He Works Hard for the Lord
- Paul explains that he was treated pretty shabbily by their neighbors in Philippi (see Acts of the Apostles for the inside scoop).
- But he still had the guts to walk into Thessalonica and keep on preaching the word of God. If Paul's got one thing, it's guts.
- That's because Paul knows he's got to do what God says. If the things he teaches make people angry, well, ain't nobody got time for that.
- When Paul came to town, he didn't try to trick and flatter everyone there. He didn't make fancy demands even though he's an apostle and all and he totally could have. Nope. That's not how Paul rolls.
- Instead, Paul and friends worked day jobs so they'd have enough money to support themselves and didn't have to ask for handouts from the community. Way to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, Paul.
- Paul treated the Thessalonians like they were his own little children. He was gentle and kind and only lectured them a little bit.
- Okay, probably more than a little bit. This is Paul, after all.
- He's grateful that the Thessalonians saw his preaching for what it was. Paul isn't just spewing some stuff he made up; he's telling the people what God has to say. Yeah, Paul's got some pretty major backing there.
Paul vs. the Jews (Kind Of)
- Now, the Thessalonians are being persecuted just like the Christians in Judea were. See, the other folks in Thessalonica aren't too thrilled about this Jesus thing. Just like the Jewish leaders in Judea weren't too psyched about it either. To say the least.
- Paul calls out the Jews in Judea saying they killed Jesus and the prophets and drove the Christians out of town. (Wait, isn't Paul a Jew? Yes. Yes, he is.)
- He says Jews pretty much hate everyone and have tried to stop Christians from trying to convert Gentiles. Paul's kind of got a thing going with the Gentiles, so that makes him pretty darn sad.
- Because their cup of sins runneth over, God is really ticked with the Jewish people. Paul is convinced they're gonna get a healthy dose of his wrath real soon. Yikes.
- Anyway, damnation aside, Paul is also really bummed he hasn't been able to get back to Thessalonica to visit the church there.
- They're the best around and Paul totally misses them.
- Sure, he's there in heart, but he really wants to stop by live and in person. Too bad Satan keeps stopping him from coming.