Homily 1 — First Thessalonians 1, verses 1 to 7

“Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.” [a]

Why, then, when he was writing to the Ephesians and had Timothy with him, did he not include him with himself in the greeting, though Timothy was known to them and admired? For he says, “You know his proven worth, that as a child serves his father, so he served with me in the good news” (Philippians 2, verse 22); and again, “I have no one like-minded, who will truly care about how you are doing” (verse 20). Yet here he does join him with himself. It seems to me that he was about to send Timothy at once, and there was no need for him to write, since Timothy would catch up with the letter himself. For he says, “Him, then, I hope to send immediately” (Philippians 2, verse 23). But here it was not so. Timothy had just come back to him, and so he naturally joined in the letter. For he says, “But now that Timothy has come to us from you” (First Thessalonians 3, verse 6).

But why does he put Silvanus before Timothy, though he bears witness to Timothy’s countless good qualities and ranks him above everyone? Perhaps Timothy himself wished it and asked him to do so, out of his great humility. When he saw his teacher so humble-minded as to join his disciple with himself, he would have wanted this all the more and eagerly sought it. For he says, “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians.”

Here he gives himself no title — not “apostle,” not “servant.” I suppose this is because the people were newly instructed and had not yet had any experience of him, so he does not use the title; and this was still the beginning of his preaching to them. [c]

“To the church of the Thessalonians,” he says. And rightly. For there were probably few of them, not yet formed into a settled body, and for that reason he encourages them with the name “church.” Where much time had passed and the congregation of the church was large, he does not use this term. But since the name “church” is, for the most part, a name for a great number, and for a body already firmly knit together, for this reason he calls them by that name.

“In God the Father,” he says, “and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “To the church of the Thessalonians,” he says, “which is in God.” See again the word “in,” used of both the Father and the Son. For there were many assemblies, both Jewish and Greek; but he says, “to the church that is in God.” It is a great honor, one with nothing to equal it, to be “in God.” May God grant, then, that this church here could be addressed in the same way! But I fear it is far from deserving that name. For if anyone is a slave of sin, he cannot be said to be “in God.” If anyone does not walk as God wills, he cannot be said to be “in God.”

“Grace to you, and peace.” Do you see that his letter opens with words of praise? “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.” To give thanks to God for them is the act of someone bearing witness to their great progress: not only are they praised themselves, but God is also thanked for them, as the one who has done it all. He also teaches them to think modestly of themselves, all but saying that everything is the work of God’s power. So his giving thanks for them is because of their good conduct; his remembering them in his prayers comes from his love for them.

Then, as he often does, he says that he remembers them not only in his prayers but also apart from his prayers. “Remembering without ceasing,” he says, “your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.” What does “remembering without ceasing” mean? Either remembering before God and the Father; or remembering your labor of love that is before God and the Father; or simply “remembering you without ceasing.” Then again, so that you would not think this “remembering you without ceasing” was said only in passing, he has added, “before our God and Father.” And because no one among men was praising their actions, and no one was giving them any reward, he says this: “You labor before God.”

What is “the work of faith”? That nothing has turned your steadfastness aside. For this is the work of faith. If you believe, endure everything; if you do not endure, you do not believe.

For are not the things promised such that a person who believes would choose to suffer even ten thousand deaths? The kingdom of heaven is set before him, and immortality, and eternal life. So the one who believes will endure everything. Faith, then, is shown through his works. One might rightly have said: you did not merely believe; you showed it through your works, through your steadfastness, through your zeal.

And your labor “of love.” Why? What labor is there in loving? Merely to love is no labor at all. But to love genuinely is great labor. Tell me: when a thousand things are stirred up to draw us away from love, and we hold out against them all, is that not labor? For what did these people not suffer, so as not to fall away from their love? Did not those who were fighting against the preaching go to Paul’s host, and when they did not find Paul, drag Jason before the rulers of the city? (Acts 17, verses 5 and 6.) Tell me, is it a slight labor, when the seed had not yet taken root, to endure so great a storm, so many trials?

