Preacher: Pastor Jennifer Hosler, PhD

Date: November 19, 2023

Scripture: I Thessalonians 5:1-28

May the Words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer. – Psalm 19:14

Preaching is a curious thing. Preaching is more than public speaking. Not only is there the daunting task of standing up in front of other people and talking (I hear that some folks get anxious doing that), but it also involves standing up and sharing what is hopefully 1) compelling, 2) inspiring, 3) increasing knowledge, and 4) affecting action. Moreover, the hope and prayer is that the almighty Creator of the Universe is speaking in and through the preacher. No pressure? Some pressure, I suppose. My youth pastor used to say, “God spoke through a donkey and so certainly God can speak through me.” Good point.

Some of you know I handle some church admin work, lurking behind the scenes. One of those areas is the website – I just trained our new Director of Operations on the sermon posting this week. Washington City Church of the Brethren has been posting sermons on our website since 2013.

Recently, I received a notification from the backend of our website, hosted by WordPress, and I had to approve a comment. Someone posted a comment on my sermon, entitled “Rivers Clap and Mountains Sing” from November 2013, saying, “Crazy just how timely this Word is… especially at the end of 2023! AMEN!!” I had to reread the sermon to know exactly what might be timely today and why. I suspect it was because I spoke about the “Day of the LORD” and the times when we cry out and even long for God’s judgment – especially in the face of terrible violence, mass shootings, terrorism, brutal war, and especially the deaths of children.

As pastors try to keep several things in mind while preaching: teaching texts, expanding folks’ biblical knowledge, and also regularly incorporating what is happening in our world at large. For what use is a Sunday morning service if it does not give us a biblical and theological lens with which to understand, grapple with, and act faithfully as Jesus disciples in our world? I’d say it is of little use.

Today our scripture reading is from one of the Apostle Paul’s letters to an early church. Paul wrote to early Christian churches to try to help them cope with challenges facing Jesus followers. The early church struggled with difficulties under the Roman Empire, cultural values that were antithetical to those taught by Jesus, and biases related to economic status and ethnic identity. Like our goals as preachers, Paul tried to expand the theological knowledge of the early church while also dealing with practical issues of following Jesus.

The Scripture we are reading today is letter written to early Christians in Thessalonica, a city which was the capital of Macedonia within the broader Roman Empire (now modern-day Greece). While studying for this sermon, I learned something new: 1 Thessalonians is thought to be the oldest Christian document we have. Of any kind. Older than all of Paul’s other letters. Even older than our earliest manuscripts of the gospels. 1 Thessalonians is understood to be written around 50 CE.  The Apostle Paul wrote this letter and did not know that it would eventually become part of a second body of Scriptures to go alongside the Hebrew Scriptures he knew and was trained in.  

In my journey out of Evangelicalism into a different flavor of Christianity, I confess that I have tended to want to avoid Paul’s letters, since they’ve been wielded to clobber folks at times. Despite my reticence at times, I am usually surprised and encouraged by the beauty of Paul’s letters, when I can peel back some of the modern-day baggage read into them. So, if that is you too, I’d ask that you give brother Paul another chance – and let’s work together to read in community, minus the clobbering.

Thessalonica was a large seaport on the Aegean Sea on the Via Egnatia, a main highway to Rome. Scholars think this letter was written a few months or even weeks after the church’s founding, written from Corinth. Paul went there with his colleagues Silas and Timothy. They were preaching while also supporting themselves through entrepreneurial work. The church began to grow but the three church planters had to leave unexpectedly. Paul wanted to go back but he couldn’t make it (we don’t exactly know why), so he sent Timothy on his behalf.

Timothy brought back an encouraging report of how the early church was growing but also some concerns. Apparently, members of the early church were distressed and worried because some within their congregation had died. Paul realized that the Thessalonian church was under the impression that everyone would stay alive until Jesus’ return, which sadly was not true.

In the section before our passage, Pastoral Paul takes some time to explain how those who have passed away are not missing out. They will fully receive the promised resurrection when Jesus comes again. Paul knows that the Thessalonians are asking, “When will that be??!”

Paul answers by saying, “I know I don’t need to tell you anything about this…” Apparently that was a rhetorical feature: let me draw your attention to this thing which I won’t say anything about… (paralipsis) (Gaventa, 1998). He then continues and provides several illustrations that point to our inability to know when God’s plans will come to fruition in Jesus’ second coming.

The first image is of the thief in the night. No one knows when a thief might try to rob, so a level of vigilance and safeguards are necessary to be prepared.

The second image is of a pregnant woman close to her due date. She never really knows when the baby will come, so she is watching and waiting, paying attention to every bodily ache, any tightening of her belly, and doing all that she can to be ready for labor pains to begin.

