“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13
Are you tired of doing good? There are all kinds of reasons why people might answer, ‘Yes’ to that question. Continuing our short series of talks on 2 Thessalonians
Work Hard (2 Thessalonians 3:6-13)
Artificial Intelligence
What do you think the future looks like? With all the advances in Artificial Intelligence, one vision of the future is that we will no longer need to work. Everything will be done by computers and robots. We can laze around on the couch with our robot servants cleaning our house, caring for our sick and farming our food.
Is this a vision of a perfect world?
Perhaps not. Do we really want artificial intelligence and robots to take away our jobs? Don’t we need work? Isn’t there something right about us earning a living? Work can feel like a bind, but surely there is something important about having a job?
Work Matters – What does the Bible say?
The Bible has a lot to say about work. Let’s do a quick whistlestop tour:
Creation: Work is part of God’s Creation
In the Creation narrative, we are told first of all that God himself works and rests from work:
- Genesis 2:3 – God works, God rests
“And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:3)
So, it is no surprise that human beings made in the image of God, are made to work as part of God’s good creation.
- Genesis 2:15 – Work is part of God’s good creation.
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
Gospels: Service is the highest calling:
Jesus also puts good work or service to others as one of the highest values for Christians, using himself as an example:
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45)
Letters: Faith and Works
You might of course say, but aren’t we saved by faith not works. Our salvation comes when we trust in what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
We receive that freely, by grace.
Yes, but although we are not saved by works, we are saved to do good works.
Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
So, work and particularly service of others and good works are a key value for Christians as long as it is accompanied by rest.
But in our reading today, Paul is worried about those who are not working.
Paul’s Strong Intervention:
This was an issue in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, but he only mentioned it briefly in one verse:
“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” (1 Thes 5:14)
Now in his second letter, he uses 8 verses, but also, some very strong words to deal with the issue:
“In the name of the Lord Jesus, we command you…” (vs. 6)
To the idle… “We command and urge…” (vs. 12)
“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (vs. 10)
“We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.” (vs. 11)
What’s going on?
There is clearly a significant problem, which has become worse and is not being dealt with. It involves a group in the church, who appear happy to be fed by the church, but are not willing to do any work. Worse than that, they are meddling in other people’s affairs that have nothing to do with them.
Why is this?
- Many commentators link it with a misunderstanding of Jesus’ second coming. Perhaps these people believe there is no point in working if Jesus is about to return. I saw a film a little while ago, about the world when it had just been announced that an asteroid was going to destroy the world in only a couple of weeks. It explored how people might act to such news. Although, some tried to continue life as normal, many just gave up work altogether. What’s the point of working for next month’s pay packet when it will never arrive!
This would fit with Paul’s arguments earlier in the letter making it clear that the return of Jesus is not yet imminent.
However, I am not convinced this was what was making people be lazy. Why would they also be busybodies if they didn’t believe anyone’s business had much of a future?
- Others have suggested it may be to do with the Greek culture of the Thessalonians and a kind of upper class Greek disdain for manual labour. This may have been a factor, but the issue seems to be particularly acute in the church.
Paul tells the church to distance themselves from those who are being idle. This suggests that he is concerned about the church’s reputation in the wider culture and does not want it associated with lazy busybodies, because that would destroy its reputation. This suggests that what is going on here is not a common issue in the surrounding culture, but something worse.
- A better explanation would be that these people are taking advantage of the church’s natural generosity and kindness. They were freeloaders of the charity that was being provided.
As Christians we believe in a gospel of grace. That Jesus came to serve us by giving himself as an atoning sacrifice free of charge. In turn our highest calling is to serve others. In addition the Old Testament had constantly encouraged God’s people to look out the poor who had no family source of support: orphan’s, widows and migrants.
The early church took all this very seriously. In Acts we are told of the church in Jerusalem:
“There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.” (Acts 4:34-35)
In fact, Paul himself, later organised a collection from the wealthier churches in Greece to support the poorer Christians in Jerusalem.
