33rd Sunday, Year A, Second Reading (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6)

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ² for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ⁴ But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ⁵ You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.

This Sunday’s second reading and gospel continue the focus on the end of our lives (and of the world) – a date we cannot know in advance. The second reading comes once again from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians which many scholars think is the oldest Christian document we possess. It shows the early Christian preoccupation with the Second Coming, also known as the Parousia, which they felt would occur in their lifetimes. The start of the reading suggests that the Thessalonians had asked Paul about exactly when Christ would return. However, Paul effectively tells them that it’s pointless to dwell on the subject since the end will come when we least expect it. Notice that he employs the term “Day of the Lord” which was used in the Old Testament to refer to the arrival of God’s future age.

In verse three, he writes of the Parousia arriving “while people are saying,  ‘peace and safety’” which was a common theme in Roman politics (and still is today). We always like to imagine ourselves in control of events, but Paul most emphatically asserts that we are not. Then, in verse four, he turns to Christian believers, and, given our own knowledge of Jesus’ parables, we expect that, after his reference to the end coming like “a thief in the night”, he will tell the community to be ready at all times. However, instead he reassures the Thessalonians, telling them that they do not live in the realm of darkness.

Indeed, verses four and five develop extended images about light and dark. Paul tells them that, as Christians, they are “children of the light”, which means they belong to God. He also tells them they are “children of the day” which continues the image of light but ties what he is saying to the previous discussion on the Day of the Lord. At the end of verse five, Paul insists on this idea even more by asserting that Christians do not belong to the night or darkness. But, perhaps afraid that this might make the Thessalonians complacent, Paul finally does add the expected warning in verse six, telling them not to be like other people but “awake and sober”. And so should all Christians.