WEBVTT 00:00.810 --> 00:06.270 Our text for today is the reading that we have just heard from one 00:06.340 --> 00:11.630 Thessalonians, which is our fourth reading in this lecture continuum. 00:12.290 --> 00:16.746 Grace, mercy, peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord 00:16.778 --> 00:19.214 and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:19.412 --> 00:20.430 Amen. 00:22.290 --> 00:26.982 As you know, Paul's first letter, letter to the Thessalonians, is most 00:27.036 --> 00:32.549 likely the earliest of all Christian all New Testament documents. 00:32.890 --> 00:38.250 It was written about the middle of the first century, that is about 20 00:38.320 --> 00:42.490 years after the suffering and death of resurrection of Jesus. 00:43.790 --> 00:49.354 It was written to a congregation formed by Paul himself. A 00:49.392 --> 00:54.302 congregation that was formed in the midst of conflict, a conflict so 00:54.356 --> 01:00.078 severe that Paul had to leave behind a little band of believers after 01:00.164 --> 01:06.162 just three weeks. It's not surprising that he had no peace of heart 01:06.216 --> 01:08.718 and mind about Thessalonicum. 01:08.894 --> 01:13.842 He felt that he himself could not return there without making the 01:13.896 --> 01:15.034 situation worse. 01:15.102 --> 01:19.670 And so he had to send his young co worker Timothy. 01:20.810 --> 01:25.640 And Timothy had to make the trip and brought back that good news. 01:26.010 --> 01:28.966 The congregation was still alive. 01:29.158 --> 01:31.690 And in fact, more than alive. 01:33.070 --> 01:37.382 It lived out that faith it had received from God through the teaching 01:37.446 --> 01:39.158 and preaching of Paul. 01:39.334 --> 01:44.638 Such good news after all Paul's doubts and fears and all of his second 01:44.724 --> 01:51.130 guessings the last words just before our text overflow with Paul's joy 01:51.210 --> 01:56.814 and thankfulness to the God who saves, he says, for what thanksgiving 01:56.862 --> 02:01.554 can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your 02:01.592 --> 02:03.380 sake before our God? 02:03.830 --> 02:08.854 And then he goes on to say, and may the Lord make you increase and 02:08.892 --> 02:16.198 abound in love for one another and for all as we do, so that he may 02:16.284 --> 02:21.926 establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father 02:22.118 --> 02:27.450 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of his saints. 02:27.950 --> 02:30.620 And then Paul adds our text. 02:31.070 --> 02:36.254 The ESB translates it finally then, and that's okay. 02:36.452 --> 02:38.682 But this is a rhetorical device 02:38.746 --> 02:43.594 and what Paul means is, okay, let's talk about something else that's 02:43.642 --> 02:49.374 really important, and that is the question of how you walk as the 02:49.412 --> 02:50.560 people of God. 02:51.410 --> 02:56.774 His point is we have gone about as far as we've can in discussing the 02:56.812 --> 02:59.460 effectiveness of words and your present relationships 03:00.330 --> 03:06.080 to me and others, but our world is in a far greater need. 03:06.530 --> 03:13.886 God has placed us as spiritually healthy people and forgiven people in 03:13.908 --> 03:18.926 the midst of a people who are not going to find deliverance without 03:19.028 --> 03:20.960 the intervention of God. 03:21.650 --> 03:27.240 And that is the task that God will accomplish through his people. 03:28.250 --> 03:33.410 Paul goes on to say that the behavior of Christians in matters of sex 03:33.490 --> 03:36.680 and marriage and family will make a difference. 03:37.470 --> 03:42.410 After all, you can go so far in talking about the Christian faith and 03:42.480 --> 03:44.060 that makes a difference. 