Luke Knight

1 Thessalonians 4.9-12

I get the honour, sometimes right here in this very spot, to lead couples in vows of holy matrimony. Weddings usually come with a lot of trappings and hoopla which couples tend to forget about soon after the rush of the day. But what we hope they don’t forget, what’s smack-bang in the middle of the marriage ceremony itself, are the vows. And as fluffy and fancy as a wedding day can be, couples find themselves mouthing some gritty and earthy words to one another: For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death parts us. Now some of those words we’d rather not think about on a wedding day: worse, poor, sickness, death. Polished up as the best possible versions of themselves, why on earth is a couple focusing on such dire possibilities? It’s because, even on the sunniest of wedding days – eye lash extensions, ice sculptures and all – a marriage ceremony reminds us that love is more than a fluffy feeling. Love is not just butterflies in the tummy, but a stomach of steal when it counts. Less something we unswervingly feel, and more something we decidedly work out, rolling up our sleeves for the good of the other. This kind of love is what’s under the microscope today in 1 Thessalonians, because the Christian commitment to love is not only reserved for marriage. This gritty and gutsy love is to be found between the sisters and brothers in Jesus also – according to the apostle Paul perhaps even more so.

As for other matters

As we’ve been learning, a letter such as 1 Thessalonians did not appear out of thin air but is a response in relationship. Paul and Silas had travelled to Thessalonica, stayed for no longer than a month, and shared the gospel of Jesus in the bustling city among Jewish and non-Jewish people. Forming a new community under Paul’s teaching on Jesus, as a group they felt immediate pressure and Paul and Silas were forced to leave. Unable to return, Paul sends back his young apprentice Timothy to see how the new community is doing. When Timothy returns from Thessalonica, finally finding Paul in Corinth, he shares good news. The seeds planted in Thessalonica have taken root, the new Christian community is blooming, and Paul is ecstatic. He writes them a letter in that tone but also needs to address some concerns based on Timothy’s report (every garden has it’s weeds). The letters we hold today, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, date back to around 50AD, are some of the earliest Christian writings to the first church ever planted in Europe.

So far Paul’s letter has included: his joy and thankfulness to God for them; some explanation and encouragement to them about the suffering they’re facing; as well as rational for his absence and why they can trust the message of Jesus as they find their feet in faith. But the letter now turns specific, addressing other matters in the new community which the young Timothy had witnessed first-hand. How were things going? What issues and questions were the new Christians facing? Now, as unique as this community was, belonging to a far-flung ancient culture, buried deep in history, we might be surprised to hear that some of the topics of Paul’s instruction are not so strange to us: how Christians are meant to think about sex, work and death. It’s hard to imagine more relevant themes across all human experience including our own.

Sexual conduct

Last week we heard Paul’s instruction on the topic of sex. Apparently, what the first Christians did with their bodies was deeply important. Paul writes, in short, because of God’s holiness, the sisters and brothers in Thessalonica should learn to control their bodies, not taking advantage of one another in unbridled lust. Paul is consistent across his writings on this topic. Many of the cities to which Paul took the gospel would have been both sexuality exploitive and fluid in expression. I remember a conversation I had years ago with a young adult who was surprised to hear that ancient people were sexually all over the map, as he assumed it was only since the sexual revolution that we humans had fanned out over the spectrum of sexual expression. The truth is, according to a good deal of very ancient literature, humans have been endlessly explorative and regularly exploitative when it comes to sex. Thessalonica was part of this world. Worship in temples might have included cult prostitution, dominant men would take advantage of those with less power in their household, female or male. We won’t get too explicit here, but slaves and subordinates in an average Greco-Roman household were considered property and were used and abused as one might use any other household “object”. I’m reading some history on the Persians and Greeks at the moment, and the section on the city of Sparta alone was more shocking and horrific than I can share in detail here.

So, the picture advertisers paint today of liberal sexual exploits being new and taboo is in fact the oldest graffiti on the wall. There’s nothing particularly original or individual about allowing your sex drive sit in the driver’s seat of your life. And the history records certainly don’t reflect that this kind approach brought dignity and flourishing for the average member of society, but in fact just the opposite. All this considered, Paul often tackles the question of sexual practice in the new churches he’s planted, as the Jewish, and now emerging Christian, mindset about sex was quite different. Self-control, not self-gratification, was the priority. In another of Paul’s early letters (to the Galatians) he lists the evidence of God’s Spirit in Christians not only as gentleness, kindness and patience, but also self-control.

