Who Are You Talking To?

AM Psalm 40, 54 • PM Psalm 51
1 Kings 18:20-40 • Phil. 3:1-16 • Matt. 3:1-12

For our first week of in-person Youth Sunday School this semester, we read a passage of Paul’s to the people in Thessalonica. We asked of that passage the same question I ask of his letter to the Philippians today: Who are you talking to? What does Paul’s letter show us about the early church community to whom he is writing?

His admonishment of religious traditions of the past and those identified as “evil workers” seems to indicate he is addressing a group of people who are fearful and paralyzed. They can’t seem to move forward and perhaps are even clinging in dangerous ways to that which feels safe and known. Paul almost seems to be asking of them, “How could you ever do anything else, worry about anything else, argue about anything else, when you know the resurrection? When you have the good news of Christ?”

To my great joy, and endless frustration, the church today remains a place where we struggle to marry the old and the new. I would be a wealthy woman if I had a dollar for every time I heard at church, “but that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Conversely, the church I love wouldn’t be what it is if we had not been dutiful about carrying ancient traditions, scripture, and sacraments from thousands of years ago to the present day.

What would Paul write to our community today? Would he sense our fear of the future? Would he find people eager to welcome Christ? He is pushing, pressing, straining, yearning, and in his way, loving this community forward. His goal is resurrection always. Would we be as open to be pushed, pressed, and loved forward like that?

Written by Emma Mitchell

When not serving the youth and families of St. Paul’s, I can be found doing various craft projects, hanging out with my husband Dave, or entertaining our small menagerie of animals.