You Are Our Glory

You are Our Glory

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

As we look out into this world with its disdain and violence towards God’s righteousness, we are tempted to feel like being the sheep who are called to proclaim the Good News to the wolves is at best an exercise in futility and at worst merely an invitation to be persecuted! Even as we earnestly seek the Lord with the profound belief that He is always near, we can find ourselves losing hope that our efforts will yield fruit in the ripening fields. The struggle against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil can feel overwhelming and unbearable at times! Like the Psalmist surely our joy is not to be found in the imitation of their callous hearts and evil imaginations and surely our joy cannot be found in knowing that the goats that persecute us will one cay be judged, after all, are not those who are born of the water and Spirit called to imitate the Father and wish that none should perish? In today’s sermon, we will delve into Paul’s profound source of joy and how he assesses the success of his ministry. Though we may not witness the full ripening of the harvest until the Day of the Lord, our labor will be vindicated the moment we witness those in whom we've sown seeds receiving their new bodies and being called heavenward in Christ Jesus!

Intense Longing to See You

While Apostle Paul could have looked out upon the inhabitants of Thessalonica with their many gods and emperor worship with a sense of hopelessness that they had already been given over to their reprobate minds as swine (Romans 1:28; Matthew 7:6), he instead chose to see the fields of the fallen through the lens of God’s love, mercy, and grace (Matthew 9:35-38)! As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue and preached three consecutive Sabbaths “explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead” (Acts 17:3). The fields were truly ripe for “some of the Jews,” a “large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women” joined Paul and Silas (17:4). But other Jews became jealous and they “rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city” (17:5). This angry crowd rushed to the house in which Paul and Silas were staying looking for them, but they were not present, so they dragged the owner, “Jason and some other believers before the city officials” accusing them of “defying Caesar’s decrees, saying there is another king, one called Jesus” (17:7). That night some of the believers found Paul and Silas and sent them away to keep them safe.

It is in the backdrop of this event that we are told of Paul’s love for the church of Thessalonica. Created in the image of God who loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross, it should not come as a surprise that without love our lives become nothing more than a “resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1)! While Paul was treated “outrageously at Philippi” and now barely escaped an angry mob at Thessalonica, his persecution did not make him bitter but more intensely in love for those God had chosen (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Though his hurried departure resulted in him travelling to faraway places like Berea and later Athens, the believers in the small church of Thessalonica he left behind were certainly out of sight but far from out of his mind! Paul who previously used “infants” (2:7), “nursing mother” (2:8), “father” (2:11) “brother” (2”17), now defines his relationship with the Thessalonians with an “orphan” metaphor to express his deep affection for them. Paul's use of the "orphan" in his relationship with the Thessalonians signifies not only his deep affection for them but also his sense of responsibility and care. Paul was likely worried the persecution of the church might lead to them doubting their faith, or might lead to some of them being bitter towards him because of his hasty departure! Paul wanted the Thessalonians to know he felt torn from them and was experiencing unbearable anguish, a “deep sense of loss and grief” that accompanies absence” from those so dearly loved!

Satan Blocked the Way

Despite Paul's persistent longing to revisit Thessalonica, circumstances prevented him from doing so. Both Paul and Silas harbored the intention to return "as soon as the heat died down" and the hostility of the angry mob subsided. However, despite their earnest desire, this plan never came to fruition. “Their attempts to return were so great, and obstacles set up against them so severe that they could only explain them by recognizing the Satanic activity behind them.” The verb enkopto that Paul uses is a reference to a military practice of cutting up a road so that it becomes impassable by a pursuing enemy. Though Paul doesn't explicitly detail how Satan hindered his return to Thessalonica, it's implied through the Jewish opposition mentioned in 2:14-16, or possibly due an “onerous bail that Jason had posted, a legal prohibition that obstructed the two senior members but not Timothy” from returning. Regardless of the specific means employed by Satan to obstruct Paul's journey back, it proved effective. Despite Paul's fervent prayers to God for relief, his path remained impassable! Fortunately, Timothy was permitted to return, and the church persevered in faithfulness despite facing intense opposition from both Judaizers and devout Romans who revered many gods and saw their emperor as deity.