1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, most recently October 2020.

Summary:  I have never preached on this passage before, but I wonder if it should be read at every ordination, for it lays out two fundamental challenges of ministry

First, to minister only for God's approval:  "But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts."  (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

Second, to minister by giving not only our words, but ourselves.  "So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us."  (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

This is such a challenge -- to give our hearts, but not let those to whom we give our hearts be judge of us!

Some Greek that is interesting in both verses:

δεδοκιμασμεθα (passive perfect form of δομιμαζω, here translated as both "approved" but also "tested")  This verb appears twice in verse 4 -- We have been tested (passive) and later God tests (active) us.  The testing it seems, is for a purpose -- God wants to entrust us with the Gospel. It is also interesting that the word test is in the perfect tense, which is Greek means that a new state has arisen as a result of the verb.  The clothes have been put on, the stone has been rolled away, etc.  We have been transformed and changed by the act of God testing and approving us.  But God's approval is not done in an "alien" or "distant" way, but is involved in a process of testing us.

πιστευθηναι (passive from πιστευω, here translated as "entrusted).  First, it is interesting that the word in the active means trust, but is also translated as believe.  It is a reminder that this verb is not about intellectual cognition but trust!  They have been entrusted to pass on the Good News)

αρεσκοντες (form of αρεσκω, here translated as "please")  Liddell Scott offers this definition: " to strive to please; to accommodate oneself to the opinions, desires, interests of others."  This is a great reminder for us during COVID that we cannot minister seeking to please everyone!  We seek to please the Lord.

ονειρομενοι  (form of ονειρομαι, translated here as "long for")  This word is a super rare word, likely a form of another word slightly more common.  Regardless -- it means long for.  Couldn't find sexual connotations, but it is about desire.  This is true in ministry as well -- a deep desire for the community (and their approval)!

ευδοκουμεν (form of ευδοκεω, translated here as "please") and αγαπητοι (beloved).  You may have seen these words together, for God declares of Jesus:  This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.  Paul uses this language to talk about his care for the people!

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

 This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, most recently Oct 18, 2020.

Summary:  Paul begins his letter to the Thessalonians with a strong note of Thanksgiving.  It is interesting to note that Paul gives thanks for the people in Thessaloniki and how God is at work among them.  We are used to giving God thanks for nature or perhaps things, but here Paul practices gratitude for other humans!  God is alive, Paul radically claims, and lives through, in, with and under the people.

Key Word

ευχαριστουμεν ("give thanks", 1.2)  Paul begins his letter as he begins and ends so many letters -- in thanksgiving to God!  It is a helpful and humbling reminder that even in times of trial, we are called and inspired to give thanks!

εργο(ν) της πιστεως (work of faith, 1.3)
κοπο(ς) της αγαπης (labor of love, 1.3)
υπομονη της ελπιδος (endurance of hope, 1.3)

A couple of notes.  First, the trifecta of faith, hope and love is also famously part of 1 Corinthians 13.  Second, all of these examples are in the genitive, meaning that the relationship between the two words must be interpreted by the reader.  I would argue for a subjective genitive, where the thing in the genitive is the subject:  faith's work, love's labor, hope's endurance.  Or perhaps more of a source genitive -- work from faith, labor from love, endurance from hope.

εκλογνη ("elect", 1.4)  What is translated as a verb "elect"  is actually a noun. It simply reads, "knowing, under the circumstance that you are loved by God, your election." The election here is not about politics, but about God's choice to love us and work through us.

δυναμει ("power", 1.5)  The word "power" here is "dynamis." This word comes into English as dynamite!  It can mean miracles when used in the plural, but in the singular it means power.  Power for Paul, especially in Corinthians and Philippians relates to the power of the resurrection and faith working in us to endure difficult times. The power is displayed in the basic miracle that we believe! (1 Cor 2:5) 

εξηχηται ("go forth", 1.8)  The word for sound forth is "ex-echeo-mai"  Notice the word echo in the middle! Their faith is echoing all over Europe, both the Northern part (Macedonia) and the Southern part (Achaia)

θε(ος) ζωντι (living God, 1.9)  This is a nice participle in Greek -- living! It is in the dative because it describes the word "God" which in this case is also in the dative.  

