Rereading From a New Perspective
- davidwperk
- Dec 5, 2024
- 8 min read
Daily Devotional, Thursday, December 5, 2024
The week of the first Sunday of Advent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s epistle reading:
3: 1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; 2and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, 3so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. 4In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us-just as we long to see you
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 936)
AM Psalm 18:1-20; PM Psalm 18:21-50
Isa. 2:12-22; 1 Thess. 3:1-13; Luke 20:27-40
Today we celebrate the Feast of Clement of Alexandria. (See below.)
David's Reflections
I accepted the call of Bishop Peter Lee and Suffragan Bishop David Jones of the Diocese of Virginia in 2002 to serve as the start-up priest for a new congregation. After that, I began to read passages like this one with different eyes. Paul was a church planter. Obviously, he was not the only one--the other Apostles and other followers of Christ were beginning new faith communities everywhere they went. But, Paul was one of only a few whose letters to those young churches have survived, and he was the most prolific letter writer.
Why did Paul write these letters? Different needs prompted each one, but in each case, he wrote because he was not able to be present personally, and he wrote letters as a substitute for his presence. (Hence that well-known phrase in 1 Corinthians 5, “absent in body but present in spirit,” that is present through the influence of the letter itself.) He could not telephone or email or do a pod cast or set up a web site, means of immediate presence and communication that grace our technological age.
I can identify with the anxieties that prompted this letter. Forming a new community presents unique challenges. Paul had been in Thessalonica for an extended period of time, perhaps a year or more. All the believers there were first generation Christians, with no Christian parents and friends as role models. Can you imagine a church consisting entirely of new converts, a church that loses its founder’s presence and leadership within two years?
And, this church was experiencing resistance from within the Jewish community (1 The. 2:14-16). We do not know the specifics, but evidently Paul experienced unusually harsh resistance from the synagogue community in Thessalonica, resistance that forced him to leave before he otherwise would have. Though Paul hardly alludes to it, Christians also routinely experienced resistance from within the Gentile community (See 1 Peter 4:12-19).
Paul expresses anxiety in our passage that this new faith community might actually have failed and that his labors had been in vain. However, he had learned from Timothy, whom he had sent to Thessalonica, who returned with news that all was well and the believers were thriving under adverse circumstances. Greatly relieved (as today’s reading reveals), Paul wrote primarily to encourage.
Paul's language in several places in our text awakens my own emotions. "When I could bear it no longer" in verse 5 probably refers to Paul's anxiety about their well being. In verse 6, he says, "We long to see you." And, verse 8 is remarkable, "We now live if you continue to stand firm in your faith." Notice also verse 10, which emphasizes his desire to see them face to face.
The greatest joy I experienced in being part of the new work in Virginia came from being with the people. Each week, I anticipated the opportunity to see them in one-on-one meetings and small groups. Once we launched, I stood out front of the school where we worshipped to greet them on Sundays. Anxieties began to surface if I missed some of them for a few weeks. Would they remain committed to the new church? Would we be able to form that sense of community that so many wanted and needed? How would the attendance be at events and at worship? Would people support the new church financially? Would the church be able to overcome the inevitable moments of adversity? Would they be able to maintain love and community when they disappointed one another's expectations?
Paul's letters have encouraged me. Rereading them with church planting eyes keeps me convinced of the awesome possibilities in the beginnings of new ministry. And, those of us in traditional churches have much to learn from those missional entrepreneurs. They employ strategies normally unknown in established churches.
(If you would like to know more about this, see my Podcast on Missional Mind at https://www.davidwperkins.com/streaming. Scroll down the page to that link.)
We can take a page from Paul’s book here and maintain an ongoing prayerful vigil regarding our brothers and sisters locally and around the world who are pushing against resistance to their witness and mission. We can nurture our bonds of affection with them and find ways to stand with them, as did Paul by writing this letter. We can keep re-reading Paul’s letters from the perspective of new work start up and borrow courage and wisdom from his letters.
Collect of the Day, The First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 211)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Clement of Alexandria, teacher and apologist (died ca 211-215 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Clement of Alexandria
O God of unsearchable wisdom, you gave your servant Clement grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, the source of all truth: Grant to your church the same grace to discern your Word wherever truth is found; through Jesus Christ our unfailing light, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
The Prayer of Abandonment to Love
Beloved of my heart,
I abandon myself into Your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever You may do,
I thank You;
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
And in all Your creatures - I wish no more than this, my Friend.
Into Your hands, I commend my soul;
I offer it to You with all the love of my heart,
For I love You and so need to give myself,
To surrender myself into Your hands,
Without reserve,
And with boundless confidence
For You are the Heart of my heart,
And the Life of my life. Amen
— adapted by Nan Merrill from "Prayer of Abandonment” by Charles de Foucauld
A Collect for Guidance
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 100)
Of the Holy Eucharist (Especially suitable for Thursdays)
God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion: Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit
of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 252)
A Prayer for Light
Lighten our darkness, we beseech you, O Lord; and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. (BCP, 111)
A Collect for Mission
O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)
The Daily Office Epistle 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; 2and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, 3so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. 4In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us-just as we long to see you. 7For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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