The generous support for those in need was fundamental to the culture of the early church. But, as such it was in danger of attracting freeloaders. People who were capable of working for themselves, but found it easier just to sponge off the generosity of the church and then spend their extra time interfering in other people’s affairs.
That is why Paul says,
“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (vs. 10)
He is not saying, the church should not offer care and support to those members in need, but that it should not waste its support on those who are capable, but not willing to work.
What are the lessons for today?
Wise Politics
Our modern society has developed a very strong welfare state, which positively ensures support for everyone in society when they are incapable of supporting themselves, because of unemployment, age or ill-health.
Not everyone is able to work. My son, Jonah, was not able to work for 16 months, recently because he could not find a job, despite applying for several a day. Thankfully, he now has a job!
Fiona, my wife has not been able to work over the last couple of months, because of stress induced by an overly pressurised work place. Hopefully, this will only be temporary, but it has made us more aware of those whose health or mental health struggles stop them working.
Retirement is also a good reason to stop working. As we grow older we have less energy, and it is good to hand on jobs to younger people who need them. In Numbers the Levites were only meant to work in the Tabernacle up to the age of 50!
However, for those who are able to work, who are well enough, young enough and for whom there are jobs, it is right that incentives and support are put in place to encourage them into work. “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” We too should be encouraging people who are out of work to find a job, and to be looking for governments that can create more good jobs in the economy.
Wise Charity
Secondly, although, in the context of a welfare state, the church is not often the main provider for those in need, in recent years churches have stepped into the gap with the provision of food banks and the like.
But, whilst some will just need this kind of emergency support, we do not want to be taken advantage of by freeloaders or encourage a culture of dependency where people just come to rely on our charity rather than helped to improve their own lives and move on. Some of course will not be in a position to move on, but for those who can be helped to fend for themselves, we need to do what we can to encourage that.
Helping people move on in life, is of course more of a challenge than just feeding them. But perhaps we need to be praying about how our efforts can be more about empowering people into self-support and even support of others, rather than just handing out food.
Of course, there is more to Cafe4All and Community Meal than just handing out food. It is also about building community and combatting loneliness, but are there opportunities here to develop ways of empowering people?
Wise Church
If you see yourself as a member of the church, then are you just coming along and receiving. Being fed spiritually and socially without serving in some way in return? If you are a regular member are you contributing regularly and significantly to pay for the running of the church?
That is really the question we are asking people to consider on our Generous Giving Sunday. The money we are asking for, as some have apparently misunderstood is not to go towards developing St. George’s, it is about the ongoing present ministry of St. Luke’s. That only happens because people generously support the work financially. If that money dries up, then there might not be any church at all in the centre of Ramsgate.
Of course there will be people who cannot contribute much, because of their stage of life or life situation and we want new people to be welcomed generously, rather than asking for money from them straight away.
It’s also not just about money but serving in different ways. A service on Sunday morning, relies on a number of people offering to serve others, whether it be welcoming, setting things up, providing refreshments, manning the audio-visual, taking part in the music or other up-front roles. And we can only meet in this building because of the hard work of a few who make sure everything is safe and maintained, and our finances are properly managed.
How can I respond?
In Thessalonians, Paul addresses both those who are idle and the wider church. The wider church are to discourage idleness and encourage good works. Whilst those who are idle are commanded to work for a living and mind their own business.
If you are someone already involved in helping out in church life, then think about how you might encourage others to be more involved and play their part. Can you share out a role you are already involved in? Do you need to gently challenge someone? Or perhaps just be pro-active in getting to know people, so that you are more aware of who might be able to help out and where they can help out?
If you are someone who is not contributing much to the life of the church yet, then why not try and find out how you can be involved? When volunteers are asked for, why not put your name forward? Give it a go.
And for all of us, whether we are already doing loads, or just thinking about getting stuck in, let’s remember Paul’s final words:
“… never tire of doing what is good!”
St. George's Church Ramsgate 