1Thessalonians 5:16-24
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit, 20 do not utterly reject prophecies, 21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.
- Rejoice always,
- pray without ceasing,
- in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
- Do not quench the Spirit,
- do not utterly reject prophecies, but examine everything;
- hold firmly to that which is good,
- abstain from every form of evil.
It seems like Paul rattles off seven quick commands in form of hyperbolic absolution at the end of his letter. Is Paul really saying that no matter what happens, the only correct response is to praise God and anything else that comes out of our mouth is wrong? Is Paul really expecting us to live our lives on our knees, eyes closed and mouthing words to God in faith? Obviously not! Rejoicing, praying and giving thanks can take many forms. And should take many forms.
It might be fun to assume that Paul is eloquently being poetic here. At the center of these seven commands, seven being a number that represents perfection, is to not quench the Spirit. These are perhaps ways in which we quench the spirit as we lose heart to do these things. When we no longer rejoice, pray and give thanks… we are slowly putting out the fire of the Spirit. So perhaps Paul, and the Spirit, are reminding us to never stop finding ways to rejoice, and pray and be grateful despite the struggles against it.
I wonder if the final three commands are what the Spirit then does in our lives. The spirit then opens our eyes to see Christ in the scriptures and helps us live as Christ in the world. And as Adam and Eve were exiled from a life walking with the Lord when deceived by the snake playing on their desire to know good from evil, it is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes to that which is good and that which is evil. It is through the grace of the Holy Spirit that we can hold on to that which is good and abstain from that which is evil.
This is perhaps where we see synergism more clearly at work. While these seem like seven commands, things for us to do, it is God who gives us the grace to even desire to do them in the first place. Perhaps the first three commands are the proper response to God’s grace prompting us and enabling us so that we do not quench the Holy Spirit. The Spirit then enables us even more to live out the second half and the second half feeds the first and so on.
In other words to “rejoice always” doesn’t mean that when a friend tells us about having to put their pet down over the weekend that we burst into rejoicing and giving thanks to God. Or when our boss wants to talk to us that we “pray without ceasing” instead of having a conversation with her. That would be weird. Paul is encouraging us to bring to our awareness the on-going, never ending, incessant goodness of God in our lives that we are consciously living into despite our circumstances.