Philippi in the time of Paul was a Roman kolonia. This does not indicate a “colony” as we might think of it. It conveys more of a sense of “little Rome.” Philippi was a distant place where a Roman citizen could feel at home. In Philippi, one could find many expressions of Roman culture.

Philippi was the leading city of Macedonia. Former Roman soldiers and other Roman citizens settled in Philippi. As a result, the culture there became a blend of older Greek culture and newer Roman culture. Not all of Philippi’s residents were Roman citizens. However, it seems that those who weren’t largely accepted the Roman culture. This included participation in the activities that “bound together again” (in Latin, religio) the people of the Roman Empire.

It is difficult to estimate the population of ancient cities. Philippi was probably between 20,000 and 100,000 people. It is likely that only 50 people or so would have identified themselves as members of the church addressed by Paul’s letter.

Paul refers to the Christian community as an ekkl¯e sia.(See also Philippians 4:15.) This term, which we usually translate “church,” had its origins in the political assembly of Athens several centuries earlier. It literally means “called out.” Paul’s choice of this word points to his understanding that the “church” was to be an alternative society right in the midst of the Roman Empire. Thus, if Philippi was seen as a distant “outpost” of the Roman emperor, the ekkl¯e  sia was an “outpost” of God’s empire. The Roman citizens of Philippi counted on an imperial visit in the event of trouble. In a similar manner, the Christians awaited the “presence” (parousia) of their saviour, Christ.

Paul’s letter strives to bolster the church’s allegiance to Christ in the face of the prevailing lordship of Caesar. Paul’s letter brims with confidence in God and in the Philippians. Paul is certain that what God has begun in them will be completed.

During this second half of the Season after Pentecost, we listen to exhortations, encouragement, stories, and letters from Matthew and Paul. Both are writing to and through three very early Christian churches.

There is little information on the community of the gospel of Matthew, other than clues given in the gospel itself. Several places have been suggested for its location; however, most scholars situate the community in Antioch. Matthew is the only gospel to use the term church to describe this community of followerscommissioned to go intothe world in ministry and mission (Matthew 28:18–20).

Paul’s message in our readings from Philippians and 1 Thessalonians is directed to the young and forming churches in Philippi and Thessalonica.
In order to better appreciate Matthew’s gospel and Paul’s epistles, it is helpful to know more about the communities surrounding these early churches. As you read about these communities, keep in mind your own church and wider community. Who lives in your wider community? What in-fluences your worship, witness, and serving? What are your struggles in remaining faithful?

Antioch

Antioch was the capital in the province of Syria of the Roman Empire, what is now Turkey. Like many urban centres, then and now, the citizens held a wide variety of worldviews. In Antioch one could find people who were influenced by Greek philosophy, Roman culture, and Jewish traditions.

Matthew’s audience was probably living one or two generations after Jesus’ resurrection. Because some of the believers had died before the anticipated event of Christ’s return, one of the central questions of this group was how to stay faithful over the long haul.

The people in this early Christian community at Antioch likely included both Jews and Gentiles. One of their challenges was to forge a united community of people from many backgrounds. Matthew portrays Jesus as a new Moses, providing Torah-like wisdom to guide the community. Key to that wisdom is the ability to bring forward ancient, but still living, tradition while remaining open to God’s ever-new Word.

Philippi

Philippi was the leading city of Macedonia, what is now northeastern Greece. Documents of Roman history report that Mark Antony captured Philippi and founded it as a Roman colony about 42 BCE. Antony settled many former Roman soldiers in Philippi. As a result, the culture there became a blend of older Greek culture and newer Roman culture.

Philippi in the time of Paul was a Roman kolonia. This does not indicate a “colony” as we might think of it. It conveys more of a sense of “little Rome.” Philippi was a distant place where a Roman citizen could feel at home. In Philippi, one could find many expressions of Roman culture.  Not all of Philippi’s residents were Roman citizens. However, it seems that those who weren’t largely accepted the Roman culture.

