1 Thesselonians 1:13-16. Paul is so grateful and happy to hear that the Church in Thessalonica is taking root and spreading, even in the face of persecution. He writes that he thanks God constantly that they have recognized that what Paul taught them in his short visit there, was, in fact, the word of God, and did not come from Paul himself. Because it is the word of God, it is worth suffering for. Paul compares the persecution the Thessalonians are enduring to that of the early Christians in Judea - where Jesus was killed and the apostles and Paul were driven out and prohibited from preaching to the Gentiles. This passage ends with "But God's wrath has come upon them at last."

I am intrigued by this last line - on whom has God's wrath at last come? Those who are persecuting the Thessalonians? Or those who were persecuting the early Christians? I will try to look into what Paul is referring to here. This is another thing I love about my daily Bible readings, so often they lead me to research and learn more about my faith and Church history!

Paul is so genuinely surprised and happy to hear how faithful the Thessalonians are, it comes through throughout this letter. Because of their great faith, Paul is encouraging them in the face of persecution, comparing them to the early Christians, and even to Christ himself, who had to undergo great persecution, sometimes even to the point of death.

This is the way of the cross. Every Christian will undergo persecution, and some even martyrdom, of some kind for the faith. It is not always overt, it does not always look like what we think of as persecution or martyrdom. There are many smaller deaths that can be considered martyrdom - it can be invisible to the outside observer. But when we willingly take on suffering for the sake of another, offering it up for the salvation of ourselves and others, we are allowing some part of ourselves to be martyred for Christ. Similarly, persecution does not always look like the faith itself being challenged, as it was in Paul's time. It can result from the seemingly "good intentions" of non-faithful people who do not understand the pull of faith, the necessity of practice, to a true believer.

This happened during COVID-19. So many political leaders and media people lashed out at people who continued to try to practice their faith in the face of the virus. For many people, the suffering of not being able to properly worship far outweighed the fear of the virus. When they saw that other large gatherings, such as cetain protests, were being permitted, and even praised, they (rightly) saw the hypocrisy of their not being permitted to worship. So, many then tried to practice their faith, at a time when it was very needed, while also still taking the same precautions that had been mandated for other public places (other than certain protests, that is, apparently, protesting for the right cause provided certain immunity to protestors and the families they returned to. 🙄) For this, the worshippers were vilified and mocked. This is persecution.

We are free people, edowed by our Creator (NOT the state) with certain rights. We must be free to worship as we individually see fit. If a public health emergency truly requires the cessation of worship, every possible accomodation must be made to allow whatever worship can safely be done. If the emergency is not so threatening as to prohibit protests, then worship must be given as much accomodation as protest. No one can know what God is calling any one individual to do, nor how much any individual is willing to sacrifice of himself for his God. Perhaps, like the early Christians, they see their faithful worship as something worth suffering for. This should be admired, as Paul admired hit the Thessalonians, not derided and punished.