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Advent 2020: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

During the season of Advent, I am translating from Greek to English the weekday epistle readings out of the Daily Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.

Friday, 4 December 2020 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

The Text

Chapter Four

1. Therefore, brothers and sisters, finally, we ask and encourage you in the Lord that it is necessary for you to walk just as you received from us, and that you walk to please God more and more. 

2. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

3. For this is the sanctifying will of God, that you abstain from fornication. 

4. Each of you know how to control his own vessel in holiness and honor,

5. not in passionate desire as the Gentiles, who have not known God.

6. Not to transgress in the affairs of or defraud a brother or sister, for the Lord is a punisher of those who do these things. Just as we forewarned and solemnly swore to you. 

7. For God called you not to impurity but holiness. 

8. Consequently, the one who disregards this does not disregard man, but God, the one who gave his Holy Spirit to us. 

9. But about love for brothers and sisters, you have no need to write about. You are taught by God to love one another. 

10. For you do – all the brothers and sisters in the whole region of Macedonia – and we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more. 

11. Make it a core value to be tranquil, to mind your own business, and work with your hands just as we commanded you

12. so as to walk properly with those on the outside and that you might not have any need.

Commentary

The verb in verse 1 is “walk”, and I have translated it that way but that is a metaphor. It would be just as appropriate to translate it ‘live’ for that is what it means. I like, though, the idea of my life is as walk. That is religious jargon, I admit, but it is meaningful jargon for this GenXer who views life as a journey — a walk along a path that leads me closer to the Lord. If I choose improperly, I can walk away from him and travel the wrong path. Paul encourages to walk along the proper way.

“Vessel” is a provocative word in verse 4. The word could be translated ‘pot’ as in a clay pot. Some may render it as body, which is fine but I decided to leave the double-entendre, because Paul may well be referring to the sex organ itself. Controlling that bit of our life — our passionate urges — is clearly what he has in mind. It gets more pointed when he tells us we must be careful to not ‘defraud’ a brother or sister. This could literally be a command to not sexually abuse or sexually harass someone else. Purity and holiness is as much about how we view and treat the bodies of others as how we treat our own. There is surely a powerful lesson here about objectification culture, as well as a solidarity emotive with the #metoo movement. Violating others is never okay, and it is a sin against God, and he is a punisher of those who engage in it.

The transition from verse 8 to 9 is stark. Sexual abuse and self gratification is the farthest thing from real love that can be imagined. One is about self while the other is about others.

Before this section concludes, The Apostle reminds us again about the importance of hard work. By working hard, earning an honest living, we pave the way for us to live in tranquility, minding our own business. How much better would the world be if we all made our goal to be quiet and mind our own business? Infinitely better.

Questions For Application

What instructions has Jesus given (v. 2) us? Sanctification is not a popular topic these days. What is it, and more specifically, how do you make certain you are engaged in it?We are not called to impurity. It is easy to name sins of intimacy here, but there is more to purity than fornication. What impurities have you tolerated?Would you describe your life as tranquil?

Advent 2020: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

During the season of Advent, I am translating from Greek to English the weekday epistle readings out of the Daily Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.

Thursday, 3 December 2020 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

The Text

Chapter Three

1. Therefore, enduring it no longer, we determined to be left behind alone in Athens. 

2. We sent Timothy, our brother and coworker in God—in the gospel of Christ—to strengthen you and to encourage your faith 

3. so that no one be disturbed in all these troubles. You know yourselves that we are destined for this. 

4.  When we were with you, we told you beforehand we were about to be persecuted, which as you know is what happened.

5. Because of this, when I could no longer stand it, I sent to know your faith, whether the temper had tempted you or not, and whether our labor became in vain. 

6. Now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought good news about your faith and love, and that you have remembered us well, always longing to see us just as we do you. 

7. We are encouraged by this, brothers and sisters, by all your faith in our distress and persecution.

8. Because you stand firm in the Lord, now we live.

9. How are we able to return thanks, a thanksgiving to God for you, for all the joy and rejoicing for you before God? 

10. Begging, pleading night and day to see your face, to complete what is lacking in your faith. 

11. May Father God himself and our Lord Jesus straighten out our road to you. 

12. And may the Lord increase your love and make it sufficient for one another and to all, just as he has for us to you 

13. to strengthen your blameless hearts in holiness before God our Father in the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. [Amen.]

Commentary

As is my custom, let’s first speak about the textual variant in verse 13. The concluding ‘Amen’ is hard to cipher. Metzger summarizes it nicely by indicating it is difficult to know whether it was dropped by copyists who didn’t think it fit or was it added as a liturgical response to the soaring language of verse 13? I have taken the GNT’s lead and included it in brackets, however, to me it seems inauthentic. The text reads better without it.