The third image is of day and night. One commentator notes that light and darkness contrast imagery can make us uncomfortable today, and for good reason: it has been abused and misused for centuries (Phan Coffman, 2023). It is important to clarify the cultural context for Paul’s day. Imagine no artificial light. No light pollution. Has anyone here ever been to an official “dark sky” location? When in an area with no light pollution – on a night with no moon – the darkness can be so disorienting and leave you feeling vulnerable.

In contrast, last month I was outside in the dark in rural Virginia. I did not need my headlamp at 10pm since the full moon was so bright, I could see exactly where I was walking. When you have light, you can see where you are going and walk purposefully, not gingerly or with anxiety about what lies ahead. Paul is saying that the Thessalonians can see where they are going, as children of the sunlight, children of the day.  

Where is Paul going with this? It is not about cycles and predictions; the New Testament understanding of history is linear, culminating in Jesus’ first and second comings. The children of the light can see clearly what the call of Jesus has for them. These Jesus followers in Thessalonica don’t know when Jesus will return, but they ready themselves for the call of discipleship. Paul says, “I know you won’t be floundering in the dark. I know you won’t be surprised or lulled into complacency. Jesus’ plan of healing and restoration is in process. We don’t know the details, but we know how the story ends. Love and mercy and justice prevail over hate and violence and greed. Those who have preyed upon the vulnerable, killed the innocent, and remained unrepentant—God will hold them to account.”  

Paul doesn’t spend a lot of time on what that judgment involves here, since that isn’t his main point. We hear judgment language, and we know how that has been abused by Christians, by people in the church broadly. The interesting thing, to me, is that the judgment is not Paul’s focus here. Paul’s focus is on the actions and identity of this fledgling church in Thessalonica, the people in the light of day, illuminated by the good news of the gospel of Jesus.

This letter is Paul’s pastoral care to the early church, encouraging them and also reminding them of who they are and whose they are. Paul is helping the Thessalonians center themselves. Paul says, “You are children of the light. You have the hope of resurrection – Jesus has not left us alone. Therefore – So, then! Let us not fall asleep like others do. Let us not be lulled into complacency. Let us not take advantage of Jesus’ not coming back to just muddle through.” Paul says, “Keep awake and be sober!” Pay attention to your role in God’s work in the world and be alert. Paul says, again, since it is day – since we are of the day – let us be sober. Let’s not let our heads get clouded, distracted, or impaired by the things that aren’t important.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians of how they are not alone or left without resources. “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” Several commentators criticize the NRSV translation where it states the next sentence as an imperative “put on”. Apparently, the sense within the Greek is that we are already wearing this armor of faith, love, and salvation – which matches very well with the Hebrew scriptures, that the LORD is the one who clothes and protects.

In one of the words of encouragement at the beginning of this letter (Chapter 1), Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians. “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2-3). Your work of faith. Your labor of love. Your steadfastness of hope.

One commentator, Beverly Gaventa, writes that “At this point in the letter [chapter 5] it has become clear that faith, love, and hope are not randomly chosen Christian virtues, and, still less, mere emotions. Faith is confidence in the gospel itself, the confidence that leads these Gentiles to turn to serving God (1:9-10). Love embodies that faith in concrete actions both within the Christian community and beyond. Hope, as we have seen throughout the letter, in the firm expectation of the return of Jesus Christ” (p. 72).

Paul continues and reminds the Thessalonians of their reconciliation in Jesus. He says,    

“For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.”

Again, with the centering: Paul is teaching theological truths that were certainly important to filling up the Thessalonians with important details, and he is also providing pastoral care, helping them center. Faith, love, and hope. Paul says, “remember that Jesus has made you his own, reconciling and rescuing you from hatred and death, and bringing you to new life and resurrection with him.” The Thessalonians need to know who they are and whose they are. When they are reminded of that, Paul then urges them to live out their calling, to be the body of Jesus manifest in the world.

It is only when we know who we are and whose we are, that we can better live into our purpose, that we live purposefully. We can work hard purposefully and, also, as is extremely biblical, we can also rest and celebrate purposefully.

            We are children of the light. We are beloved by God, reconciled through Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit. So let us keep awake and be sober, ready to continue the work of Jesus in our world. There is much work to do, but thanks be to God, we are not alone. AMEN.

References

Gaventa, B.R. (1998). First and Second Thessalonians. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Hosler, J.J.F. (2013). Rivers clap and mountains sing. https://washingtoncitycob.org/2013/11/17/rivers-clap-and-mountains-sing/

Phan Coffman, K. (2023). Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. Retrieved from https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-33/commentary-on-1-thessalonians-51-11-6