Paul refers to the Christian community as an ekkl¯e sia. (See Philippians 4:15.) This term, which we usually translate “church,” had its origins in the political assembly of Athens several centuries earlier. It literally means “called out.”

Paul’s choice of this word points to his understanding that the “church” was to be an alternative society right in the midst of the Roman Empire. Thus, if Philippi was seen as a distant “outpost” of the Roman empire, the ekkl¯e sia was an “outpost” of God’s empire. The Roman citizens of Philippi counted on an imperial visit in the event of trouble. In a similar manner, the Christians awaited the “presence” (parousia) of their saviour, Christ.

Thessalonica

Thessalonica, also in Macedonia, was about 160 km/100 mi. from Philippi. This city was founded in 316 BCE by a general of Alexander the Great and named for his wife. After Macedonia became part of the Roman Empire in 146 BCE, Thessalonica became the centre of Roman administration for the region of Macedonia. Thessalonica maintained strong allegiance to the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire and its claim to provide “peace and security.” This explains Paul’s warning in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. “When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!”

Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica is probably the earliest writing we have from Paul. The struggle that Paul mentions was likely not official persecution, as there weren’t enough Christians to matter to the government. Rather, Paul refers to the deeper, daily challenge to remain faithful amidst temptations to conform to the world.

The letter to the Thessalonians reveals Paul’s forging of a new faith language. It is difficult for us to imagine the time before “standard” Christian terminology developed. Terms that may seem familiar to us, such as gospel, salvation, or second coming, were new in this letter. Some terms from Paul’s later letters, such as redemption and justification, are not used here. Surprisingly, Paul’s central teaching about the cross is not even mentioned in this letter.

The central message of this letter is the “lordship of Jesus Christ,” rather than the lordship of the emperor. This phrase is used eleven times in the letter. Paul urges the Christians in Thessalonica to stay faithful to Christ in the midst of the surrounding Roman culture. The steadfastness in faith exhibited by this tiny community in Christ remains a testament for us today. From the Thessalonians we can learn to trust in God alone when other voices are calling for our allegiance.

Your community and church

Your church continues the story and theology started by the early Christian churches in Antioch, Philippi, and Thessalonica. Reflect on the following questions. Based on your responses, write a paragraph describing your church.

· What are the demographics of your congregation, the neighbourhood surrounding your church, and your city?
· What are the most important aspects of the culture of your community (customs, arts, conveniences, etc.)?
· What would you say are the most important aspects of the culture of your congregation?
· What “living traditions” does your church have that you value?
· What issues are most important to your church at this time?
· What is your church “called out” to do? Does it have a specific mission statement?
· In what ways would you say its vision is different from the popular culture?
· What daily challenges does your church face to remain faithful and to trust in God alone?
· What encouragement does your congregation offer to those who seek to live faithfully?

FAREWELL TO THE RAPTURE
by N.T. Wright, Bible Review, August 2001

Little did Paul know how his colourful metaphors for Jesus’ second coming would be misunderstood two millennia later.

The American obsession with the second coming of Jesus – especially with distorted interpretations of it – continues unabated. Seen from my side of the Atlantic, the phenomenal success of the Left Behind books appears puzzling, even bizarre.¹ Few in the U.K. hold the belief on which the popular series of novels is based: that there will be a literal “rapture” in which believers will be snatched up to heaven, leaving empty cars crashing on freeways and kids coming home from school only to find that their parents have been taken to be with Jesus while they have been “left behind.” This pseudotheological version of Home Alone has reportedly frightened many children into some kind of (distorted) faith.

This dramatic end-time scenario is based (wrongly, as we shall see) on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, where he writes: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first; then we, who are left alive, will be snatched up with them on clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

What on earth (or in heaven) did Paul mean?

