It's the little things in St. Paul that can be the most profound. Today we begin with 1 Th 5:1 in which Paul writes regarding the question of when Jesus will come back,
you have no need for anything to be written to you.
Really? If we look at the history of Chrsitianity, it seems that in every age someone is trying to predict the moment of the second coming. When I was a child I remember preachers trying to align the Soviet Union with the Book of Revelation, and who can forget all the fuss around the year 2000. Even today I'm sure you could go online and there would be someone cherry picking Bible verses to line them up with the events of today to prove that we are living in the end times.
And yet, St. Paul tells us not only can we not know, but more importantly, we have no need to know. Why? Because if we live as Christians, we live each day as if it were the one. And if we live each day as if it were the one, then we can be at peace, not worrying about the second coming, or more specifically, the final judgement.
They reading ends my commanding us to do two things to one another
-parakleite- comfort
Oikodomeite- build up ( it should be noted that the word refers specifically to building a home (oikos)
If each day we console one another and build up one another into the household of God, then Paul is correct. We have no need to know we Jesus is returning.
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