2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
“For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9a)
Well, this is as good of a hellfire and brimstone text as one is apt to find in the scriptures. It touches our souls in the most basic, fundamental way – good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. True, both the good and the bad things may be delayed – delayed, even, to the very end of time – but they will still occur. This passage is the soothing balm to every upset child. In fact, I’m reminded of A Christmas Story (which I featured in worship on the first Sunday of Advent). In that film, Ralphie sooths himself to sleep after having soap put in his mouth (for saying “f-dash-dash-dash”) by fantasizing about a time when he returns home completely blind. His bereft parents are crying around him and his mother begs to know what she did wrong. In the fantasy, Ralphie says in dramatic tones, “It… was… soap-poisoning!” And then everyone wails and clings to him in lament.
But what if that isn’t what Paul is channeling here? What if he isn’t appealing to the Thessalonians bloodlust for divine wrath? Basically, what if all of the hellfire and brimstone preachers have gotten it completely wrong?
Before Paul gets into his wrath narrative, he extols the virtues of the Thessalonians, focusing – especially – on “the love of everyone of you for one another.” The church in Thessalonica was increasing in faith and love. As such, I suspect that bloodlust didn’t make their shortlist of their divine desires. To be sure, they were facing persecution, but I think Paul is telling them not to double down on the hope that – one day – their persecutors would get theirs, but rather that Paul is reminding them to double down on this faith and love. For faith-filled, loving people do not desire the destruction of any, but the salvation of all. Accordingly, Paul only mentions the pending wrath in order to motivate the Thessalonians to love more and believe more deeply. He wants them to love their persecutors into submission. Many years later the Rev. King would say, “Hate can’t drive out hate, only love can do that.” It’s the same idea. Those who revile God and persecute His church are meant to be loved more ferociously. They are to be exhorted in the faith more consistently.
Every one of us has some hurt child – some little Ralphie – in our history. It’s the nature of being human. But Ralphie’s fantasy is not God’s promise. No, God promises to love sinner back into communion with Him and to see His Church, His Body, grow in number and depth. Let us pray it be so. And let us pray for the faith and love necessary to be capable partners in God’s holy mission. Amen.