Text used – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

• Let me ask you a question this morning: How would you tell a story without words? 
  • Images → e.g. – graphic novels
  • Music → e.g. – symphony (think The Magic Flute)
  • Actions → e.g.s – games (charades) and more communicative actions like American Sign Language
  • Other sounds → [PLAY E.G.]

• • Or think about the silent films of the late 19^th and early 20^th → used a combination of actions, facial expressions, costumes, and props but almost no words (save for a few well-placed placards) to tell stories that spanned everything from the simple to the elaborate
  • I was thinking a lot about telling stories without words this week as I was thinking about our Scripture passage because in essence, that’s exactly what it is: a call to tell your faith story … without words.
• Context – 1 Thess
  • One of the letters scholars are nearly 100% certain was actually written by Paul
  • Letter that speaks not to problems the Thess church is experiencing because of challenges from within (members behaving badly) but challenges from without
    • Scholar: Both 1 and 2 Thessalonians are powerful witnesses to the early church’s struggles with the suffering of its members. The Thessalonian letters make it clear that separation from leaders, alienation from former friends, and perennial threats of persecution and even death were [felt across a wide swath of the early church].[1]
  • City of Thessalonike
    • Part of the Roman empire
    • Key trading center in the region = commercial and cultural center
      • Port city located on a bay that led into the Aegean Sea
      • Located on the border of Macedonia and Achaia
      • City included lots of different cultic practitioners of the day
        • Various Macedonian cults (Cabirus and Dionysus)
        • Foreign cults (Egyptians pantheon among others)
        • Roman imperial cult (lifted up emperor as deity) → potent mixture of politics and religion
          • Scholar: It is not difficult to understand why some Thessalonians (those not accepting Paul’s teachings) would castigate Paul’s salvific assembly, which viewed Jesus (not Augustus) as the benefactor and inaugurator of a new age. In the eyes of the Thessalonians, support for Jesus weakened support for the Romans, who had brought tangible benefits to the city. It is important to note, moreover, that criticism of the Pauline believers would have been severely hostile because most Gentiles vehemently opposed Christianity’s exclusivistic claims on hits adherents’ lives.[2] → You see, the Christians were devoted solely to God and to one another above all else … not to the prevailing cult-of-the-moment, not to the city leadership or their fellow citizens, not to the emperor. And this divided loyalty was seen as an unwelcome, even threatening chink in the armor of the Roman empire. So those who were part of the Christian community in Thessalonike suffered ridicule, threats, and persecution.
• So now understanding the backstory better, let’s turn to today’s text – Paul’s opening to his first letter to those Christians in Thessalonike.
  • Begins with Paul’s regular greeting
    • Names himself and those with him at the time (Silvanus and Timothy, in this case)
    • Names his recipients
    • Words of greeting (“grace and peace”)
    • Paul’s expression of gratitude: We always thank God for all of you when we mention you constantly in our prayers. This is because we remember your work that comes from faith, your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of God our Father.[3] → Before we start talking about non-verbal faith, let’s talk about these words for a minute. I want you imagine with me (close your eyes if you want to) what our world would be like if we greeted one another with a greeting like that on the regular – a greeting that not only affirms that we thank God for whomever we’re greeting but then goes on to name the things we appreciate about that person.
      • Imagine the goodwill that would spread
      • Imagine the bridges that would be built
      • Imagine the days that would be brightened
      • Imagine the lives that would be lifted up
      • And would it really be so hard? In the checkout line at Target to say, “You know what? I thank God for you, Glenn, because you always greet me with a smile, and you remember me, and you take the time out of your day to acknowledge me.” Hmmm. Life goals, I think … to greet people like Paul did.
    • Also need to point out that in Paul’s greeting, we already get an inkling to the suffering that the Thessalonian Christians are undergoing
      • Our transl: We always thank God because we remember “your effort that comes from love” → Gr. “effort” = word that encompasses trouble, difficulty, toil → Paul isn’t trying to whitewash anything or minimize the Thessalonians’ struggle. He’s naming it right off the bat. It’s a part of their faith journey – a crucial, inescapable, unignorable part – and Paul names it. Essentially, he’s saying, “I see you.” You know, often Paul gets a bad rap … and while it’s not entirely unearned (Paul has lots of challenging words, lots of challenging grammatical ministrations, and lots of fallible humanness that he’s wrapped up in), I like this letter to the Thessalonians because it’s one of the moments we get to see the pastoral side of Paul – the compassionate, encouraging side of Paul.
  • Moves from there into the body of the letter → And this is where the “story without words” part comes in. Everything that Paul is talking about is faith enacted, not necessarily faith voiced.
    • Paul’s own words: Brothers and sisters, you are loved by God, and we know that he has chosen you. We know this because our good news didn’t come to you just in speech but also with power and the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.[4]
    • Paul speaks of his own enacted example: You know as well as we do what kind of people we were when we were with you, which was for your sake.[5]
    • Paul speaks of the enacted faith of the Thessalonian Christians
      • “You became imitators of us and of the Lord …”[6]
      • “You became an example to all believer in Macedonia and Achaia.”[7]
      • Speaks of the welcome others have received from the Thessalonian Christians and “how [they] turned to God from idols”[8]
      • One of Paul’s highest accolades: As a result, you are serving the living and true God, and you are waiting for his Son from heaven.[9]
      • All of these things that Paul is talking about are actions. They’re ways that the Thessalonian Christians were living their faith out loud.
        • Favorite line in this whole passage: The message about the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place. The news about your faithfulness to God has spread so that we don’t even need to mention it.[10]
        • I want you to hear this portion of the text from Eugene Peterson’s translation known as The Message: Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God.[11] → “Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word … you’re the message!” To Paul, faith is about more than just talking the talk. It’s about walking the walk. It’s about putting feet and hands and a heart and a life on the faith that lives inside your heart.
• We’ve spent a good amount of time talking about testimony in this congregation. We spent Lent a few years ago preparing our own faith stories with preparatory prayers and prompting questions, with dedicated notebooks and time in worship to ponder the various chapters of our faith stories. And we practice putting our faith into words every Sunday morning with both our Glimpses of God time at the beginning of the service and our Exploring the Word Together time after the sermon. But the truth is words can only go so far. Our faith should be about more than just words.
  • Think about your relationships with the people closes to you (family, friends, even coworkers sometimes) → relationships full of …
    • Small, meaningful gestures (story of Darrin/“honey, what’s this?”)