03:44.590 --> 03:52.014 But in so many situations, what we actually do confirms or denies the 03:52.052 --> 03:53.840 truth of what we say. 03:54.530 --> 04:01.534 As African Christians say frequently about life in a pagan land, you 04:01.572 --> 04:07.426 have to remember that the first book the pagans are going to read are 04:07.528 --> 04:09.890 The Lives of the Christians. 04:10.550 --> 04:15.894 Paul is talking to a congregation of new believers and he wants to 04:15.932 --> 04:21.206 deal with a situation that can easily arise that we focus our 04:21.228 --> 04:26.390 evangelistic message only on right ideas and correct ways of saying 04:26.460 --> 04:27.080 things. 04:27.870 --> 04:33.002 Note that Paul makes it clear throughout this text that he is not 04:33.056 --> 04:36.220 proposing anything that they haven't heard before. 04:36.990 --> 04:41.850 From the beginning, as a part of the message of Christ, Saint Paul 04:41.930 --> 04:48.240 says, we gave you orders about how to walk to please God. 04:49.090 --> 04:55.806 Paul's practice was not only to make sure that people had right ideas 04:55.837 --> 05:01.940 about God, but he talked about a God who is very much involved in life 05:02.310 --> 05:05.960 and who cares about what people do and say. 05:06.409 --> 05:11.909 And he rejoiced in the progress that the Thessalonians had made in 05:11.980 --> 05:14.520 living as that kind of people. 05:15.690 --> 05:20.794 At the same time, he recognizes the challenges of living in 05:20.832 --> 05:22.169 Thessalonica. 05:22.750 --> 05:27.669 Even as this little band of believers tries to live as an obedient 05:27.750 --> 05:33.693 people, they are surrounded by powerful cultural forces that are a 05:33.732 --> 05:35.550 threat to their existence. 05:36.130 --> 05:41.450 When you are a small minority and you are surrounded by a majority 05:41.530 --> 05:46.158 with a long tradition of doing things on the basis of very different 05:46.244 --> 05:51.070 values, the pressure is constantly on to conform. 05:52.210 --> 05:57.622 In this case, Greek culture of first century, Thessalonica was 05:57.676 --> 05:59.940 permissive in matters of sex and 06:00.250 --> 06:00.990 marriage. 06:01.490 --> 06:07.018 This was a long established cultural value that everyone accepted. 06:07.194 --> 06:13.006 And so the Thessalonian message to the little band of believers was, 06:13.188 --> 06:19.166 it's not your place to judge, it's your responsibility to do what we 06:19.188 --> 06:22.640 have always done and what we all do. 06:24.050 --> 06:29.654 But Paul maintained that our lives as sexual beings cannot be 06:29.692 --> 06:31.800 separated from our faith life. 06:32.330 --> 06:36.834 Our sexual relationships and our relationships with God are deep 06:36.882 --> 06:42.300 seated, and a perversion in our understanding of one relationship 06:43.150 --> 06:47.180 permits and encourages perversion in the other. 06:47.550 --> 06:52.270 As we can see in the stories of any number of cults in our own 06:52.340 --> 06:59.194 country, false ideas about God lead to perversions in relationships 06:59.242 --> 07:04.420 between men and women and to terrible relationships with the family 07:04.870 --> 07:06.610 and vice versa. 07:07.430 --> 07:12.178 The Thessalonians lived in a world where the gods gave little 07:12.264 --> 07:16.813 direction about anything in the life of ordinary people, let alone 07:16.861 --> 07:20.840 direction about sexual behavior or marriage in family. 07:21.450 --> 07:27.634 The gods of Thessalonica did not have lists of commandments for people 07:27.692 --> 07:30.250 to follow or statements of faith. 07:30.670 --> 07:36.409 For the most part, people were on their own to figure it out as best 07:36.480 --> 07:41.837 they could on the basis of tradition and customary behavior and 07:42.004 --> 07:42.720 opportunity. 07:44.130 --> 07:48.718 In such contexts, you could take it for granted that human 07:48.804 --> 07:52.750 relationships would be transactional and exploitive. 