“Walking Worthy”
1 Thess. 2:9-12
Message #4 in 1 Thess. Series
McEwen Bible Fellowship
14 August 2022
INTRODUCTION:
Those of you who are hunters or outdoorsmen know how important it is to learn to read tracks. Trailcraft includes being able to recognize an animal by the prints it leaves. Moreover, a good hunter learns to tell how long it has been since the animal made those tracks. He can also tell if the animal was running, standing still, or sauntering along.
A good tracker can do the same thing by reading the footprints of people. He can tell if they were running, or walking, or strolling, or sightseeing, just by looking carefully at their tracks. He can also tell if the person was a man or a woman or a child, drunk or sober, walking normally, or hobbling along.
But can footprints tell you about the character of a person? Can prints in the mud or the dust tell you if the person is a Christian or not? Of course not. But there is another kind of print that each of us leaves as we go through this life, a clear print that can be read by anyone willing to take the time to observe our life patterns. In the passage for today, Paul tells the Christians in Thessaloniki that they need to “walk worthy of their calling.” But exactly what does that mean? Let’s find out.
TRANSITION:
First,
to refresh our minds about the context, let’s read the verses leading up to our
text for this morning. I am reading 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 from the NASV.
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. 5 For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness-- 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
MAIN BODY:
Verse
9: For you recall, brethren, our labour and hardship,
how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we
proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.
·
This
is an especially rich portion of God’s Word, and it has much to teach us today.
First, look at the word “labour.” In Greek, as in English, there are
several synonyms for work. The most common word is ergon, (e.g., English
energy, erg, ergonomics, synergy, etc.) which is usually
translated “work,” and often refers primarily to what is produced through the
work, i.e., the product. However, the word Paul uses here is not ergon
but is kopos, the same word he chose to use back in 1:3 where
Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their “labour of
love.” Paul will also use this word later in 3:5 to say, “For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also
sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted
you, and our labour would be in vain.” You may recall
that I told you when we were in chapter 1 that this word primarily denotes “a
striking, or a beating;” thus it implies, “hard work resulting in
weariness, laborious toil, backbreaking labour.” It puts the emphasis on
the gruelling process, rather than on the product produced. This is not
office work but digging ditches kind of work. For example: You return home
after a hard day putting up bales or stringing fences and you say to your wife,
“Honey, I’m beat.” Or in Ireland they say, “Love, I’m totally knackered.”
That is the idea of kopos. Paul and the others worked
hard in Thessaloniki, to the point of exhaustion.
·
The
second word, mochthos, here translated “hardship,” carries the
idea of “painfulness, hardship, or distress.” Paul pairs these two words
three times in the NT—here, and in 2 Cor. 11:27 and 2 Thess. 3:8. So the two
words together, “labour and hardship,” give the picture of night
and day kind of hard, back-breaking work, resulting in extreme weariness. Paul
says that he and his team members did that so as not to be a burden on the
people in Thessaloniki. I believe Paul is saying that they worked at their own
jobs (perhaps tent-making [Acts 18:3] or something else) during the day, and
then went out doing ministry at night. They supported themselves as
bi-vocational missionaries, which is exceedingly difficult indeed.
· Paul and his colleagues took evangelism very seriously. It was not just a hobby for them. It was the most important thing in the world.
Verse 10: You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly
and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers.
·
Paul
calls on the Thessalonian Christians as his witnesses, as well as God Himself,
that what he is saying is the absolute truth.
·
Then
he uses three adverbs to describe their behaviour toward the people of
Thessaloniki. The first adverb is “devoutly.” In the KJV it is
translated as “holily.” The word means “righteous, and unpolluted,
separated from moral uncleanness,” and is often applied to God. Paul is saying
that he acted in a holy and morally clean way toward the people in Thessaloniki.
·
The
second adverb Paul chooses, in the NASV is “uprightly.” In the
KJV we have “justly.” The Greek word indicates “a state of being right, or displaying
right conduct,” whether judged by the divine standard or by the human
standard. Paul is saying that their conduct before the Thessalonians was just
and righteous, leaving no room for accusations of any kind.
·
The
third descriptive adverb Paul uses here is translated “blamelessly”
in the NASV and “unblameably” in the KJV, thus stating the same truth
negatively. It is a compound Greek adverb with a, the negative
preposition, coupled with the verb memphomai, meaning “to find
fault.” Paul uses it here to signify that no charge could be maintained,
whatever charges might be put forth. Paul and his friends were Teflon. No
matter the charge thrown against them, nothing would stick.
