“Paul’s Blueprint for Ministry” ¹

As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light. Send out your light and your truth, O God, and let them lead us. Lord, Open our hearts and minds by the power of Your Holy Spirit, that, as the Scriptures are read and Your Word proclaimed, We may hear with joy what You say to us today. Amen.

Open your ears and your hearts to The Word of the Lord. I Thessalonians 2.1-8. The Grass withers, the Flower falls, but the Word of the Lord endures forever…Thanks be to God.

The ancient world in which Paul walked, lived, and wrote, learned, like the modern one, to be cynical about everything. Or maybe that is just something that is passed through the ages, from one generation to the next, a heightened sense of distrust that accompanies everything. If the letter arrives offering me a free gift, I know to read the fine print for the catch. If someone offers to do something wonderfully kind for you, you all too easily ask what’s in it for them. When a call comes offering a free weekend vacation in one of their beautiful mountain home, I know they are planning on giving me the hard sell for why I would be better off if we owned a home just like the one we are staying in on the free weekend.

I’ve got a new one too. Just recently I stopped putting my business cards in the fishbowls at restaurants for a chance at a free lunch. I won one, you see, and was contacted by a company that was involved with that program. I could bring 9 friends for free lunch. The catch was that we would be greeted by a representative of the company, and after we ordered, would be given a 7 minute presentation and an opportunity to ask questions. The promise was that the presenter would be “mostly gone” by the time our food arrived. Ah, there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

The 1^st Century in which Paul wrote and traveled with his ministry had its fair share of wandering salespeople, traveling teachers, and people who tried to make a living by offering their hearers fresh wisdom or insight or some kind of magic, a new philosophy, or whatever. After all, the blogging community was a little slower on the internet because there was only dial-up at the time. Now we’ve got cable modems. But back then, the way to get any word out, especially if the net was down, was to hit the pavement, which was hard since there was little real pavement. When Paul and his traveling companions arrived in a new city and began to tell their strange story, people must have had the same cynical reservations. “What on earth could they be selling with that story,” might have been something that Paul and his merry men overheard regularly. The old hats of society would be waiting for the time when the speakers put the offering hat out front and requested contributions for doing God’s work, or invited people to pay to hear more in private. Obviously, to get good money, you’ve got to be accepted, so it would be expected that newly arrived teachers would want to make a good name for themselves and be well liked.

Paul knows that as he goes into any place, he carries with him the recommendation of the people of Thessalonica, who know that Paul and his companions are not about money, and are sincere. In a section that has been a successful mantra for ministry ever since it was written, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that his arrival, and his pattern of life while there, had nothing in common with the kind of tricks skeptical people could have expected. His understanding of his task and his role were completely different. And I think that it is worth looking at closely.

It had begun with his own suffering and sacrifice. If someone or some group does something and gets paid off well for it, the next time they do it, it will be accompanied with thoughts that part of the reason is the money. However, if they do something and find themselves beaten up and thrown into jail, the next time they do it we assume that either (1) they are sanity challenged, or (2) they have some reason so compelling that it will make them carry on even though they run the same risk.

The second one was Paul. He arrived in Thessalonica with the physical and emotional scars of his treatment at Philippi, the jailing, the beating, and when he spoke this time there was once again much opposition. Instead of letting the wind and whims of the crowd dilute his message, there was Paul, speaking right on, finding great freedom and excitement by his willingness to go forth with the same cutting message. As he wrote in verse 2, there was shameful treatment in Philippi, “but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.” Somehow the suffering validates the gospel, it shows that the preacher isn’t in it for the wrong reasons, i.e. the money. But not only that. Somehow the suffering gives a sense of joy and freedom. Clearly the world-shaking message is going home with these people, is having an affect.

At the heart of it all is the approval, again not of humans, but of God. Again and again Paul writes of God.

You know, I should stop the sermon here. This is really only for those of us that consider ourselves ministers. I mean, the part in verse 8, “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us,” is pretty plain but powerful. The Message translates it like this. “We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.” Jeremy, you are a minister of music, so I think this includes you. Melissa, your ministry to the children of the preschool is a wonderful one, so listen up. George, you along with the volunteer youth leaders, Marc, Jill, Sarah, and Melissa should get this. Cause you all are in ministry. Sunday School Teachers, Amanda, Laura, Lyn, Tanya, Cynthia, Bob, Linda, Sandra, Cynthia, take heed. Praise Kids, Laura and Sandra are doing this, giving their hearts. Session members, you are involved obviously. Bill, Linda, Johanne, Larry, Jack, Cynthia, Tanya, Charlene, Melissa, Bob and Norma. Committee members, Tim, Sandy, Diane, Rodney, Sandra, B.J., Kerrie, Ken, Kathy, Van, well, I could go on, but I’m not sure I could cover all the committee members. Folks who meet here to pray for us, like Duck Ae, Maryann, and the pastor of the Kwang Ya Presbyterian Church that meets here, Rev. Hee Dong Yoo, this obviously includes you. Folks who cook dinner, either for Wednesday nights or for Youth are ministering. The choir, you minister to us when you lead us in song. Folks who write letters to others, or send cards, or bring meals in times of need. So, only for those of you who minister, does this matter. But, isn’t that all of us?

We know that, it’s on the bulletin, and we take that seriously. In our lives here at church, we minister to each other. We wouldn’t get by as a church if we didn’t. And if I may, we do it well. We understand our roles as ministers, we know that this community makes it because of our mutual love for each other. I believe that this is a large strength, if not the largest of NPC.

But one of the things we are called to do is minister when it isn’t comfortable, out there, in the world. If we take the Bible seriously, the ministry of Jesus seriously, the Acts of the Apostles, the Great Commission, then we are supposed to help folks out there. And we give money, we help at the co-op, we take trips to Kentucky, we serve meals at Clifton, and are a good presence. I can only see one thing missing, and it is one thing that the average protestant church knows all too well. We need to do stuff to bring people into church, folks that have come in the past as well as new folks. That will be uncomfortable. But it is part of our call, as ministers. Did you know that the average Protestant brings one person to church once every 24 years?