From: Paul, Silas and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians which is in Father God and in the Lord Jesus Christ… ·We always give thanks to God for YOU all…, ·remembering…YOUR work of faith and labor of love, as well as the patient endurance of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence [Gr. emprosthen] of our God and Father…·Brothers and sisters, beloved ones under God, we know he has chosen YOU, ·since our gospel came to YOU not in word only but also in power—in the Holy Spirit and with much assurance as YOU observed the lifestyle we adopted among YOU.…·YOU became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word, in (spite of) much affliction…·At no time did we use flattering words…as a cloak for covetousness, ·nor…seek human honor from YOU…, being a burden as ‘apostles of Christ’ could have been. ·Instead: 

-To immature ones [Gr. neepioi] among YOU, we became just like a nursing mother doting over her own children. ·Being thus ardently attached to YOU, we wanted to impart to YOU not only the gospel of God but also our own souls; YOU were so dear to us. ·For YOU remember, brothers and sisters, our labor and travail—working day and night so as not to be an expense to anyone… 

-·YOU and God are witnesses of how holy, justly and without blame, we behaved ourselves among YOU…, ·…each one of YOU: how like a father with his own sons and daughters, ·we exhorted, comforted and bore witness so YOU would walk worthy of God—who calls YOU into his kingdom and glory. 

·…The word of God which YOU heard from us…energizes YOU also... (1 Thessalonians 1:1-6; 2:5-13 PH)

But, brothers and sisters—having been taken from YOU for a short time— ·…we could bear it no longer… ·and sent Timothy—our brother and co-worker of God in the good news of the Messiah—to establish YOU and encourage YOU concerning YOUR faith… ·Now Timothy has returned…and brought us good news of YOUR faith and love … ·What…joy we enjoy because of YOU in the presence [emprosthen] of our God… ·May God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to YOU. ·And may the Lord make YOU grow and be overflowing in love towards one another and towards all, even as we are in love towards YOU: ·that he may establish YOUR hearts in the presence [emprosthen] of our God and Father, blameless in relational holiness [Gr. hagio-sunee] at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. ·Brothers and sisters, we entreat and exhort YOU by the Lord Jesus, that as YOU learned from us how YOU ought to walk in order to please God, YOU would excel in doing so even more. (1 Thes.2:17a; 3:1-2,6,9,11-13; 4:1 PH)

·Brothers and sisters, …· YOU are all sons and daughters[i] of light… ·Therefore, …let us be vigilant and circumspect…; ·for God has placed [Gr. e-theto] us… towards the possession of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ·He died for us so that…we should live together with him. ·Therefore, encourage one another, and build up each other as YOU are already doing… ·Brothers and sisters, we entreat YOU to recognize those laboring among YOU: who both stand before [Gr. proistimenous] YOU in the Lord and admonish YOU. ·Esteem them very highly in love for the work they do, and be at peace among yourselves. ·Finally, brothers and sisters, we encourage YOU: to warn those who are unruly, to comfort the feeble-minded, to support the weak, and to be patient with everyone. ·…Always pursue that which is good—both among yourselves and towards all. (1 Thes.5:4-6,9-15 PH)

In this text, Paul uses the Greek word, emprosthen, three times to talk about believers living ‘in the presence’ of their Father God. When we consciously live in his presence: ‘the Lord’ (the Spirit of Jesus in us) will establish our hearts and guide us. Secondly, our work will reflect our faith. And third, our relationships will mirror God's holiness; and we will overflow with love and joy in our brothers and sisters —even when this love requires effort, and when our hope in Jesus requires patient endurance in hardships. The Christian life is not about performing in order to gain our Father's love, but about ‘living together with’ Jesus, full of the same confidence that Jesus had of living ‘in’ a Father who is always with us, even in times of suffering (Med.#41).

Further, Paul understands that the Father also directs his movements, not just Jesus; for the Father as well as Jesus lives in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Med.#51). So our Father is closer to us than any human father could ever be to his sons and daughters. And by he Spirit, he ‘placed’ [Gr. e-theto] all believers as his adult sons and daughters: so that we all can also hear his voice (Med.#63 & #64) with him like Jesus did (Med.#26). For this reason, Paul addresses these relatively new believers[ii] primarily as ‘brothers and sisters’ (17 times), confident that they are able in the Holy Spirit to encourage and build each other up, and admonish each other.

