Most of us right now are not in Arden. But a lot of us Greenies are. Students, faculty, and staff who live locally are still physically in the wake of Helene. They’re “left behind,” if you will. So was Paul.
“Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be LEFT BEHIND at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.” (3.1-5)
Paul was in a tough position. He had, up until this point, been traveling with a close group of trusted co-workers, people that he practically considered family. Prime among these was a man named Timothy whom, over again in his letters, he calls his spiritual “son.” But for the sake of a bigger vision – the Gospel of the Kingdom – he chooses to stay behind, alone and isolated, while the folks closest to him return to Thessalonica.
Surely, the thing worse than weathering a storm is saying goodbye to the people who you wish you could weather the storm with.
How does Paul carry on through that? How does he manage to keep his sights set aright when he must certainly have been plagued by loneliness, doubt, and a sense of abandonment? Seemingly he does so by remembering the bigger picture of things.
Paul had the most assuring sense that even the Thessalonians’ current troubles were part of a larger plan, a wider vision. He knew that their community’s hardships would not be in vain within the reaches of the Kingdom of God. He seems to have been deeply settled in a conviction that the Good News of God could change the way that communities go through profound suffering. He knew all of this, and it appears to have steadied him as he was left behind.
For those of us who are also “left behind” in Arden – what vision can steady us? What calling can console us in a time when we may feel abandoned or stuck? What does the Good News look like in our school, our city, our region? I’m not sure any of us have the answers to that question finally and fully, but I am confident that the God who made for us a hope and a future in Jesus Christ holds out hopes and futures for us yet.
Until tomorrow, H