1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 - Godly Love - 2

17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

Target Date: Sunday, 7 August 2022

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Torn away – ἀπορφανίζω (apŏrphanizō) – to tear someone away from someone else; to orphan

ἀπορφανίζεσθαι was frequently used either of children who had been orphaned or of parents bereaved of their children. Since the passive form of the participle would require Paul to be portraying himself as an orphaned child, it seems better to understand the participle in a metaphorical sense as referring to the sudden and violent loss of the Thessalonians

Recalls the parental images earlier in this chapter:

But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. – 2:7

we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God - 2:11-12

In person/ face - πρόσωπον (prŏsōpŏn) – face, countenance

Endeavored – σπουδάζω (spŏudazō) - to use speed, i.e. to make effort, be prompt or earnest:— do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endeavour, labour, study

Bend every effort

being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. – Ephesians 4:3

NOTE: 3 times in 2 Timothy the word is used:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15

Make every effort to come to me soon; - 2 Timothy 4:9

Make every effort to come before winter. – 2 Timothy 4:21

More eagerly – περισσοτέρως (pĕrissŏtĕrōs) – MORE abundantly; much, much more; superabundantly

This is used extensively in 2 Corinthians, but always is an amped-up version of something.

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. – Hebrews 2:1

I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. – Galatians 1:14

Great desire – πολύς ἐπιθυμία (pŏlus ĕpithumia) – Not just “passion”, but “great passion”

We wanted to come – We “willed” to come. – not just a desire, but intentions that are in motion.

Again and again – more than once – idiom

When Paul inserts this personal note, it may be assure the Thessalonians that his desire will not be assuaged until they are again face to face. Yes, they were able to send Timothy, and yes, they sent this letter. But his intention remains to return and continue the work he began.

Hindered - ἐγκόπτω (ĕgkŏptō) – to impede, detain, hinder

The root of this word is the word translated “mourn” or “chop”

Different in degree from the word used in verse 16 where the Jews and Greeks were hindering the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. That word implies “forbidding”.

This word has the picture of building a trench around, creating a ravine.

The Greek for “hindered” is literally, “to cut a trench between one’s self and an advancing foe, to prevent his progress”; so Satan opposing the progress of the missionaries.

But Satan hindered us.—Lit. “beat us in.” The figure is a military one, and indicates the obstruction of an enemy’s progress by breaking up the road (destroying bridges, etc.).

For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; - Romans 15:22

You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? – Galatians 5:7

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. – 1 Peter 3:7

Thoughts on the Passage:

This forced separation from the Thessalonians seems to be what God used to cause Paul and Silas to write to the church, thus beginning the New Testament Scriptures.

Everything in this paragraph is heightened:

We were torn away – we were orphaned of you.

For a short time – two elements indicating the briefness of the time, either of which would stand alone and be translated “short time”.

Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time - 1 Corinthians 7:5

I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. – 2 Corinthians 7:8

But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour - Galatians 2:5

For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever - Philemon 15

They did not try – they endeavored.

They endeavored with GREAT passion.

“The more” – this is a radical intensifier that really doesn’t translate in its feeling – MORE SUPERABUNDANTLY

Many commentators read this section almost dryly, approaching the point that Paul was simply making platitudes to the church or expressing some feelings in a dramatic manner.

But the argument of the letter is the ways these apostles tried to overcome their separation from the Thessalonians.

This is a picture of real love, expressed not in flowery language, but in raw language.

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. – 2 Corinthians 12:15

Sermon Text:

We began looking last week at verses 17 and 18, and in that time I told you the words in these verses are amplified, bigger than normal.

You may remember that in this larger passage beginning in verse 14, Paul and Silas are reviewing the shared trials they have faced alongside the Thessalonian church.

The trauma of their sudden expulsion from the city of Thessalonica is described in the terms of a parent being orphaned from a child.

In our discussions Wednesday night, Nicole, I believe, pointed out a truth we all should keep in mind in our email and texting age:

It is really difficult to convey the tone of what we are saying in the written word.

And it is often true with Scripture as well.

I remember in the last century when I was excited to get a Bible on cassette tape. (Really more like 40 or 50 cassette tapes in a large binder.)

Students, you can go look up “cassette tape” later.

I forget who was reading the Bible, but he had a great baritone voice, perfect diction, pronounced everything with a very slight British accent.

And it was unutterably boring.

Boring because, I think, he was afraid to add any kind of inflection except to perhaps go up on the end of questions.

Everything else, while precise, was flat and even.

