A text – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
2 You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2 but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. 3 For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, 4 but, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals but to please God, who tests our hearts. 5 As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed, 6 nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, 7 though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. 8 So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
A reflection:
This seems, to most New Testament scholars, to be the first letter we have from Paul to a congregation. And the congregation isn’t in deep conflict, as is the case in so many others of Paul’s letters. But perhaps this Thessalonian congregation is beset by other traveling preachers and teachers who come to the city, do some orating in the square, and ask for money and ongoing teaching contracts. Paul is contrasting his and Silas’s visit in Thessaloniki with the greedier salespeople the believers are later facing.
Paul draws on his experiences prior to meeting the Thessalonians, too. He says they got courage from what happened in Philippi right beforehand. Paul and Silas had come to Thessaloniki from Philippi, a Roman colony about 100 miles away. There they had been thrown into prison for casting out a demon from a slave girl, whose owners were suddenly out a lot of money from folks who used her services. Paul and Silas were publicly shamed, stripped, and beaten. While they were being held in prison overnight, an earthquake loosened all the chains and the very structure of the prison. Paul and Silas could have escaped, but they and the other prisoners were found by the jailer singing songs and waiting for the authorities. The jailer took Paul and Silas into his own home, and his household converted to Christianity. Pau and Silas took God’s intervention as a sign they were following God’s call very well.
Paul also says they did not demand any pay from the Thessalonians as other traveling preachers did. Instead they freely gave the people the gospel from their hearts, tenderly, as a nurse would treat her children. Paul built his work there on mutual trust and on God’s missional call to him and to Silas to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Unlike other teachers and preachers, Paul earned his own keep while staying in places so that he did not have to be a burden to the fellowships he was planting and encouraging. Faith in Jesus was a free gift to him and he shared it freely. The local believers were supportive of him, so much so that he had a chance to return during his years of ministry twice more to the city. This early letter shows us Paul at his grateful best, still building trust with a diverse group of Greeks, Jews, and immigrants, professing his love for these good people. Paul, like Jesus, put others before himself and rejoiced when the Holy Spirit blessed them. He makes a good model for ministry: love the people you serve as God loves them.
A prayer:
Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for Paul’s example for us as we set out to do the work you call each one of us to. Help us never to be greedy or use people but instead to serve them with tender caring. Amen.
