‘About brotherly love’
[1 Thessalonians 4:9-12]
What if we don’t regard others important but exalt ourselves more? I am sure we will be arrogant and look down on others and despise them. John Calvin said: ‘Just as each person doesn’t regard the others as important and exalts himself and the contempt from his proud heart is the most hindrance to the unity of brotherhood, when each person has humble heart that respect each other, the love grows the best.’ Look at Romans 12:10 – “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” We should love each other, honor one another, and respect each other. In doing so, the church will become more and more firmly established as a community of love, shines the light of love to the neighbors and glorify God.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Apostle Paul talks to the Thessalonian church saints about brotherly love. I want to meditate on Paul's letter about this brotherly love in two ways. I hope and pray that we may learn how to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and to practice them.
First, Paul knew that the Thessalonian church saints themselves had been taught by God to love each other.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:9 – “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” How should we love each other? I learned the lesson in two ways from the book of Romans:
(1) We should not owe any debt except the debt of love.
Look at Romans 13:8 – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” We we are loved by someone, we are oweing debt to him or her. The Bible says that we should owe the debt of love. But the same Bible says that we should’t owe nothing to anyone except the debt of love. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t owe any debt at all. This means that even though we owe any debt we should pay back in conscience as we promised. That was why Paul said “Render to all what is due them” (v. 7). If we owe any debt, we must pay back with our conscience as true worshipers of God.
(2) We must keep the commandments of God.
One of God's commandments that we must obey is "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET" (v. 9). Those who love the Lord keeps His commandments (Jn. 14:21). And those who keep the commandments of the Lord love one another as the Lord commands (15:12).
In 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Apostle Paul already knew that the Thessalonian church saints were taught by God and loved one another. Like Paul and his co-workers (3:12), they loved each other because they themselves had been taught by God to do so (4:9). Especially they loved and respected those who worked hard among them, who were over them in the Lord and who admonished them (5:12). They held them in the highest regard in love because of their work (v. 13). Moreover, they warned those who were idle, encouraged the timid, helped the weak and were patient with everyone according to Paul’s exhortation (v. 14). They made sure that nobody paid back wrong for wrong, but always tried to be kind to each other and to everyone else (v. 15). Paul who constantly remembered the Thessalonian church saints’ labor of love and always thanked God (1:2-3) prayed that the Lord might make their love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else (3:12). The question I threw here is why did the Thessalonian church saints do this labor of love. And I found the reason in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 – “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.” The reason why the Thessalonian church saints did the labor of love was because they received the God’s chosen love. That was why Paul said to them, “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you” (4:9). It was because the Thessalonian church saints actually did love all the brothers throughout Macedonia (v. 10). Paul, who knew it, said to them, “Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more” (v. 10). In other words, Paul exhorted the Thessalonian church saints to practice their love more actively (v. 10).
What we have to do more with effort is to our brothers and sisters in Christ. To do so, we must first be taught by God like the Thessalonian church saints. In other words, we must learn from God how to love one another. What is important in our learning from God how to love one another is how God has shown us His love. Look at Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God demonstrated His love for us by letting His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. We who received this love must love one another with this God's love. This is the commandment of Jesus. Jesus' commandment is this: "Love each other as I have loved you" (Jn. 15:12). When we love each other like Jesus, Jesus says that we are His friends (v. 14). And Jesus says that there is no greater love for a man if he lays down his life for his friends (v.13). We have already received this love from Jesus. Jesus demonstrated His greatest love (Rom. 5:8) for such sinners like us who were God’s enemies (v. 10) by bearing all our sins and died on the cross for us. Therefore, we who received this love should love not only those who love us, but also those who persecute us (Mt. 5:44, 46). We should even love our enemies with the great love of Jesus. Then we will be able to experience God’s joy in our hearts. When we keep His commands, we will remain in His love (Jn. 15:10). And when we love each other, God’s divine joy will fill our hearts (v. 11).
Second and last, Paul told the Thessalonian church saints to lead a quiet life, to mind their own business and to work with their hands.
Do you think it is better to try to be rich, or is it more important to try to be a more truthful and sincere person? Look at Proverbs 28:6 – “Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse.” The lesson that this Bible verse teaches us is that we should try to be more truthful and sincere than to try to be rich. We must not become rich people who act in two different ways. We must not act to do good deeds outwardly in front of people but inwardly do evil things. With God’s given wisdom that we have received by seeking Him, we must understand that it is better to be poor than a liar (19:22). We must act sincerely and truthfully as God requires from us.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:11 – “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you.” Apostle Paul told the Thessalonian Church saints to lead a quiet life, to mind their own business and to work with their hands. This command teaches us specifically how the Thessalonian church saints should love their brothers more. I have divided this Paul's command into three parts:
(1) Paul's command was to “lead a quiet life.”
Paul exhorted the Thessalonian church saints to lead the quiet life as they love their brothers and sisters in Christ more. This is opposite from “busybody”. Look at 2 Thessalonians 3:11 – “We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.” During that time in the Thessalonians church, there were some who had wrong eschatological hope who were idle, didn’t work with their hands and were busybodies, making problem with the church. So Paul commanded and urged them in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they ate (v. 12). In loving our brothers and sisters in Christ we must live an orderly life that is not being burdensome to them. We must not going around and cause trouble to other brothers and sisters in Christ.
(2) Paul's command was to ‘mind your own business.’
Some brothers in the Thessalonian church saints who believed in the Lord's nearest second coming stopped working but rather interfered with the others’ work and made problems. Those were idlers who extorted taxes (money) from other brethrens for their daily needs and brought trouble to their brothers in the church. Paul, who knew this, exhorted those Thessalonian church brothers who were idlers and who don’t do their work properly, but to intervene in the affairs of others in the church, to mind their own business.
(3) Paul's command was to “work with your hands.”
At the time of Paul, there were some among the Thessalonian church saints who didn’t do their work but while interfering with others. They didn’t like to work. So Paul told them “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). When Paul told the Thessalonian church saints to work with their hands (1 Thess. 4:11), he was already showing a life of example to them. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:9 – “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” According to Dr. Seyoon Kim, Apostle Paul was working in a place called "insula" (a place to stay in the upper floor and a place to work in the lower level) and preached the gospel in order to lead the Gentiles to the Lord (Kim). Paul, who set the example to them first, instructed the Thessalonian church saints to carry the burden of their day-to-day life and to try to work with their own hands so that they might not give economic burden to other brothers in the church.
Do you know why Paul exhorted the Thessalonian church saints to lead a quiet life, to mind their own business and to work with their hands? The reason for this is explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:12 – “so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” The reason was so that their daily life might win the respect of outsiders and that they would not dependent on anybody. So Paul was working day and night to preach the gospel of God.
The Lord has promised to build His church (Mt. 16:18). Our prayer is that the Lord will build the Victory Presbyterian Church as a community of love. Our responsibility is to love our brothers and sisters in Christ more and more. We should lead a quiet life, to mind our own business and to work with our hands. In doing so, we will be respected by unbelievers and will not be economically insufficient. Let us all become respected Christians to the world. I hope and pray that we will be able love our brothers and sisters in Christ more and more.