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Thessalonians: Who Looks Up To You?

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

October 16, 2005

1. We’ve read through Philippians, and today we begin a five-week read through Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. Let me show you where Thessalonica is. Remember from a month ago when we "went" to Philippi? All of the educational and fellowship and office area is the Mediterranean Sea; Jerusalem is over there east of the tennis courts in Highland Park across 36^th Street; the part of Asia Minor that is home to Ephesus and Colossae is in the parking lot; Greece with Athens and Corinth is in the playground, and Rome is waaaaay over here, practically where the Junior League offices are. In the middle of all that land, more or less, where our Sanctuary is, floats the Aegean Sea. At the top of the Aegean Sea is Macedonia – that’s where the choir sits. Philippi is here where my chair is; then just a little way, past the organ, to where Dan and Rodgers sit, is the thriving commercial and cultic coastal city of Thessalonica.

2. Thessalonica, in Paul’s day, was part of the vast Roman Empire. Abraham Smith writes about it in The New Interpreter’s Bible. Thessalonica was named after Alexander the Great’s half-sister, Thessaloniki, and was colonized about 300 years before Jesus was born. It was not the intellectual capital that Athens was, and it wasn’t the great international center that Alexandria was, but it had become a key trading center by the time Paul went there about 20 years after Jesus died – somewhere around the year 50. But most importantly, as far as Paul was concerned, it was solidly Roman. Statues honoring Roman leaders were placed in prominent positions. This whole area of Macedonia had ushered in the "Augustan era," a new age of prosperity. And therein lay the rub. Paul preached the same thing about the new age that Jesus ushered in!

3. While that might not seem to us like such a big deal, all of this created no small amount of tension for those new Christians. They struggled to be good citizens of the Roman Empire, and loyal children of God at the same time. If the Romans caught them supporting Jesus, well, that was treason -- a threat to Caesar. Dum, de dum dum. The plot thickens! Would the Thessalonican Christians be able to keep their faith in the One God, keep their eyes upon Jesus, with all that pressure around them to be loyal to the Roman emperor?

3. Paul felt pretty confident that they would, but wrote to encourage them, anyway. This first chapter answers any questions we might have about whether or not they could keep their faith in Jesus. (Read 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10).

4. That small group of Christians, gathering together in homes, set the example. They modeled Christianity for all the "Believers" in Macedonia (the choir loft) and Achaia (all the area we call Greece, all the way to the playground). Paul had preached a powerful gospel – he taught them the difference between "the good life" with all its material trappings, and "the life that is good" with all its significant meaning. The life that is good is led by our God who seeks us out in love, and asks only that we respond likewise. The life that is good welcomes and accepts caring leaders, like the Thessalonians welcomed and accepted Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. The life that is good knows there’s a difference between telling how much you know, and showing how much you care.

5. That was then; this is now. Do these words from Paul contain any words from the Lord for us? You know they do! We don’t have quite the persecution they had, but have similar tensions. On the one had, we have our secular civil responsibilities as Americans. It’s important to be a good citizen! Our country doesn’t run all by itself! It needs responsible and competent and committed people to take care of its business. But, on the other hand, we have our religious responsibilities as Christians. The Church doesn’t run by itself, either! The Church needs dedicated and reliable members to keep its mission alive. Where do we draw the line? Every now and then, we have to decide. And there are always people looking up to us, to see what our answer will be.

6. There is a situation developing in Sapulpa right now that could have happened in Thessalonica. Some bank in town is building a park. To develop a sense of civic pride, they have involved everybody in the construction – and they’ve dubbed it "The Big Build." The bank has access to about a half of a city block next to the Library. Upon this half of a city block they are installing playground equipment and all sorts of stuff that will be so good for the citizens of Sapulpa. They are even building a three-story tower with big slide. All the bank employees, of course, are expected to help. And they’re inviting everybody else in Sapulpa to help. They’re having a party. It’s great! And when it is finished, the Bank is deeding it to the city. Isn’t that about the best unifying, productive use of time and money and resources you can imagine? It is! Everything about The Big Build is GOOD – except for the fact that they can only work in the evenings and on the weekends. Now, what happens in the evenings and on the weekends? CHURCH happens, that’s what happens. What are these good people to do? Here we have employees of the bank, who are also leaders in the churches, and good citizens of Sapulpa, on top of that! Their city needs them at the very same time their churches need them. What are they going to do? Will they decide in favor of the bank, or will they set an example for the other citizens of Sapulpa, or will they serve only God? People are looking up to them. And when they look up to them, what do they see?

7. The same question confronts us, and that question has two sides. You’re on one side. Who looks up to you, and what do they see? Do they see you as a person who places God first in your life, or is God second, or third, or somewhere farther down the line? And where do they see the Church? Is Church first, or second, or third.

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