Paul’s basis for avoiding what’s called “sexual immorality” was first God’s holiness and authority. Because God had authority on the matter as Maker, and God’s character was holy, Christians in Thessalonica were to live with holiness and honour when it came to their sexual appetites. Paul also returns to his “sibling care” language in this part of the letter, which makes clear an important through-line. Paul doesn’t give instruction about sex because he’s some kind oppressive kill joy. Sexual desire is to be handled with care on the basis of God’s holiness brought to bear in the life of Thessalonica’s Christians, and the fruit of this holy and honourable living will be that sisters and brothers won’t wrong or take advantage of each another. In other words, holy and honourable living had a point. Holy and honourable living would mean these Christian start-ups will be the kind of communities with no room for exploitation, sexual or otherwise, instead communities which emphasized dignity and respect for all people, from the most powerful man in a household, to the eight year old slave girl. No longer can a man with some sway take what he likes whenever he likes “in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God”. He is to live controlled, honourable, holy because God is this way, which results in a purity of familial love within the community. The sense here is that the early Christians are learning to be directed by their Maker, and not by their base desires, in a society which has been given over to self-indulgence and unchecked passion. If God did not take advantage of them, instead caring for humanity with self-sacrificing love as seen through Jesus, and if by example Paul had not taken advantage of them, the Thessalonian Christians must follow that lead. Selflessness, life in light of the cross, would mean self-control. This was not about sexual oppression, but human dignity and flourishing under God’s love and authority. It’s hard to overstate the impact of these words in 1 Thessalonians. Western values today about individual rights regarding our bodies, dignity, respect and protection for all members of society, did not spring from the Greco-Roman world, but from Judeo-Christian history. In short, how we think about sex and bodies today is totally different to how ancient people thought about sex and bodies, because of Jesus and the influence of people like Paul.

I do think it’s worth mentioning that this topic can bring up regret and often shame for many of us, which might make us want to duck and hide, and that’s understandable. But let me also remind us of Paul’s words elsewhere, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8). That is to say that trusting the gospel means remembering that God doesn’t recoil from or condemn us when we turn to him, and that there’s no shame in the shadow of the cross. We can bring our whole selves to Jesus, and in him we find love, forgiveness and new beginnings. Nobody in this room is squeaky clean, so let me remind us that the cross, which brings cleansing and transformation is what we can trust together.

On the heels of this text, one encouragement today is to remember a couple of things. First, without diminishing the importance of human sexuality, a Christian needn’t claim sexual desire as a primary identity marker as a created being. The New Testament is clear on this. Our primary identity markers run deeper than sexual appetites. They run deeper than male or female, race, or social status. Our identity is first in Christ. So we needn’t be completely driven and directed by sexual appetites, or any other appetite for that matter. Second, Paul says, on the basis of God’s holiness, honourably control your bodies, lovingly for the sake of others. How we apply this today might be for a more in-depth discussion, but with the foundation of God’s holiness, and a motivation to care for others because of their dignity and worth, seems to be a good place to start when thinking about our sex.

But you’ve probably noticed this starting place on human sexuality is sometimes the opposite of what’s espoused today which inverts Scripture’s instruction. What’s we often hear today is to adopt an attitude of a) my wants first, then b) possibly considering the dignity of the other, with little room for God’s holiness and authority whatsoever – which sounds increasingly like the tone of pre-Christian ancient cultures. Paul’s instruction is the opposite.  First, God’s holiness and authority on the matter, then, careful concern for others, and no mention of how one might express one’s desires other to ensure we keep our bodies under control in consideration of the first two imperatives (honouring God and loving others). That’s increasingly a unique approach to sexuality in our day and age! All to say, if you feel a bit of a culture clash between a historic biblical ethic on sex, and some of our society today, you’re not wrong! These are two very different approaches to sexuality, and we do need to be aware what influences are guiding us as Christians.

Sisterly and brotherly love

With that said, onto our passage today. The line from Paul’s basis for honourable living (God’s holiness) and the result (that we will love one another) is as clear as day in this passage. What are the results of living holy and honorable under God’s direction by the power of his Spirit? The result will be that sisters and brothers will learn to love one another at God has loved them.