And they took a pledge from him. And after he had given the pledge, it says, Jason sent Paul away. Tell me, is this a small thing? Did not Jason expose himself to danger for him? And Paul calls this a labor of love, because they were bound to him in this way. [e]

And notice: first he mentions their good deeds, and then his own, so that he may not seem to boast, nor to love them before they had given him cause. “And endurance,” he says. For that persecution was not limited to one time, but was continual; and they made war not only on Paul, the teacher, but on his disciples as well. If they felt this way toward men who worked miracles, men worthy of reverence, what do you think they felt toward those who lived among them, their own fellow citizens, who had suddenly broken away from them? That is why he bears witness to this about them too, saying, “For you became imitators of the churches of God that are in Judea.”

“And of hope,” he says, “in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.” For all these things come from faith and hope, so that what happened to them showed not only their courage but also that they believed with full assurance in the rewards laid up for them. This is why God allowed persecutions to arise at once: so that no one could say the preaching was established lightly or by flattery; so that their fervor might be shown; and so that it might be seen that it was not human persuasion but the power of God that persuaded the souls of the believers. So they were ready even for ten thousand deaths — which would not have been so if the preaching had not at once been deeply fixed and stayed unshaken.

Verses 4 and 5: “Knowing, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that you are chosen: for our good news came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; just as you know what kind of men we showed ourselves among you for your sake.” [g]

Knowing what? How “we showed ourselves among you”? Here he touches on his own good deeds too, but indirectly. For he wants first to enlarge on their praises, and what he says is something like this: I knew that you were people of a great and noble kind, that you were among the chosen. That is why we too endure everything for your sake. For the words “what kind of men we showed ourselves among you” are the words of someone showing that we were ready, with great zeal and great intensity, to give up our lives for your sake; and for this the thanks are due not to us but to you, because you were chosen. For this reason he says elsewhere too, “I endure these things for the sake of the chosen.” (Second Timothy 2, verse 10.) For what would a person not endure for the sake of God’s beloved ones?

And having spoken of his own part, he all but says: if you were both beloved and chosen, it is only reasonable that we suffer everything. For it was not only his praise of them that strengthened them, but also his reminding them that they themselves had shown a courage to match their zeal. So he says, Verse 6: “And you became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.”

Amazing! What praise this is! The disciples have suddenly become teachers! They not only heard the word, but quickly reached the same height as Paul. But this is nothing: see how he raises them higher still, saying, “You became imitators of the Lord.” How? “Having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.” Not merely in affliction, but in much affliction. And this we can learn from the Acts of the Apostles, how they stirred up a persecution against them (Acts 17, verses 5 to 8). They troubled all the rulers of the city, and they set the city against them. And he is not content to say: you were afflicted and believed, and did it grieving. No — you did it rejoicing. The apostles did this too:

“Rejoicing,” it says, “that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.” (Acts 5, verse 41.) This is what is truly admirable. Not that it is a slight matter to bear afflictions in any way at all. But this was the mark of men who rose above human nature and had, so to speak, a body that could not suffer.

But how were they imitators of the Lord? Because he too endured many sufferings, and yet rejoiced. For he came to this willingly. For our sakes he emptied himself. He was about to be spit on, to be beaten and crucified, and he so rejoiced in suffering these things that he said to the Father, “Glorify me.” (John 17, verses 1 to 5.) [h]

“With joy of the Holy Spirit,” he says. So that no one may say, “How can you speak of ‘affliction’? How of ‘joy’? How can both meet in one?” he has added, “with joy of the Holy Spirit.” The affliction is in bodily things, and the joy in spiritual things. How so? What happened to them was painful, but what sprang from it was not, for the Spirit does not allow it to be. So it is possible for someone who suffers not to rejoice, when he suffers for his sins; and it is possible to be beaten and take pleasure in it, when he suffers for Christ’s sake. For such is the joy of the Spirit: in return for things that seem painful, it brings out delight.