· Paul is not bragging but is simply stating the truth. He and his teammates were careful of their words, their conduct, their attitudes, their looks, their aside comments to one another, etc. We should be just as careful if we truly want to be used by God to bring people to the Saviour, because people watch us closely to see if our message is for real or if it is just words.
Verse 11: just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging
and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,
·
Here
again Paul uses three synonyms, three present participles, which are -ing
words, to describe how they were treating the Thessalonians. You will remember
from high school grammar that a present participle shows continuous, ongoing
action. In other words, when Paul and his colleagues were in Thessaloniki, they
were constantly doing these three things. That is his point. They did
these things continuously and habitually.
·
First,
however, before we look at these three key words, notice the last phase of the
verse: “…as a father would his own children.” This is the second word picture Paul uses in this
chapter. It is a striking simile. The first one was up in verse 7 where Paul
wrote: “But we proved to be gentle among you, as
a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.” Now he
takes up the father’s role in child rearing. Fathers and mothers are both
important in raising kids, but they have different roles to play and different
ways of relating to their children. Mothers tend to be gentler, more
feelings-oriented, more relational, and more discussion-based. Fathers, on the
other hand, are not always big on discussion. They are more action-based, results-driven,
and goal-oriented. Both approaches, when balanced together, help a child to
develop into a sensitive, caring, hard-working, productive adult. That is why
the 2-parent home is so important. Children need both a mother and a father.
·
Paul
uses three words that are similar in meaning yet not precisely the same. Each
has a different shade of meaning.
1. “Exhorting” [cf.
2:3] – from para-kaléw, exhorting (preposition to the side
+ the verb to call). Means
“to call a person to one’s side; to call on; entreat; to urge someone to
decisive action or to pursue some positive course of conduct.” The word is
always forward looking.
2. “Encouraging” –
from para-muthéomai, comforting, consoling (with or by the side
of +verb to counsel, advise, hence a speaking closely to anyone).
The word is used of soothing, consoling, encouraging [cf. 5:14].
3. “Imploring” – the present participle of the verb marturéo, which means to testify or to give witness [cf. “affirm” in Eph. 4:17]. Fathers tell their kids important truths. They seek to impart knowledge and insight. Paul and his colleagues were doing this with the new believers, bearing witness of the truth and encouraging these new converts to apply the truth to their lives. {N.B. The English word martyr comes directly from the noun form martur, which means a witness or a testimony. It is interesting to realize that down through the centuries, to be a witness for Christ has often resulted in the person giving up his/her life as a martyr for the cause of Christ.}
Verse 12: so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who
calls you into His own Kingdom and glory.
·
All
this testifying, encouraging, and exhorting was for the purpose of getting the
Thessalonian believers to begin living/walking/acting in a
way that was consistent with who they had now become, “new creations in Christ”.
·
This
reminds me of Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being
diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
·
There
is something else interesting in verse 12 of our text. The phrase, “…worthy
of the God who calls you…” is in the present tense,
indicating that He continually calls us, repeatedly calls us to walk worthy.
That is the Spirit’s work, to conform us to the image of Christ and make us
holy. He never ceases to call us to this high standard.
·
This
verse begs the question: Can we ever be truly worthy of our calling or of
God himself? In a sense we cannot. However, Christians are children of the
King, thus we should live to bring the King honour, not dishonour. As saved
people we are called to be ambassadors for Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore, we should do everything possible to represent Him well, leaving no
room for shameful accusations coming from the enemies of the Gospel.
· This verse has a definite eschatological sense at the end when it looks forward to both the Messianic Kingdom and the eternal state when Christ’s full glory will be revealed. We are to live with our eyes always searching the horizon for Christ’s appearing, while at the same time we go about our assigned duties, being faithful until He comes back.
CONCLUSION:
I think that if Paul could pop in on us here this morning, he would tell us that the point he was trying to get across to the Thessalonian Christians was simply that we need to take the evangelism of the lost way more seriously than most of us do. No other task in life compares with it. It is a 24-hour a day job and needs to permeate everything else we do. We must live 24/7 Christianity. It is not merely a Sunday thing; it is a full-time job. And the eternal welfare of other people will be affected by how well we carry out that task. If we do not walk worthy, other people will suffer the consequences—our children, our neighbours, our co-workers, etc. There is a song that sums this up beautifully…
Find Us Faithful
Lyrics & Music by Jon Mohr (sung by Steve Green)
1. We're pilgrims on the
journey of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way;
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring
testament to God's sustaining grace.
2. Surrounded by so great a
cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race, not only for the prize,
But as those who've gone before us, let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.
3. After all our hopes and
dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift through all we've left behind,
May the clues that they discover, and the memories they uncover,
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.
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