Text for the Week: Patience with All

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

¹² But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; ¹³ esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. ¹⁵ See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies, ²¹ but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²² abstain from every form of evil.

²³ May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

²⁵ Brothers and sisters, pray for us.

²⁶ Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. ²⁷ I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters.

²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Questions

1. Who are the workers Paul says should be esteemed and what does it mean to live out this esteem?
2. How do the “do nots” of verses 18-22 relate to the positive commands of verses 12-18?
3. What does it mean to pray without ceasing and how does this idea fit in the passage?
4. What does it mean to quench the Spirit and how does someone achieve this?

Background

Related Scriptures: Psalm 33; Proverbs 18:19; Galatians 6; James 5:20

It is because of the wounds of sin it is a sign of God’s grace in our lives that we are able to be patient with the weaknesses of others.

Paul repeatedly calls the Thessalonians “brothers and sisters” this language is meant to reinforce to them that they are creating a family and that they need to work on ensuring the family is healthy.

In verse 23 Paul expresses the hope that God completely sanctify the Thessalonians, this is a response to the Thessalonians endeavors to treat one another with respect and build one another up. The idea is that as the community demonstrates they want to live like God, God will work with them to make them more capable of living like God.

Quenching the Spirit refers to failing to show concern for the spaces in life (individually or as a community) where God is trying to lead, guide, heal, or create. To quench the Spirit is to fail to live in a manner that results in the fruits of the Spirit.

To Pray without ceasing is to live in a way that is continually looking to God for aid and assistance and frequently reminding oneself of how God wants the world to operate and communing with God in trying to see that become a reality.

Reflection

I think right now is one of the most difficult times for me to read Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5, but also probably one of the most essential times. Why are these verses so important? Because we are nearing the end of a very contentious political season in the United States, and just like the previous two elections we are seeing Christians forget these words of Paul in favor of rejecting others based on their political allegiances. The last eight years have exacerbated an issue that has been ongoing since the 1970’s that churches are aligning by political affiliations and those who disagree with the church on political issues are feeling pressure to leave. Sometimes these individuals find a home in another church but often these homeless Christians find (or even look for) another church community. Now, I am not saying that as Christians we should abandon politics or fail to have opinions on the affairs of the country. While not everyone will have strong opinions about politics we should show concern about the state of our community and that includes taking an interest in the political landscape.

However, the reality of our current situation is that Christians are becoming far more concerned with fellow believers having the “right” political beliefs than with building up those fellow believers. We are quick to argue with and trash brothers and sisters, rather than to patiently listen to them and accept that we will disagree peacefully.

The politics based mentality needs to change, and I think a solution can be found in meditating on Paul’s words in  1 Thessalonians 5 and taking them seriously. Instead of focusing on how the person in the pew next to you has terrible political takes, see them as a brother or sister, find ways to rejoice about being in worship with your family, pray not simply that others will change their minds on politics but that God’s kingdom will reign in your own heart. Remember, that God’s kingdom reigning is about lifting up our brothers and sisters, about seeing them as people to help and support, not to be torn down. Remember we are only called to admonish those who are idle and even them we are to be positive in how we do so. With all people we must be patient, that means expecting they will finish the race eventually but maybe not today. Being patient with others is encouraging and motivating them to grow close to God while recognizing we all move at different speeds. Paul’s words are not easy to accept or practice but they are the calling of the Christian; we are to recognize our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters take precedent over all other allegiances. This means we are meant to lay aside even difficult political disagreements in order to pray and rejoice with and for our siblings. We are called to remind ourselves that political disagreements are less important than building up that person we disagree with.  Are we able to do this is a world driven by media fomenting political strife? Are we able to look past the real disagreements and difficulties to build up and show patience toward brothers and sisters, or are we simply going to allow these disagreements to separate us?

So many people ask the question what does it mean to quench the Spirit, and I think a large part of the answer is found in how we treat one another. Are we treating one another with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control the Spirit brings or are we allowing the things of the world (like politics) to divide us. Quenching the Spirit is about living in ways that silence the Spirit’s work in us, it is living in ways that do not demonstrate the true fruit the Spirit brings and so hiding the lamp under the basket. Quenching the Spirit is when we refuse to allow the Spirit to unite us and bring us together, but allow ourselves to stop building one another up, to stop having patience with one another, and to start repaying one another with evil. Quenching the Spirit begins when we walk into church and see the people there as political enemies and not brothers and sisters. Let us not quench the Spirit but work together to show love, support and patience, building up the church and community as Paul encourages us.