, in life and in death, in body and soul, I belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ." Many try to find comfort in sexual experience. The trouble is that this comfort is momentary. Its fades as mist in the morning sun. The pursuit of holiness motives our living. Well, it should. Does it?

Elsewhere, Paul's advocacy for the single life is rooted in this truth. Recognizing it is not for everyone, it is a possibility for the Christian. We can life fulfilled lives without sexual intercourse.

Paul recognizes that when our sexual passions are not under the sway of the Spirit, we will harm others. Within marriage, our sexuality can be a beautiful thing. But even there it can cause great harm. Lust pushes us towards dishonourable practices rooted in selfishness, unleashing desires to possess others. True love making honours the partner, it loves, cherishes, and respects. Sexuality can be the deepest joy of the married couple, but it can also be the place of deepest destruction.

The Lord calls us to be holy – to reflect his glory and holiness – for the sake of his name.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The texts come from Matthew 5:17-26, from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What stands out to you from hearing these verses? Is God offering an invitation or a challenge to you through those words? Take time to pray about it.

2. What does Jesus mean by "fulfilling" the Law & Prophets? What kind of authority does he claim by saying "You have heard that it was said… but I tell you…"?

3. What is the context of our world and lives that makes this command exceptionally relevant and difficult? Anything that you would add for your own personal situation?

4. What happens when we fail at keeping this command?

5. What small, ordinary, everyday steps does Jesus give us to begin to move toward obedience?

6. Who might you need to be reconciled with today?

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13)

Paul more often does this: pauses to pray in the middle of a letter marking a pivot between what came before and what comes after—like he does with that famous prayer in the middle of Ephesians. He does so here too—after this prayer, Paul will turn to questions of living out the faith that has been found and kept by the Thessalonians, and now prayed for too.

Yesterday, Pastor Michael wrote: "Despite Satan's efforts to derail the work of the gospel, the church continues to grow. Persecution cannot ruin the movement of the Spirit." This is indeed Paul's conviction. Timothy's report provided evidence of God at work, and now Paul prays for even more.

While Satan's blocking, tempting schemes loomed large at the beginning of this section, it seems the rising dawn of God's presence and providence has chased these shadows away. Not that there aren't still shadows when the sun is shining—there are. Satan remains at work in the dark and shadowy places, but God's work is stronger. Far stronger. Paul is confident of this and his prayer says so.

Paul prays in a strong sort of wish. The grammar says: I pray for this and expect it to happen. Throughout the rest of the letter, you certainly get that idea. Paul will, in just a few short verses start encouraging and filling up in the Thessalonian's faith the exact things he prays for here. For their love, their holiness, and their hope in Christ's second coming.

But God's work is first. So Paul prays. He prays, though Satan has blocked the way, that God himself and Lord the Lord Jesus will clear the way. He prays that the love that he has for the Thessalonians and they for one another will not just increase, but will overflow—and not just within the community, but out to everyone else around them including their enemies and persecutors. Finally, he prays that God will strengthen their hearts so that they will continue to be able to stand firm against the temptations and the persecutions, so that they will be blameless and holy—totally set apart for God—with a hope anchored firmly in the knowledge of Jesus coming again.

May that be our prayer as well, and May God accomplish this in each of us today. May your love increase. May your way be cleared. May you stand firm and steady in faith, being blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when the Lord Jesus comes with all his Saints.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

Our text is 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10

But Timothy has come to us from you just now. He has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have happy memories of us. He has also said that you desire to see us, just as we desire to see you. Brothers and sisters, in all our trouble and suffering your faith encouraged us. Now we really live because you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you? We thank God because of all the joy we have in his presence. We have this joy because of you. Night and day we pray very hard that we will see you again. We want to give you what is missing in your faith.

Yesterday, Pastor Anthony referred to paragraph 34 of the Contemporary Testimony, Our World Belongs to God. It reads in part, "Satan and his evil forces seek whom they may scatter and isolate; but God, by his gracious choosing in Christ, gathers a new community". A few verses further along we read, "Our new life in Christ is celebrated and nourished in the fellowship of congregations" (36).

