This reading is part of a letter sent to the people of Thessalonica by Paul. It gives a number of images about how Paul passed on information about God to the people of Thessalonica. One of these images was about “not to please mortals, but to please God”. I think that part of the nature for me as a human is to try to please other humans as much as possible. This is often so that there are no arguments or anger as a result of my actions. However sometimes I need to be independent and do things God’s way and not the human way. This may upset some of the humans around me.
God’s way can be about standing with and for others in the community. This may not be what others want to see or hear. Yet it is important to stand with and for others in the community – particularly those who do not have a voice of their own. After all, Jesus often stood with and for people of his time that did not have a voice as well, and this was not always well received by the leaders of the community.
The saying that comes to mind is “that we cannot please everyone all of the time”. So perhaps we should concentrate on pleasing God and one of the ways of pleasing God is to stand with and for people in the community who do not have a voice of their own.
Shirley Bower
Longford UC