1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1 Thess. 1:1 Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica

This letter begins in the typical form of letters in the Greek and Roman world at that time: with who it is from, who it is to, and some sort of greeting.  It is somewhat like the format of many of our emails:

Introduction: From: ___, To: ___, and a greeting, which may include words of thanks.

The body or “meat” of the email.

Personal comments and/or final greetings.

Who is the letter from?

See Introduction to 1 Thessalonians for a discussion of who the letter is from.

Who is the letter to?

The letter is to the church of the Thessalonians.  The Greek word for “church” is ekklésia, which means an assembly or gathering.  It is used in the New Testament to refer both to a local assembly of God’s people (the church at ___) and to the whole of God’s people (the Church).  Here, it means the body of Christians in Thessalonica.  This means Paul is writing to the Christians there as a group, not just to the leaders or some other specific individuals.  It is quite possible that he expected his letter would be read out loud to the whole assembly of gathered Christians on the next Sunday after his letter arrived.

How does Paul describe the Thessalonians?  Who are they “in”?

Think about what it means to be “in” something – to be in a pool of water, in the ocean, in the rain, in the dark.  When you are “in” something, you are in some sense surrounded.  What does it mean to be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:1)?

In what ways do you experience being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ?

We are not in God alone, as isolated individuals.  Paul is speaking to the church as a group.  How might we be more faithful followers of Christ if we remembered more fully that we are all together, collectively, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ?

In his greeting, Paul makes changes to the standard secular greeting of the time.  His word “grace” in Greek sounds a little bit like the word for “greetings” that Greeks or Romans would have used in his time (New American Bible, revised edition, Rom. 1:1-7, fn.).  He then adds the Greek word for the traditional Hebrew greeting shalom, which means “peace.”  Thus, Paul has packed a lot of nuance into a simple five-word greeting.

What would it mean to you, if someone wished you “grace” and “peace”?  If you were among the Thessalonians to whom this letter was being read on a Sunday, what would Paul’s greeting say to you?

1 Thess. 1:2-10 Paul is thankful for the Thessalonians

When Paul thinks of the Thessalonians, his primary reaction is thanksgiving.  Why?

Verses 2-4

Looking at verses 2-4, does Paul think about the Thessalonians very often?

In verse 2, how does Paul put his thinking about them into action?  What does he do?

He prays for them.

How often does he pray for them?

Is there a hidden secret here?  How might our lives be different if, when we think about people and the situations they face, our “thinking” takes the form of praying for them?  What difference might that make (for them, but also for us)?

In verse 3, what comes to mind about them when he thinks about them?

Notice that in verse 3 we see, for the very first time in Christian writing, these three virtues together – faith, love (or charity), and hope – which later become known as the “theological virtues.”  Most Christians are more familiar with them as they appear in Paul’s later letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 13:13),where love is listed last and identified as the greatest.  The Church eventually joined these “theological” virtues with the four “cardinal” virtues that go back to Aristotle and other ancient Greek philosophers: prudence (or wisdom), justice, fortitude (or courage), and temperance (or moderation). Together, they are known as the 7 virtues.

Although Paul refers to the virtues of faith, love, and hope, he does not refer to them in the abstract.  He describes each one as an active force as he refers to their work of faith, their labor of love, and their endurance in hope (NABRE) or steadfastness of hope (NRSV).  Let’s look at each one separately:

• What is the work of faith?

One possibility is that this refers to the works we do because we believe: “the works resulting from faith (James 2:14-26)” (Peter E. Cousins, The International Bible Commentary, p. 1461).  Our faith governs what we do in the present – if it doesn’t, is it really our faith?

• What does the work of faith look like in practice?  What are you doing when you are doing it?

• What is the labor of love?

• What does the labor of love look like?  How are you “laboring” when you are exhibiting the virtue of love?

• What is the point of emphasizing their endurance or steadfastness in hope?  Why is endurance or the ability to be steadfast so important for hope?

Hope is forward-looking.  It involves having expectations about the future.  Since we haven’t reached that future yet, we need endurance in the present to keep going, to “keep the faith,” in the expectation or hope that what we believe will come really will come.

• Paul says their hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ.  How are each of these three words important in their own way for giving us hope: “Lord,” “Jesus,” and “Christ” (Christ = Messiah)?

What do you think about the Thessalonians as you view them through the eyes of Paul?

How can we be more like the Thessalonians in the virtues we embrace?

As you think about these virtues the Thessalonians exhibited, what particular trait or virtue might God be inviting you to grow in right now?  What might be a step you could take to embrace that growth?

