2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4  Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.  Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

How do we know that we are maturing in the Lord?  In the above scripture, we see Paul thanking God for his Thessalonian brethren because they are growing in their faith and love.  He is pleased that the seed he planted in them has not only sprouted but has thrived.  He happily boasts about them to other churches.  He knows they are fulfilling Jesus' words about fruitful seeds.  Jesus taught a parable about a farmer who went out to plant seeds.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Still other seed fell on good soil.  It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.  (Mark 4:4-8)  As with the seed that fell on the good soil, the believers in Thessalonica were thriving, producing much fruit for the glory of God.  Paul knew about their perseverance and faith in the midst of persecutions and trials, and he could praise God that his hard work in Thessalonica was paying off richly.  He knew he now had a mature meat-eating church, warriors in God's army ready to do the work of the Lord and to faithfully love one another.   

We know that not all of Paul's churches were ready for the strong meat of the gospel.  Addressing the Corinthian church, he shares his disappointment in them for their lack of growth.  They still depended on milk as their sustenance rather than meat.  He calls them worldly, possessing the attitude and likeness of a child rather than an adult.   Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly.  For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?  (1 Corinthians 3:2-3)  In his letter to the Hebrews, he says their spiritual maturation is slow.  Instead of consuming meat, they are still in need of milk:  

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.  (Hebrews 5:11-14)  What is solid food?  Paul definitely believes solid food is not the elementary teachings about Christianity:  

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  He postulates that mature Christians do not require continued instruction on how to be saved or more teaching on the basic tenets of Christianity, for such knowledge does not necessarily transform Christians into independent, loving images of God.  Christians who partake of Christ know his food is about self-sacrificing for others.  God came to the world in form of a man because HE LOVED THE WORLD.  John says, 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  (1John 4:8)  God's love is demonstrated in giving, helping, caring, enduring.  We know He is patient and long-suffering because He goes the second mile.  He searches for the lost sheep and loves his enemies.  He cares for the poor, the widows, and the sick or disabled.  He drives the demons away from the oppressed.  He is LIFE, "THE WAY."  If we focus only on Christianity 101, we are still drinking milk.  If we actively put on Christ's personality, partake of his life of love, joy, and peace, we consume the sacrificial Lamb of God.  He becomes our strength when we eat of him daily.

As the Thessalonians matured, their faith in God increased.  They learned God's grace and mercy would take care of them regardless of rough waters.  When the disciples in the storm complained to Jesus that he did not care whether or not they lost their lives, Jesus questioned their faith.  

Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?  (Mark 4:40)  Otherwise, don't you know God is the caretaker of our souls--the keeper of the boat, the One in command of the seas?  Don't you know faith is placing your whole life in God's hands?  Jesus demonstrated faith all the way to the cross.  Faith is not whether we lose our lives in this world: faith is believing wholeheartedly we are in the God's hands at all times.  Paul said the Thessalonians were increasing in their faith: they were gathering as one body, not demanding their own way, but loving each other as they would want to be loved.  They were fulfilling the second cardinal law of loving others as yourself, loving others unconditionally without qualifications.  They were loving as God loved them.  In contrast, the Corinthians were stifled in their growth because they were bickering over who they were following: Apollos, Paul, Peter, or Christ?  Their community was splintering, revealing their gross immaturity and wickedness.  The image they portrayed was not of God but of a quarreling, confused body, clouded with darkness from the world.  The Corinthians failed to receive the full illumination, peace, love, mercy, and joy of the Lord.  Their community depicted disharmony and discord, pulling them away from the security of their salvation.  Jesus is the light of the world.  Christians who have put their trust fully in Jesus go forth as the light of the world.  Milk is for those still functioning as dependent, self-centered infants who need the constant support of others to make it through life.   Meat is for those using their strength to serve others by the power of the Holy Spirit, sharing God's love, giving their lives daily for Christ, in a dark and dreary world regardless of the cost to them.  Today, breakfast companions, eat heartily the meat of the Lord, for you will hear Paul's wonderful words of encouragement: we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.