A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.
As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
1 Thessalonians 4:10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more,
Paul has just come off a topic that involves God as the avenger of a brother in the church, an avenger that will impact another soul in the church due to sexual immorality within the body of believers. A heavy discussion, even to the point of noting the rejection of God by the rejecting the message God provides.
But in the midst of this stain in the body, Paul does not loose sight of the bigger picture. He pivots to the topic of brotherly love, for the sake of the internal relationships within the Thessalonian body of believers, and confesses that thier witness of brotherly love is not simple a local phenomenom. Thier love is known throughout the churches of Macedonia.
Now I cannot imagine the size of the Thessalonian church by the time Paul has written this letter. At the birth of this congregation, according to Acts 17, the church accumulated “some Jews”, many devout Greeks and numerous leading women of the city as follower of Jesus.
Acts 17:4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
The church populated quickly and due to the persecution, the church learned to love each other, to lean on each other and to watch each other’s backs. After all, this is the nature of the believer, to mimic God in His saving acts towards those He loves.
For the Thessalonians, they took this matter to heart, not only internally within thier congregation, but throughout the Macedonian region.
Paul spoke of this zeal for others in the second Corinthian letter, a letter directed to a church just south of the Thessalonians in the Roman province of Achaia. He spoke of the grace of God given to the churhes of Macedonia, of thier readiness and thier support of the apostle.
2 Corinthians 8:1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,
2 Corinthians 11:9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.
The thessalonian church was not restricted to thier city limits. Their impact was regional, and as Paul was exhorting them to reach farther out with thier brotherly love, the witness of this little church was immortalized in the Scriptures. Thier impact of brotherly love to other believers has become global as the good news is spread throughout the world,
This church is a stellar example of brotherly love, encouraging and leading many, even to this day, to sacrifice for our brothers.
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