1 Thessalonians 1:4-10

This is being written a little later than I would normally do it. Last week, at the Friday Lunchtime Communion meeting, I was giving a sermon on 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10, written and presented in a little bit of a hurry (I only really found out I was doing it the Saturday beforehand). I’ve not really had time to sit down and present my thoughts on it.

When reading through the passage, the main surprise that I encountered was right at the start in verse 4. Previously, Paul has been telling the Thessalonians of his prayers of thanksgiving for them, particularly for the outworking of their faith, love and hope (1 Thess 1:2-3). In the section of our interest, he continues to explain the basis of his thanksgiving, and starts off with this, in my opinion, surprising statement:

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,” (v. 4)

The reason I found this to stand out was that it shows Paul’s confidence of the Thessalonians’ standing before God. We seem to take the opinion that someone’s standing is very much between them and God, we cannot judge if one person is a Christian or not, but Paul seems to say otherwise – that there is something showing in the lives of the Thessalonians that makes him sure of their place among the elect.

(At this point, I want to make an aside to try and answer a point that may be raised by my interpretation. I do not wish to turn this specific case into a general rule – by this I mean that I do not think that Paul is about to give a ‘test of election’, that is a set of characteristics that all Christians must have so they can be sure they are a Christian. The point of interest is that Paul does see something that convinces him that this particular group of believers are Christian, so it is a worthwhile task to see what he points to and see what we can learn.)

In the next verse, he begins to give his reasons for his statement in verse 4. He claims that the gospel came to them not only in words; that is not only as another piece of knowledge, but “with power, with the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v. 5). Now, much discussion has taken place over this verse, as to whether the reference is to the believers receiving the word, or to Paul and his companions in their proclamation. I have to admit to feel rather unqualified to add to the debate, so the only comment I will make is that whatever the interpretation, the focus of the passage is that the message was not take by the Thessalonians in the same manner that we would embrace, say, knowledge of someone’s shopping list, but the message that Paul brought, through the work of the Holy Spirit, caused a noticeable change in the Thessalonians. It is to this change that Paul goes on to testify to verses 6-10, and in particular, he concentrates on two noticeable points about how the Thessalonians are living in the light of the gospel.

The first of these points is that they have embraced the gospel despite persecution (apologies to all, I do not have snazzy titles for my points for this one!) If we were to go back to Acts 17:1-9, we would see the story of the gospel coming to Thessalonica. We read that Paul preached in the synagogue, and we would get the impression that his ministry enjoyed some amount of success, particularly among the Greek community (v. 4). Things though were not entirely rosy, so to speak, as members of the Jewish community, out of jealousy, raised a rabble with intent of bring about some amount of mob justice (v. 5). The whole incident ends with the city authorities requiring some amount of ‘appeasement’ (v. 9) and Paul and Silas leaving the city in a little bit more of hurry than I’m sure was planned (v.10) leaving behind a young church in a place where being a Christian was certainly not easy. We’d possibly be forgiven for assuming that the church would have petered out in the few months since Paul had left (and it would seem from 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 that Paul shared a similar fear), but that isn’t what we find. Verse 6 tells us that they “had become imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit”. More than that, it seems that they had been an encouragement to all around them (v. 7). Despite the theological difficulties they were experience, which Paul was going to address in the remainder of the letter; this was not a church in dire straits. We do well to note in verse 6 the role of the Holy Spirit in this; this is quite unlike some effort from those in today’s church who seem to resolve in their own strength to persevere. The perseverance of the Thessalonians seems to be based upon a trusting in God, and his work in their lives, so that they could be joyful despite the opposition they were encountering.

The second piece of evidence Paul seems to point to is that there is a change in what they live for. It is worth while remembering that Thessalonica is not in Israel, this would have been a mostly gentile church (although it seems many interpret “devout Greeks” in Acts 17:4 as Greeks who worshipped Yahweh, but I can’t convince myself that this makes them different from proselytes and so read this as being religious Greeks c.f. Acts 17:22-23. I may well be wrong in this, but I’ll continue in my assumption that the devout Greeks were still gentile and did not worship the true God) and most of the people in the church would have previously worshipped idols. That is to say that if things were going wrong, they would have desperately tried to offer up sacrifices to appease their god of choice. Similarly, if something important was coming up, they would try to sacrifice something to try and keep their god onside. But this was no longer the case since Paul arrived. They had turned from finding their security in things they have made, and turned not to other created things, but to the creator Himself, the true and living God. I’m tempted to say that in our pseudo-Christian culture, it’s hard to understand how big a shift it is to turn from created from idols to the living God. After all, at the very least we can see the folly of trying to appease a statue! I would say this, but then I’d be falling into the trap of thinking that idols just came in statue form. In western culture, you don’t have to go far to find people who trust in their bank balance for their security. Time and relationships are all offered gladly at the alter of our bank managers as we convince ourselves that it’s all worth it to “give ourselves a little leeway”. Now I’m not talking about the need to work to cover the costs of our needs, but the type of sacrifice that we offer in the hope of obtaining that little bit of an easier life, it is the type of sacrifice that seeks, if I can be allowed to take the thought process to its conclusion, to find security just in case God doesn’t pull through. What the Thessalonians had discovered though, was that their gods, just like our gods, will fail them at the moment they need them most. One day we will all stand before God and we will be called into account for the way that we have live in His world. The Thessalonians realised this, and they realised that only Jesus’ sacrifice is worth of their trust to deliver them on that day. Not their small statues that sat lifelessly in the corner. Not our huge bank balances that have been accumulated over our years of ‘service’. Only the atoning death of Christ, taking our punishment in our place is enough.

In conclusion, Paul can be confident that the Thessalonians are part of God’s people, that they are part of the elect. This is because he has seen the change that can only be brought about by the gospel take root in their lives, as he sees them trusting joyfully in God both in their lives as they face persecution and opposition, and for their salvation from His just wrath through the death of His Son. Due to their faith, they had become an example to all believers in their region of Macedonia and Achaia, and even beyond. We’d do well to also follow their example as we live our lives in the sure hope of heaven.