07:53.110 --> 07:57.540 Do your best to get everything you can out of every relationship, 07:58.310 --> 08:03.060 including relationships between men and women. 08:03.670 --> 08:10.326 Not unlike our own world. In such a context, Paul's directions to the 08:10.348 --> 08:16.722 Thessalonians demand a dramatically different lifestyle. A lifestyle 08:16.786 --> 08:23.354 that we can see now ultimately changed culture and not just the 08:23.472 --> 08:26.090 behavior of a few individuals. 08:27.150 --> 08:28.522 We remember that St. 08:28.576 --> 08:34.254 Paul is talking to the entire Thessalonian congregation, both single 08:34.372 --> 08:37.357 and married people, both men and women. 08:37.524 --> 08:41.374 This is not a text to teach men about how they should treat their 08:41.412 --> 08:44.319 wives or how they should treat women. 08:44.690 --> 08:50.350 But Paul's concern is the whole people of God gathered in that small 08:50.420 --> 08:54.962 congregation of new Christians and how they should live as 08:54.986 --> 08:59.890 responsible people in an overwhelmingly pagan society. 09:01.370 --> 09:02.880 The challenge we have. 09:03.650 --> 09:07.440 His instruction centers on verse four. 09:07.970 --> 09:14.366 For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that each one of you 09:14.548 --> 09:22.670 know how to control his or her own body in holiness and honor. 09:23.170 --> 09:28.934 And Paul adds that this this is not just his personal opinion, but 09:28.972 --> 09:33.270 this is the instruction given by the Holy Spirit. 09:34.250 --> 09:36.374 This is what God wants, says St. 09:36.412 --> 09:37.110 Paul. 09:37.470 --> 09:43.050 This is about taking responsibility for yourself and your own behavior 09:43.390 --> 09:48.682 and making sure that your conduct reflects obedience to God and 09:48.736 --> 09:52.560 respect for your partner, whatever the level of your relationship. 09:53.810 --> 09:58.174 Paul doesn't then give a whole list of what you can do and what you 09:58.212 --> 09:59.214 can't do. 09:59.412 --> 10:03.954 A first century list would probably not be very helpful to us in the 10:03.992 --> 10:12.978 21st, but he is clear that God's direction requires that our life show 10:13.064 --> 10:19.654 our obedience and respect to God and our commitment to those around us 10:19.692 --> 10:20.840 whom we love. 10:21.930 --> 10:27.362 At the same time, we can see from the surrounding verses that Paul was 10:27.436 --> 10:32.874 well aware of what precedes and what follows a failure to control your 10:32.912 --> 10:35.450 own body and holiness and honor. 10:35.870 --> 10:41.854 His first instruction to obtain from sexual immorality and to 10:41.892 --> 10:47.562 translate into plain English to stay away from every use of what Paul 10:47.626 --> 10:55.569 calls pornea, the Greek word for what we describe as sexual immorality 10:55.990 --> 11:00.370 and the first half of our English word pornography. 11:01.350 --> 11:07.874 Study after study shows that pornography is addictive and not unknown 11:07.922 --> 11:13.542 among church workers as well, and corrosive to healthy values and 11:13.596 --> 11:19.494 behavior, to say nothing about the enslavement of people who willingly 11:19.542 --> 11:25.162 or unwillingly, including exploited children, are a part of that 11:25.216 --> 11:26.090 industry. 11:26.830 --> 11:32.254 For our culture, this is a nudge nudge, wink wink sort of thing that 11:32.292 --> 11:33.438 everyone does. 11:33.604 --> 11:35.870 It's only looking at pictures. 11:36.450 --> 11:42.366 But our contribution to the life of the world must be that each one of 11:42.388 --> 11:48.622 us sets the example that we know how to control our own bodies in 11:48.675 --> 11:55.122 holiness and honor, and we stay away from every form of sexual 11:55.226 --> 11:58.610 immorality, including pornography. 