When the Apostle Paul visited and served among the people of Thessalonica, he would have liked to remain with them longer than he was able to. He would have preferred to teach them and train them on a deeper level, while mentoring their newly appointed church leaders. But God had other plans for Paul. Due to persecution, he was forced to leave the city abruptly, and he remained concerned that this might have a detrimental effect on the spiritual growth of the young believers there.
By the grace of God, however, this newly planted church continued to grow and show great enthusiasm for their faith in Christ. This greatly encourage Paul. In some ways, I imagine he was relieved to hear about the progress they continued to make in faith, and he wanted to see their new faith continue to grow.
As Paul prepared to conclude this letter, he wanted to end it with some wise counsel and words of admonishment. In some ways, his words remind me of the comments a parent might make when their child is leaving the house to go outside for a few hours. Usually, there's a few words of counsel that are shared with them before they step out the door. To a degree, that's how Paul's words strike me in this passage.
So what kind of counsel did Paul offer to them? What should we make a point to apply to our lives as we read this closing section of his letter?
I. Respect the builders, and become one of them
“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ”
When I was in elementary school, I remember being at a birthday party at an indoor playground and arcade. In the play area, there were small scooters for kids to ride, but it took a while to get one of them. You had to wait. After waiting my turn and riding around for a few minutes, another kid walked up to me and asked if he could have a turn. I was about to tell him no, but then I realized it was my pastor's son. So I said yes and gave him the scooter. He was younger than me, and I didn't know him very well, but out of respect for my pastor, I felt compelled to show kindness to his child.
Showing respect for authority, including church leaders, was something my family modeled for me. And in some respects, I think I assumed that most people showed leaders that kind of respect, but my eyes were opened to a new reality when I started making preparation to become a pastor. Through working on staff at a church when I was in college, then taking the plunge into full-time ministry soon after, I realized that while there are many people who show church leaders respect, there are just as many who do the exact opposite.
The leaders in the Thessalonian church were relatively new to their role. This was a newly planted church, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that most of the leaders were very "green" in their work of offering spiritual leadership and care. With that in mind, Paul encouraged the church to make a pattern of showing them respect and esteeming them highly in love because they were involved in doing a very difficult task (that was also made even more difficult due to the local forms of persecution they were enduring).
At the same time, Paul also wanted the church to admonish members within their local fellowship who weren't working very hard, or who had become discouraged due to their difficult circumstances. The idea that he seems to be conveying is that the church should look after one another in every direction. We should all be a little extra intentional to build one another up while remaining patient with each others weaknesses, struggles, or imperfections.
In essence, what I see him saying is that we should all honor those within our church who "build" while seeking to join their ranks. In this world, and in the church, there are producers and consumers. If we're going to lean in one of those two directions, we should lean toward being productive while remaining patient with those who don't understand the importance of that yet.
II. Model Christlikeness in all circumstances
“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
Sometimes when I'm preaching or teaching, I take a quick glance at the clock and realize that I don't have as much time left to say what I wanted to say as I thought I did. In some ways, that's how the comments of Paul's closing section of this letter seem to me. In rapid-fire fashion, he challenged the church to display Christlike attitudes and behaviors in multiple ways.
Paul challenged the church not to repay evil for evil. We know that they had certainly been on the receiving end of many evil deeds from those in their city, but Paul didn't want them to reciprocate that kind of activity. He wanted them to model the teaching of Jesus like we see in Matthew 5:38-39.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-39)
Paul challenged them to rejoice always and pray without ceasing. As he said this, he wasn't stating this in a legalistic sense that might require someone to do nothing else but bowing their head in prayer. Rather, he was encouraging them to go about all aspects of their day rejoicing in Christ and maintaining an attitude of prayer and communion with Jesus.
Paul challenged them to welcome the work of the Holy Spirit among them instead of resisting or attempting to stifle what He wanted to accomplish in their midst. In particular, he encouraged them to listen to the prophetic counsel that had been given to them while holding it up to the previously revealed counsel of Scripture to make certain it wasn't off base, or more in line with human opinion than God's will.
Paul also challenged them to abstain from practicing evil or inviting worldliness into their lives. This is an area we need to be particularly cautious of as well. We need to be cautious of what our children are exposed to. We also need to be cautious of what we're allowing to influence our minds. Either Christ is Lord of our lives or He isn't. There is no in-between.
III. Anticipate the day of our perfect holiness
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
In general, I tend to be an optimistic person. I like having good things to look forward to. I purposely add things to my calendar so I can anticipate enjoying them. I was recently speaking to a good friend who admitted to me that he does the same exact thing. I laughed because I thought it was a quirky habit that was unique to me, but I guess it isn't.
According to this Scripture, there's a day coming that we should joyfully anticipate. Paul tells us that believers can look forward to a day when God will sanctify us completely. When we're transformed and granted our glorified bodies, we will be made perfectly holy. We will no longer struggle with sin in any way. We will no longer rebel against the Lord's counsel or will. When Christ returns for us, we will be made like Him, and we will enjoy a sinless eternity in His presence.
Our hearts long for that day, even if we don't realize that's what we're longing for. When you take a vacation to a perfectly landscaped location, what is your heart really longing for? I believe it's longing for the perfection of Heaven. When you dress up in your fanciest attire to attend a wedding, pose for pictures with everyone, then share those pictures far and wide, what is your heart longing for? It's longing for the day when you'll be blameless and perfected in holiness. That day is coming. It's worth looking forward to.
IV. Act on your affection toward your Christian family
“Brothers, pray for us.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
As Paul wraps up his letter to this church, he does so in an affectionate way. In fact, he demonstrates multiple ways believers can act on their affection for one another. We can pray for one another, we can greet one another in such a way as to convey genuine love, and we can rest in the grace of Jesus Christ. These are all wonderful and important ways we can demonstrate the affinity we have for one another in Christ.
But I also love the strong words Paul uses as he finishes delivering this wise counsel. He binds them to the spiritual obligation before the Lord to read these words to their Christian family. This wasn't counsel that originated in the heart of Paul. This was counsel that was directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. It was meant to be read and shared. It was meant to reach their ears, and reach ours as well. In fact, it wouldn't be a far stretch for us to consider ourselves bound in the same way that they were. We really do have a spiritual obligation to share the word of God and make it known, far and wide.
As you ponder the things Paul shares in this passage, I hope they encourage and challenge your heart just like they did for the early believers living in Thessalonica. We need wisdom if we're going to continue growing in our faith. We need to be stirred up as well, and the counsel of this letter certainly does a fantastic job of helping us become enthusiastic followers of Christ who eagerly put our faith into practice.
© John Stange, 2020
