Paul states in 2 Thess 1:5 that, “This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.” The Thessalonians are heralds to the faithfulness of God due to their faithfulness to the Gospel even in the midst of suffering. Paul understands that the Thessalonian church is being persecuted for the Kingdom of God and thus he encourages them by saying that God will repay with affliction those who have afflicted them (2 Thess. 1:6). So intimate is the relationship between the kingdom of God and the suffering of the people of God that Paul included the teaching that, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14.22) as part of his basic instruction of new Christians.[1] Suffering and maturity in the Christian life are inherently connected in the teachings of the Apostles and in the teachings of Jesus. This is a teaching that has been affirmed throughout church history up until recently. Luther commented on this truth by saying,
“Therefore to destroy such works of ours as well as the old Adam in us, God overwhelms us with those things which move us to anger, with many sufferings which rouse us to impatience, and last of all, even with death and the abuse of the world. By means of these he seeks nothing else but to drive out of us anger, impatience, and unrest, and to perfect his own work in us, that is, his peace. Thus Isaiah 28:21 says, “He takes upon himself an alien work, that he may do his own proper work.” What does this mean? He sends us suffering and unrest to teach us to have patience and peace. He bids us die that he may make us live.[2]
Today’s church has not only ignored this truth, but has taught plainly against it. We understand suffering to be a punishment for our sins, thus God pushing us away. It is understood that in the midst of suffering we should plead to God for deliverance and ask him for forgiveness for whatever it was that brought about the present agony. Our mentality is one that says, “tranquility of life equals favor with God.” A fallacious disposition such as this will deprive us from growing in our sanctification, and more so deprive God of the glory He deserves through our suffering. When read in its proper context the scriptures scream aloud the necessity of suffering, both in the New Testament and the Old. Peter makes the startling claim that unjust suffering is not to come as a surprise. This thought runs counter to modern sensibilities that consider suffering and hard times to be an abnormal state of life that should be avoided if at all possible. And if they can’t be avoided, they should be dealt with expeditiously so that “normal” life can resume as quickly as possible.[3] Christ’s suffering, rejection, and execution normalize suffering for the Christian in this world. But to suffer because one is a Christian is at the same time to be blessed, because it marks one as belonging to God’s obedient followers, upon whom his Spirit rests. As Jesus himself taught, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you” (Luke 6:26) for such universal acclaim suggests that one has in some way compromised the testimony of God’s truth in order to please.[4] The interpretation of suffering in our lives must be deduced directly with God working out his good pleasure, for any other interpretation is a contradiction to Scripture.
In 2 Thess. 1:11, Paul begins his prayer for the church by saying, “to this end we always pray for you…” Paul’s phrase to this end has no clear antecedent. The neuter pronoun “this” probably looks back to the preceding passage as a whole and the Thessalonians’ salvation and perseverance through persecution. The apparent disjunction between vv. 11–12 and what precedes is caused in part by a temporal shift. Verses 5–10 deal with God’s future judgment, while vv. 11–12 primarily return attention (as in vv. 3–4) back to the believers’ current Christian life.[5] Thus in focusing on the current state of the believers Paul prays for them in vv. 11-12 by saying, “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The shocking reality of this prayer is that Paul never once prays that the Thessalonians would be delivered from their suffering, but that in the midst of their suffering they would be found worthy of His calling. We see this same understanding of the value of suffering in King David in Ps. 4:1: “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress.” David does not praise God for delivering him from his distress, but he praises him for giving him relief in the midst of his distress. We can only find relief in the midst of suffering when we are seeking to fulfill the duty of our suffering, which is bringing glory to God. The peace God gives us during suffering is not some esoteric knowledge that is imparted upon us in the midst of pain, but it is the yielding of self in faith to the omnipotent God. As believers we must study to adorn the cross rather then avoid it.
[1]Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians, The Pillar New Testament commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos, 2002). 285.
[2]Luther, “Treatise on Good Works, 1520,” LW 44, p. 77; cf. WA 6, p. 248
[3]Karen H. Jobes, 1 Peter, Baker exegetical commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005). 286.
[4]Ibid. 6
[5]D. Michael Martin, 1, 2 Thessalonians, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001). 216.
No comments:
Post a Comment