A Holy Charge (17)

  

Now we come to another “movement,” that is, we catch our breath after verse 15, ponder what we’ve read, and then jump into verses 16 – 22; while this passage moves quickly, there is much to consider; if we read it quickly we should go back and slowly work through it – if we read it quickly we’ll catch the rhythm, if we read it slowly it will sink into us and permeate our souls, both ways are fruitful, they complement each other.

 

“Rejoice…pray…give thanks…do not quench…do not despise…examine…hold fast…abstain.”

 

Or…

 

“Rejoice…pray…give thanks…

 

“Do not quench…do not despise…

 

“Examine…hold fast…abstain.”

 

Note that we have two “do nots” in the middle of our list.

 

Note also the tenor of the first three and the last three commands, note their contrast.

 

That is, compare “rejoice, pray, give thanks” with “examine, hold fast, abstain.” In the first triplet we are focused on God, our attention is vertical; in the second triplet our attention is on the horizonal, on discerning things, teachings, and actions in this life.

 

Reading the passage aloud may help us capture its flow, its voice, its rhythm, its tenor; after all, it was written to be read aloud among the believers, it was written for the ear and not so much the eye.

 

While “rejoice” is in the indicative in Greek, which is the way most of us speak, the other seven verbs can be read in the imperative – it is as if Paul transitions from verses 12 – 15 (which also contains imperatives) with an indicative, only to confront us with seven imperatives in quick succession. Paul is closing his letter (5:12 – 28) with imperative after imperative, emphasizing to the Thessalonians that they must obey these commands, they are not optional; just as it was imperative that they “turn from idols to serve a living and true God” (1:9), it is imperative that they follow Him in obedience in their life together.

 

In other words, Paul closes his message with a punch – not a whimper, but a punch – he is jolting his audience to attention, he is calling them onward and upward. Paul wants his audience to “excel still more” (4:1).

 

If we will read our entire passage (5:12 – 28) aloud, again and again, we will begin to get a feel for the music, the rhythm, the cadence of Paul’s closing. If we will read it aloud as if we are reading it to others, we may be able to visualize what it was like when the letter was actually read to Christian gatherings in Thessalonica and beyond.

 

How does your voice sound when you say, “rejoice always”?

 

How does it sound when you say, “abstain from every form of evil”?

 

Practice reading this passage aloud…what do you see?

 

How does it feel?

 

What thoughts do you have?

 

How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through this passage?

A Holy Charge (16)

 

 

“See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thess. 5:15).

 

As I write this it is early morning, the sun has yet to rise, it is dark and quiet on our cul-de-sac. There are nine other homes on our street, and on the dead-end street that leads to our cul-de-sac are seven other homes. An element of our morning prayer together is, “Lord, help us to be a blessing to others. Please make us a blessing to others.” As we make this request to our Lord Jesus the people who live in these sixteen homes are very much in our hearts and minds, we want to do good to them, we want to be a blessing to them and others in our neighborhood.

 

One of the things I miss about the workplace is the opportunity to do good to others; to coworkers, customers, suppliers, and vendors. In the workplace I engaged with people throughout the day, people to whom I could seek to do good.

 

When my friend Bruce Harrison moved from Fredericksburg to Richmond, VA, he visited a number of dry cleaners, looking for one to which he could take his shirts. He had one question for each one, “What business are you in?”

 

One after another the response was, “We are in the dry cleaning business.” At each of these responses Bruce left the establishment, knowing that was not the one for him.

 

Finally he found the response he was seeking, “We are in the service business. We are here to serve our customers.”

 

In much the same way, are we not in the “doing good to others” business? That is, are we not to live our lives seeking to do good to others, to bless others, to encourage others, to give to others?

 

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal.  6:10).

 

Since we are to live in koinonia in Christ as His People, since we are to share life together in Him, it is natural that we will especially do good to those with whom we are in intimate relationship; just as a husband ought to especially do good to his wife, and the wife ought to especially do good to her husband, and parents ought to especially do good to their children. A fruit of the members of the Body of Christ doing good to one another is that they also do good to all people, that blessing flows from the People of God to the people of their street, their neighborhood, their broader community, to the ends of the world.

 

What would it look like if churches sought the good of other churches? If churches sought the good of their communities, and sought the good of those beyond their communities?

 

Paul writes, “Let us not lose heart in doing good” (Gal. 6:9). We give because our heavenly Father gives. We do good because our heavenly Father does good, “causing the sun to rise on the evil and the good, sending rain on the righteous and the unrighteousness” (Mt. 5:45). We cannot control what others do, but we can control (by God’s grace) what we do, we can decide (by God’s grace) to do good to all people.