Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5, Psalm 17

When is it all going to end and how will it happen? I think pretty much everyone asks this question at some point. At least every generation has someone who seriously considers it, and tries to map out what the future will look like. When that person is a Christian, they of course go to the Scriptures and look for ways to map out the future. In recent decades, this generally leads to someone doing one of two things: declaring a date of Christ’s return, or writing a book. I think both are foolish, though the first is more embarrassing. To the cynical, the second sure seems like a profit grab. Let’s write a book about the coming end of the world! We can say we were motivated by the gospel while gathering huge amounts of money. Fun! I suppose it is no secret at this point that I find attempting to predict future events to be a fool’s errand. In each case that the Scriptures speak of the future they also somewhere nearby speak of not trying to nail it down, because no one knows. Now, what does this have to do with the first letter to the Thessalonians?

Paul has been answering the Thessalonians questions. He has addressed issues of ethical behavior in a culture that demands adherence to unethical practices, how to live at peace in such a culture, and what hope there is for those who have believed in Jesus but then died. Paul turns in the last chapter to the question of when the Day of the Lord will occur. In using this terminology, Paul calls back to the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, who spoke quite a bit about the Day of the Lord, when God would come as judge and restorer. He says something very interesting about it here. One, that it will come as a thief in the night… but that as believers we do not need to worry about the thief, because we are a people of the day, not the night. Weird.

What is Paul getting at here? Recall that the Thessalonians were enduring some of the worst persecution the early church would face. Worse would come in following generations, but during the days of Paul and the other apostles, Thessalonica has a strong argument for being the worst place in the world for being a Christian. Their concern about the return of Jesus was very immediate and real- they are looking for an end to their suffering and vindication of their faith. Some of them have already died, and they are worried about the rest of them. I don’t think they care at all about the road map to the future that will let them predict events. They don’t want more knowledge, they want to be rescued. Paul addresses that fear. He does so by drawing them into a different story about their suffering. Those who say there is peace and security couldn’t be more wrong. The Thessalonians are looking around and seeing others as secure, because they feel secure. Paul says they are not secure. No one who puts their hope in anything but the gospel is secure. They will be surprised by the coming of Christ and his lordship of the creation. The Thessalonian Christians will not be surprised when this happens. They know and are known by Jesus, and so need not fear his appearance. Even if they die in the meantime, God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are asleep or awake we might live with him. That is the point Paul wants the Thessalonians to get. What happens to them now, for good or bad, will not stop the appearance of their Lord and the vindication of their faith. Jesus is Lord even beyond death, as he died himself and defeated death.

Paul’s encouragement is not to paint a picture of the future, except to say that Jesus will vindicate both the living and the dead who receive him. Paul wants the Thessalonians to be encouraged now, for now. He does not want them to avoid life until Jesus returns, he wants them to engage in it. He wants them to admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with all. He is looking to the effectiveness of their peaceable witness for the gospel. He closes the letter with the greatest promise of all for these beleaguered Christians. He who calls you is faithful. He will do it.