It then carries on listing various ways our faith is nourished, "we praise God's name, hear the Word proclaimed, learn God's ways, confess our sins, offer our prayers and gifts, and celebrate the sacraments". These are all important and many of us are familiar with them. Let us pick up on the first of these, "we praise God's name" because it relates to our text for today.

But first, the opening lines of Psalm 111, "Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them." It sometimes appears that we praise God in a vacuum, as if we "just should." But that does not follow the pattern of the Scriptures. On the one hand, we praise God for who he is, for his character. On the other, we praise God for what he does. That is what is happening in our text. Our worship services begin with a call to worship drawing attention to God's character and/or to his works.

As yesterday's text revealed, Paul was very concerned about the spiritual well being of his friends in Thessalonica. And he had good reason to be. But now Timothy has returned from his visit to them telling how God has been building up and gathering his church. Paul and his companions are full of joy.

God has nurtured their "faith and love", raising up godly people. They have not turned against the apostle but have fond memories of his time with them and long to see him as much as he wants to see them.

Paul has committed his life as an offering to other people: to proclaim the gospel and nurture the fledgeling faith of new believers. Their spiritual flourishing brings him tremendous joy. He is overflowing with thanksgiving to God. Despite Satan's efforts to derail the work of the gospel, the church continues to grow. Persecution cannot ruin the movement of the Spirit.

The stories of God's work need to be told. It is one of the ways that we nurture each other's faith. It gives us reason to praise God. How can we ponder and delight in the works of God if no one tells them to us? What stories can you tell?

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God's service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5)

This little section narrates quite an ordeal. We have some sense of what happened because of the account given in Acts 17. A riotous persecution that drove Paul from Thessalonica on to Berea and eventually down to Athens. But Paul's point here is not to convey the facts so much as the relationship.

There are intense pictures of emotion here as Paul describes the experience of separation as that of "being orphaned" and names his intense desire to come and encourage the Thessalonians in their faith. So what's at stake here that connects to our lives still today?

It seems that Paul's concern is mainly with how the Thessalonians will weather the storms of persecution and temptation—both spiritual and embodied. Satan, the tempter is at work spiritually through the embodied realities of travel plans and local pressures seeking to keep the Thessalonians isolated and doubting. Was their decision to follow Jesus all in vain?

We do not face persecution like the Thessalonians or Apostles did. But the temptations to turn away from the hard, disciplined path of following Jesus are nevertheless active in our lives. The deceitfulness of wealth, the self-improvement paths to flourishing, and any number of other things we seek to keep up with our peers in all provide pressures and wind storms that seek to unsettle our faith. These things alongside of the sorrows and hardships we face together add up to some pretty stiff resistance to faithfulness. In the face of these trials we are all destined for as Christians, it is easy (and easily justifiable) to fall away from the church and any regular habits of relationship with God or his people.

Yet, this is not the whole story. Already here against this dark and strained backdrop, Paul gives inklings of a firm hope. He pictures standing before Christ, pointing to the Thessalonians faithfulness as evidence of his own, which betrays a confidence Paul holds onto that God will complete the good work he's started in this fledgling Thessalonian church. "Indeed, you are our glory and joy."

The contemporary testimony, Our World Belongs to God names this dynamic that we still face as God's people and puts it this way: "Satan and his evil forces seek whom they may scatter and isolate; but God, by his gracious choosing in Christ, gathers a new community" (st. 34). Indeed, we rest secure in the fact that God's work of gathering will, in the end, outstrip every effort of the enemy to scatter. More on that tomorrow.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

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. 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 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 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.

Paul has much to be thankful for. He has already given thanks for the faith, hope and love of this young church. Now he offers thanks for how they responded to the Word of God. This thanksgiving invites us to reflect on how we ourselves respond to the scriptures. An opposite reaction would be to harden our hearts. So, as we reflect on these verses, let us all pay attention to how we receive the Bible.

The scriptures can be just words, received by our ears as merely human words. However, as some point, they cease to be only words. We begin to recognize these words are holy, coming from God himself. They have power and we begin to receive them as such. The writer of Hebrews says, "The Word of God is alive and active" (4:12). We pay a different kind of attention to them.