What grips me most about the opening verses is Paul’s fear. He is terrified someone has soiled the Thessalonians discipleship while he was away. He refers to a ‘tempter’ who, probably is Satan from chapter 2, the same Satan that blocked him, but I do not dismiss the possibility Paul has some human being in mind who is working on the Thessalonians and trying to lead them away with a watered down false gospel. I don’t know who that person might have been, but let’s call him Joel Osteenus bar Orellus Robertus.

Whoever it was tempting them, Paul was worried all the time and effort he had spent would be wasted if they turned from the true faith. Is it wrong if I confess to you I am comforted by this? Why does it comfort me? Because I often fear those I have led, taught, and instructed in the faith will fall away (indeed, some have). That Paul had a similar fear makes me feel better about my own failings.

Verse 10 gets to the issue: Paul had some things he still needed to teach them. He refers here to what is lacking. I use the rendering “complete” as in complete a course where the ESV and NIV uses the word “supply” as in a good to be delivered. The thing is, I have been at this Jesus-following thing for decades and I still don’t feel complete.

Paul finishes the chapter with two requests. He asks God to straighten out the road that leads back to Thessalonica because he wants to visit, and he asks God to increase the love they have for everyone. The road business is self evident, but the idea of God making us love better is fascinating because Paul qualifies the object — Love for each other and love for everyone. So there you have it in black and white, the idea we should increasingly love one another and the whole world; everyone! However much you love right now, it can always be more and it can always do more (sufficiency). In Romans Paul says it like this, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other” (Romans 13:8). You never pay off love, it is always a debt because God holds the mortgage.

Questions For Application

If a tempter was seeking to derail your faith, how would he or she come at you? How would you deflect it?Paul longed to see the Thessalonians. Who do you long to see? Do you feel like there is anything lacking in your faith? What is it, and how will you complete it?Paul prayed for a straight path to Thessalonica. What do you pray for the Lord to straighten out? Paul prayed for the Thessalonians to have sufficient love — is there any way in which your love is deficient?

Advent 2020: 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20

During the season of Advent, I am translating from Greek to English the weekday epistle readings out of the Daily Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.

Wednesday, 2 December 2020 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20

The Text

13. And for this we ourselves give thanks continually to God, that you welcomed what you heard from us not as human words, but as it truly is – the word of God – that is active among you who are believing. 

14. Brothers and sisters, you became mimics of the churches in Messiah Jesus in Judea, because of the things you suffered from your people, just as they did from the Jews.

15. And these people, the ones who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out, are not trying to please God. They are against humanity. 

16. They hindered us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. The fullness of their sins always comes, which will be wrath to them at the end. 

17. But we were orphaned from you, our brothers and sisters, for a little while, physically but not emotionally. We eagerly desired to see your face more than ever.

18. We wanted to come to you, I, Paul, tried one and twice, but was blocked by Satan. 

19. For what is our hope, joy, or crown of boasting if not you, and you before our Lord Jesus at his coming? 

20. You are our glory and joy. 

Commentary

The theme of mimicry emerges again, a holdover from 1:6. The difference is who is imitating whom. The church in Thessalonica is imitating, not by choice or pleasure but by necessity, the mother church in Jerusalem. Just as that church was persecuted by Jews, by their very people, so too the Thessalonians were persecuted by their own people. I wonder if this stung Paul to write, because he was the Jew of Jews who took such zeal in persecuting the primitive church? Was there a similar Paul-figure who ferociously persecuted the Thessalonians but then, saw the light, and turned, and became a Christ-follower? That would be some serious mimicry.

Paul describes these persecutors as being against humanity. The text is literally “all people” or “all human beings” with the word ‘anthropos’. I almost translated it as “against everyone” but decided humanity had a nice ring to it, for they are not just opposite of an idea, they are against human beings.

Paul wants to visit them, but Satan has blocked him. Satan has blocked Paul. That sounds incredibly personal. There is a school of thought out there that teaches evil is not a personification, that it is a great power but it is impersonal, like gravity or friction. But Paul did not see the universe that way. He understood there was an adversary who had lined up against him to stop him from doing certain things. I agree with Paul. I know there is an enemy out there and he is in stark opposition to me.

