A new life of holiness
Paul proclaims that Christians have been raised to a new life in Christ. As catechists we need to make God’s gift of holiness our own and help our learners do the same.
Photo from Photos.com“The end is near”? Odd words to use at the beginning of a new school year, but words that are quite relevant to Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. In this earliest written document of the New Testament, Paul must address the anxious questions of the local church in Thessalonica (located in Macedonia). Through his prayerful and thoughtful attempts to meet the challenge, Paul describes for us the essence of Christian living.
The Second Coming
The first-generation disciples of Christ eagerly anticipated the second coming of the risen Lord. The belief that he was coming soon was deeply grounded in the Judaism shared by virtually all the first Christians. Those Jews understood that the arrival of the Messiah (“Christos” in the Greek of the New Testament) would signify that the Day of the Lord had come into being. The Day marked the long-awaited time when creation would be restored to the state of holiness described in the stories of Genesis 1 and 2. If the risen Christ was truly the Messiah, therefore, the holy ones would soon be “snatched up” (in Latin rapiemur or “rapture”) by God.
By the time Paul wrote to the Thessalonians twenty years after the resurrection, many in the first apostolic generation had gone on to eternal life. The Christians in Thessalonica, who were being persecuted, questioned: what of the Day of the Lord, the day of holiness and salvation? What of those who had died in Christ?
Children of the Light
Paul responded that they knew very well that the day of the Lord would come “like a thief in the night.... But you, beloved...are all children of light and children of the day.... [Therefore] put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thes 5:1–8). Paul would make this point more explicitly and completely in future letters. Already, however, the divinely inspired idea seemed to have taken root in his mind and heart.
“God has destined us for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us,” he reassured his readers, “so that whether we are awake [alive] or asleep [in Christ], we may live with him” (5:9–10).
At the beginning of his letter, in fact, Paul praised the Thessalonians: “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution, you received the word with joy” (1 Thes 1:6). Indeed, “in every place your faith has become known” (1:8). To become a disciple of Jesus is to become sanctified by God in the here and now!
Paul urged his brothers and sisters in the faith, who learned from him and the other apostles how they should live and please God, to do so more and more. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (4:1–3). The believer is a new man or woman who has left behind a world darkened and limited by sin and death. She or he has entered a blessed world of limitless possibilities.
Paul concludes with the comforting prayer, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and will do this”
(5:23–24).
Reflect and Share
- What have been the moments of faith crisis in your life? How was your belief challenged? How was it strengthened? How did this experience change you?
- Like Paul you are called to minister to the hopes, dreams, and fears of those whom the Lord has entrusted to your care. Spend some time during your sessions this month attempting to learn the hopes and dreams of your learners.
Teaching the Scriptures
- Write the word “Holiness” on the board or post it in your room. Have learners brainstorm words or phrases that describe it. Who are some persons (past or present) whose lives have embodied holiness
- As an extension of the previous exercise, have your learners draw pictures or find newspaper articles that illustrate the meaning of holiness in action.
- Implicit in Paul’s idea of disciples united with Christ in life and death is the Catholic doctrine on the Communion of Saints. Have your older children or teens do some research on this belief. (This would be a good preparation for All Saints Day.)
Jim Philipps is the author of Unlocking the Treasures of the Bible, Twenty-Third Publications.
