Being Steadfast and Faithful—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 21C/Proper 26C (2 Thessalonians 1)

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ - by Miguel Chavez

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

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

² Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

⁵ This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. ⁶ For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you ⁷ and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels ⁸ in a fiery flame, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ¹⁰ when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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                The two letters to the Thessalonian church have a strong apocalyptic element to them. In fact, the second letter seeks to calm down some of the apocalyptic enthusiasm that had emerged with the first letter. The lectionary invites us to explore 1 Thessalonians during Year A, while 2 Thessalonians appears here at the end of Year C. While 1 Thessalonians is assumed by many to be Paul’s earliest letter, appearing around the year 50. In that letter, Paul sought to deal with questions about the fate of those who had died since his departure from the city. Those questions reflect the message Paul delivered there concerning the expected imminent return of Christ. That eschatological theme gets picked up here in 2 Thessalonians. While the first letter is considered by many to be Paul’s first letter and thus the earliest New Testament document there are questions as to whether Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians. That is because there is a different tone and even a different eschatology present. Ultimately we don’t know for sure. For my purposes, I’m assuming Pauline authorship, while recognizing that this is quite possibly pseudonymous (for more on this one might consult William Brosend’s reflections in The Preacher’s Bible Handbook, pp. 307-308). To say that this is pseudonymous is not to say that it is fake or false. Pseudonymity was a respected form of writing in the first century and as such this text, whether Pauline or not, became part of the canonical texts received by the churches.   

                We have before us the opening chapter of 2 Thessalonians. It begins as most letters do with a salutation. Here the senders include Paul along with his partners Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy. It’s directed to the church of the Thessalonians. As is common the author (Paul) offers a word of grace and peace from “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” There’s nothing unusual here. From the salutation, we move to a word of thanksgiving. Again, as Paul was known to do, he gave thanks to God for the Thessalonian believers. He’s thankful that these brothers and sisters are growing in faith. In fact, he speaks of the abundance of growth, along with their love for everyone. This is the kind of church we’d all like to be part of, is it not? They are growing in faith and love each other. That sounds perfect. Paul seems so pleased with their progress that he has been boasting about them when visiting other churches because of their steadfastness and faith amid persecutions and other afflictions they had been enduring. So far, so good!

                The lectionary creators, as they often do when confronted with uncomfortable texts, jump over verses 5-10 (more about them in a moment), and drop down to verse 11, where Paul speaks of his prayers for the community. In tells them that he prays that they will be worthy of God’s calling and that they will “fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith.” The message is still positive, at least concerning their commitment to the cause. Therefore, Paul can pray that God will empower them to fulfill every good and every work of faith so that “the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 12).

                A preacher can use this material to encourage the members of the congregation to be steadfast even when facing challenges in life so that Jesus might be glorified in their lives. We all go through difficult times, so this can be an encouraging word. It’s good to know that God desires to do a good work in and through us. It’s not an exciting text, but it’s a positive one. There’s just one problem, the creators of the Revised Common Lectionary invite us to jump over the most important section of this chapter, verses 5-10. By so doing the preacher is relieved of having to deal with questions of divine judgment and Jesus’ second coming, but that’s the point of the letter. Paul is dealing with eschatological issues, and what he has to say may make us uncomfortable.

                As a side note, Ron Allen and I have written a book we titled Second Thoughts About the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope (WJK Books, 2023) because we’ve noticed that people in Mainline Protestant churches have a lot of questions about the second coming, judgment, and the afterlife, but preachers have shied away from dealing with these questions. The lectionary, at least, in this case, proves our point. We may not like what we read, but it’s there for us to consider.

                In verse 4 Paul speaks of the Thessalonians’ steadfastness in the face of persecution. Then in verse 5 Paul speaks of these experiences being “evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.” The NRSVUE translation seems to suggest that their suffering is a sign of divine judgment, which does not quite make sense. The Common English Bible puts it this way: “This shows that God’s judgment is right, and that you will be considered worthy of God’s kingdom for which you are suffering.” As I read this translation, it seems to me that Paul is suggesting that in God’s judgment, their faithfulness in the face of suffering is a sign that they are worthy to be part of God’s kingdom.

                The next verse carries the message of judgment a bit further, in that Paul suggests that God is justified in visiting affliction on those who cause the Thessalonians’ afflictions. This is a sort of “vengeance is mine says the Lord,” so that they need not respond to their persecutors but simply leave it up to God while continuing with their lives as God’s people. Not only will God visit affliction on the persecutors but will bring relief to them. As to when all of this will take place, Paul writes in verse 7 that it will take place when Jesus is revealed from heaven, accompanied by his mighty angels. Here we have a very distinct apocalyptic word that is similar to what we read in Daniel and Revelation and other apocalyptic texts. Here Jesus is pictured as the Son of Man coming down from heaven to bring about the final judgment on the earth. Jesus and his angels bring with them “flaming fire” and inflict vengeance on those who refuse to obey the Gospel.

                Those who fail to embrace the Gospel of Jesus face the prospect of “eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Note that nothing is said here about hell or eternal torment. Rather destruction is eternal, which can mean it’s permanent. Thus, it is not restorative but retributive. The oppressors/persecutors/unbelievers get what they deserve. Those who embrace an annihilationist position on a final judgment can make use of this declaration by noting that the expected end for unbelievers is neither eternal torment nor restoration, but by way of fiery destruction those who do not believe are permanently separated from God. While that could be conscious separation, it doesn’t need to be.

                All of this takes place on that day, Jesus comes “to receive honor from his holy people and to be admired by everyone who has believed—and our testimony to you was believed” (vs. 10 CEB). The day will come when the risen Christ celebrates his exaltation with all those who believe, including those who believed through their testimony. That would be the Thessalonian church. This is also an act of judgment/retributive justice.

                This passage, if the entire chapter is read, reminds us that judgment is part of the story of Jesus. What we do with it is another matter. For those who suffer from persecution and oppression, there is a desire to see their oppressors receive their comeuppance. For those of us who live relatively safe and secure lives (privileged), this word about judgment might seem harsh. For others, it might feel just. While it might feel safer for a preacher to ignore verses 5-10, that might be a mistake. Taking up these challenging verses might help us wrestle not only with the presence of judgment in the biblical story but the desire to see justice done on the part of those who experience oppression and persecution.