1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
The other day I got a phone call while I was in my woodshop. I don’t regularly work with very exact plans, more of an idea about how I want to do something and some scribbled notes and measurements. The phone call meant I had to drop everything and attend to something else. Things got busy. I couldn’t return to my project for some days. When I returned to my shop I was confronted by multiple pieces, scribbled notes, a few measurements, and only a vague idea of what I had done and left undone.
I think Paul was feeling this with the folks in Thessalonica. We read in Acts 17 that Paul visited Thessalonica immediately after his time in Philippi. He preached in the synagogue for three weeks when opponents arose in that city and drove him out. He eventually sent his protégé Timothy back to Thessalonica to check up on that little congregation. Timothy brought back good news that the church in Thessalonica was still alive, but they had some questions. These two letters of Paul are in response to their questions. Clearly, we can surmise from this passage that they had some confusion about the end of the world and the second coming of Christ.
Paul writes here of tribulation and difficult days. The man of lawlessness makes an appearance here and no one is quite sure what to make of that. If you are confused, you are in good company. In fact, Paul seems to suggest in the first and last parts of this reading, that anyone who thinks they have this figured out needs to be viewed with skepticism. It is also important to remember that like me in my woodshop, Paul had already told them many things, probably important things, in person. We don’t have access to those.
Hear Paul’s words at the beginning and end of this passage. Don’t be shaken or alarmed by talk about the end. It will be a strange and difficult time, but don’t be upset. Right now, give thanks to God that you have heard the good news of Jesus. Stand firm in that promise of eternal life and hold onto what you do know.