Work and Eat (2 Thessalonians 3:6-11)- Dalton D. Vetter

Some of you may know and some of you might not

but Claire and I had the blessing of being able

to move into a new house recently and that new

house is actually an old house and Anyone who

has moved into an old house knows that one of

the many problems that comes with an old house

is a vast number of insects and particularly

ants surprisingly and So I had the pleasure of

getting to call my first exterminator to my first

house. And he came and he did the treatment.

And I checked in with him after to give him his

payment and to hear the results of his treatment.

And he assured me that, yes, I did have an ant

problem more than anything else. And he proceeded

to tell me, though, that ants are a very interesting

insect, that they're actually a model for how

we ought to work. And he told me the story of

this little sugar ant, the type of ant that you

might find in your pantry. It's a very small

ant. And he was watching this ant and it was

carrying a carpenter ant. Carpenter ant is five

to six times the size of this little ant. And

he was working its way back to its den or its

nest and probably preparing for a meal. And he

watched this sugar ant as he dropped the carpenter

ant. And he recognized that he dropped it. And

he circled back around and he picked up the carpenter

ant and he kept going. And he kept going and

he kept going. And at some point he dropped this

ant, walked a few more steps, and he fell over

and died. This ant was a perfect model for how

we ought to work. He did it with his whole being.

Proverbs actually emphasizes this go to the aunt

thou sluggard considered her ways and be wise

the the writer of Proverbs agrees with my exterminator

and Tonight we're going to continue our series

on shepherding sermons issues of the heart and

we're going to look at the issue of laziness

Now, surprisingly, the main text I'm going to

use for this is not from Proverbs. It's actually

a passage in 2 Thessalonians. In 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, Paul is following up his first letter.

And in the first letter, and now in the second,

he's trying to give the people in Thessalonica

a hope in their persecution. He's trying to teach

them about the coming day of the Lord and how

they are to look forward to it and in second

2 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

Thessalonians chapter 3 He will actually challenge

give a challenge to those who are idle people

making excuses for not working and So let's turn

to the text now and see what Paul has to say

second Thessalonians chapter 3 I know the bulletin

2 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

says through 6th of verse 11, but I'm actually

going to go to verse 15 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 tradition that

you have 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 the right,

but to give you and 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 busy bodies. 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. So, Paul is dealing with the Thessalonica

Church, the church in Thessalonica, and he wants

to... Deal with them with the coming day of the

Lord and he's dealing with a particular group

Who is being idle or being lazy or you might

even have in your translation disorderly? He's

giving this command that as Christians we are

not to walk in idleness But we're actually meant

to walk in the tradition that Paul gave the church

Paul's command comes directly from Christ. It's

not a you may consider or you may want to it's

a you are commanded by Christ to not be idle.

And this word idle is very interesting. It has

several connotations to it. It's kind of a rare

word in the New Testament. It's the word atokos.

It actually carries primarily an idea of disorder

with it. And not the type of disorder that your

house might be in disorder after a long day of

going in and out of it, where everything's just

all over the place. But it's a military idea

of stepping out of line, stepping out of rank,

doing something you're not meant to be doing.

Being somewhere that you're not meant to be.

And accompanying that, it also carries the idea

of being idle. And this is not just a general

idleness. Say, well, I'm just not going to do

that. I'm going to sit on my couch or on my chair

and not do that. No, it's actually purposely

refusing to work. It's purposely being lazy.

And so I love how one commentator put it. He

said the word here means rebelliously idle. That

they were not doing what they were supposed to

do and they were purposely wasting time. And

Paul accompanies this with, this is against the

tradition. Now, what tradition is Paul talking

about? It's actually a tradition he mentioned

in 1 Thessalonians in chapter four. When he was

talking about brotherly love in 1 Thessalonians,

he says, but we urge you brothers to do this

more and more and to aspire to live quietly and

to mind your own affairs and to work with your

hands as we have instructed you. so that you

may walk properly before outsiders and dependent

on no one. So the tradition that Paul started

in his first letter to the Thessalonian Church

was that they would live quietly, that they would

mind their own affairs, they'd be able to keep

to themselves and not get themselves involved

in business that they were not meant to be involved

in. And that they were to work with their hands,

they were to work hard. and they were instructed

to do this. And this has a beautiful result.