It is Paul who should be credited with creating this scenario. Jesus himself, as I have argued in various books, never predicted such an event.² The gospel passages about “the Son of Man coming on the clouds” (Mark 13:26, 14:62, for example) are about Jesus’ vindication, his “coming” to heaven from earth. The parables about a returning king or master (for example, Luke 19:11–27) were originally about God returning to Jerusalem, not about Jesus returning to earth. This, Jesus seemed to believe, was an event within space-time history, not one that would end it forever.

The Ascension of Jesus and the Second Coming are nevertheless vital Christian doctrines,³ and I don’t deny that I believe some future event will result in the personal presence of Jesus within God’s new creation. This is taught throughout the New Testament outside the Gospels. But this event won’t in any way resemble the Left Behind account. Understanding what will happen requires a far more sophisticated cosmology than the one in which “heaven” is somewhere up there in our universe, rather than in a different dimension, a different space-time, altogether.

The New Testament, building on ancient biblical prophecy, envisages that the creator God will remake heaven and earth entirely, affirming the goodness of the old Creation but overcoming its mortality and corruptibility (e.g., Romans 8:18–27; Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17, 66:22). When that happens, Jesus will appear within the resulting new world (e.g., Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2).

Paul’s description of Jesus’ reappearance in 1 Thessalonians 4 is a brightly coloured version of what he says in two other passages, 1 Corinthians 15:51–54 and Philippians 3:20–21: At Jesus’ “coming” or “appearing,” those who are still alive will be “changed” or “transformed” so that their mortal bodies will become incorruptible, deathless. This is all that Paul intends to say in Thessalonians, but here he borrows imagery – from biblical and political sources – to enhance his message. Little did he know how his rich metaphors would be misunderstood two millennia later.

First, Paul echoes the story of Moses coming down the mountain with the Torah. The trumpet sounds, a loud voice is heard, and after a long wait Moses comes to see what’s been going on in his absence.

Second, he echoes Daniel 7, in which “the people of the saints of the Most High” (that is, the “one like a son of man”) are vindicated over their pagan enemy by being raised up to sit with God in glory. This metaphor, applied to Jesus in the Gospels, is now applied to Christians who are suffering persecution.

Third, Paul conjures up images of an emperor visiting a colony or province. The citizens go out to meet him in open country and then escort him into the city. Paul’s image of the people “meeting the Lord in the air” should be read with the assumption that the people will immediately turn around and lead the Lord back to the newly remade world.

Paul’s mixed metaphors of trumpets blowing and the living being snatched into heaven to meet the Lord are not to be understood as literal truth, as the Left Behind series suggests, but as a vivid and biblically allusive description of the great transformation of the present world of which he speaks elsewhere.

Paul’s misunderstood metaphors present a challenge for us: How can we reuse biblical imagery, including Paul’s, so as to clarify the truth, not distort it? And how can we do so, as he did, in such a way as to subvert the political imagery of the dominant and dehumanizing empires of our world? We might begin by asking, What view of the world is sustained, even legitimized, by the Left Behind ideology? How might it be confronted and subverted by genuinely biblical thinking? For a start, is not the Left Behind mentality in thrall to a dualistic view of reality that allows people to pollute God’s world on the grounds that it’s all going to be destroyed soon? Wouldn’t this be overturned if we recaptured Paul’s wholistic vision of God’s whole creation?

The Rt. Rev. Dr. N.T. (Tom) Wright is Anglican Bishop of Durham, England. This article first appeared in Bible Review, August 2001. Used by permission.

Footnotes
1. Tim F. Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Left Behind (Cambridge, UK: Tyndale House Publishing, 1996). Eight other titles have followed, all runaway bestsellers.
2. See my Jesus and the Victory of God (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1996); the discussions in Jesus and the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment of N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God, ed. Carey C. Newman (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999); and Marcus J. Borg and N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), chapters 13 and 14.
3. Douglas Farrow, Ascension and Ecclesia: On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).