1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 - Medium and Message
I had the privilege of preaching from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 last night. In this passage Paul is providing a defense of his ministry. In Paul’s day itinerant philosophers who would breeze through a town with a new message to garner the praise and money of their hearers.
Paul was only in Thessalonica a few weeks. It is likely that he wanted to avoid appearing to be just another wayward philosopher touting some novel message only to skip town. To avoid this stereotype, Paul reminds the Thessalonians of how he acted in their midst. The assumption of the passage is that the man who preaches the gospel is going to live a life marked by the gospel–a life fundamentally self-sacrificing.
My outline was centered around the three themes that Paul uses to describe a minister of the gospel.
- A minister of the gospel preaches to please God alone
- A minister of the gospel loves his people with the affection of a nursing mother
- A minister of the gospel trains his people like a faithful father
I concluded these three themes by showing their terminus in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ–the one who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus is the word incarnate, the perfect conjunction of medium and message. The gospel minister models his Savior in both his preaching and life.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 - Medium and Message