[Flatly but emphatically] You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? – Matthew 23:33

But just like in that last passage, the Bible does give us some ways to understand some of the tone of passages.

Much does not require a great deal of tone, but in cases like this passage in Matthew and today’s passage in 1 Thessalonians, the tone helps us understand the message.

We see emphasis and importance signaled by repetition.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! - Philippians 4:4

We see this often also in the Psalms and Proverbs.

The repetition may be immediate, or it may occur separated by a few verses.

But in each of those cases, there is an emphasis here that we should be sensitive to.

Another, more direct method, is that the text tells us the tone:

But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” - Acts 16:18

There is little doubting here the emphasis he placed on freeing this slave girl from the demon that kept her in bondage.

And then we have the examples of this passage. These are emotions that are being written into this very letter by the extravagant word forms they are choosing.

Paul and Silas are not choosing the normal, casual forms of these thoughts, but the raw, extreme forms throughout our passage.

The image of a parent whose child has been torn from them.

The extremely short separation they assured the Thessalonian church the time would ultimately be.

And the assurance that only their faces had been taken away; their hearts remained with them.

So moving on in our passage, we come to what the apostles did about this great pain of separation:

we endeavored the more eagerly … to see you face to face,

Their faces had been separated, the church from the apostles, but Paul and Silas wanted to again reunite and see them once again.

That is not foreign to us, is it?

Have you ever been separated from someone you loved, and the greatest desire you had was to be with them again?

I know in our Zoom® and Facetime® world, we can see each other even over great distances,

But even then, it’s not the same as them being here.

No phone call, no letter, no text can make you feel closer to the one who is separated from you.

The electronic means we have to stay connected with our friends and loved ones are poor substitutes for their presence.

They are sometimes necessary, like this letter Paul and Silas are writing to the church,

But they cannot satisfy our need to be with the one or ones we love.

That is the tragedy I see in so many tech-addicted people in our day.

They will ignore the people they are face-to-face with – even family – for the sake of the distant friends, memes, posts, and news on their electronic devices.

And it’s not just our phones.

For many, the height of closeness with someone else is to watch a movie or TV show together, rather than talk with each other.

Now, there is nothing, I think, inherently wrong in watching a movie or TV show,

But if that is the only common language we build with someone, do we really have a strong relationship?

Or if the desire for those entertainments causes us to neglect the ones we love, are our priorities in order?

Wanting to be face-to-face with our Beloved is even at the heart of our faith.

Because even while we have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our redemption to heaven and into His presence forever,

Still we cry out “How long, O Lord?”

The bride and the Spirit both cry “Come!”

We are not complete until He returns;

We cannot be satisfied in this world until we see Him face to face.

The cry of the church “Come quickly, Lord Jesus” echoes the very words Paul uses here in this passage:

We endeavored the more eagerly… to come to you

And all that leads to the end of verse 19 when he anticipates their eternal reunion and celebration in the:

Lord Jesus at his coming.

The analogy of the separation of the church from the apostles compared to the time between their salvation and the consummation of the age is not lost on Paul here.

Indeed, this will be the very thing he returns to later in this epistle, to comfort the church in their faithful wait for the Appearing of Jesus Christ,

As they have waited faithfully through the separation from these beloved fathers in the faith,

And the patient endurance they have shown in dreadful persecution.

The waiting they have done thus far with great faith and perseverance is the very thing they must do until the Lord returns.

Because we see after the narrative of the visit by Timothy in the place of the apostles, he has returned to Paul and Silas reporting the growing and thriving faith of the Thessalonian church.

And in summarizing the immediate lifting of their fears for the church, he goes immediately to the hope of the Appearing of Christ.

Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. – 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

Note that even in this passage, though, their great desire was to be reunited with the Thessalonian believers.

We knew they would not forget their intention to return to Thessalonica because in our passage for today, Paul and Silas describe their intention as “endeavoring more eagerly”.

“More eagerly” is a single, enhanced word.

Not just eager, but more, more eager.

Super-eager; super-abundantly.

It was not merely a goal they had, like something you might write into your planner.

This was a great purpose for them.

That modifier “more eagerly” is used in several places in the New Testament,

Always enhancing something as high as it could go.

Making it a top priority.

Putting it as the abiding concern.

For example, we see in Galatians 1:14, Paul describes his pre-converted state using this word:

I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.

Not just extremely, but MORE extremely.

Likewise, in the book of Hebrews 2:1, we are told:

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

Much closer attention.

Excessive attention.

Highest priority attention.

Does that describe us in Christ?