At the same time, he tells them to recognize and honor certain people in their midst who ‘work’ on behalf of the group with ‘up front’, leadership responsibilities. Yet, he wants these leaders—and all the believers—to continue ‘imitating’ him and the Lord Jesus in how they lead. For he reminds them of how he—along with Silas and Timothy—related to them as ‘apostles of Christ’ when they were among them. They did not lead out of the social power of this status by expecting honor and even monetary gain as some human leaders do. Instead, Paul says that he became like a nursing mother to the ‘immature ones’ [Gr. neepioi] among them, by pouring his whole life into them, with lots of affection—working for them day and night just like a mother with a young child. In another letter, Paul identifies a woman who had once been ‘a mother’ to him (Rom.16:13)—perhaps when he was just a new believer in the city of Damascus. The fact that Paul was ‘like a mother’ to some Thessalonian believers shows that any mature disciple—female or male—can play this role. When you were a new believer, was there someone who was like a ‘nursing mother’ to you?

Then he speaks of being a ‘father’, with ‘each one’ of the believers in Thessalonica. According to Paul, a spiritual ‘father’ is one who reflects the Father's character as holy, just and blameless. And this divine holiness is about being ‘holy with’ [Gr. hagio-sunee]—being holy in all our relationships (with God and with others), not just in our personal spiritual disciplines. A spiritual father ‘stands before’ [Gr. proistimenous] other believers: as a model of what it means to ‘walk worthy of God…into his kingdom and glory’, but also as one who ‘exhorts’, ‘comforts’ and ‘bears witness’ as a mentor and teacher. Paul uses a feminine noun form of this word, prostatis, to describe Phoebe as a 'mentor' to himself and others, and as a ‘minister of the church in Cenchrea’ (Rom.16:1-2)—much like the Bible teacher, Henrietta Mears, was a mentor to Billy Graham as a young evangelist.[iii] So a mature woman can be a spiritual ‘father’ to their brothers as well as to their sisters in the faith!

A spiritual ‘father’ is one who treats his fellow believers—men and women—as ‘co-heirs’ (Med.#4). Though Paul had spent only a few weeks ‘fathering’ the Thessalonians, he writes to them as fellow adult ‘sons and daughters of light’ who are just as responsible to live ‘vigilant and circumspect’ lives in the Father's presence as he is. For they too are co-workers, equally ‘chosen’ and ‘called’ into the kingdom. So to imitate Paul, all those with leadership responsibilities, who ‘exhort’, ‘encourage’, ‘entreat’ and ‘admonish’ their brothers and sisters, must do so as fellow adults, and not act like human leaders who exercise power over those they consider ‘under’ them. Perhaps the Christian leaders who don't act like this were never treated as adult children by their own fathers, nor by other ‘father’ figures in their social and religious groups.

To underline his point about ‘fathers’ in the church empowering their ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ as fellow adults, Paul sends the youngest member of his team, Timothy, to check on their faith and to encourage them. Timothy was a recent addition to Paul's team (Act.16:1-3) and was only about 21 or 22 years old. In four of his letters Paul refers to Timothy as his ‘son’. We will look more at this particular spiritual ‘father-son’ relationship in the next meditation (Med.#72). Yet here we can see already how Paul's idea of spiritual fatherhood includes: calling such a youthful ‘son’ a ‘brother’, and giving him adult responsibility as a ‘co-worker’ in the Gospel (‘the good news of the Messiah’). Have you ever known a human ‘father’, or a spiritual ‘father’ like Paul, who encouraged and challenged you to grow and walk as an adult son or daughter to your heavenly Father?

Father, I give thanks in your presence for salvation through Jesus, and for being ‘placed’ by you, so that we may live together with him as adult co-heirs. (1 Thes.1:2-3; 5:9-10; Rom.8:15-17)

May the Lord, the Spirit of Jesus, make us grow and overflow in love towards one another and establish our hearts, so we may walk holy and blamelessly in your presence, Father, in all our in relationships. (3:12-13; Eph.3:16)

[i] Since Paul uses the Greek huioi (sons) in parallel with the plural adelphoi (brothers and sisters), he is addressing both male and female disciples as those who have been ‘placed’ [Gr. e-theto] as adult sons and daughters in Christ (5:9; 2 Cor.6:18; Gal.3:28; 4:5).

[ii] Paul is writing this letter from Corinth [+51 CE] only about a year after these believers first responded to the Gospel (Act.17-18).

[iii] Just as I Am, the Autobiography of Billy Graham, Zondervan, 1997, pp.137-138,231. The masculine form of the Greek word, proisteemi, as used in 1 Tim.3:4,5,12; 5:17, refers to a ‘mentor’ or ‘spiritual director’ in the church—like the ‘father’ of adult children.