I Thessalonians 1:1-10

Our second of Paul’s epistles, this one to his converts from Thessalonica. Presumably Paul wrote this letter and a second (II Thessalonians) while he was in Corinth. Just yesterday we were reading in Acts 18 about Paul’s 18-month stay in Corinth. Very likely, through Silas and Timothy Paul stayed in communication with this new church. One item about this letter – you may recall that Paul was “run out of town” by the Jews and Gentiles so that he could escape a possible charge of treason against the Roman Empire. So while Paul is writing these letters he is also likely remembering his abrupt departure and thanking God for his safety.

One issue that we will see in both Thessalonian letters is Jesus’ second coming. My Study Bible pointed out that every chapter in this epistle ends with a reference to Jesus’ second coming. We see that today in verse 10: …and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

See also: April 3 (2020) / I Thess.1:1-10

Acts 18:1-18

And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla… (v. 2) Aquila was a traveler!! Pontus was a region along the north/northeast coast of modern-day Turkey, bordering the Black Sea to the north. To get to Italy Aquila had to travel west through all of modern-day Turkey, then beyond Greece and across the Adriatic to Italy. We don’t know at what age he did his traveling or where he met Priscilla, but while in Italy he was “run out of town” by the emperor Claudius and he arrived in Corinth. Now think back to Paul’s travels and how Jewish persecution drove him out of Macedonia (Thessalonica) down to Achaia (Athens and Corinth). How circumstantial is it that Paul and Aquila, both tentmakers, met up in Corinth. Look at all that had to happen to bring this about! What a bond they must have formed! I daresay the Lord knew all this, that He was directing from above. And this Paul-Aquila-Priscilla relationship continued to bear fruit for many years to come!

After this, Paul … set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. … And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there… (vv. 18-19a) So Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, Titius Justus, Crispus, and other followers, after which Paul sets sail for Syria (the location of Syrian Antioch), taking along Priscilla and Aquila. Travel being what it was back then his ship first crossed the Aegean Sea and docked at Ephesus. There Paul gets off the ship with his fellow travelers and goes into the synagogue to preach. He leaves Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus and goes by ship to Caesarea, then on foot to Jerusalem, eventually back to his home base at Syrian Antioch. I’m mostly intrigued by his taking Priscilla and Aquila out of Corinth along with him, then leaving them at Ephesus as he moved on. But the last few verses in today’s reading (Acts 18:24-28) show us that God had serious use for Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus. All in all, the “circumstances” in today’s reading are fascinating. Let God lead and He will take care of the details!!

See also:

• April 1 (2020) / Acts 18:1-11
• April 2 (2020) / Acts 18:12-28

Acts 17:16-34

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (v. 21) This sentence seems to me very unlike the rest of Luke’s writing. Most often he is direct, specific, exact. Here he is speaking very generally – …all the Athenians… and …would spend their time in nothing except…. Clearly it was not “all” the Athenians. There were artisans and merchants and governing officials, so his blanket statement is over-stated. Likewise, “…nothing except…” leaves out a lot of the rest of life! Again, over-stated. However, by exaggerating Luke makes his point stronger, that Paul was speaking to an audience of philosophers, themselves the “babblers” doing the babbling that they had ascribed to Paul (Acts 17:18).

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst. (vv. 32-33) It’s a good lesson from Paul – if we are sharing our faith and the conversation “goes south”, better to just walk away or change the topic than to continue with someone who just wants to mock you or challenge you. It might not be the right day and you might not be the right person!

See also:

• March 30 (2020) / Acts 17:10-21
• March 31 (2020) / Acts 17:22-34

Acts 17:1-15

…they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. (v. 17b) I should have pointed out yesterday that Paul and Silas did not go to the synagogue in Philippi, but went down to the river where there was a “place of prayer”. Then upon coming to Thessalonica Paul and Silas went to the synagogue, as was Paul’s established custom. From all that we need to presume that there was no synagogue in Philippi and that, very likely, there was only a small Jewish community. And with all that, again backing up a bit, it was not the jealousy of the Jewish leaders that got Paul and Silas in trouble in Philippi – it was the owners of the slave girl who feared losing their “investment”. So we see Paul and Silas in trouble in both Philippi and in Thessalonica, in the former the fear of the loss of income and in the latter the jealousy of the Jewish leaders. Finally, in Philippi they had committed no crime, simply depriving some owners of some wealth, while in Thessalonica they may have been charged with treason against Rome. Hence their “leisure” in leaving Philippi and their haste in leaving Thessalonica. Very different scenarios!

The Thessalonian city authorities speaking (shouting!): “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also…” (v. 6b) Apparently Paul and Silas had earned quite a reputation, with non-religious city authorities acknowledging that Paul and Silas had turned the world upside down. What a strong statement by the city authorities; what a powerful witness by these two men! GLORY!!

See also:

• March 29 (2020) / Acts 17:1-9
• March 30 (2020) / Acts 17:10-21

Acts 16:16-40

I commented yesterday that Luke was also preaching the gospel (Acts 16:10). Today, we see him again in Acts 16:16-17. However, it seems that Luke was not as forthright as Paul and Silas in his preaching, in that he was not seized by the owners or beaten by the magistrates: But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. (v. 19) Today is also the last of the “we” verses until we get to Acts 20:8.