They have afflicted you, he says, and persecuted you, but the Spirit did not abandon you even there. As the three young men in the fire were refreshed with dew, so you too were refreshed in your afflictions. But just as there it was not the nature of the fire to sprinkle dew, but of the “whistling wind,” so here too it was not the nature of affliction to produce joy, but of suffering for Christ’s sake, and of the Spirit, who bedewed them and put them at ease in the furnace of trial. Not merely with joy, he says, but “with much joy.” For this comes from the Holy Spirit. [i]

Verse 7: “So that you became examples to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia.”

And yet it was later that he went to them. But you shone so brightly, he says, that you became teachers of those who had received the word before you. And this is just like the apostle. For he did not say, “so that you became examples in believing,” but “you became an example to those who already believed.” You, who entered into your contest from the very beginning, taught them how one ought to believe in God.

“And in Achaia,” he says — that is, in Greece. [k]

Do you see how great a thing zeal is? It needs no time, no delay, no putting off; it is enough just to throw oneself in, and everything is accomplished. So, though they came to the preaching later, they became teachers of those who were there before them.

So let no one despair, even if he has lost much time and done nothing. It is possible for him, even in a little while, to do more than he ever did in all his time before. For if one who did not believe before shone so brightly at the beginning, how much more those who already believe! But again, let no one grow slack on this account, seeing that it is possible to recover everything in a short time. For the future is uncertain, and the day of the Lord is a thief, falling on us suddenly while we sleep. But if we do not sleep, it will not fall on us like a thief, nor carry us off unprepared. If we keep watch and stay sober, it will come on us not like a thief but like a royal messenger, summoning us to the good things prepared for us. But if we sleep, it comes on us like a thief.

So let no one sleep, or be idle in virtue, for that is sleep. Do you not know how, when we sleep, our goods are not safe, and how easy they are to plot against? But when we are awake, there is no need for so much guarding. When we sleep, even with much guarding we often perish. There are doors and bolts and watchmen and outer watchmen, and still the thief has come upon us.

Why do I say this? Because if we are awake, we will not need the help of others; but if we sleep, the help of others will do us no good — even with it we perish. It is a good thing to have the prayers of the saints, but only when we ourselves are also on the alert. [l]

“And what need do I have of someone else’s prayer, if I am on the alert myself?” Truly, do not put yourself in a position where you need it; I do not want you to. But we are always in need of it, if we think rightly. Paul did not say, “What need do I have of prayer?” — and yet those who prayed for him were not worthy of him, or rather not his equals — and you say, “What need do I have of prayer?” Peter did not say, “What need do I have of prayer?” For “prayer,” it says, “was made earnestly by the church to God for him” (Acts 12, verse 5). And you say, “What need do I have of prayer?” You need it for this very reason: because you think you have no need. Yes, even if you become like Paul, you need prayer. Do not exalt yourself, or you will be humbled.

But, as I said, if we too are active ourselves, the prayers made for us also have power. Listen to Paul saying, “For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1, verse 19). And again, “so that for the gift given to us through many, thanks may be given by many people on our behalf” (Second Corinthians 1, verse 11). And you say, “What need do I have of prayer?” But if we are idle, no one will be able to help us. [m]

What good did Jeremiah do the Jews? Did he not draw near to God three times, and the third time hear, “Do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a cry or a prayer, for I will not hear you”? (Jeremiah 7, verse 16.) What good did Samuel do Saul? Did he not mourn for him right up to his last day, and not merely pray for him? What good did he do the Israelites? Did he not say, “Far be it from me to sin by ceasing to pray for you”? (First Samuel 12, verse 23.) Did they not all perish?

“Do prayers, then, do no good at all?” They do a great deal of good — but only when we also do something. Prayers do work with us and help us; but one works together with someone who is working, and helps someone who is also doing his own part. If you stay idle, you will receive no great benefit.