12:00.090 --> 12:03.200 Paul knows the other side of the equation as well. 12:03.810 --> 12:07.566 He knows what follows indisciplined living. 12:07.748 --> 12:14.400 He speaks in terms of passion, of lust, like those who do not know God. 12:15.170 --> 12:16.190 In his world 12:16.260 --> 12:20.202 he is thinking about all those situations where people convince 12:20.266 --> 12:25.862 themselves or are convinced by others that the usual rule rules do not 12:25.916 --> 12:32.134 apply and you have to do what comes naturally. In his world as well as 12:32.172 --> 12:33.250 in ours 12:33.410 --> 12:35.602 this is the world of drunkenness 12:35.665 --> 12:40.522 when people drink to take part in behavior they know is wrong and 12:40.576 --> 12:46.810 would not be a part of their normal Christian lives. In the world over 12:46.880 --> 12:51.770 indulgence excuses, indiscipline. 12:52.210 --> 12:57.934 Our culture knows that wrong can have terrible consequences, but so 12:57.972 --> 12:59.610 much is excused. 12:59.770 --> 13:05.038 And indeed our culture is committed to the search to find additional 13:05.134 --> 13:11.650 ways to avoid responsibility and indulge in irresponsible behavior. 13:12.550 --> 13:18.966 Again, our contribution to the life of the world must be that each of 13:18.988 --> 13:25.830 us knows how to control his or her own body in holiness and honor. 13:26.250 --> 13:32.140 We are a different people because we are the children of God. 13:33.390 --> 13:37.994 After laying these heavy responsibilities on these new believers, is 13:38.032 --> 13:39.580 there any hope of success? 13:40.750 --> 13:42.382 Indeed there is, says St. 13:42.436 --> 13:43.069 Paul. 13:43.410 --> 13:48.414 The first is the matter of Philadelphia, the word that the Greeks used 13:48.452 --> 13:52.674 to describe the love that the children of the same father have for 13:52.712 --> 13:53.540 each other. 13:54.230 --> 13:56.580 Christians need each other. 13:56.950 --> 13:59.406 I'm not the only one who cares. 13:59.518 --> 14:04.450 I'm not going to drown in a sea of unbelief and disobedience. 14:04.950 --> 14:08.278 God is our Father and we know it. 14:08.444 --> 14:13.062 We know his love for us in the forgiveness that we experience in our 14:13.116 --> 14:18.200 daily lives for Jesus sake and in his constant care. 14:18.970 --> 14:23.740 And we know our brothers and sisters that he has given to us as well. 14:24.350 --> 14:27.946 We are committed to them and they are committed to us. 14:28.127 --> 14:34.030 And we are growing in our understanding of how we help each other and 14:34.100 --> 14:34.910 rejoice. 14:35.730 --> 14:41.674 God has placed us in a community here that we may bear each other's 14:41.722 --> 14:44.880 burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. 14:45.890 --> 14:51.742 And then there is that last amazing verse where Paul summarizes the 14:51.796 --> 14:53.678 ideal Christian life. 14:53.844 --> 14:58.520 Where Paul describes the kind of life that will make a difference. 14:59.210 --> 14:59.780 And the way 15:00.090 --> 15:03.200 I will paraphrase it is this. 15:03.810 --> 15:05.790 Try to live quietly. 15:06.290 --> 15:13.040 Mind your own business, do your own work, just as we instructed you. 15:13.570 --> 15:18.798 You may not change the whole world, but first of all, you may walk 15:18.884 --> 15:23.280 properly before outsiders and change their lives. 15:24.130 --> 15:30.614 And you maybe blessed to be dependent on no one because you are a 15:30.652 --> 15:31.798 child of God. 15:31.884 --> 15:33.490 For Jesus sake. 15:33.650 --> 15:34.630 Amen. 15:35.290 --> 15:38.434 The peace of God, which passes all understanding. 15:38.482 --> 15:43.142 Keep your hearts and minds in faith in Christ Jesus to life 15:43.196 --> 15:44.390 everlasting. 15:44.810 --> 15:45.250 Amen.