Today we have a third account of a miraculous prison release. You may recall that some apostles (Acts 5:17-26) and Peter (Acts 12:6-17) were delivered by angels earlier. Today’s account is different in a number of ways. First, it was an earthquake, not an angel, that set them free. Second, we have a jailer ready to commit suicide upon seeing the prisoners free. Finally, Paul and Silas took their release as an opportunity to share the gospel with the Philippian jailer and his household. I am impressed that Paul and Silas demanded that the authorities come forward to acknowledge the wrong that they had committed in beating Roman citizens without a trial. Paul took every opportunity to evangelize and to strengthen the church.

We need to keep this Philippian account in mind down the road when we read Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It is a letter of true joy – it seems that Paul remembers the many Philippian conversions more than the beating he received!

See also:

• March 27 (2020) / Acts 16:16-24
• March 28 (2020) / Acts 16:25-40

Acts 15:36-16:16

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (v. 10) No doubt, upon reading this verse the words “we” and “us” immediately jumped out at you. Yes, this is the first occurrence of the “we” passages in Acts, that Luke had joined Paul on this second missionary journey. We will see quite a few more. I’ve previously mentioned that Luke is widely regarded as a great historian, both in his gospel and even more so for his narrative of Acts. He is now giving us a first-person account, which further strengthens his standing among Bible scholars and secular historians.

Another item in that verse stands out to me today – God had called us to preach the gospel to them. I never think of Luke as a preacher. Clearly Paul and Silas were preachers and teachers, but upon seeing this verse anew I can easily see Luke standing up for the gospel alongside Paul and Silas.

See also:

• March 25 (2020) / Acts 15:36-16:5
• March 26 (2020) / Acts 16:6-15

James 5:1-20

Come now, you rich, weep and howl… (v. 1a) You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. (v. 5a) Often when I read a New Testament item about the rich I pause and consider the full context, because compared to the rest of the world we in the USA are rich indeed! So what does James say about the rich here? Clearly the rich in this passage are people who are exploiting other people – keeping back wages, condemning and murdering a righteous person. I’m not sure we are guilty here, except that we do have a responsibility toward those in need, both here and abroad. For each of us it’s a personal matter, but I also fear for our nation as a whole…

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (vv. 19-20) I don’t know of any other New Testament encouragement for evangelism (other than Jesus’ own words in Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8) that is stronger that what James writes here. A good quote to end James…!!

See also:

• March 23 (2020) / James 5:1-11
• March 24 (2020) / James 5:12-20

James 4:1-17

I’m thinking again about the profiteering that James discusses in James 4:13-17. I already discussed entrepreneurship in my second post (below) from last year and I see good in a lot of entrepreneurial activities. But there are some that strike me wrong. Right now I’m thinking of housing developments. We live in the country and on a number of these country roads we see the beginning of new housing developments. One that I really like is on the south end of Main Street in Versailles, just as you’re coming in to town on Rt. 33. There is nothing pretentious about it; it’s simply a new development with smaller homes, clearly our modern version of “starter homes”. [As I was growing up a newly-built “starter home” was three bedrooms, one bath!] A number of other new housing developments are quite modest, often just a very nice three-plank fence setting the borders of the development and maybe a brick-built entryway announcing the name of the development. For most of these developments the homes that are being built are beyond being “starter homes”, but don’t seem to be excessive. Others are! They boast a grand entrance and offer huge houses with ten or fifteen roof slopes, clearly designed for someone who has enjoyed a much greater income than Carol and I. Finally, there is one development going up on Rt. 169 between Keene and the Shannon Run intersection that’s worth a drive-by. Its main entrance boast of four gigantic brick pillars, two on each side, crowned with caps that cry out “luxury”. If I go further describing the property I just get more and more judgmental. But I wonder at what the Lord has to say about this level of luxury when so many in this county, this state, this country are hurting and barely getting by. Verse 16 just screams out to me: But as it is, you boast in your arrogance (or pretentions); all such boasting is evil. James offers his summary statement on profiteering one verse earlier: Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (v. 15) “If the Lord wills…”

See also:

• March 21 (2020) / James 4:1-10
• March 22 (2020) / James 4:11-17

James 3:1-18

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts… (v. 14) and For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist… (v. 16) I wonder what’s going on in James’ world that he would point out jealousy and selfish ambition twice here. Back in Galatians Paul seemed to imply that this was a problem for the Judaizers, that they wanted to boast of their “converts” (Gentiles converted to Jesus, then circumcised). We also see it in the Gospels, with the Pharisees and Sadducees afraid of losing their power and influence with (over!) the people. So if James is writing from Jerusalem, mostly to Jews (the “twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad”, v. 1:1), it’s very likely that he is seeing the same behaviors that Jesus saw in Jerusalem and that Paul was witnessing in his missionary travels.

Which brings me to our church today… As I look at ACNA leadership, I do not see jealousy and selfish ambition. In Archbishops Duncan and Beach I see humble servants, desirous only of serving the Lord and guiding His people to the best of their ability through the grace of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And even as Archbishop Beach and Bishop Frank offer their guidance in our search for a new rector, it’s not a “control” issue with them, nor do we feel negatively subjected to their leadership – they are looking to our future and using their wisdom and experience to guide us. This was not so in the Episcopal Diocese from which St. John’s (St. Andrew’s) members departed. From my position as a member of the leadership team of that body I clearly saw control as a driving force coming from the top. Which brings me to the verse in between the two that I cited above, This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. (v. 15) Clearly (I believe) there were unspiritual, demonic forces at work in the Episcopal Church in 2003/2004. But from that turmoil sprang St. Andrew’s! I’m reminded of Joseph’s comment to his brothers, …you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good… (Genesis 50:20). GLORY!!

See also:

• March 19 (2020) / James 3:1-12
• March 20 (2020) / James 3:13-18