Entrusted with the Gospel—A Lectionary Reading for Pentecost 22A (1 Thessalonians 2)
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| Apostle Paul - Rembrandt |
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 New Revised Standard Version
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.
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Having
commended the Thessalonians for their receipt of the message of Jesus, as
brought to them by Paul and his companions, in chapter one, now Paul speaks of
his role in this process in chapter two. He is thankful that the time spent in
Thessalonica wasn’t in vain. Even though they had been mistreated at Philippi
before they arrived in Thessalonica (see Acts 16 for the report of the
imprisonment of Paul and Silas), Paul and his companions courageously (boldly)
proclaimed the Gospel in Thessalonica despite great opposition (See Acts 17).
Paul makes clear that he and his companions were not deterred by opposition
from their task of proclamation.
In this chapter, Paul addresses the
question of motives. It’s not clear whether there were questions about his
motives, but in any case, he wanted to make it clear that he and his companions
hadn’t come to Thessalonica with impure motives or made their appeal for the
Gospel through deceit or trickery. Whether or not they had been accused of
something, with all the religious/spiritual options that were before the
people, surely at least a few of the purveyors of these spiritualities were
less than upfront about their motives. Thus, Paul simply wanted to be
transparent about who he was and what he and his companions were doing. Thus, Paul
wasn’t engaged in people-pleasing religious trickery. He had answered the call
of God and was making known the message entrusted to him and his companions by
God.
Religion then and now can be a
business proposition. Religious organizations offer certain goods in exchange
for some form of compensation (after all we take offerings each week and engage
in stewardship campaigns). When it comes to compensation provided to religious
professionals, I’m not suggesting that we are doing something unethical by
receiving salaries or honorariums. Paul himself affirmed the principle in his
first Corinthian letter. He might have chosen not to receive financial support
from the churches, he noted that the Lord had “commanded that that those who
proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel (1 Cor. 9:12-14). Whatever Paul’s reasons for not making use of
his rights, the larger point is that money shouldn’t be the motive for
ministry.
As we meditate on this passage it
might be that what Paul is claiming here is a recognition that he and his
companions had been called to act as stewards of the Gospel. They didn’t invent
it nor did they possess it. They were simply tasked with making the message of
Jesus known to those who were prepared to listen. With this calling in mind,
Paul could speak of being apostles. When Paul speaks here of being apostles,
he’s not thinking so much in terms of office by in terms of missionary calling.
While Paul does at certain points make it clear that he is an apostle in the
formal sense, having been visited and called by Jesus (Gal. 1:11-24), that
isn’t what he has in mind here. For not only is he given an apostolic calling,
but so have Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy.
Getting
back to motives, Paul notes that in engaging in this work, he wasn’t acting out
of greed. This wasn’t a financially lucrative career he had undertaken. He and
his companions probably traveled on foot. They faced opposition and even
imprisonment. He didn’t own a Lear jet or a massive motor home so he and his
crew could travel in comfort. As far as I know, this missionary group didn’t live
in mansions either. Most of us who have accepted the call to serve in
vocational ministry haven’t done this for the money. Now, I will admit to
living a decent middle-class life, but like most of my colleagues, I don’t make
the big bucks! That was true for Paul as well.
As for methodology in proclaiming
the message, Paul notes that he didn’t use flattery. He was straightforward in
his messaging. His preaching came with boldness, in large part because he
wasn’t seeking human praise. The only audience he sought approval from was God.
Thus, his boldness was rooted in his trust in God.
While
Paul claimed to proclaim the message with boldness; when it came to his
relationship to the Thessalonian congregation, he spoke to them with gentleness.
It should be noted that some manuscripts suggested that the “were infants among
you.” That would suggest not just gentleness, but great vulnerability. As noted
by Beverly Roberts Gaventa, the “Greek words for ‘infants’ (Gr. nēipoi)
and ‘gentle’ (Gr. ēipoi) consists of a single letter so that a scribe
might easily confuse the two words” (Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians,
pp. 26-27). While the scholars are not of one mind, and there are arguments on
both sides, for my purposes both possibilities offer a sense of Paul’s softer
side. We see this in the following statement, where Paul suggests that they
tenderly cared for them as a nurse for her children. Here again, there is an
intriguing concept. As Gaventa notes, in that era of ancient history it was
quite common for wet nurses to be used—not only for the wealthy but even by
slaves (so that they wouldn’t be sidelined from their duties). Whatever the
case, wet nurses were both common and beloved in that world. With this in mind,
Paul’s use of the concept suggests an “image of loving concern.” But note, Paul
refers to a nurse “caring for her own children.” While wet nurses might be
beloved figures in the ancient world, the relationship between a nursing mother
and her own children was even greater. Thus, “verse 8 serves to unpack what is
implicit in the nurse metaphor: the apostles regard the Thessalonians as so
dear that they share with them their very selves” [Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians, pp. 27-28].
The
lectionary reading ends with this maternal image, which Paul uses to describe
his own relationship to the community. This was unusual for the era, though not
without precedent. The use of this maternal imagery is helpful in understanding
Paul’s vision of ministry. His view of ministry isn’t rooted in seeking
personal fame or fortune. Rather it is one expressed in deep love and care for
the community, which in this case, he birthed. After all, this is his
congregation, one he founded. Of course, ultimately, Paul knows that they, as
children of God, are dependent not on him, but God alone.
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