• • • Glances that say more than your words can 
    • Actions that have meant to world to one of you (or maybe both of you) → actions/images that didn’t even require words
    • Sign that I held up when Peter got off the plane at Camp Douglas after his deployment = just an enlarged image of Calvin and Hobbes hugging (no words)
    • If the relationships that fill up our lives and our hearts are built on more than just words, why should our relationship with the God who created us and loves us, the God-With-Us who took on the cumbersome and inadequate nature of human flesh just to put actual flesh and blood and actions on that Amazing Love, the God who continues to move in and through humanity despite our imperfections and our brokenness … why should our relationship with God be relegated to just words?
  • Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.”
  • Late and incredibly influential American author Octavia Butler: “All you touch, you change, and all you change changes you.” → Sort of sounds like Paul’s words, doesn’t it? “The message of the Lord rang out from you” … “All you touch, you change, and all you change changes you.” So the ultimate question, friends, is what does your life say about your faith? Not your words. Your Your actions. Your movements. Your priorities. Does the message of the Lord ring out from your life?
    • Leads right into our “Exploring the Word” question this morning: What’s one thing you can change that lets God’s good news ring out through your life?

[1] Abraham Smith, “The First Letter to the Thessalonians: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary series, vol. 11. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 673.

[2] Ibid, 677-8.

[3] 1 Thess 1:2-3.

[4] 1 Thess 1:4-5a.

[5] 1 Thess 1:5b.

[6] 1 Thess 1:6.

[7] 1 Thess 1:7.

[8] 1 Thess 1:9a.

[9] 1 Thess 1:9b-10a.

[10] 1 Thess 1:8 (emphasis added).

[11] 1 Thess 1:7-9 (The Message).