“The Church at Thessalonica” Acts 17: 1-9 1 Thess. 1: 1-10

The apostle Paul is often a very misunderstood person. Or at least his story is misunderstood. We can tell of how Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and struck him blind and through that experience he came to believe in Jesus. We can tell of how prior to that experience he was pursing Christians with a single-minded focus. We can tell how after that experience he had a call upon his life to go and preach the Good News, first in the synagogues and then to the Gentiles, planting church after church. 

It’s what happens in the church planting that we can get a little mixed up on. 

Some folks think that Paul only stayed in communities for a short time, others think that he was in every place that he went for years. The truth is, Paul was in each place for a different amount of time. But we know about some of the places where faith communities came to be because of Luke’s stories in the book of Acts and the letters that Paul wrote to church when he was apart from them. 

During seminary I had a spiritual practice of writing letters. Most of my journal entries were letters that I wrote to God. Every week I would try to send out at least three to five letters to friends to serve as notes of encouragement. But here is the thing about all of that writing, it was personal. It was for the person for whom it was intended. 

So it was with Paul. Because the letters he wrote to churches are part of the Biblical cannon, we assume that everything in them are for all of us, throughout the ages. And it is true that there is much for us to glean about being the body of Christ from what he wrote centuries ago. But when Paul wrote them he wasn’t intending for them to be read by you and I all these years later. In fact, Paul wasn’t even intending for them to be read by other faith communities. He penned these beautiful, personal, pastoral letters that were meant for a particular people he was in relationship with. In his absence he wanted to keep preaching the Gospel in a way that would be meaningful and connect with them personally. 

But before we jump into the letter, let’s focus our attention on the passage from Acts this morning. For Acts tells us the story about how this faith community came to be in the first place. 

Several years ago this parish studied the book of Acts in our weekly Bible Study. There were several things that struck us during that study and this passage is no different - in his journeys Paul went to the synagogue first, if there was a synagogue in the community. 

Paul and Silas arrived in Thessalonica, a port city,  and head into the synagogue. In fact, they went into the synagogue and stayed for three Sabbath days. In other words, Paul stayed for three weeks and talked with them about the scriptures. He took texts they already knew, maybe those like Isaiah 53, and used them to explain why the Messiah had to suffer and be raised from the dead. He then took those familiar text and connected them to Jesus. 

Some people listened and they became believers. 

But then the disagreements started. And they were a plenty in Thessalonica. First, the Jews became jealous and stirred up crowds in the market place. It is easy for us to villianize the religious establishment here, but they truly thought that Paul was preaching heresy and leading people astray. Remember, they didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They thought Jesus was a trouble-maker who had been dealt with, and now here is Paul, miles from Jerusalem, continuing to preach about Jesus and try to say that their holy texts pointed to Jesus as the suffering Messiah. It simply wasn’t how they understood the story of Israel, their story. And they couldn’t let Paul continue to preach what he was to the crowds, especially in the synagogues. So Paul faced opposition from the religious establishment. 

But in Thessalonica, it wasn’t just threats from the religious folks. It was also threats from the government and other pages who thought that Paul had come in to over throw their way of life as Jesus was proclaimed to be King. Paul was being attacked from both sides. So much so, that the people became indignant and the city was thrown into an uproar. 

Something people will often say to me is “never in all my years.” “Never in all my years do I remember the world being like this.” “Never in all my years do I remember things being this much of a mess.” Well, friends, in Paul’s years it was. It was a mess. And it wasn’t just a mess for Paul and Silas. The crowds went and attacked Jason’s home as well, where Paul and Silas were believed to be staying as guests. Things were so bad that Paul and Silas had to sneak off in the middle of the night, aided by the believers in the area, leaving this young, small group of believers behind. 

But that wasn’t the end of the story for Thessalonica. Out of those riots, out of that mess that Paul had to escape from, a church was birthed. A group of believers, who I think unsurprisingly to us, faced persecution and grief and suffering. Paul was writing them with a message of encouragement. Keep doing what you are doing, even when its hard. Even when it costs you a lot. Remember that your life is in God now. Remember who you are - you arrest people who turned from idols, serve God whole-heartedly, and are waiting for Jesus to come back. Your life is a witness for Jesus. 

While Paul wrote this letter specifically for the church of Thessalonica, as I stated before, I do think that there are things for us to glean, both from the story of the birth of this church and the letter that Paul wrote to them later. Specifically, I think we can ask what binds us as believers here and now today, together with the believers in Thessalonica?

We are bound together by the belief that God is here today. That the power of the Spirit is moving through this congregation with a purpose. To make the name of Jesus known in this community and beyond. Does that mean that it will always be easy? The church at Thessalonica would tell us no. I know, friends, that we long for the days when we could simply open up our doors and people would come. Thessalonica did not know of that time. They, too, had to work to spread the good news of the Gospel. But they believed that it was worth it. Do we believe that it is worth it as well? Worth it enough to leave what makes us comfortable so others can know the power of Jesus?

We are bound together by the belief that God loves this congregation. We aren’t a church because we meet in a certain building at a certain time. We are a church because we are brought together by the love of God. And it is that same love that we want to go out and share with the world, being imitators of the Lord. 

We are bound together by the call of God. We, like the Thessalonians, are sent forth into our communities to be be bearers of the Good News. In fact, as the body of Christ, our lives are so bound up with the life of God and the story of the Gospel, that we cannot help but go forth.

Friends, we are bound together across the centuries with other believers, other local bodies of Christ, but the call reminds the same. The mission remains the same. To go and preach the good news. Let us, like the Thessalonians, go boldly in the name of Jesus to anyone who will listen. Amen.