For if prayers had the power to bring us into the kingdom while we do nothing, why do not all the Greeks become Christians? Do we not pray for the whole world? Did not Paul do this too? Do we not plead that all may be converted? Why do the wicked not become good without contributing anything of their own? Prayers, then, do a great deal of good when we also contribute our own part. [n]

Would you learn how much prayers have helped? Consider, I ask you, Cornelius and Tabitha (Acts 10, verse 3, and 9, verse 36). Listen also to Jacob saying to Laban, “If the Fear of my father had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed now” (Genesis 31, verse 42). Listen again to God saying, “I will defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (Second Kings 19, verse 34). But when? In the time of Hezekiah, who was righteous. For if prayers had power even for the utterly wicked, why did God not say this also when Nebuchadnezzar came? Why did he give the city up? Because wickedness was stronger. Again, Samuel himself prayed for the Israelites and prevailed. But when? When they too were pleasing God; then they put their enemies to flight.

“And what need do I have of another’s prayer, when I myself am pleasing God?” Never say this, my friend.

There is need — yes, need of much prayer. For listen to God saying about Job’s friends, “And he will pray for you, and your sin will be forgiven you” (Job 42, verse 8). That was because they had indeed sinned, but not a great sin. But this righteous man, who then saved his friends by his prayer, was not able, in the time of the Jews, to save the Jews who were perishing. And so that you may learn this, listen to God saying through the prophet, “Even if Noah, Daniel and Job stood there, they will not deliver their sons and their daughters” (Ezekiel 14, verses 14 and 16). That was because wickedness prevailed. And again, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood” (Jeremiah 15, verse 1). [p]

And see how this is said to the two prophets, because both prayed for the people and did not prevail. For Ezekiel says, “Ah, Lord! Are you wiping out the remnant of Israel?” (Ezekiel 9, verse 8.) Then, to show that he does this justly, God shows him their sins; and to show that it is not out of contempt for the prophet that he refuses to accept his plea for them, he says: “Even these things are enough to persuade you that it is not because I despise you, but because of their many sins, that I do not accept your plea.”

Nevertheless he adds, “Even if Noah, Job and Daniel stood” (from Ezekiel 14). And with good reason he says this to Ezekiel above all, because it was Ezekiel who had suffered so much. The prophet says: “You told me to eat food cooked over dung, and I ate it. You told me, and I shaved my head. You told me, and I lay on one side. You told me to go out through a hole in the wall carrying a load, and I went out. You took away my wife and told me not to mourn, and I did not mourn, but bore it with courage (Ezekiel 24, verse 18). I have done countless other things for their sake. I plead for them, and will you not grant it?” He answers: “It is not because I despise you that I do this. Even if Noah, Job and Daniel were there, pleading for their sons and daughters, I would not grant it.” [q]

And again, to Jeremiah — who suffered less from God’s commands, but more from the people’s wickedness — what does he say? “Do you not see what they are doing?” (Jeremiah 7, verse 17.) The prophet says: “Yes, they are doing it — but you, do it for my sake.”

That is why he says to him, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood.” Their first lawgiver, who often rescued them from dangers, who had said, “If you will now forgive their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me out too” (Exodus 32, verse 32, in the Greek Old Testament) — if he were alive now and spoke this way, he would not prevail. Nor would Samuel, who also rescued them, and who was admired from his earliest youth. “For to the first I said that I spoke with him as a friend with a friend, and not in obscure sayings. And of the second I said that I revealed myself to him in his early youth, and that for his sake, won over by him, I opened up prophecy, which had been shut up.” For “the word of the Lord,” it says, “was rare in those days; there was no open vision” (First Samuel 3, verse 1). “If these men, then, stood before me, they would do no good.”

And of Noah he says, “Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation” (Genesis 6, verse 9). And of Job, that he was “blameless, righteous, true, fearing God” (Job 1, verse 1, in the Greek Old Testament). And of Daniel — whom people even took for a god. And yet they will not deliver, he says, their sons and daughters.

Knowing these things, then, let us neither despise the prayers of the saints nor throw everything onto them, so that we may not, on the one hand, grow lazy and live carelessly, nor, on the other, rob ourselves of a great advantage. Let us both ask them to pray and to lift up their hands for us, and let us hold fast to virtue, so that we may obtain the blessings promised to those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.