Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time—1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10

Last week, we heard Saint Paul gushing over the Thessalonians and reminding them of his relentless prayer on their behalf. This week, he continues his thoughts by pointing out that the Thessalonians received the word in great affliction with joy and became models for all the believers. If they are to be models for us as believers, what specifically does Saint Paul hold up as exemplary?

First and foremost, they received the word of God. They were the rich soil that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the sower (see Matthew 13:1-9). They took in the word of God, let it germinate, and produced fruit. Our priests have often said the most important thing we can do is to receive Jesus, and Jesus is the Word of God in human flesh. To follow the Thessalonians’ example, we must receive the word of God and let it dwell richly within us (see Colossians 3:16).

But we cannot stop at receiving the word of God. Remember in Jesus’ parable of the sower that both the rocky ground and the thorny soil received the seed (the word of God) and allowed it to germinate, but neither of them were able to produce fruit. We sometimes forget that fruit is not simply for consumption; producing fruit is how a plant reproduces and spreads beyond itself. The Thessalonians produced much fruit because “from [them] the word of the Lord has sounded forth” throughout their region of the world. They shared the word of God that they had received. They did not just keep the seed in their own soil. It bore fruit so that it could spread.

Saint Paul also points out that they turned from idols to serve the living and true God. We often read biblical references to idols as statue-worship, which often enough is the real, historical case. But idols can also be false ideas about who God is, and there are lots of those within the Church. If the God we follow is made from stone or wood, then it is not the living and true God. If the God we follow emphasizes his own anger over our sins more than his desire to forgive those sins, then it is not the living and true God. And if the God we follow is not a God worth sharing with someone else, then it is not the living and true God. The Thessalonians turned from false ideas about God to serve the living the true God, and they could not help but spread the word of God that they had received throughout their region.

There are some hefty challenges in this reading for us. How have we received the word of God so far? We may have let it germinate, but it is being scorched by the sun, choked by “worldly anxiety and the lore of riches” (Matthew 13:22), or is it producing fruit and propagating itself in our region of the world? Are we serving the living and true God, or do we worship some pathetic image of God that is not worth sharing with anyone? How can we become models for all the believers, like the Thessalonians?