Questions For Application

Is the word of God active in your life? Serious — does it have verbal powers to move and to change you, or is it just a noun that lies there?If you could imitate any church you’ve ever seen, which one would it be? Why? Now that you’ve done that exercise, how much persecution and pain has that church gone through? Are you wiling to go through that, to suffer, and to sacrifice?Is Satan blocking you right now? What are you going to do about it? (Note: Paul wrote this letter as a solution)Who is your glory and joy?

A Book Review — A Book To Make You Smarter

Some books you read for the joy of it.

Some books you read because you want to learn something.

Sometimes, a both does both. That is the case with Christopher Manske’s excellent new book, The Prepared Investor. It was an unexpected pleasure.

I was eager to read The Prepared Investor because I wanted to learn. Markets, investing, and financial planning are all things that I, as a middle-aged person, need to start thinking about a little more seriously. It started as a learning project. As I read, it turned into a joyful experience. The Prepared Investor is a guide to financial planning and investing, but it is really about human nature and history.

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Manske indicates in the book it took him a decade to write it, and the research and skill at storytelling show he did his homework. He is as comfortable telling about Napoleon’s escape from Elba as he is referring to tables and charts of marketplace indices. But more than this, he shows how things such as leadership (Napoleon), terrorism, or social unrest play a very important role in financial stewardship. Take for example this excellent observation from 1970.

While it is easy to find articles about the Kent State shooting itself, its much more difficult to find the Wall Street Journal’s description of the stock market published the day after the tragedy: ‘Stock prices took their steepest dive since President Kennedy’s assassination.’

P. 160

The Prepared Investor is filled with this kind of cause-effect analysis. Without giving too much away, the point of the Kent State example is observing how markets react to unfamiliar actions of a dramatic nature. The lesson to be learned is an investor, regardless of ideology or politics, should recognize the responses people and markets make to various stimuli and then, knowing what history says will happen next, make appropriate investments to capitalize on it.

Manske is talking about wealth. I read the book, however, and thought about spirituality and maturity. We live in very unsettling times where something dramatic happens almost daily, and everyone knows about it instantly. Recognizing their patterns of behavior can help me identify how these variations impact my daily life and work. People respond spiritually much the same way they respond financially — when uncertainty comes, they withdraw to ‘bunkers’ of safety. Manske spends a lot of time on analyzing 9-11. I remember those days well. I never saw as many people in church as I did the month after 9-11. But, when the crisis abates, people return to their normal patterns. Within two months of 9-11, church attendance declined to below numbers of what it had been before the crisis. We held several special prayer services right after 9-11 and the church building was filled with people, elbow to elbow. A year later, we held a special one year anniversary service and only about fifteen people showed up. People return to normal, and sometimes it is a new normal, and that normal comes much quicker than most people anticipate.

It is human nature at work, and that is the background for Manske’s work.

There are three features of the book that were helpful.

The outline is easy to follow, and he uses “Action Steps” as a checklist for those wishing to implement what is being learned.Charts and graphs. Then more charts and graphs. And now some charts and graphs about the charts and graphs. The Prepared Investor is loaded with this kind of data, and if you like that, there is plenty to enjoy.My favorite part was the long chapter near the end as a timeline of Manske’s own notations in real time about the spread of COVID-19. As a reader, I would be interested to see his contemporary notes right now as we spike. If for nothing else, this part of the book documents in historical fashion what has already happened, because people forget and they bend their memories toward ideologies and preconceived notions rather than reality.

The Prepared Investor is a quick read coming in at 209 pages. I read it in one week, and a big part of my leisure time during that week was making pies and chicken and dressing.

Who would like this book? People who love history will want this book, so too would someone who has a little bit of savings and is wanting to invest it well, People who are interested in human behavior will like it as well. Manske is well read and references everyone from Yuval Noah Harari to Henry Kissinger to Quentin Tarantino.

Who should read this book: I think every graduate of high school and certainly college would benefit. It would make a great Christmas present or graduation gift. In fact, it probably should be on your list of books to read this year simply because the knowledge, though fine tuned to finance, is really universal in nature. This book will make you smarter and wiser.

Advent 2020: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

During the season of Advent, I am translating from Greek to English the weekday epistle readings out of the Daily Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.

Tuesday, 1 December 2020 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Chapter Two

1. For you know yourselves, brothers and sisters, that our introduction to you was not in vain. 

2. And, as you know, we had the courage to speak of our God to you, the gospel of God in great opposition, after having suffered and been insulted beforehand in Philippi.

3. Our appeal to you was not from error, duplicity, or subterfuge. 

4. But, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so also we do not speak so as to please people but God, who is the one proving our hearts.

