In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
It can be quite difficult to get our heads round readings as brief as the few verses from St Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians we’ve just heard. For one thing there’s not much to go on, and for another the Letters are part of a much wider narrative than is directly told in the letters themselves. So it helps to set them in their context of time and place and surrounding events and the even wider narrative of the spread of Christianity.
Philippi in northern Greece was the first place in Europe visited by Paul and his fellow disciples Timothy and Silas (Silvanus). They established a community there but, Paul, after some rough treatment there, they moved on to Thessalonica, The date was around 50-52 AD only 20 or so years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Thessalonica was a busy and prosperous city on the Aegean coast, set on the Egnatian Way, one of the many roads built by the Romans to connect all parts of the empire to Rome. The Egnatian way runs from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic coast to what is now Istanbul. In Thessalonica the three apostles gathered together a group of people eager to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. This were the beginning of the church in Thessaloniki. It might sound easy to establish a church, but it really wasn’t. Apart from the sheer difficulty of getting new ideas across and keeping to the true teaching, and communication over long distances, there were the obstacles of hostile vested interests, either religious, financial or political. Paul, Silas and Timothy were looked after there by a man called Jason, the Acts of the Apostles fill out the story for us (ch. 17). While Timothy and Silas worked in other parts of the community, Paul preached to the Jews on three successive Sabbaths. He was winning converts among the Jews which angered the Jewish community. They began to make trouble. Paul’s host, Jason, and other Christians were hauled before the magistrates and bound over to keep the peace. They persuaded Paul, Silas and Timothy to leave Thessalonica, not only for their own safety, but for that of the newly converted Christians. So the three moved to the quieter town of Beroea. But they had a mixed reception there too. So Silas and Timothy stayed there while Paul went on south to Athens. The other two joined him later. But Paul was very anxious about the little group of Christians so precariously placed in Thessalonica, who had received the word of God with such joy and thankfulness. So he sent Timothy back to get news of them. And the news was good and reassuring. Paul moved on to Corinth and wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians. It was to be read out to all believers. He thanks them and prays for them and seems to answer various questions which had arisen from his earlier teaching. His second letter was sent a few months later to reinforce his teaching and to try to settle misunderstandings.
Now, after all that preamble, I know you are on the edge of your pews wanting to know what Paul says in this letter which makes it an appropriate reading for the first Sunday of Advent.
His letter is full of hope and love. Just before our reading begins, Paul writes some lovely words. “For we feel alive again” he says, “because you are standing fast.” Paul must have known many setbacks and disappointments in his missionary work, as well as harsh treatment. Now he is overjoyed that this small group of newly converted Christians in Thessalonica is holding on to its faith. He speaks of “the joy that we feel before our God because of you”. His joy is so genuine and true that it can be brought into the presence of God and bear his scrutiny. And Paul prays night and day – that is – constantly – that he will see them all again, which he did eventually. That is his most earnest prayer, though “earnest” doesn’t quite match the Greek word (hyperekperissou) which means something like “in exceeding abundant measure”. He longs to help them strengthen their faith further and ease out misunderstandings that might have crept in, despite their affection and steadfastness.
Then Paul offers a prayer to “our God and Father himself” for the Thessalonians. Nothing less than God’s help will be sufficient. As God, God can give help and as Father he will be willing to give it. But whatever God grants to Paul, it is far more important that hindrances and difficulties for the Thessalonians are removed so that their life as Christians can be more fruitful. “May you increase and abound in love for one another and for all” says Paul. Christian love is to extend to “all mankind” and this includes the Jewish and gentile persecutors of the Thessalonians. And Paul prays that God may strengthen their hearts in holiness, meaning that outward conformity is not enough. Holiness must come from the heart, from within. It means living our lives to reflect God’s glory, rather than conforming to the ways of the world or other people. And it means loving all God’s children. Not just some, but all. More importantly, only God can make us holy, and qualify us as blameless at the end point, that is, at the coming, the Advent, of Jesus. However hard we try, we can’t make ourselves holy. Holiness is a gift from God so let us pray, as Paul did for his Thessalonians, that God, whose Son comes at Christmas, and a second time later on, will grant us the gift of holiness. Let us pray that after a life of faithful and loving service, we will be ready to meet him.
Amen
S.E.R.