Year of Paul

The lectionary for the 29th through 33rd Sundays of the year features five readings from 1 Thessalonians. This section of the lectionary demonstrates many of the concepts described in my earlier columns on Paul.

The more I study Paul’s letters, the more I become convinced that he was a consummate letter writer. While much of Pauline research is justifiably being spent on the 16 chapters of Romans, 1 Thessalonians, Paul’s first letter with a mere five chapters, has inspired a considerable body of scholarly effort. Written around AD 50, it is one of the best examples in antiquity of a letter of exhortation and encouragement, as Paul strives to “complete what is lacking in the faith” of his recent gentile converts (3:10). Here are a few examples of Paul’s letter-writing prowess.

Paul begins and ends this letter with greetings of grace and peace (1:1; 5:23,28), employing the literary technique of an inclusion. Whereas the traditional Greek letter had a brief thanksgiving, Paul expands the thanksgiving to three chapters and uses it autobiographically to strengthen his warm ties with the Thessalonians. Longish thanksgivings become characteristic of Paul’s letters. One commentator has provocatively called the artistically wrought 1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 “the first canon law.” Two negative sentences come first, followed by two positive sentences. A positive sentence with negative connotations concludes the canon: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test everything. Keep a firm grasp on what is good. Shun every form of evil.”

The text of 1 Thessalonians 1:9b–10 is almost creedal in its formulation: “How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Paul’s converts from paganism had indeed turned their backs on the worship of idols and come to know God as living (not dead as the idols) and genuine (not false). Moreover, they got to know this God, not through natural theology but from God’s Son, Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. The Thessalonians are now caught up in waiting for Jesus’ return, a point that I will treat shortly. The last part of this creedal statement, “who delivers us from the wrath to come,” is a powerful description of Christ’s divinity, for it is he who delivers from the wrath that God rightly visits upon sin. This statement also invites us to refer back to Paul’s argument in Romans 1–3: All, be they Jew or gentile, are under the dominion of sin and therefore subject to God’s wrath. But thankfully, God has justified us sinners through Jesus Christ and delivered us from God’s wrath.

In an earlier column (February 2002), I presented six images of Paul, one of which was Paul the tentmaker. Please do not miss 1 Thessalonians 2:9, as it occurs on the 31st Sunday: “You remember, my brothers and sisters, my labor and toil, how I worked night and day, so that I would not burden any of you as I preached God’s gospel to you.” While Paul was very well educated and could write magnificent letters, his pastoral strategy often led him to the city streets where artisans had their shops. There he would preach the Gospel to fellow workers and to those who frequented the shop where he labored day and night. Or as Paul will say in 2 Corinthians 12:14: “I care for you, not your money.”

The passage 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 is a set text for funerals, and fittingly so. Paul’s preaching, as we saw from 1 Thessalonians 1:9b–10, instilled an eager expectation in his listeners for the Lord’s coming and liberation from the wrath. The death of some believers caused grief and a problem: Are the dead going to miss out on the Lord’s coming? Paul’s consoling message is this: The dead in Christ will rise first, and only after that will we who are alive be snatched up together with them to meet the Lord in the air (4:16–17). Paul bases his message of consolation on key confessions of faith, for example, “We believe that Jesus died and rose.” If that is not true, scrap any belief in the resurrection. As the imagery of God’s command and trumpet blast indicates, this eschatological salvation is the Lord’s doing and gift with the result that “we will always be with the Lord.” Or as Romans 8:39 says: “Nothing whatsoever will keep us away from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ML

Robert J. Karris, OFM, is a professor at St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, N.Y., and a New Testament scholar. His latest book is St. Bonaventure’s Commentary on the Gospel of Luke Chapters 1–8 (Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University, 2001).