Here, again, Paul praises his Thessalonian friends: I don’t need to write to you about loving one another as sisters and brothers because you’re doing that well, you’ve been taught by God, that much is clear, so, keep up the good work! The idea of Christians loving one another as sisters and brothers, though, we should remember, was revolutionary. Paul’s use of the word love here is a sibling-love, so we’re reminded that what had been established in places like Thessalonica was new in the ancient world. The first Christians weren’t all blood related, but Paul uses the language that they are in fact siblings in Jesus. And, as we’ve been learning in the letter, a great system of client/patron relations was the way of the world at the time. Meaning, powerful families would squabble for control for influence in a city, and the way to get along was to become an underling of such a power-broker family. Maybe the best way to put it was that you would be in someone’s pocket, dependent on them, under their control to do their bidding. A city like Thessalonica would have been no different, perhaps with rival families of various sizes, all jostling for the top of the pile. The average commoner found themselves bound up in that system, in various places in the pecking order. With the arrival of the gospel in Thessalonica, a new way of relating and communing was budding within the city – the Jesus way. Churches were communities emerging in the ancient word, not on the basis of literal bloodline (a family), nor on the basis of a traditional client/patron dynamic, but as a community of “brothers and sisters” in the Lord Jesus – equal and unified irrespective of race, gender, or social status. This was western history’s biggest shift, and we’ve got front row seats! What an encouraging message from Paul, then, that the Thessalonians were doing well in loving one another across cultural and societal divides, and working out what they had been taught by God. Sometimes, just pointing out to one another that we see God’s activity in our lives is encouraging. So Paul says, keep up the good work!

Mind your business, work with your hands and win respect

So, the sisters and brothers in Thessalonica were to keep at their love for one another. But Paul does have to nudge some of them further. Scholars have noted that Paul’s words here in his first letter are made clearer in light of his second letter where he becomes more assertive on the subject of work. So, what does Paul mean by “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands…so that you will not be dependent on anybody” These words probably apply to a couple of dynamics.

First, the client/patron dynamic. In many ways it was easier to hitch your wagons to a powerful family in a city like Thessalonica. Working with your hands was looked down upon, labour being the lot of lower classes or slaves, so Christians in Thessalonica might be tempted to land themselves in someone’s pocket for provision and protection thus avoiding a life of labour, though in turn they’d have to do the family’s bidding. But Paul had shown them that working with their hands was nothing to be scoffed at by his own example. Paul was not only an astounding scholar and missionary, he was a tradesperson. And though this is not exactly the point of Paul’s argument here, it is a good opportunity to pause and affirm the merits of an honest day’s work.

We’re often sold the idea that work is something to be avoided at all costs. But the reality of a healthy and holy work/rest rhythm is deeply biblical, stretching back to Genesis. To says that God works, and humans are made in God’s image to work with purpose and dignity is entirely fair. So a little encouragement today, however work looks for us, at home with kids, under a leaky sink, in a classroom, pouring over a spreadsheet, volunteering for good organizations, or if you’re a student taking your studies seriously – remember that there’s nothing wrong with an honest day’s work. An honest day’s work is worship unto our Maker – whatever that work is. An honest day’s work, done with integrity and humility, might be the most consistently Christian thing we do with much of our time. Sometimes I think about our church, all of us, and the many different roles we play, worshiping through our work with every integral choice, grace-filled response, patient concern for those around us. And I think that kind of life of worship and puts a smile on God’s face.

But what does Paul mean in his words here about living a quiet life and minding your own business? Does he mean we needn’t bother with being a part of our wider communities, that Christians should live isolated? Not quite. Paul’s language of “leading a quiet life” and “minding your own business” likely had to do with steering clear of the turbulent and toxic power games played between rival families in Thessalonica. As best you can, stay out of all that, says Paul, we’re not about power games and stepping on people to lift ourselves up. The relative independence the Christians could enjoy might come at the cost of working with their hands, but at least they won’t be pulled into a pattern of life shaped by feuding families and unchristian action. The sense here is that the Christians have one patron now, to whom they are all clients, and that is the Lord Jesus. And under his benefaction, they are sisters and brothers charged to love and honour one another, no matter what the world beyond was up to.