If someone who knows you well were to describe you privately, honestly, just to you:

Would they tell you that you pay excessive attention to the things of Christ?

I suspect that each of us here has some way to go in this.

Not just in learning about Christ, or about doctrine.

Not just absorbing knowledge from the Scriptures.

There is nothing wrong with that – it is the first step.

But are we relentlessly putting those things we see into action?

Are we on a search-and-destroy mission in our own hearts to root out sin at all costs?

Are we constant in our proclamation of the gospel of grace and mercy?

Are we every moment in prayerful communion with God?

That is paying excessive attention to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Other things, even things the world considers important, lose in the contest with what God commands.

I think, though, that many are afraid to be excessive in our devotion to Jesus Christ.

Church members who want just enough of Jesus to keep them from the fires of hell are far cheaper than a dime per dozen.

Regular attenders who want Jesus to simply bless THEIR efforts are, I fear, the norm, at least here in this area.

But even these “smoking wicks” can be fanned back into flame by the Spirit.

Even preachers can stand in the pulpit week after week and seek more for accolades than for conversions or sanctification, even within themselves.

Too many are the preachers who think they are in pretty good shape and become lazy with regard to the gospel.

Not just what they preach, but how they live.

Do you want to pray for your pastor?

Pray the same thing for him he should be praying for you:

“Let him pay excessive attention to the gospel so he does not drift away from it.”

Back to our passage at hand, we see what the apostles were super-excessively doing: they were endeavoring to get back to Thessalonica.

I can’t skip that word “endeavoring” because that is the key to understanding the tone, the love, of this entire passage.

It is the word that reveals that this is not simply some eloquent, over-polite nicety they are writing to make the Thessalonians feel better.

It is the heartbeat of this passage, the word that reveals exactly how deeply the apostles loved this church.

We see this word often translated “diligent”, but that, honestly, is not a word we use very often.

In fact, the way we often take it is pretty negative;

That being diligent in one thing requires us to give up another.

Like saying a teenager was a diligent student:

What we may picture is someone who ONLY studies and never does anything else.

But the meaning of the word has much more the picture of moving immediately to the thing that needs to be done.

So the diligent student becomes simply one who moves immediately to her studies BEFORE something else that might distract her.

It has the idea of moving with speed and moving with purpose.

To bend every effort to accomplish this task immediately.

We see it used in Ephesians 4:3:

being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul is telling them there to bend every effort to speedily preserve their unity in the Spirit.

But I said that this word is the key to the tone of this passage.

In the phrase we have looked at today, they have super-abundantly endeavored to return to Thessalonica.

And they have done so with “great desire” – great passion.

Again here, not just passion or desire, but GREAT passion and desire.

They have done so because they “wanted to come” to Thessalonica – literally, WILLED to come, set their intentions in motion – on more than one occasion.

But at the heart of it all is that beautiful word “endeavored”.

There is another place where Paul uses this word repeatedly.

You may remember I told you that this epistle was the first recorded letter from Paul to anyone we have.

Well, in his last recorded epistle, the urgent and deeply personal second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy,

We see this word used three times in that very short letter – more than anywhere else in Paul’s letters.

And it is in these urgent, raw, final words that we find Paul urging Timothy to “endeavor” or to “be diligent” or to “make every effort”.

The first plea we see it is in a very familiar verse to us: 2 Timothy 2:15:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

This first plea to Timothy is not to “take his foot off the gas” as we might say.

Don’t “coast for God”.

Keep driving, keep making every effort to present yourself a faithful workman to God.

The second plea, even more urgent and personal, is in 2 Timothy 4:9:

Make every effort to come to me soon;

Paul, under arrest and in Rome, needs Timothy.

With the same earnestness he desired to be reunited with the Thessalonians, he is now summoning Timothy to come to him.

Perhaps he needed something from him;

Perhaps there were things he needed to impart to him.

And the third we find in 2 Timothy 4:21:

Make every effort to come before winter.

A few short paragraphs before, he had given what should have been sufficient instruction for Timothy to quickly settle his local affairs and come to Rome.

But here, it wasn’t enough.

Paul needed for Timothy to know HOW urgent his need was.

He couldn’t wait another season;

He dare not risk another Satanic hindrance in his or Timothy’s plans.

Or risk the weather shutting down the ships in the winter, where Timothy would be unavoidably delayed.

We see the same urgency in the language of our passage today, the urgency of a heart that is separated from the ones he loved.

That they were bending every effort to once again meet with the believers in Thessalonica.