Paul had not spent much time with the Thessalonians – perhaps as little as three weeks if Luke’s compressed narrative is to be taken literally, but certainly not more than a few months.  Yet in verse 4 he calls them “brothers.”  What does this signal?

How would you feel, to have the Apostle Paul call you a brother or sister?

Actually, you are his brother or sister in Christ.  How does being counted among the brothers and sisters in Christ make you want to live your life?

In verse 4 Paul also tells the Thessalonians that they are loved, or beloved, by God.  What does this tell you about your own relationship with God?

Finally in verse 4, Paul calls them “chosen.”  Who chose them, and what does that tell you about them or about God?

In what ways are you chosen by God?

Is there something you would like to be doing more, or more effectively, because you know you were chosen by God and are loved by God?  How might you respond more fully?

Verses 5-10

In verse 5, Paul says that it wasn’t his fancy words that made the gospel he preached effective.  What are the three things he identifies as the marks or characteristics of his presentation of the gospel?

How might the preaching of the gospel be presented “in power and in the Holy Spirit”?

How can we allow the power of the Holy Spirit to come through as we tell others about our faith?

In verse 6, Paul says that the Thessalonians became imitators of him and of the Lord.  In what ways did they become imitators of Paul and the Lord?

They imitated Paul and Jesus in adopting a life of faith and in taking on the sufferings (and joy) that Paul and Jesus experienced because of their faith.

Paul says the Thessalonians not only imitated Paul and Jesus, they became a “model” (NABRE) or “example” (NRSV) for other believers.  How is that so?

Notice in verse 6 how they received the word of God with joy in the Holy Spirit.  How and why is joy central to the Christian experience?

Pope Francis said, “Christian joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit: it is having one’s heart ever joyful because the Lord has triumphed, the Lord reigns, the Lord is at the right hand of the Father, the Lord has looked at me and sent me and has given me his grace and has made me a child of the Father….  a Christian without joy isn’t Christian; a Christian who lives continuously in sadness is not a Christian ” (Pope Francis, “No Fear: Morning Meditation in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae”, 15 May 2015).

How can we embrace the joy of the Holy Spirit more fully in our lives?

In verse 8, Paul says that what has happened in Thessalonica has “sounded forth” across the entire Greek peninsula and beyond.  If the word were to be spread abroad about what is happening in your church, what would the message be?  How would your parish or church be described?

In verse 9, where Paul describes what the Thessalonians did, he is describing what repentance looks like.  Repentance always involves a turning “from” and a turning “to.”  What did they turn from and what did they turn to?

Note: The “living and true God” echoes Old Testament verses that distinguish the one God from the multitude of dead idols.

Paul’s description here can be seen as another set of 3 elements: turning from (the past), turning to (the present), and waiting for the return of Jesus and his deliverance (the future).  The third element reinforces his reference to hope earlier.

Is this kind of “turning” a one-time thing, or should we regularly look for how we can “turn” to God?

In what way might God be calling you to turn “from” or “to” something right now?

In verse 10, Paul refers to the “wrath” that is coming.  The word “wrath” was used by Jews in Paul’s time as a shorthand for the coming of the Lord at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.  The word “wrath” can be misunderstood in our time, because we associate it with human emotions such as uncontrolled fury that do not reflect the nature our divine God (Jesus talked about God’s judgment but never used the word “wrath” to describe it).  Paul is saying that if we have made the turn toward God, we can wait for Jesus’s return without fear because he “delivers us” (NABRE) or “rescues us” (NRSV) from final judgment.

Scholars point out that in verse 10, the word “delivers” or “rescues” is a present participle, not a future tense, meaning that Jesus has already begun the process and is already, now, in the process of delivering or rescuing us from final judgment.  How is that so?

Is there something about the Thessalonians that attracts you?  How might they be an example for you or your local church?  How might you emulate them?

Take a step back and consider this:

The words Paul uses to describe faith, hope, and love show that these virtues are active and practical.  They make a difference in our daily lives.  We work out our faith.  We labor in love.  We stick to it with endurance and perseverance in the present because we have a hope in the future that God is preparing.

As the gospel of Christ takes root in our lives, these virtues are infused into us by God.  But they are not solitary characteristics.  They manifest themselves in, and shine forth in, the community – in us and others acting together as Christ’s Body.

How does your work of faith support the church and community of which you are a part?

How does your labor of love build up the church and community of which you are a part?

How does your endurance in hope strength the church and community of which you are a part?

What is God calling you to do in manifesting these virtues that He is working into you?