But the significant thing is that God is alive.  We do not worship a historical fact, we worship and serve the living Lord!

Philippians 4:1-9

This passage occurs as a New Testament Lesson in the RCL "Pentecost"/"Ordinary"/"Proper" Season, Year A, most recently October 2020.
 
Summary:  As I have stated previously, I view Paul's letter to the Philippians as a small treatise on sanctification.  You can find beautiful fruit in these passages, beloved words that evidence the Spirit's work in Paul to make him a little Christ for all of us.  What struck me this time around though was the profound way in which the community in Christ takes precedence in this passage.  Paul continues to offer many images of working together and community love, even calling his fellow Christian his "desired."  Paul doesn't conclude with his love of Christ, but the love Christ has given him for his fellow believers.  Our sanctification is precisely this:  OUR sanctification as the Holy Spirit moves us closer together in love and hope.

αγαπητοι and επιποθητοι ("beloved" and "desired" 4:1)  αγαπητοι is probably familiar enough to most Christians, especially those who work with Greek.  Paul calls his brothers and sisters in Christ who beloved.  Wow!  Yet, επιποθητοι is more startling.  This word comes from desire.  While we have seen the root verb elsewhere in Philippians (1:8; 2:26), no where else in the Bible do we find this term επιποθητοι!  This sense of desire can be positive, for example, the deer pants for the water like the soul desires God (see Psalm 84:3/Psalm 41:2).  However, Paul here is claiming the other Christians are his desired.  This truly is taking the mind of Christ -- when we love each so deeply that we can talk about a deep love for one another.  What does the mind of Christ and sanctification mean?  It means loving your neighbor, so much, that you desire to be with them like Christ desires to be with them, like their soul desires to be reunited with God.

και σε ("even you", 4:3)  Paul generally speaks in the second person plural throughout the letter.  Perhaps he is writing to someone specific; maybe he wants to drive home that these words are for each person.  Maybe its ambiguous so we all think, well, its my job to help those two women who are fighting.

συζυγε; συνηθλσαν; συνεργων ("yoked", "co-striving" and "co-worker", 4:3; the second is a verb, the other two adjectives)  Paul here presents us with a few images of the Christian life.  The first is from the idea of a yoke and can actually refer even to marriage.  The image of oxen plowing the field.  The next is to athletes in contest with one another.  The last is co-worker, perhaps the least descriptive, but you put the three of them together and Paul profoundly gives us some images of our life together!

γνωσθητω ("let it be"; imperative (command), 4:5 and 4:6).  There first time Paul uses this verb, it is telling us to let our gentleness be known to all people; the second time it is Paul telling us to let our prayers be known to God.  In this context though, I wonder if they are so exclusive.  I wonder if we read this through a western-post-enlightenment idea of worship that would have our prayers of thanks be those in private.  Part of our joy and duty, as Psalm 66 suggests, is not simply praising God in private but offering thanks in front of the congregation.

νοματα (from νοημα, meaning "mind", 4:7)  Paul has continually pointed toward the mind as a place of Christian activity -- to be of the same mind with each other and of Christ.  We often think of the heart as the place of God's work, but for Paul, the mind is also a place where discipleship happens!

Grammatical review:  "αυτο"
The word αυτο and its various conjugated forms (αυτου for example) can be a bit tricky for the reader.  First because another set of words, meaning this and that, looks very similiar but have different accents.  But it is also tricky because the word αυτο can mean three different things, even if it looks the same. 

It can function like a pronoun: αυτου for example, almost always means "him."  In this case, the pronoun is in the genitive, so it fully means "of him." It functions this way 95% of the time.
It can also mean "very."  This is when it stands alone (predicate position).  This is fairly rare.  An example of this is in Philippians 1:6 πεποιθως αυτο τουτο: "I am convinced of this very thing."
It can also mean "same."  It behaves like this when it follows an article.  Hence, in Philippians 4:2 you get:  το αυτο φρονειν: "The same thinking."  Paul actually uses this also in 2:2 and 2:18. 

Again, for 90-95% of translation, the word functions as a pronoun, but it can be helpful to remember these other uses.