Recognizing that God's Speech is living and moving within us, we notice that it is "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training" us (2 Timonthy 3:16). As we become sensitive to this living Word and familiar with the movements of the Holy Spirit, we increasingly long for lives shaped by God. All Christians have times of resistance in which we harden our hearts to this business. Yet, God has a way of moving us back towards sensitivity.

God rarely works with us in isolation. Scripture puts significant emphasis on the church as the community of Christ. We grow up into Christ within this community. The Christians in Thessalonica had the disciples in Judea as examples to follow.

This Christian imitation goes two ways. Who do we tend to imitate? With a world full of celebrities, the choices are manifold. It is best to know folks closer to home that set an example for us. Not that we should follow anyone blindly. But most of us learn best by watching others. This is the way the faith is often passed down. Who is imitating us? When Moses told the Israelites to impress the commandments on their children, to talk about them in their homes, when they walked along the road (Deuteronomy 6:7), surely, he envisioned the adults following these commands. The younger ones would see and hear.

Paul pays attention to suffering endured for the gospel both in Judea and in Thessalonica. He is not espousing antisemitism. He is thinking of those people who conspired with the Romans to have Jesus crucified and who were still harassing all who followed him. To stand against such oppression we need each other.

Their hearts were soft to the Scriptures. They had other Christians leading the way. Thanks be to God!

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

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. Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, 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. 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. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:6-12)

We can get the sense from some evangelical sources that what really matters in the grand scheme of things is authority and obedience: the authority of a leader or group of leaders to lay down a law or statement, and the necessity of followers to get in line with said teaching. This can become a rather cold, unfeeling machine of rules and expectations that steamroll a complex web of human idiosyncrasies into a flat plain of submissive uniformity. This kind of system does offer the benefit of clarity and feeling like you're part of a group that's going somewhere with purpose, but it also, as Pastor Michael noted yesterday, can leave room for unhealthy, impersonal dynamics to grow.

Paul, you will notice here, takes a different tack. "We could have asserted our authority," he says. But he and his companions didn't do that. Instead, they offered their lives and vitality in deeply personal ways for the sake of loving the Thessalonians well. In a string of three homey family metaphors, Paul describes the apostles' ministry among the Thessalonians in relational terms. They were innocent as young children, loving and self-giving as nursing mothers, and caringly invested in the Thessalonians growth to maturity just as fathers. Instead of asserting their authority with a "because I said so," "I'm the apostle here" kind of aura, the apostles instead stooped down to get their hands dirty in the daily rough and tumble of family life with the Thessalonians, building a relationship of trust and respect with them through which the Gospel could be caught and imitated.

There is an important tension here. One that flows throughout the scriptures and its interpretation. It's this: is this faith primarily about submission to authority, or is it primarily about restoration of relationship? These two roads diverge already in Genesis 1-2, before sin and the Fall. In God's good Creation, something is "not good:" the fact that the man is alone. But why is this alone-ness a problem? Is it because Adam's alone-ness renders him unable to procreate and therefore unable to submit to the command of "fill the earth"? Or is this alone-ness of Adam a problem because we are created to be in relationship ("Let us make mankind in our image… in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.")? The story does not say. But the tension between these two possibilities plays out throughout the rest of the scriptures and even still in the church today.

My sense? It's probably both, such that whenever we exclude either of these options, we contort the faith. However, it's also true that the emphasis finally falls not on the "authority/submission" dynamic, but the "relationship" one. The scriptures end not with the judgement hall, but with the wedding feast. Both are there, but one eventually outshines the other—the relationship. The bride and bridegroom, Christ and his church, finally joined forever in relationship.

This, I think, is what Paul is getting at and what these pictures of authority flowing through the personal, self-giving love and care of family roles points to. And this is right. Fear of authority only works to a point, when we are still immature. At some point, we need to have grown to maturity such that we live what is right simply because it is right—out of a the formation of our character. Only people whose character has been formed can enter fully into a healthy relationship. The love and care of our family is the space where this learning and growing to maturity happens.

Of course, families are often more complicated than that and we as people are often far less mature than we might hope. Nevertheless, this is the picture Paul draws on—not "asserting authority," but rather, calling the Thessalonians to remember the personal bonds of relationship through which they have witnessed for themselves the mature character of the apostles, have imitated it, and have grown to up into this Christian character themselves.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).