“1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you." I Thessalonians 1:1

If you are like me, you will not start a project if you don’t have enough time to finish it. I have thought about doing a lot of things, but if I don’t think I can complete them, I often won’t start. I have seen other people, however, who didn’t know what I was thinking, start on the project that would not get done and get it done in the time frame I had thought was impossible to do the task.

Years ago I was associate and youth pastor at a church outside Portland, ME. I had an idea for the young adults that I was leading that summer, but I was afraid to start it because I wouldn’t be around after the summer to keep it going. I mentioned it to the pastor, Pastor Ted Harmon, who said to me, “We never know if we have time enough to finish a project. Do it unto the Lord and let the Lord use it as he wishes.” That is not an exact quote, but close to what he said.

Our theme for this series is found in Ephesians 5. “Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16. NIV.

I want to encourage you to use your time wisely for the Lord. You never know what the result might be.

Paul found that out. We are starting a series on 1 Thessalonians. We never know how God can use the smallest of opportunities. But that is what Paul faces with the Thessalonians. (Our sermon based Growth Groups will be involved in digesting what we say today.)

This morning I want to look at Paul’s time with the people of this city. In future weeks we will look at what Paul did with his time. This week we will look at what he didn’t do.

We find the story behind 1 Thessalonians in Acts 17.

“1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the market-place, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they put Jason and the others on bail and let them go. 10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.” Acts 17:1-15, NIV.

First, Paul did not nurse his injuries.

By his past, I mean in relationship to his coming to Thessalonica. Just previous he had been in Phillipi. If you remember, in Philippi he was beaten and put in jail. The Phillippian jailor was converted at this time. He leaves the city of Phillipi and travels through Amphipolis and Apollonia, He did not stay at any of these places but moves on to Thessalonica.

Sometimes I hear that people take time off from the Christian life. They don’t serve, they don’t pray, they don’t connect with other Christians. In so doing, they waste time and often avoid the very things that would help them strengthen their relationship with God.

Think of this. If anyone ever needed a break, it was Paul and Silas. In chapter 16 we find they were beaten and severely flogged, then thrown into prison. The physical pain of a body that had already gone through several beatings and stonings must have been intense. Now they have traveled the 90 miles from Phillipi to Thessalonica and are driven to ministry. There was no quit in them.

Our vacation is in heaven. Our time on this earth is so short. The amount of time we spend with people can be measured in minutes. We are to make the most of every opportunity, even those in which we are in an injury pattern.

I am amazed at how our weaknesses, our struggles, our pain, become a platform that God uses to connect us to others. People who appear to have it all together are often the least effective in ministry. It is through our weaknesses Christ is made strong. Paul lived that out in his life.

Second, Paul did not break his pattern. He went into a city and preached in the synagogue. This is what he always did.

The synagogue becomes the center of this story in Acts. The synagogue needed at least ten men to make a quorum. Often the synagogue was a large room in someone’s home dedicated for this purpose. The synagogue service included reciting Deuteronomy 6:4-9 which includes the phrase, “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one… ”. They would pray facing Jerusalem, read excerpts from the Old Testament, have a sermon and conclude with a benediction. When Paul first came to a city, he would attend and would often be invited to give the sermon.

It appears that his sermon was interactive. He explained and proved that Jesus was the messiah. It may have been a question and answer time. One of my favorite preachers is now with the Lord. His name was Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He preached in England and had a large church there. He would have times that he would invite students and people to a service. There he would freely answer any question from the Bible that they might have. Paul may have followed the same course.

Using the Old Testament, Paul proved that the Messiah had to suffer, that he had to die, and that this Messiah was Jesus.

Paul was consistent. Wherever he went, he followed a ministry pattern. Go to the city, to the Jew first, to the synagogue and then expand out from there.

Do you have a ministry pattern? Have you thought about how you will impact your family, your workplace, and your community for Jesus? If you love the people there, you will. You will have some sort of plan. Paul’s plan was not rigid, but he always had a plan and a purpose.

Why do we meet on Sundays? We meet to be equipped to face life’s struggles. But we also meet to be equipped to take the kingdom of God out into the kingdom of this world. If Sunday does not translate into Monday, then Sunday is not a success.

Third, Paul did not shrink from problems.

Some of the Jews, some of the God-fearing Greeks, and many prominent women were persuaded. These God-fearing Greeks believe in the God of the Bible, observed the Sabbath, ate only clean foods, but refused circumcision and baptism. As Paul’s influence grew, so did the opposition. Some of the Jewish leaders were jealous of Paul. We don’t know what the source of jealousy was but let me share this thought. Verse 4 says, “…some … joined Paul.” Here was a group of people who followed the teachings of synagogue, but were not considered converts. They had never joined Judaism, as they would need to be circumcised and perhaps baptized in order to do so. Paul comes in and preaches Christ. What happens? They “join” Paul. The step they would not take under Jewish teaching, they take with Paul. I believe, though the text does not say so, that they submitted to baptism. Baptism doesn’t save, but every person was encouraged to be baptized as a sign of the burial of the old life. We can understand how this may have created resentment towards this visiting preacher, the Paul, who came with an agenda. Paul succeeded where they had failed.

This problem of resentment turns into a near riot. The Jewish leaders find some bad characters and bring them to Jason’s house where they were staying. They intend to use these strongmen to bring Paul and his companions out into the crowd where no doubt they would be beaten up. This would be devastating for Paul, as he may not have fully recovered from his stay in Philippi. Fortunately, or by the grace of God, he is not at Jason’s home.

The Jewish leaders bring Jason and some other Christians before the leaders with a serious charge: The man staying with Jason is declaring the Jesus is king and not Caesar.

The city leaders have a problem. Thessalonica is a free city. They are self-governing. But this is a privilege, not a right. If word gets back to Rome that they are harboring someone with claims to the throne, it will not go well with them.

But the city leaders appear to see through these Jewish men as well. There may be some unrecorded history between them. Some of the most difficult people to deal with are difficult people who are right for a change. They found a way out. They had Jason post bond. He would have to pay if Paul stayed in the city.

As a result, Paul and Silas went to Berea. These same Jewish men hounded them. So Silas and Timothy stay in Berea, but Paul went on alone to Athens, then to Corinth, where in Acts 18:5, we read “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” Acts 18:5, NIV.

Paul did not shrink from problems. He was willing to suffer for Christ. He didn’t want problems, but if they came, he was strong to stand up to them in the name of Jesus.

We have developed the mindset of the world. We don’t want stress. We don’t want problems. We deal with them in the home, we deal with them at work, but in the church we just don’t want them. So we try to find a church that is stress free, a ministry that is stress free, a life that is stress free.

Our lives are too short to avoid problems. If we are going to make the most of the opportunities that come our way, we need to embrace both the good and the bad. Helping people, loving people, serving God should be what we look at, not how hard it might be. God gives blessings, but sometimes those blessing come because of the difficulties we go through. We need to make the most of every opportunity; we need to redeem the time because the days are evil.

So how long was Paul in Thessalonica? 1 Thess. 1 1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures

It looks like they were there for three weeks. Paul is recovering from past injuries. He maintains a consistent pattern, and he encounters problems.

Silas and Timothy return with a report from Thessalonica, Berea and other places in that area. Paul writes this letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth.

This letter shows us three things. It shows us what happened to the Thessalonians as a result of his three-week stay. It shows us what Paul did during that three weeks. And it also goes on to tell us what Paul would have said if he had more time.

The conclusion of this matter is that Paul did not waste his time. He made the most of the opportunity he had. He did not nurse his injuries, he did not break his pattern and he did not shrink from the problems.

“Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16. NIV.