5. Just as you know, we came neither with flattering words nor with a pretext for greediness. God testifies to it. 

6. Nor glory seeking from people, not from you or from anyone,

7. although we had the power of authority as Christ’s apostles. Instead, we became as infants in your midst, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. 

8. So, longing in this way for you, we determined to share not only the gospel of God with you, but our very souls. That is why you have become beloved. 

9. You should remember, brothers and sisters, our labor and effort, working night and day so as to not be a burden to anyone as we preached the gospel of God to you. 

10. You and God are witnesses to how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved to those of you who are believers.

11. Indeed, you know, like a father to his own children were each one of you, 

12. Urging you, consoling you, affirming you to walk worthy of your God, who is calling you into his own kingdom and glory.

Commentary

First, a textual note. For reasons I can’t understand, English renderings tend to put the opening phrase of verse 7 with verse 6, where it would read “Nor seeking glory from people, not from you or from anyone, although we had the power of authority as Christ’s apostles” as all verse 6. All my editions of the Greek New Testament list that phrase about authority being the first part of verse 7. It doesn’t change the meaning, but keeping it in the structure of the GNT allows for that great imagery of authority and power contrasted with being an infant.

Paul claims the gospel came from them not with error, duplicity, or subterfuge in verse 3. If we examine those we get three important claims for ministry. Paul says he was not in error. What he means is not that he doesn’t make errors, but the gospel he preached is not a mistaken one. Often it was claimed of Paul that he was preaching the wrong gospel or an altered version of it. Here he affirms he was not mistake about Christ, salvation, or the way of discipleship. he also claims that he did not have mixed motives. This is important, because a person could preach the right (no errors) but have duplicity. My reading of many churches, ministries, and pastors informs me some of them have sound doctrine but their motives are mixed in that they say it is all for the Lord but in reality they are promoting themselves. Subterfuge is a different kind of impurity Paul says is absent from his preaching. He never tried to trick the people. He was open, honest, and transparent. Any church or ministry that fudges numbers, lies about attendance, or plays politics to curry favor with a certain demographic is engaged in subterfuge.

I am fascinated by the use of infants as a metaphor. If you read it closely, he is not saying the Thessalonians became infants as he was the father. He is saying the opposite, he was like an infant, weak and lowly to them, rather than bossy and pushy. He waited for them to take the lead. I don’t know about you, but it is hard to do this. It is hard to wait, slow down, and allow others to lead. It must have been really hard for Paul. But that is what he did. No wonder he was able to write elsewhere, “I am crucified with Christ.” Crucifying our desires to control, frame, guide, and dominate is vital to spiritual leadership. And here, I would like to note, this is the opposite of what they teach in seminary and what the world defines as ‘real’ leadership. Paul says real leadership is celebrating how others grow into their role rather than grabbing all the headlines and sucking all the oxygen out of the room. I confess, I am a work-in-progress on this one.

There is a joke buried in verse 10. Paul outlines how devout, righteous, and blameless they were toward ‘those who are believers.’ Does this mean he was ungodly, wicked, and guilty to those who were not believers? I doubt it, but Paul’s choice of language is fascinating.

Questions For Application

Paul says he was insulted in Philippi, but that didn’t stop him in Thessalonica. What insults and crude attacks have you worked through? How did it make you stronger?Paul lays it all out there that he wasn’t in it for the applause, the payday, or the recognition. What was his goal, and, more pointedly, what is your goal in the Christian life? At work? At home?Who do you share your very soul with? Why? Can a body of believers be called a church if the souls are not shared? Can a pastor or leader lead a church where the souls are not connected?What does a walk worthy of God look like in 2020 and in your world?

Advent 2020: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

During the season of Advent I am translating the weekday epistle readings from the Daily Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.

Monday, 30 November 2020 1 Thessalonians 1

Chapter One

1. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church: Grace and peace to you in Father God and Lord Jesus Messiah.

2. We always give thanks to God for the memory of you, continually making our prayers for you. 

3. Remembering before our God and Father your faithful work, the labor of love, and hopeful patience in our Lord Messiah Jesus.

4. Knowing he chose you, our brothers and sisters who have been loved by God.

5. Because our gospel came not to you only with words, but with great conviction, in power and the Holy Spirit. You know so much of what happened to us while among you, all on account of you. 

6. You became imitators of us and the Lord, welcoming the word with the joy of the Holy Spirit in the midst of great distress.

7. So that you might become an example to all those believing in Macedonia and Achaia. 

8. For the word of the Lord has resounded from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has gone. There is no need to have you speak anything. 

9. For they tell about you, about what kind of welcome we had from you, and how you converted from idols to serve the living and true God.

