Passions

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (NRSV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one. 

It's always rather hard to read many of these "instruction" kinds of texts of Paul or the other epistle writers in a devotional kind of way.  I always suggest reading these several times through, and make note of what jumps out at you.

What jumps out for me this time is that Paul gives a very good reason here to his followers why "lustful passion" and "fornication" should be avoided: so that we do not "wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter."  It really is that simple, but it also is that complex...

Passion is one of those "emotions" that we think of as controlling us.  We can't help what we feel passionate about, but physical passions can be dangerous because the passion about our needs can end up exploiting others.  Taken to the extreme, we read in the news often about victims of all kinds of sexual violence.  But the truth is that any time we seek gratification of our own physical passions through the use of another person, we are exploiting them.  We don't see their personhood when all we see is our own pleasure.

Of course, sexual gratification is not the only passion that can be used to exploit others.  These days we live in a tangled web of consumerism that feeds our desires and wants.  Paul's call for abstinence may seem foreign to our 21st century ears, and it is singularly addressed here toward sexual passion.  But in the end, his reproach reminds us of the second of Jesus' great commandments: love of neighbor.  Our passions are not meant to be put ahead of our neighbor's personhood and freedom.

Good and gracious God, you ask us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Remind us of this in all the ways we live our lives and all the ways we seek to fulfill our desires.  Help us to not be controlled by our passions but instead by your grace-filled promise of hope in the gospel. Amen