It helps them to walk properly before those outside

of the church. And it means that they are dependent

on no one but Christ. And Paul's tradition here

actually goes back to the Old Testament. It's

a tradition of not allowing excuses to distract

you from idleness and daily work. The writer

of Proverbs says in Proverbs 22 13 to 14 the

sluggard says there is a lion outside I shall

be killed in the streets and This seems like

a reasonable excuse almost But this is an excuse

for work because in the days of Israel Israel

was a fortified city Lions were a very real threat

on the open roadways or in the forest, but not

in the streets of Israel. Israel was a safe haven.

And so by making excuses in work, a person can

actually cause chaos. Their excuses in work undermines

their righteousness and it's a sign that they

lack wisdom. This chaos would... of a lion could

cause people to trample people to get home, to

get to a place of safety. It might cause others

to be lax in their work and keep them away from

their work. And so laziness, idleness is not

something that is just an individual thing. It

affects other people. And now there are many

excuses for work that we see in the modern day

why people might not work. I was watching a video

not too long ago of a financial guy. on YouTube,

and he was doing an interview with this lady,

and they were going through their finances, and

he noticed that she was a young lady and capable

of work, and she had very few responsibilities,

but she was struggling to pay her bills, and

she was falling further and further into debt.

And when he really got into pushing her and challenging

her, what it came down to is she did not want

to work because her dog had separation anxiety.

Do not disagree that dogs can have problems,

and sometimes we need to be there for them as

their owners and caretakers, but I think this

is a clear excuse. Now, I can hear you laughing,

and because it sounds preposterous, it sounds

insane that a dog being separated from you would

keep you from your work, but we actually can

make the same types of excuses. Now I'm not trying

here to take away from any real problem because

I know there are many problems that we face as

a church and we are meant to handle those together,

but we are to be diligent in our work. And so

we need to be careful that we don't allow depression

to stop us from leaving the house. One of the

best cures for depression is actually going to

the gym, working, sweating. It can be almost

80 % of people see an improvement in their depression

when they go to the gym and have a regular workout

routine. Work is good. Or maybe you have an excuse

of anxiety at times that can flare up. In Greenville

or Fountain Inn, the population is ever growing

and driving seems more and more perilous. And

so maybe there are certain days where you feel

like, oh, I just, I can't make it into work today.

It's making me sick. I'm too scared to go. or

maybe there's an illness we struggle with and

that illness, even though we could work to some

degree, stops us from working. Now again, like

I said, I know that there are some very real

illnesses and there are some very real ailments

that we face, but sometimes when we can deal

with it and we refuse to, it... shows that we're

being lazy. I know as someone who struggles with

migraines myself, it's easy to use them as an

excuse to slack off and work when really what

I personally need to do is take a leave or take

a Tylenol, drink a Coke Zero, and get to work.

And it might not be my best work, but some work

is better than no work. Now what might be another

excuse for work? So anxiety, sickness, depression,

sometimes sleep. is our ideal overwork. And it's

not wrong to sleep, it's not wrong to rest. We

know that sleep and rest is necessary for us

as humans to keep ourselves healthy. But Proverbs

26, 14 tells us, as a door turns on its hinges,

so does a slugger on his bed. A door's natural

home is on its hinges so it can open and close.

When we're marked by laziness, we can be marked

as someone who stays in our bed, who makes sleep

our number one priority. And I know this desire

to sleep can sometimes be a natural thing, but

we must be reasonable with it. We must not oversleep.

We must not over -nap as nice as a nice nap does

feel. Now also in our society we can see a blanket

just refusal to work and Paul pushes back with

this idea and verses seven through ten by giving

himself as an example for you yourselves know

how ought 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.

We worked not to be a burden to any of you. It

was not because we do not have the right, but

to give to you and 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." The refusal to work is

actually an anti -Christian concept. Paul proves

this by his own life. He's not just being a commanding

apostle here, he's not just giving an instruction,

he's saying, no, I'm giving this instruction,

I'm giving this command, but I already lived

it out myself that you might follow it. And not

just him, Silas and Timothy who were with him,

it was the band of brothers. They had the right

verse 9 tells us as ministers to the church to

receive payment to receive food from the church

But they did not take it so that they could be

an example They worked night and day and they

worked with their hands we know from acts 18

3 that Paul was a tentmaker and Tentmaker was

a very laborious job. It required going and gathering

sticks and gathering hides and cutting the hide

to the right shape and tanning it and then weaving

hair together to create some sort of thread so

that they could stitch the hides together and

they had to create twine for tying the poles

together so that they could build a solid structure.

