A powerful missionary Word: Mediation on 1st Thessalonians 1

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, 

but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; 

as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, 

having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.

So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia,

but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; 

so that we need not to speak any thing.

For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, 

and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, 

even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Paul’s first letter to the newly planted church in Thessalonica is a marvelous example of the early missionary efforts of Christianity, and something worth pondering again in our own day.  He began by bringing the Gospel of Jesus to these people in the old capitol of Greek Macedonia, and living out his witness to them in humility and holiness, while working with his own hands to support the ministry (what we might call today bi-vocational, “worker-priest,” or “tent-maker” pastors).  That living Word of Jesus both preached and manifested in the lives of St. Paul and his companions had a powerful effect on the pagan people of Thessalonica, where many turned in faith and repentance to God as their Savior.  Such was their conversion that they shined like lights among their dark pagan landscape, no longer conformed to the demonic evils which surrounded them in every corner of their society.  Their faith and lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit working through the Word of Christ, became a witness to the whole of Macedonia, and a joyous comfort to St. Paul as he continued his laborious missionary work under constant threat of persecution and martyrdom.  This pattern repeated itself through explosive growth in the early centuries of the church, and we have other writings from the first and second centuries (such as the Didache) which contain warnings against missionaries who didn’t follow Paul’s model— who came with a corrupted message other than what the Apostles had brought, who exhibited pride and lust, and who fixated on money.  Such false missionaries and prophets were dangerous, and were what St. John warned about when he said that others went out into the world as if they had come from the Apostles, but showed by their lives and words that they did not continue in fellowship with Christ or the messengers He sent.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition to much pastoral and missionary work today.  In our age, pastoral ministry has been largely industrialized as a profession, complete with official educational programs young pastors can pursue while incurring tremendous personal debt.  Then such pastors can hope to find a “job” working in a congregation which pays them enough to eat or support their family, and pay down their crushing debt to the seminaries which graduated them.  If they desire to become missionaries, they must promote their mission to countless others, seeking money to support themselves in their travels, and relying on the hospitality of those to whom they go.  Once they get there, who knows what message they bring, which was given them by their seminaries, financial supporters, and church bodies— calls to social justice, political action, building of infrastructure, or other “gifts” which come with expectations of quid pro quo later down the line.  Often wealthy western churches find their way into poor communities, only to promote abortion, LGBTQ initiatives, or various global political agendas.  Such aberrations to missionary work are increasing rejected by these communities around the world for being devoid of the Word and power of the Gospel which shined so brightly with St. Paul, and some of these communities are beginning to send their own authentic missionaries back to western countries in order to return their churches and communities to a Christianity St. Paul or Jesus would recognize.

It is a peculiar time in which we live, where so much of what Scripture describes seems alien to our own experience.  But today as in Paul’s day, the demonic influences of the darkened world are out of step with the Word and Spirit of Jesus.  Those who would be humble servants of the Word of God, who would not be motivated by money, power, greed, lust, pride, or politics, are a minority often oppressed and ridiculed by both the secular world and the industrialized church.  But despite the common disregard and disdain such servants of Christ endure, theirs is a Word which comes in power, through whom the Holy Spirit works to convert hearts and raise the spiritually dead unto eternal life.  They may not have all the titles and degrees which men pour upon each other in their endless pursuit of self-congratulation, but they bear faithful witness to Jesus in both their words and their lives, and through them individuals, families, communities, and nations are changed.  They become lights in a dark pagan landscape which the evil one cannot extinguish, who in turn spread that light to others until the whole of creation basks in the redemptive love of God.

Such a Word and Spirit comes to convict us all today, calling us to turn from the vanities and preoccupations of sinful men, and back to the simple but saving power of Jesus, crucified and risen for the sake of the whole world.  Education is good, as is the physical institution of Christ’s incarnate Church— but where we have corrupted those good things with selfishness, pride, lust, and greed, we should not be surprised to learn that our substitution of Christ’s living Word comes at the price of losing its power.  Hear the Word of the Lord come to you again this day, and like St. Paul, the church at Thessalonica, and all the saints who have come before us, return to the simplicity and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone transforms and saves a lost and dying world.  Become a shining light in the darkness which no evil can overcome, and which lights the way for your neighbor to everlasting life.  Amen