Working Quietly

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13New International Version (NIV)

Warning Against Idleness

6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

I have spent the last week trying to figure it out.  I have racked my brain with ways to explain it.  I have talked to several of my closest friends.  It’s been weighing on me, distracting me and frankly, the whole thing has been frustrating.  We were expecting a blowout and then a nearly unthinkable upset happened.  That night, I watched as commentators mentioned the large spread in the numbers and just couldn’t see the underdog winning.  However, there was a group of people who did see the slightest glimmer of hope for the upset.  They turned out in droves and as the results came pouring in, you could see the excitement start to build, the buzz was becoming electric.  I chose the scripture for today nearly three weeks ago so there is no way of knowing the results and yet this scripture seems to fit perfectly with what has been going on.  

Last week, I saw a group of people give up.  Their ground game fluttered and the other side just ran all over them from coast to coast.  The polling data was not in their favor and they were in a hostile environment.  They had it in their mind that it was not possible to pull out the win.  The statistics show this.  In fact, someone from the other side had this to say about their competition, “You can see they didn’t want to be there any more...” And someone on the losing end said, “We didn’t come to play.”  Exactly one week after giving up 359 rushing yards and 599 total yards, the Iowa Hawkeyes gave up only 98 rush yards and 201 total yards to what seems to be a better team.  That’s right, one week after not playing well at all, the Hawkeyes played a great game and upset the third ranked team in the country.  As a fan, I was just hoping we kept it competitive.  They played incredibly well and it was fun to watch.  And yes, I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the Cyclones won as well.   

I know you are all tired of the political garbage filling up your social media newsfeeds and coffee times and general conversation.  I most likely would not say anything on the topic that someone else hasn’t already said since the results were finalized in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.  Therefore, I will not speak of it here today other than to say that we ought to pray for our leaders, all of them.  

Our scripture for this morning has the possibility to be completely misconstrued.  It has the possibility of being used in many such political spectrums.  Paul was not talking about it in that manner and it does not serve us well to pretend like he was.  The idleness and unwillingness to work had nothing to do with welfare benefits and everything to do with doing the work of Christ.  Paul is speaking out against those who claimed that Christ was coming back much sooner rather than later so they could sit back with idle excitement and wait for Christ’s return.  We cannot simply wait by doing nothing.  Faith must have a sense of urgency.  People being divided and not getting along is not a new concept.  But if we have progressed as a civilization like we all claim that we have then we most certainly aren’t acting like it.  Paul is speaking out against laziness in those thinking Christ was returning soon.  I am speaking out against laziness when it comes to knowing, loving and taking care of your neighbor.  Man alive one of the things I absolutely despise the most is talking to people I don’t know very well.  I become incredibly awkward, my eyes wander all over the place and I stare at the ground a lot.  In choosing to not become better at this, I am choosing to not listen to Paul.  In choosing to not become figurative neighbors with those I meet, then I am being lazy.  I am being idle.  I am not fully eating from the table of the Lord.  I am not being spiritually fed like I could be.  

At first, I thought this was a terrible scripture to preach given the circumstances.  I thought it is only going to confirm the politics of the one side and upset those who believe differently because of the line ‘the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”  You don’t have to raise your hand but how many of you smiled on the inside when you heard this because it backs up your exact thoughts about the American Welfare system?  On the other hand, how many of you were fearful that a scripture like this could be used as a rallying cry to defund the Welfare system?  I am doing neither.  I am telling you what Paul meant by this.  We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ and that calling never changes.  We are not to sit on our hands and do nothing.  

Our scripture for this morning concludes by saying, “...never tire of doing what is good.”  Sounds great.  Easy enough, right?  But it’s not that easy.  That is the issue before us today.  What is good?  We cannot agree on that any more.  That is where our struggle is right now because we do not have a consensus on what is good anymore.  Jesus is good.  The will of God is good.  This hatred we now feel for our neighbor is not good.  Our inability to see the other side of an argument is not good.  I have a hard time feeling sympathy for the Michigan Wolverines but I have been a fan in their shoes and it stinks.  It is fun to celebrate and man, the Hawk players, coaches and fans should celebrate but don’t forget what it’s like to be on the other side.  I know I said I wouldn’t talk politically and I hope this doesn’t come off that way.  However, I do have some advice for all of us:  If your candidate lost, the feelings you have right now are pretty much the same feelings those whose candidate lost 8 and four years ago were feeling.  I encourage you to do something about that feeling.  Bring others into the fold, help them to understand your passion but please do not alienate them.  Speak with them without assuming you know what they believe.  You may even think they spent the last 8 years not respecting the POTUS, so you don’t have to either.  I encourage you to rise above that.  On the other hand, if your candidate won, you are probably on top of the world and think so many things are going to change.  You may even think that every campaign promise that was made will come to fruition.  They won’t.  Most likely, you have been hyper critical of President Obama.  That’s fine, that is your right but do not, I repeat, do not fail to see why many may be hyper critical of President Elect Trump over the span of his presidency.  Simply defending your position through facebook posts will not be enough.  Your actions must speak louder than words.  If you don’t like all the names you have been collectively called this week, then actually do something about it to prove them wrong.

Either way, by doing nothing, we are no better than some of those in Thessalonica.  By doing nothing we are being idle and lazy.  We may not agree on the path taken but Jesus is good.  I went through a phase where I believed all truth was relative given our experience and culture.  But, there are truths that are universal and Jesus dying on the cross and God raising him three days later are a couple of those truths.  If you do not like where this country is right now, do something about it but do it knowing that those who disagree with you are loved by Jesus.  Know that Christ died for them just as he did for you.  Know that God raised Christ for them just as He did for you.  I can beat you over the head with instructions on unity but until we start seeing one another within the context of those universal truths of God’s love and grace, then we will never be unified.  Never, never tire of doing what is good.