Thessalonians 1(Evaluation, Evidence, Explanation) Series

This week we start the second oldest book in the New Testament as recorded in its publishing. We began with James on our year-long journey chronological study of the New Testament. Hence the reason we are calling this message series Chronos. It's a word that means “time.” We will be journeying through time back to the start of the early church. For the next few months we will be walking through the books written to those in Thessalonica. We will take a few detours along the way for the major Christain holidays like we did for Easter. However, we will be opening up our bibles each week to unpack the scriptures as they were present in the early church so I encourage you to bring yours or a digitale version of yours.

The book of Thessalonians was written a few years after James.

It is one of the first books or letters written to this new ‘church’ or gathering.

It was written by the apostle Paul. A contemporary of James but someone who never met Jesus face to face.

It was written to the Messianic Jews and greek Gentiles who had come to believe Jesus was the Messiah

It was written for several reasons.

To express his gratitude for what God was doing in the lives of the Thessalonians (1:2-3),

To defend himself against a campaign to slander his ministry (2:1-12),

To encourage them to stand against persecution and pressure to return to their former pagan life-styles (3:2-3; 4:1-12),

To answer a question pertaining to the fate of Christians who had died (4:1-13)

To answer questions regarding the “Day of the Lord” (5:1-11),

And to deal with certain problems that had developed in their corporate life as a church (5:12-13; 19-20) that were stunting the movement’s growth.

Today, we open to the first chapter of this amazing letter to the church plant in one of the main travel junctions in all the Roman empire. A city of around 300,000 with some upper class but a great deal more working class people. The city was made up of Romans, Greeks and a powerful group of Greek speaking Jews.

To be a Christian believer in this community, it meant relinquishing the hedonism and paganism that was the mainstay of the population. As such, the temptation was high to recant one's commitment to Jesus to get back onto the graces of the majority. To become and remain a Christ follower meant ridicule and persecution, very much like many places in the world today.

In a study done recently, It was noted that Islam was the “Hotel California” of religions (“You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave”), as it prohibits adherents from either declaring themselves atheists or members of another faith, which from the Islamic point of view amount to the same thing. This attitude goes back to the religion’s origins (a Hadith quotes Muhammad, “Whoever changes his religion, kill him”) and the sense that leaving Islam is akin to joining the enemy and, thus, equals betrayal. Additionally, to live as a proper Muslim has a powerful social aspect, participating in the maintenance of communal solidarity.

Accordingly, apostate Muslims everywhere face rejection by their families, social ostracism, and loss of employment; in Muslim-majority countries, additionally, their governments may well persecute, imprison, torture, and kill them. Skeptical Muslims historically have therefore overwhelmingly stayed within Islam’s boundaries; even new religions deriving from Islam (the Druze, Nusayri/Alawi, Alevi, Babi, and Baha’i) initially do the same and long retain a murky relationship to it.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/perilous-path-muslim-christian-189544

Listen, All conversions require some form of sacrifice and for those brave enough to be public about their faith, it may cost friends, family, social status and even one’s life. While this may not be as prevalent in America, it is still the case for the majority of the world. So it was for those original hearers of this letter.

I want to take a moment of silence to contemplate the idea of giving up your family, your livelihood and maybe even your friends to gain your seat in this church. <PAUSE>

Let us begin with Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.

(1:1-4)

Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,

What a difference a heading makes in a scriptural letter than those of our day. Instead of “Hey, Good Morning or To whom it may concern,” the greetings of Paul’s letters offer us more information. In this case, the leadership collective (Paul, Silas and timothy), who had a relationship with this new church plant, were together reviewing the Christian movement.