Keep Working
Notes
Transcript
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Sermon: Keep Working!
Tomorrow is this national holiday called Labor Day. For some of you, the only difference between it and another weekday is that the kids are off from school—you still have normal work to get done. But for others, perhaps it is an additional day of rest and relaxation. Maybe you plant to go to the parade down in Wagner or in other towns. But where does this come from?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day recognition began in the 1880s. It was focused on the creation of the labor movement and was dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. This day was established to take time to pay tribute “to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” With our passage, we are going to look at the place of work and labor in the believer’s life.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are more jobs today which a person can find work in than ever before. I don’t mean that as a political statement about unemployment, but when someone is looking at what job they might want to do, or where they might want to work, or what career they might pursue—they have the greatest number of options ever available
If we could watch a video that covered jobs throughout history, we’d see people in agriculture—gardening and farming. We’d find people involved in animal husbandry as well as hunting. There have been those involved in occupations with construction, in metal work and stonework to create tools, weapons, utensils, jewelry, and various vehicles. We would see merchants, teachers, soldiers, nobility, slaves, and religious clergy. There are weavers of clothes and tents; artists who paint and sculpt and act. There are the cooks and miners and factory workers.
If we would then focus on just the past couple hundreds of years, there has been an explosion of options for work. All these traditional jobs, and now new ones and specializations. All different types of engineering work, medical and health occupations, fitness trainers, professional athletes, all types of office jobs, lawyers, financial advisors, people that sell parts, work in customer service and human resources, mechanics repairing tractors, automobiles, and mass-transit operators. I think for at least 30 minutes tonight, I could go on naming different jobs. All positions that a person could consider dedicating a large amount of their life to.
I’m not going to do that but in naming different positions and fields that we can find work in, we notice the different skills, abilities, and stamina required for each job. Some jobs require great physical labor and strength, while others need a steady hand, a delicate touch, and patience. Most jobs require their own knowledge—doctors, nurses, surgeons, and EMTs require quite a knowledge of human anatomy, medications, and life-saving techniques; those working with stocks and financial advising must understand how the market works with risk and looking long-term. A mechanic must know or be able to understand a manual in diagnosing a vehicle’s problems and how to fix and maintain them. There’s not likely a single person in the world who would be able to do every job that was thrown at them or learn all that is necessary to be remotely successful.
All of this to say, we tend to have this expectation that most people are going to work. But why, why work? For some people, they feel like they need something to do; they can’t just sit around and do nothing. My grandpa started up a landscaping and maintenance business back in the 1970s. When they were growing up my dad and 2 uncles worked under him, and it’s been my uncles’ lifelong occupation, and my dad just recently went back to help out. But my grandpa, who’s now 87 years old, still will not just leave all the work to his sons; he wants to contribute something. Along these lines, some people might say that they work or do a certain job because they enjoy it; that is their primary motivation.
Another reason, maybe the reason most often given for why people work, is to be able to afford and sustain a certain lifestyle. Whether we live in a society that uses money or trading or bartering of goods and services, we, people, do not have unlimited access to anything we want without cost. If we want food and housing and transportation and utilities and education—those things are not rights; we must pay for them. How do you pay? Well, either you have to make money, which you then save and hand over for products that you want, or you have to offer something that is viewed as of equal value.
What about from a Christian perspective, though? Let’s take a step back and not just ask, why, but must we work? Do you and I have to labor? The answer we find in 2 Thessalonians 3 appears very much to be yes. Verse 6, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle.” In verses 7 and 8, Paul encouraged them to “follow their example” which involved laboring and toiling so as to not be a burden to one another. Verse 10, “We gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’”
Was this just Paul’s idea? Is it something that just came up in the New Testament period? Well, no. Going back to Genesis 1 and 2, man and woman were created to not just fill the earth but subdue it, rule over the other creatures, and gather food for themselves from the plants. Genesis 2 verse 15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Part of the reason for that is according to Genesis 2 verses 2 and 3, God’s creating of all things was work, and we were made in his image, so that is part of us.
Things, of course, changed after the fall, though. Genesis 3 verses 17 and 19, God declared to Adam “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life…By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground.” And yet, God didn’t curse humankind without care. As we look to the 4th Commandment in Exodus 20 verses 8 through 11, we are reminded that God instituted the Sabbath day. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.”
The answer to the question, must we work, is yes. Work is good, and we work because God created us to do work, to be active, to not just sit around and be lazy. That being said, because of sin, work has become more difficult than it originally was. Work isn’t everything though, and it shouldn’t take over our lives. We, human beings, need rest. God has commanded that to us.