The other possibility for the language of the Christians “not being dependent” on anyone and “winning the respect of outsiders”, is that some in the city (likely men in this instance) had found this new Christian community to be a pretty cozy situation to settle into. If they were meant to take care of one another, maybe they didn’t have to work, mooching off some with means in the community. In Paul’s second letter he gets more direct about this, so this first gentle instruction here doesn’t seem to have worked. The sense is that, yes, sisters and brothers are to look after one another, but this means that everyone who can contribute should. Sisterly and brotherly love doesn’t look like a community where either those with means are taken advantage of by those with less means, or those with less are taken advantage of by those with more. We see in the book of James an instruction to wealthy believers to ensure they don’t shame poor believers in their gatherings in various ways. This sister/brother community can’t be about one group taking advantage of or disrespecting the other, whichever way round – they must love one another selflessly, in Paul’s words because they have been God-taught on this kind of love! Just imagine for a moment both the humility and the dignity this radical new teaching would have created in these early Christian communities. Everyone serves as they can, we’re not going to break ourselves up into categories, we’re just going to be sisters and brothers because our great equalizer and example is Jesus. So we can see that all of Paul’s instructions here on sex and work and the like, all has to do with Jesus’ example, God’s holiness, and the pioneering of sisterly and brotherly love among human beings.

For us?

So what does this mean for us as sisters and brothers in Jesus today? Our society is quite different from the ancient world, with systems and structures informed by historic Christian values, which means that for the most part we’re not as economically dependent on one another as the first Christians were, or as other Christians are globally. But we can take a few pointers here when it comes to an attitude of God-taught love.

First, given Paul’s instructions on sex, then moving onto work, it’s clear that Christians taking advantage of one another is simply out of the question. This is not how God has taught us to love one other. We can think about how we might heinously take advantage of or disrespect one another, which we should remember in any church is always a danger, but we might also think about how we more subtly neglect to love or take advantage or disrespect of one another. Sisterly and brotherly love means we are mindful and considerate of one another, each made in God’s image, all equal in Jesus, and we take responsibility to do our part in community. People are not tools to be used, pawns to be moved. People are not means to an end. So part of being a church, of being sisters and brothers, is relentlessly practicing and modeling this, no matter how quick technology moves or how insatiable our ambitions.

As I said at the beginning, love is gritty and gutsy and rolls up its sleeves, getting to work for the good of the other. It’s pretty clear that when we sing and pray about God’s holiness and love, texts like these spell out what that means in life together. For the first Christians God’s holiness and our love wasn’t just a feeling or an intention or a nice prayer or song and then off they went home. It looked pretty darn practical. So we might ask ourselves, is that how we think about God’s love? Humility, service, charity? Are we willing to ensure that Life Group host isn’t doing all the work all the time? Are we willing to serving on the lower floor with our children, meeting the very practical needs of that special responsibly? Sisterly and brotherly love means that we don’t assume someone else will take care of things. Love in the community of believers means getting involved. So can I encourage us today, that if church can slide into an exchange of religious goods and services at times, to consider what involvement through practical service might look like. We saw this last week when folks jumped at a chance to serve at Arts Camp. Serving, in all kinds of ways, is not legalistic obligation – it’s biblical love for one another. Jesus washed feet and carried a cross. Love means service and burden bearing together. It’s why I’m not too fond of the word “volunteer” in church, as if service is option rather than an expectation in the body. We’re not about volunteerism. At the core of this Jesus thing is sisterly and brotherly love, is loving and serving, as Jesus loved and served us. That can take a thousand different forms, but it begins with an attitude.

But I think we should hear Paul’s words of encouragement today, because they do apply to Living Waters in more ways than I think we can count: “Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other…Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more”

So the next time you find yourself meeting a need, even just being a reliable person, whose yes can be trusted as yes, and no can be trusted as no – remember, you have been taught by God how to love – you’re being very Christian! And, as Paul says to the Thessalonians here, don’t be surprised when a steady life of love together turns the heads of those on the outside looking in. Because this kind of life together still draws and transforms, as it did back then. The love the Thessalonians shared wasn’t just known by others in Macedonia, we’re talking about it now. What might the effects of our love be in the future?