2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-end NRSV
The Man of Lawlessness
1As to the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and
sisters,
2not to be quickly shaken in mind
or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the
effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3Let
no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion
comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined
for destruction. 4He
opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so
that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5Do
you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?
Chosen for Salvation
13 But we must always
give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters
beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits
for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the
truth. 14For this purpose he
called you through our proclamation of the good news,
so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So
then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to
the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by
our letter. 16 Now may our Lord
Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us
eternal comfort and good hope, 17comfort
your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Barclay describes this as one of the most difficult passages in
all the New Testament, mostly because the imagery used here is so foreign to
the modern reader. For those who heard (or read) it for the first time, they
would have required no explanation, but to us, who do not have their local
knowledge, it is obscure!
Paul is telling the Thessalonians that they must give up their
hysterical waiting for the Second Coming. He denied that he had ever said that
the ‘Day of the Lord’ had already come, because before this could happen much
still needed to be fulfilled. The events were as follows: there would come an
age of great rebellion against God; into this world there already was a secret
evil power which would be behind this rebellion. There was something that was
the incarnation of evil as Jesus had been the incarnation of God. In time, the
power that was restraining this evil power would be removed and then the devil
incarnate would come. When this happened, he would gather his followers around
him just as Jesus had done. Those who had refused to accept Christ would accept
him. What would follow would be a great battle in which the Christ would
destroy the devil and his followers and then Christ’s people would be gathered
and all evil would be destroyed.
This is where the context becomes important: All the eastern
faiths shared a belief in the power of evil and in a battle between the powers
of evil and good. So, Paul was using imagery that was commonly accepted at the
time. Jews had the idea of a humanised devil as the antithesis of God and
Christians took this over in the form of the Antichrist. They all believed in a
final battle where all evil would be destroyed.
What is the containing force keeping the forces of evil at bay?
Today we cannot answer this with any certainty. Most probably Paul was using
code and was speaking of the Roman Empire. Time and again he had personally
been saved from mob violence by appealing to Roman justice. As Barclay
explains, “Rome was the restraining power which kept the world from insane
anarchy.” The day that this Roman power was removed, there would be chaos! But
we cannot be sure that this is the case.
Barclay then draws all things together to discern the following
truths that can be gleaned from this passage:
Firstly, that
there is a force of evil in the world: We might find this difficult to verify
empirically, but most people acknowledge that there is an evil power at work in
the world.
Secondly, God is
in control: In some strange way, good always triumphs over evil. We as a family
watched the film Ghandi together over half-term and he too made this point that
throughout history, the ways of love and goodness always prevail in the end.
Thirdly, the
ultimate triumph of God is sure: In the end, nothing can stand against God.
Barclay concludes: “On what side are you? In the struggle which is
at the heart of the universe are you for God – or Satan?”
This is a real question and not always an easy one to answer. In
Jesus’ day the Pharisees would have claimed to be on God’s side and Jesus
challenged them. The parable of the Pharisee and the sinner is telling, as it
really searches out where we stand.
As the old hymn puts it: “Who is on the Lord’s side? ...” is in
fact this is a deeply searching question.
Barclay reminds us that these verses are a synopsis of the
Christian life.
Firstly, the Christian life begins with God’s call; being
chosen by God. We could never have come to God by ourselves, unless God had
begun the process. It is all God’s initiative, and at the source is His love
for us ... for it was while we were still sinners that Jesus died for us.
Secondly, while it might have started with God, it develops
as we respond (echoes of my earlier comment on justification and
sanctification). Christians are not called to dream, but to do! And this often
means a fight to ‘stand firm’ and ‘hold fast’.
Thirdly, our efforts are helped by two things: (a) by the
teaching, the guidance and example of godly people as God speaks to us through
those to whom he has spoken. “A saint is someone who makes it easier for others
to believe in God.” There are many who help us not by what they say or write,
but simply by being what they are, people, whom to meet is to meet God! (b) We
are helped by God Himself. We are never left to struggle alone. ‘... he who gives
us the task also gives us the strength to do it. He actually does it with us.
... They that are for us are always more than they that be against us ...’
Lastly, our efforts are designed to produce two things: (a) consecration
– being set apart for God – so that we might be used for God’s service. Our
lives are no longer ours to do with as we please, they are God’s to do with as
He pleases; (b) Salvation in heaven – Our lives do not end with time; their
goal is eternity. ‘Its end is the purity which will see God.’ I am reminded yet
again of that excellent TV show “The Big Silence” where, under the guidance of
Christopher Jameson, the Abbot at Worth Abbey, people came to Christ through
silence. He reminded us that it is in the silence that we can confront ourselves,
deal with that which needs to be dealt with and so be purified and then to
remember the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God.”
Reese points us to the
two essential conditions Paul adds for salvation.
Firstly, in verse 13(b)
he speaks of ‘... the first fruits of salvation through sanctification by the
Spirit ...’ Paul has already dealt with this issue in his first letter to the
Thessalonians and so is brief but emphasises once more the need for believers
to respond to their responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to operate in and
through them for their transformation into children of God.
Secondly, he speaks of
the importance of ‘... belief in the truth ...’ Reese reminds us that the Greek
speaks more about ‘... faith in the truth ...’ and a few verses earlier, Paul
has spoken of ‘... love of the truth ...’ which is necessary for salvation
(verse 10 which the lectionary compilers had left out of our reading).
To be ‘saved’ means to
share in glory of the Lord Jesus and being aware of this ought to make us
grateful and act as a strong motivating force to persevere in our calling
despite the obstacles and difficulties that so often cross our path.
And so Paul calls us to
stand firm in the Gospel we have heard preached as well as read in his letters
and ‘... traditions ...’ I want to pause for a moment and reflect on ‘...
traditions ...’ This is not the only place where Paul refers to traditions (cf
1 Cor 11:2, Galatians 1:14, Colossians 2:8, 2 Thess 3:6). From all this it
would appear that he is referring to liturgical as well as doctrinal guidance
in addition to moral activity. But one must note the warning of Jesus against
holding fast to mere human traditions (Mk 7:3,8). We always need to ask: “Are
our traditions those of the Lord and the Early Church or have they become mere
human institutions?”
Back in the 1960s people
like J A T Robinson, Paul Tillich and others warned us against this (often
echoing the profound earlier understanding of Bonhoeffer’s call for a
‘religionless Christianity’) but we have not taken heed. We have also not
altered our worship styles (or times and this matters because there are so many
other family distractions at between 10-11 am) and so some people come to
Christ, but do not come to the Church. The sad thing is that there are many,
many people out there who are stunted in their sanctification because they are
not aware of the fact that who they have placed their faith in, is the risen
Christ. Even more sadly, there are those who meet the risen Christ – are not
nurtured – and so fade away. Silence, reflection and deep study need also to
become part of what we do. In our schools, for too many young people,
Confirmation signals the end of a process rather than the beginning (or
continuing) of a journey.
A difficult passage, but
a challenging one and I am grateful to Barclay and Reece for guiding me through
it.
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