Another biblical reasons for why we should work is found in Ephesians 4 verse 28. Paul wrote, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” There are people in our churches, in our communities, and in our world, who are very legitimately in need. Whether they are disabled or have a medical reason or due to some life circumstance which has hindered their ability to get a job or to adequately provide for themselves, they need help. At a given time, and potentially lifelong, they are dependent on others. So there are people who can’t work a job like a typical able-bodied individual. Without anger, disgust, ridicule, or condemnation of such folks, Paul is saying one way that we, who can and do work, can show love for our neighbors is by sharing what we consider as our earnings, the reward of our labor, with those who are in need.
Let’s move on to our next question tonight. If we must work and we have reasons for why that is—rooted in God’s created purposes for us and living with our neighbors, how should we as believers work? Simply put, the answer from our passage tonight is “do not be idle.” This isn’t the first time Paul has addressed idleness with the Thessalonian church. If we look back to 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 14, he wrote, “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” What does he mean by that word “idle”? Who exactly was he rebuking?
Based on what we’ve heard so far and what most of us probably think of with the definition of the word “idle,” these were people who avoid work, are lazy, or who do nothing. Pastor Dan Ebbens has brought me to the shop here in Aurora Center for coffee a few times when I come to fish or hunt with him, and I’ve jokingly wondered if any work is done in this town because there are always people, including some of you, sitting around there, sitting idly. I will say again that I do that jokingly though, I know you guys work. It’s kind of like when people say how nice it must be to be a pastor and only work 1 day a week; we hope you mean that jokingly too.
Idle can be those who don’t work at all or who are lazy all the time instead of doing the job that is expected of them. But the Greek word from which idle comes can also mean disorderly. One theological dictionary stated how outside of Christianity the emphasis of this word was “on an irresponsible attitude to the obligation to work.” In that light, what should be avoided in how a Christian views work is complete dread, is a disgust for the tasks before us. Finding no enjoyment, seeing no point in committing and showing up for a job that we have been hired to do. That doesn’t mean that we necessarily have to fake liking every task our boss or our position requires of us, but work that we are involved in is work that we should want to do well.
We’ve heard how not to work, but now we are drifting towards how you should work. Let’s look at Colossians 3. Paul in verses 22 through 24 is speaking to the conduct between slaves or servants to their masters. He called on the slaves to “obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
There are some people who hold jobs about which they say, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this.” They love their work, they love the tasks before them on a regular basis. Others show up and do jobs as a temporary means to getting a position they really want. They don’t enjoy it, but they know they have to start somewhere or at least make some money. Whatever our labor is, whatever our work, our job, the mindset that Scripture calls us to have is that you are serving the Lord. Even if it's a big reason why you’re doing what you do, your paycheck should not be your highest goal. The praise of your boss or your manager is not the most important thing. No, we must bear in mind that God has given each of us the ability to do our jobs and tasks, and so do it wholeheartedly as working for him.
That brings us to our final point, what should you be doing when you know the end is coming? I mentioned last week that a number of theologians have said that these idle brothers among the Thessalonians were people who having heard that Jesus was coming again soon, decided to stop doing everything. Warren Wiersbe describes these kinds of people as like those who “have left the world, gone off to a mountain, and waited for the Lord to come back, only to return home embarrassed.” Assumedly that would place a burden on the community, for funds, but also perhaps for certain jobs that needed to be done, there was no longer someone who could be relied on to do them. These people, according to verses 11 and 12, “are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”
Brothers and sisters, I don’t hear rumblings in our churches that we’re seeing a great exodus of people from the local workforce because they know Jesus is going to come back soon. However, I think across the nation, if not globally, with increased affordable access to long-distance travel and advertising about beautiful vacation spots, I do think people are drawn more and more to those. People are drawn to wanting to see as many places and experience as many things as possible. We won’t always be around. We don’t know how short life is, so seize the day. Leave your work behind and go on an adventure. By no means am I criticizing travel and sight-seeing and vacations for rest altogether, not at all. But if more people would shift their mindset about their work to serving the Lord and truly consider it as part of what he created us to do, would we so often be drawn to escaping our normal lives?
With the end coming, whether sooner or later, we should keep working. We should not avoid work or give up doing it. And yet our view of labor, that which God calls us to do and that which he commands us to rest from, may be broader than what we often think. Far too often, and I know I’m guilty myself, what we classify as our work is only our job. A person can say they have put in enough hours on the clock, so they don’t have to do anything else the rest of the day. Our jobs are an important part of our labor, but so is our work in creation and so is our work in caring for one another and so is our work in leading our families. We must not elevate the work that gets us a paycheck and neglect the other tasks which God has called us to.
So again, as we are reminded of our duty to work as well as why and how we should work, I encourage you, keep working. Instill in your children and grandchildren and young employees responsible views of work. Set work schedules that include time for rest and time for family. Remember that work does not only seek to produce and to profit, but it supports a person’s dignity and it can show compassion for those who are in need. In all that we do, work for the glory of God. Amen.