1 Thessalonians 4:1-5 NASB Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
1 Thessalonians 4:1-5 MSG. One final word, friends. We ask you— urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. You know the guidelines we laid out for you from the Master Jesus. God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.
Observation
Like Ephesis and Corinth, Thessalonika (now known as Saloniki) was an important seaport on a major trade route between Rome and the East. The culture of the city was characterized by its location, its importance, its influence, its cosmopolitan population, its Roman occupiers. There was a synagogue in the city, but the great majority of the people would have practiced a pagan religion, such as adopting and worshipping the Roman pantheon of gods. Christianity was seen as heretical by religious Jews, often seditious by Rome and foolishly priggish by the secular culture. Many pagan religions either overlooked and condoned promiscuity or actually included sex acts in their worship practices.
Paul is exhorting the new Christians to revolutionize their understanding of how to please God, even in the face of cultural or religious persecution – whether they are converted Jews or pagans, whether they previously worshipped religion, gods or culture. Paul exhorts them to live a pure life in order “to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance.” In the face of persecution and regardless of appearances or immediate results, their faithfulness to a living, spirited dance, planted the seed for worldwide generations of redemptions to follow.
Impact on Me
Paul’s exhortation to the believers in Thessalonika rings as true to me today as it did to the believers in the 1st century. San Diego is also “an important seaport on a major trade route” and home to many nationalities, cultures, religions, people brought here on military orders, for research, study, education, some as refugees seeking an environment for freedom, success, a warmer climate or ?? Is it any surprise that Paul’s words of so long ago seem to also describe this seaport of today? Times may change, but people who don’t know Jesus will always be the same. They all need to be invited into that “living, spirited dance” in Christ.
The secular culture in which I live worships status, possessions, winning, “Mother Nature”, created things, physical pleasures, expediency and convenience. How are these challenges (idols, false gods) any different than the ones faced by those early Christians? How do I need to examine myself and consider how I may have been influenced by these cultural and religious practices? Like Jesus, how do I look past the person on the outside to see the anguished soul needing salvation? Where does my life need to be purified and am I willing to face persecution or disfavor to do so? The great and glorious news is that the Holy Spirit is not discouraged by my failures or fears regarding opposition or persecution (He has dealt with humans like me then and now), so I can be encouraged and choose in Christ a living spirited dance of following, loving, and serving Him expecting the same results in my spiritual brothers and sisters of so long ago.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, Savior, My Joy and Spiritual Dance Master, I submit myself to You. Take me in Your arms and teach me that spirited dance of joyful worship to You. May my heart and soul hunger to draw others into the same dance, even if they are currently dancing to the Enemy’s tune or they have allowed all music and light to fade away into the darkness of “a dogged religious plod,” hopelessness, anger, bitterness, or apostasy. When I become distracted or discouraged by the current circumstances, my inadequacies, or the immensity of the task, turn up Your music and draw my eyes back to Yours so my hope and faith will rise as I return the lead to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 