The second letter to the Thessalonians has some verses that I imagine offend out modern sensibilities. For example, this: “He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and his glorious power.” (1.7-9)
Most of us cringe when we read passages about judgment and God’s wrath. We think things like, is this really fair? Isn’t it a bit harsh? After wrestling with this passage today, here are some of my thoughts:
1) The people who are being addressed in this passage are not comfortable Americans, but suffering Thessalonians. They are the ones being beaten, unjustly accused, losing their property and their homes and family members. And they are asking the opposite question we are. They are asking, “is there any justice in the world? Will no one answer for the evil that is being done to us?” Paul’s answer is, yes, there is a judgment coming. God will settle accounts. Take refuge in this.
2) Whenever we talk about fairness, we should remember that the fair thing is that God lets us have what we want: to be separated from him, to do our own thing, to be our own God. But this separation is called hell. All get what they want in the end, they do not always like it. So our hope is not that God will be fair, but that he will be merciful.
3) We have good reason to believe that God is not only just, but also merciful in the way that he judges. Judgment is not monolithic; God is the perfect judge, and all of his judgments will be right and in keeping with his total character. I truly believe that when we see how God judges the world, we will wholeheartedly affirm both his justice and his goodness.
4) God reserves the right to intervene in any way he chooses. It’s his right as God. For example, Paul is writing about the judgment of those persecuting Christians, a group he used to belong to. Paul is proof that God intervenes, and the mercy of God in the gospel triumphs over the judgment that we deserve.
But if we know the gospel, the news of what Jesus has done for us, and we outrightly reject it, then we are cutting off the limb on which we sit. There is no hope for a person who has chosen to separate themselves from hope and to embrace despair.
Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. I entrust myself to you as the Perfect Judge and my Merciful Savior. Amen.
from the last entry the topic on laziness hit me like a bullseye. seeing how paul emphasizes again in this letter to be wary of laziness and idleness i guess tells me to really be aware and fix my bad habits and proneness to laziness. i like the title of the passage on that section "An Exhortation to Proper living" because i feel like you only truly live when you're actually doing something worth it and not spending time doing nothing meaningful or being idle. those were my thoughts reading this :)
ReplyDeleteps thank you for writing these pj i'm really enjoying reading your responses on these passages
Thanks for commenting on Michelle! I think that a lot of times I miss the connection between Paul's emphasis on the fact that Jesus returning and the admonition to not be lazy. It's like we are house-sitting, he is coming home and so we better not wreck the place! Thanks for the encouragement as well!
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