Will You Marry Me

Cherishing both sacraments and Scriptures

08/23/2021

1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen. For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. In every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

This morning I would like to test your bible literacy a little. Suddenly, all the Catholics are cringing, while all the Protestants are perking up. First question: which book of the New Testament was written first? Raise your hand if you think it is Matthew, which is first in order in the New Testament. Sorry, Charlie: the oldest book of the New Testament (meaning written first) is 1 Thessalonians, our first reading today.

Second question: which book of the New Testament was written last? Raise your hand if you think it is Revelation, which is placed at the end of the Bible. Sorry, Revelation is wrong. The book that was penned last was by Peter and obviously, second Peter comes after first Peter. So, Second Peter is the last book to be written in the Bible.

Okay, last question, so relax: what Bible was Jesus and the apostles using as they were preaching and teaching the Good News? How many think it was the King James Version of the Bible? After all, some Protestants say, “If the KJV was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me!” Again, sorry to disappoint you, but Jesus and his apostles had only the Old Testament to preach and teach from.

Interestingly enough, they used the Greek version of the Old Testament that included the seven books that Martin Luther later rejected. So, what was "good enough for Jesus” was precisely not the Protestant Bible, but rather the Catholic one. Sorry, Martin Luther, you need to work on your Bible literacy. But so do we Catholics, who didn’t do so great on that quiz.

Our first reading today is taken from the oldest book of the New Testament, which now you know is 1 Thessalonians. We read the very first words of the New Testament, ushering in a whole new era of written Christian history, when Paul put pen to paper and wrote: “Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.” Those are the very first words of the entire New Testament, even older than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

What great words! But why are they so important? Yesterday, two young people paid me a surprise visit to ask for my blessing. Earlier that morning, the young man had proposed to his girlfriend while standing (he was kneeling) on the scenic Hawksbill Crag overlook. The young girl was actually my goddaughter, Mary Blackman, and the words of the proposal were the first words of the rest of their lives together. That is what 1 Thes 1:1 represents: the proposal of the New Testament to live the rest of our lives together with Jesus.

We can carry this analogy a step further adding the New Testament invites us to see Jesus not only as our Savior but also as our Spouse. In other words, the first verses of the New Testament are like the proposal of all romantic relationships, asking: “Will you marry me?” And that is why 1 Thessalonians 1:1 is so important.

Would you mind if I draw out one more practical consideration from 1 Thes 1:1? Scripture scholars unanimously agree that Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians during his second missionary journey while in Corinth (for about a year) in the year 51 A.D. That year was two decades after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. That means for 20 years Christians were living the Gospel message without one word of the New Testament to inspire and illuminate them. In other words, there were believers before there was a Bible.

And what inspired and illuminated the life of believers before the Bible? The sacraments did. Long before Paul penned 1 Thes 1:1, he was converted by Christ on the road to Damascus, and was baptized (Acts 9:18). That is, before there were Scriptures, there were sacraments. But of course we Christians need them both.

Catholics emphasize the sacraments and ignore the scriptures, while Protestants prioritize the Scriptures and give short shrift to the sacraments. But just like my goddaughter and her fiancé need not only words, but also ritual actions to cement a life lived together, so all Christians need the words of Scripture but also the ritual actions of the sacraments to cement our life of love with Jesus.

Today we hear from 1 Thes 1:1, the first words written in the New Testament. They are like the words, “Will you marry me?” of a young couple in love, but they are only the beginning. What happens next in their lives, like in ours, depends on both the Scriptures and the sacraments.

Praised be Jesus Christ!