The Thessalonian Letters - the Practical Life of Christ

I'm continuing to read the New Testament in the order in which the letters were written.  Right after the book of James, Paul wrote the two letters to the Thessalonians.  Today as I read those letters I was struck by the positive, but cautious way in which Paul tries to help them with the questions of how to conduct themselves as God's people, and what they should think about, and subsequently do, about the coming again of Christ Jesus.

This was a marvelous Church in Paul's eyes...like the person who takes his wallet out and proudly shows the pictures of his kids.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (NASB)
² We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;
³ constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,




Those three words first appeared here in the Thessalonian letters...a while before Paul wrote them to the Corinthians.

The two themes of how to live godly and that sense of waiting in hope for the coming of Christ appears right up front in the first chapter of the first letter.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (NLT)
⁹ for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.
¹⁰ And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

Christians are called to live "sanctified"...i.e. with an awareness of their identity in Christ.  Paul says it to the Thessalonian believers like this:

1 Thessalonians 4:1,4 (NLT)
¹ Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.
⁴ Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—

And, concerning the second coming of Christ...  1 Thessalonians 5:2 (NLT)
² For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.




NOW...here's an interesting observation...the beginning of the second letter to the Thessalonians mentions their faith, and love, but does not say anything about their hope.




2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NLT)
³ Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.




WHY?  They were confused about Christ's coming again, having been told that the Lord had already returned.  It simply wasn't true, but they were confused nevertheless...  2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 (NLT) 
¹ Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.
² Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.

Paul carefully instructs them to live faithfully, patiently waiting, while faithfully working...

2 Thessalonians 3:3-5 (NLT)
³ But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
⁴ And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you.
⁵ May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

SO, what do we get from these two letters.  The early church is not much different from out own in many ways.  While the tendency of church to program life, and preach doctrine, and talk of Christ's return...it still comes down to practical day to day life...get a job, earn a living, be faithful in living, working, providing for your family and others.