A Steadfast Example of Faithfulness—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 21A (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)

Rotunda of St. George Church in Thessaloniki (c. 306 CE)

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

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

Grace to you and peace.

² We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹ For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

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                Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica, a city in the province of Macedonia, was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of his letters. If so, then this letter was sent to the church in Thessalonica around 50-51 CE. It was likely written from Corinth. Thessalonica was an important Roman city, serving as the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and as a major Aegean port city. Since a major east-west Roman road ran through the city, it was a major commercial center with a mixed population of Macedonians, Greeks, Jews, and others. Thus, it was also the location of a diverse set of religious communities. The fact that Paul speaks in the opening passage that the Thessalonians had turned from idols to Christ (1 Thess. 1:9) suggests that this church was heavily Gentile.

                Considering the audience it is worth remembering that the ancient Greco-Roman World was religiously pluralistic. That made Jews rather peculiar because they worshipped only one God, rejecting all other gods as being mere idols. Paul, of course, was a Jew whose message was definitely monotheistic. In his mission to the Gentiles, he did not offer Jesus as one among many options, but the only appropriate option. What differentiated the new Christian movement from the Jewish community was that the Jesus Movement, as exemplified by Paul’s mission, was much more assertive in its outreach to their Gentile neighbors. This would create problems for Paul and his movement, as the more pluralistic Gentiles realized that the Jesus Movement, though Jewish in its roots, had a different sense of purpose that would prove disruptive to traditional religious values.

Now, this letter represents the movement at a very early point in its history, a mere two decades after Pentecost. The story of Paul’s time in Thessalonica is found in Acts 17, where Luke tells of Paul’s attempt to preach about Jesus being the messiah in the local synagogue, which ended up creating a ruckus in the city, such that Paul and Silas had to slip out of the city and head to Berea, where they received a more friendly welcome (Acts 17:1-10).  

This letter was likely sent to the Thessalonian congregation, which included several leading women from the synagogue that had formed at the time of Paul’s visit.  He wrote to a community that had persevered in the hopes of encouraging them to remain steadfast in their hope in Christ. A further piece of evidence regarding the timing of the letter is the mention made of his co-author, Silvanus (Silas), which serves as a reminder that this letter was written after the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15).

After the salutation that was written to the church “in God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 1), Paul and Silvanus “give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers.” The salutation reflects a certain affection they had for the believers there, even if, according to Acts, their initial visit was not without conflict. In most of his letters, even the ones like the two Corinthians letters where there has been serious conflict, Paul seems genuinely interested in the lives of the participants in the community. That interest drives his prayers for them.

With that sense of affection, Paul affirms their steadfastness in the faith. So, he remembers “before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Note here the triad of faith, hope, and love, three elements that Paul will lift up in 1 Corinthians 13. This is their task/labor as followers of Jesus to embody in their work for the realm of God, faith, hope, and love. Paul and Silvanus note that the Thessalonians are beloved of God and chosen by God to receive the gospel not only in word but in the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God is the one who had initiated the outreach to them, such that not only did they hear the word from Paul but that word had been confirmed through the power of the Holy Spirit. If the audience is primarily Gentile, then this word about God choosing them is rooted in Jewish covenantal thought. Just as God had chosen the Jews to be a covenant people the same was now true of them, even if they were Gentiles who not long before had been worshiping idols. But this election takes place in Christ.   

Paul does have a paternal sensibility when it comes to his relationship with this and other communities. Thus, like a proud father, he commends them for knowing what kind of people he and his companions were and then imitating them in this missionary venture. But not only did they imitate Paul but Jesus himself. Therefore, despite enduring persecution, they received the word with joy. Again, he speaks of the role the Holy Spirit plays in this process of redemption. It is God’s engagement with them through the Holy Spirit that allows them to receive the word with joy. Because of this, “the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia.” Yes, the word had gotten out that they were faithful people despite the persecution they had endured, such that Paul didn’t have to say anything to the other churches.

So, the other churches were talking about how Paul had been received in Thessalonica and how the believers there had turned from idols and served the true and living God. Again, this is a sign that a substantial part of the congregation were Gentiles who had converted to the Jesus Movement. The message Paul emphasizes here is in line, as Fred Craddock and Eugene Boring note, with the “traditional Jewish missionary message of the one God over against pagan idols, the God whose ethical seriousness is manifest in that he will bring all human beings to a final judgment.” This ethical emphasis that was rooted in the Jewish monotheistic message was attractive to many in the Hellenistic world. Therefore, when it came to the Christian message, which was rooted in Jewish theology,  “the living God is the one definitively manifest in Jesus, the God who raised Jesus from the dead, the one through whom God saves at the final judgment.” [People’s New Testament Commentary, p. 639]. While in the modern era, the idea of judgment along with the wrath of God is not well received, this message does make clear the power of an ethical message that insists humans will be held accountable.

As the chapter concludes, we see the first hint of Paul’s eschatological message, such that he notes that they were waiting for God’s Son from heaven, the one whom God had raised from the dead. This Jesus is the one who will rescue them from the wrath to come. Now the question here is whether Paul has in mind the day of judgment at the end of time or the anticipated persecution. That isn’t answered here, but the Thessalonian letters have a strong eschatological message.

The question then concerns how this letter speaks to us. It would seem that one of the core questions in this first chapter of the letter, besides the question of election (God choosing to include Gentiles as well as Jews), is centered on idolatry. In our case, that idolatry might involve Christians who have embraced a form of nationalism that is centered on a particular leader known for his less-than-ethical behavior and policies. Considering that this reading appears during the election season, the emphasis on moving away from idolatry might be worth considering.