10. And to wait for his son out of the heavens, the one whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, the one who will rescue us from the coming wrath. 

Commentary

Whatever else the Thessalonians may have gotten wrong, they clearly impressed not only Paul and his traveling companions but also the other churches with their readiness and eagerness. It is locked up in the idea of welcome. For Paul this has a powerful meaning, as any student of the letter to the Romans can attest to. It is not merely perfunctory. It is a spiritual reality.

Verses 2 and 3 focus on remembering. In verse 2 it is a noun — “our memory” of you. Paul remembers them, and what they mean to him, and this focuses his prayers. Then in verse 3 he uses memory again — this time a participial verb where Paul remembers what they had done when he prays to the Lord. He remembers to pray for them.

Look carefully at the list of three things in verse 3: faithful work, labor of love, and hopeful patience. We can see our old friend the triad of faith, hope, and love, albeit it slightly dressed up and modified. Faith is about the work–commitment. Love is now also about the work, the reason we work is not the work itself or ego driven success but our love for others. Hope is what keeps us at it without giving way to our lesser nature. The idea of work weaves itself throughout both First and Second Thessalonians. Here it is a commendation. By the time Second Thessalonians closes, it is a rebuke, as if these once hard working people had lost their way with poor theology.

The most powerful idea here is that of conversion in verse 9. Converting from idols to the One True God and with that conversion begins the waiting game: waiting for Jesus to rescue from wrath.

The coming of Jesus is the theme looming over the entire epistle but he dallies around before he gets to it. I think there is a reason for this. It presents a certain clunkiness to the text; like someone beating around the bush before he gets to the point, which doesn’t emerge again in fullness until chapter four. I have some ideas about that but I will save them for later.

Questions For Application

When was the last time you welcomed someone into your life? Home? Church? Who do you imitate? Why? The Thessalonian disciples threw down idols to follow Jesus. What are you still clutching ahold of that keeps you from following Jesus fully?Who should be locked away in your memories to pray for, but you have forgotten?

If I Close My Eyes I Can See The Sunset

This is the perfect story to finish the free Thanksgiving stories from the Fondue Writers Club.

Paul Bennett’s use of visual imagery creates a world where my sensory perception runs wild. I can smell — seriously — I can smell the garage, the hospital floor, the room, and the pie. I can feel the cold stethoscope, the crisp sheets, the steering wheel, the computer. I can hear the beeps from the machines, the car engine, and the voice of the nurse. I can see the headlights in the darkness, the computer screen, and the sunset’s brilliance. I can taste regret.

Click on the slice of pumpkin pie to read ‘The Years the Locust Ate’ and remember we’ll be back soon with free Christmas Stories to keep you entertained as we all continue to persevere in the midst of this horrible health crisis. Stay safe, be well, check on your neighbors, and remember to love each other.

[image error] Can you smell the cloves, ginger, and cinnamon in this pie? I can.

I Feel Like the Green Beans In This Story Are A Personal Attack On Me?

Joe Shaw is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. But beneath that happiness and sunshine is a creepy man who writes creepy stores. That is a part of his brilliance. He knows how to take a story dark, and then, well . . . you’ll have to read for yourself.

This is a shocking story with strong imagery, but it is worth the read. You’ll like it. This is the next to the last Free Thanksgiving Story from the Fondue Writers Club. Click on the can of green beans to read Joe’s story, “Thanksgiving With The Family”

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Practice Makes Perfect?

Joe Courtemanche is scraping the bottom for a pilgrim story.

You might get that joke when you read the story. Or maybe not.

Two warnings: First, this story is not for people easily offended or with gentle dispositions. My friend Sheila should not read this story. Second, do not be afraid when you click on the link and see the frightening picture of the Bible with a pistol on top of it. That’s just Joe being Joe. He is a delightful and good person who loves the Lord very much and cares deeply about people.

With that, click on the glass of Apple Cider to read Thanksgiving Trauma: A Pilgrim Story.

[image error] This may or may not have been what the pilgrims drank?

A Walk To Really Remember . . . Or Forget

Wait for the ending.

That is a must.

Today’s Free Thanksgiving Story comes to us from Derek Elkins. As I read it, I kept thinking the protagonist should own a chain of hotels called The Big Elk Inns. You may get that joke after you read it, or you might not.

Click on the Elk’s horn to read Derek’s great story, “A Thanksgiving To Remember” with the surprise whodunit ending.

[image error] Just Click on the Horn. If you Click the nose, you’ll end up as one of Kexel’s spies in Monday’s story