成績單

Have you ever been separated from a loved one for an extended period of time? Perhaps a spouse was deployed in the military overseas or a child was away at a university. I remember when our oldest daughter served in the country of Chile for a few years as a missionary to children. We could not wait to hear from her and get caught up on all the news of her life and ministry.

Perhaps you are a grandparent and those grandchildren live a long way away. They do not exactly understand why they cannot see you more often, even though you would love to see them.

That reminds me of a little four-year-old boy who was asked by his teacher where his grandmother lived, and he said, “She lives at the airport.” The teacher asked, “Why do you think she lives at the airport?” He said, “Because when we want her, we go there to get her; and when we are done with her, we take her back.”

Well, if you have experienced missing a loved one, then you have a pretty good idea how the apostle Paul feels toward his friends in Thessalonica. He is writing them a letter while serving the Lord in Corinth, some 200 miles away. He knows that his Christian friends are facing difficult times.

As we arrive today in 1 Thessalonians 2, we cannot help but notice how homesick Paul is to see his friends again. He writes here in verse 17, “Since we were torn away from you, brothers . . . we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face.”

Now you might remember that Paul had been forced to leave Thessalonica—actually sent away by the believers there for his own safety. There was a price on his head, so to speak, and he could not stay. Ever since his departure, he has wanted to visit them again. But he adds in verse 18, “Satan hindered us.” We do not know what form that hindrance took, though it was probably some obstacle created by people who were opposing Paul’s ministry. Paul considers them tools of Satan, getting in the way of his ministry.

That alone should tell us that Paul’s ministry among them was significant. Beloved, the devil never bothers with an insignificant life—or for that matter, an insignificant ministry. Satan is not omnipresent, and frankly he does not have enough demons to go after every church or every Christian. So, he is on the lookout for someone to devour, to discredit, and he is looking especially for someone with influence or potential. If he has been bothering you lately, that is a sign that you are having a significant spiritual ministry in the lives of others.

Paul obviously saw great significance and potential in these Thessalonian believers because he refers to them in verse 19 as our “joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming.”

Paul’s longing to see them again leads us to understand Timothy’s mission, as we come now to chapter 3. The apostle writes in verses 1 and 2, that while they were still in Athens, he and Silas sent Timothy to Thessalonica to “establish and exhort” them in their faith.

“Establish” means to provide strengthening support; “exhort” means to encourage their faith. The word “faith” here refers to both belief and conduct. Timothy’s mission was to make sure they knew what to believe and how to act—to encourage them to behave in accordance with their belief.

Timothy was sent to make sure “that no one [is] moved by these afflictions” (verse 3). We are not told the exact nature of their afflictions, but whatever they were, they could potentially lead to discouragement and then possibly compromise in order to escape suffering.

Paul then makes a statement that I find incredibly encouraging. Instead of telling them that their suffering was temporary, or that God never intended them to suffer, he writes to them—and us—these words in verses 3-4:

For you yourselves know that we are destined for [affliction]. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass.

Suffering in life should not take us by surprise; suffering is the Christian’s expectation. Paul says to the genuine Christian today who wants to walk with Christ, “You are destined for affliction.”

I hear preachers today telling Christians that their destiny is a promotion. Paul is telling Christians that their destiny is persecution.

By the time Paul was writing this letter to the Thessalonians, he had received Timothy’s report. Paul had been homesick for them, longing to hear some news about their lives and concerned that they might be wavering in their faith under affliction. So, he could not have been more relieved when he received this update from Timothy, which he recounts in verses 6-8:

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your

faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we

long to see you … in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you

through your faith. For now we live, [since] you are standing fast in the Lord.

I love this phrase Paul writes in response to this good news: “For now we live.” The Thessalonian Christians have brought new life to the hearts of Paul and Silas and Timothy. One author explains that this phrase means they were “refreshed, rejuvenated, and energized . . . because a heavy burden of concern [was] lifted.”[1]

Maybe you have felt the same way when you got that letter or phone call from your loved one. You had been worried—anxious about their safety, concerned about their spiritual growth. But the news you received put a bounce back in your step and fresh joy back in your heart.

By the way, here is something you should remember: when you stand strong in your faith, especially in the midst of affliction, you not only please the Lord but you also encourage other believers who know you. And I can tell you as a pastor, you encourage those who serve you and pray for you and counsel you and teach you. I have often told other believers that because of their faithful lives, they encourage me more than they could ever possibly know.

Now these last three verses in chapter 3 present Paul’s prayer. Actually, it is the prayer of Paul, Silas, and Timothy. And there are three prayer requests here. First is a request for God to allow them to go back to Thessalonica (verses 10-11). Satan has been getting in their way, as Paul wrote earlier. So, Paul is now effectively praying that God will just push that old devil out of the way.

Here is the second request: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you” (verse 12). The Thessalonians loved each other, but Paul is praying that their love will “increase and abound.” This distinguishing characteristic among Christians has a powerful impact in this world. And that is because every person out there in the world naturally loves himself. But the church is a community of believers who demonstrate love for one another.

The third prayer request looks to the future as Paul asks the Lord to keep the Christians in Thessalonica “blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus” (verse 13). In other words, when the rapture of the church takes place, Paul is praying that these believers will be faithfully living for Christ.

Paul might be homesick for his friends, but more than anything, he wants them to be ready when the Lord comes to take them home to be with Him in heaven.