The Surprise of Glory

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My last post started us down the track of trying to figure out what Paul was thinking when he wrote in1 Thessalonians 2:19-20:

“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.”

Was this a different way for Paul to express his glory in God in all things? Yes, but that is not all.

The entire first section of the letter is a gushing treatment of the meaning of the people of the Thessalonica church to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. The love they had for this group of people is almost unparalleled to any other group in the New Testament. Enduring much conflict (2:2) and toil in order to put forth the gospel to them (2:9) proved their love this group of people. Instructing them as a father (2:11) and nurturing them as a mother (2:7), Paul cared greatly for these people.  He invested his whole life in them.

Paul could bear it no longer. He could no longer cope without the knowledge of how their faith was persevering in the midst of suffering and false teaching. So he sends his beloved child in the faith, Timothy, to them in order to find how they were coping. And the great news (3:6) for Paul is that they were walking in a manner worthy of the Lord (4:1).

So, in the middle of this account, Paul makes the seemingly over-the-top statement we’ve been discussing in 2:19-20. His hope and glory at the coming of Jesus is wrapped up in the people who he’s given himself to.

When people try to explain away the idea that Paul’s glory is not really in those people but actually only in God, I think it takes the weight of the text – and the surprise – away.

If I am preaching or teaching this text, I want my people to feel the weight of what this passage actually says; especially if they are ministry leaders, elders or growth group leaders. We should feel the force of Paul saying that his glory and hope is wrapped up in his labors to bring the word of God to these people.  We should feel the godly guilt in investing too much into structures and programs rather than people. We should take account of our hope and glory on the last day by the efforts and outcome of those God has given around us.

And, of course, we do it all for the same reason Paul did this work, because we’ve been entrusted with the gospel and disciple others by speaking it in order to please God (2:4).

So, instead of resolving tensions for people, we can put forward a framework that allows both Soli Deo Glori and 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 to coexist. It keeps the weight on the text without undermining our biblically and historically-tested systems.

By the way, if you are looking for a highly underestimated resource in helping you work through 1 Thessalonians, check out Genuine Imitation. It is a unique multi-media resource that walks you through the background and text of this seldom-studied book of the Bible.

 

6 thoughts on “The Surprise of Glory”

  1. Hi Marty; thanks for a great encouragement to read the text, to be surprised, and to be challenged by what it says. Theology and ministry are so intertwined in the Bible (especially in Paul) that we can’t really talk about one without the other. It’s possible, though, to be so worried about fitting a text into our theological system that we neglect its direct implications for our own gospel ministry.

    Just FYI, I was mulling over your quote from Calvin in your previous post. You had made me a bit worried that Calvin was flattening out the biblical text in the interests of an overarching theology of glory. So I thought I’d check the context of the quote. I was glad I did; I discovered that Calvin’s comment about glorying in God was simply a nuance (albeit a very important nuance) to a theologically rich comment about the supreme importance of loving people-oriented gospel ministry. I’ll quote it in full:

    For what is our hope. He confirms that ardor of desire, of which he had made mention, inasmuch as he has his happiness in a manner treasured up in them. “Unless I forget myself, I must necessarily desire your presence, for ye are our glory and joy.” Farther, when he calls them his hope and the crown of his glory, we must not understand this as meaning that he gloried in any one but God alone, but because we are allowed to glory in all God’s favors, in their own place, in such a manner that he is always our object of aim, as I have explained more at large in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. We must, however, infer from this, that Christ’s ministers will, on the last day, according as they have individually promoted his kingdom, be partakers of glory and triumph. Let them therefore now learn to rejoice and glory in nothing but the prosperous issue of their labors, when they see that the glory of Christ is promoted by their instrumentality. The consequence will be, that they will be actuated by that spirit of affection to the Church with which they ought.

    • Hi Lionel,
      Thanks for those words. And thanks for putting up the rest of Calvin’s quote. I pulled the first part of the quote out not to suggest Calvin was undermining the text; but, to show that the text is so surprising in its plain reading that even Calvin jumped right off by saying what it can’t what the plain reading seems to suggest.

      This is not to dispute the way Calvin went about it. But, I think when one preaches or teaches this passage by saying it up front that Paul certainly isn’t taking glory in anything or anyone else than God takes the weight off the point of the text – that the Thessalonians keep firm in their faith because they are Paul’s glory on judgment day.

      Further, I am still not sure I agree with Calvin in the statement I quoted. I am okay with Paul glorying in someone other than God. Surely, it doesn’t matter what I am okay with. But, I think this text (along with others) is okay with it too.

  2. That is, if we bring in the big picture of God’s glory to our reading of this text, it doesn’t detract from the weight of the text re: gospel ministry, but in fact adds immense theological weight to it.

    • Lionel,
      This is what I wrestle with all the time. Before I came across Dick Lucas, David Jackman and and Phillip, I had a heavy background in systematic theology. Their instruction and model on preaching – “preach the text in front of you” – was a great beacon of light for me.

      Obviously, one can be naive and do this in a way that pits Scripture against Scripture or that ignores overarching themes of the bible. But, this passage is one that strikes me where the big picture of God’s glory could distract from the weight of the text, if not done properly, as you point out.

      • Yes – these guys are great models (in fact I was just listening to David Jackman on 1 Thessalonians this morning)!

        It’s possible that my own current situation is making me push back a bit too far in the other direction. I’m spending a lot of time in the world of academic New Testament studies, where entire careers are founded upon and sustained by highlighting discrepancies between different texts and downplaying the role of theology in reading them :)

        • Lionel,
          Yep, I completely understand. I went to a rather liberal seminary. Professors would admit to “taking the bible” away from bible believing students. Sad to watch, really.

          Funny, I didn’t think you were really pushing back much at all. I appreciate the refinement you provided in my thinking. Thanks for the time you invested in to this discussion.

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