It was not a simple process. So Paul says that

he was an example. He did not even take bread.

Now, bread in the Roman Empire was interesting.

In its central cities, Rome would actually give

out free grain, or very cheap grain, so that

people would not grow hungry. And so Paul could

be saying here that he was refusing to take what

they already had plenty of. Even what they were

freely given, Paul refused to take it. But Thessalonica

was not one of those main cities, so they probably,

the church knew of this concept, but this was

probably not what they had in mind. What they

had in mind was something simpler. Food is necessary

for survival. So Paul was saying, even in the

most basic need that I have, in something that

I have the right for, I am not going to take

food from you. And now if people walk opposite

to this and they refuse to work, Paul says there's

a consequence. If you're not willing to work,

then you do not get to eat. Now Paul here is

not saying if you cannot work or you're unable

to find work He's again dealing with those who

are refusing to work because they believe Christ

is coming again and it might be a waste of time

to work and So they are being purposely lazy.

They're being rebelliously idle So they cannot

eat And Paul, as he goes through this, even says

there's a second consequence to this that these

people should be cut off. They should not eat,

so even we as the church should not come alongside

them to feed them. If we see them being lazy

and refusing to work, we should not invite them

to our homes for a Sunday dinner or even as a

church offer them food or money to go get more

food. No, they're refusing to work. Now, Paul

is not doing this out of anger or frustration

or anything negative. It's actually to bring

about church discipline, is so that they learn

to be ashamed of what they're doing. And Paul

even says in verse 15, that we are not to regard

them as an enemy, but to warn them as a brother.

So this consequence of not working so you're

not eating, and you're kind of cut off from the

church community that normally provides for you

is not something that's out of anger or wrath

or malice. It's simply so that they would see

their sin and repent of it. Now Paul also addresses

another type of idleness in this passage. Not

just idleness in our daily work, but idleness

in our busy work. Now if you are a student, whatever

age, maybe you're in elementary school or you're

like me and you're in seminary, you are probably

familiar with the concept of busy work, or even

in your job, where your boss or your teacher

puts an assignment on your desk. Maybe it's reading

or writing and you know it's just to fill time.

Or maybe even to just meet some requirement that

the state has set in place so that they can have

funding. It does not have any meaning. It's something

you've already covered. It's something that you

might have even covered years ago and you know

it like the back of your hand. It's just something

to fill time. This is part of being a busybody.

It's work, but it's work that's just filling

your time. Paul lists a couple different types

of busybodies throughout his letters. dealing

with philosophers, philosophers were called busy

bodies in the ancient Roman times because they

were believed to be uncovering important things,

things about how the world works and how reality

exists and how we all came to be, but in reality

they were just arguing nonsense with people all

day. They were doing this to avoid busy work.

They seem to be doing something important, but

they are really just distracting themselves.

I think this type of busybody is very dangerous

for those who are in leadership, at our jobs,

or even for those of us in ministry, because

there are good things to be done. People need

to be met with, and tended to, and cared for,

and loved, but we can't forget the necessary

work that we need to be doing. For ministers,

it's an excellent thing. and we should be caring

for people and loving people, but we also need

to make sure our sermon is ready for Sunday morning

because one of the most important ways to care

for your flock is through the preaching and the

teaching of the word. And so you have to be careful

as someone that's in church leadership that you

don't allow caring for your people to distract

from the other duties that you have that also

need done. Or if you're in leadership at your

job, you need to not find the smallest detail

to pick out and focus on when really there's

five other things that need to be taken care

of. Besides that, busy bodies can be people that

distract others from their work. They don't have

their own work, so they get involved in other

people's work. Paul uses this in 1 Timothy chapter

1 Timothy 5 · chapter mention

5, 13 when he's addressing widows. Besides that,

they learn to be idlers going about from house

to house and not only idlers, but also gossips

and busybodies saying what they should not say.

So a busybody can also be someone that is a meddler.

They want to be involved in other people's work.

They want to hear the gossip and spread the gossip.

instead of being focused instead of living a

quiet life in line with the traditions that Paul

has given in his letter and in line with the

traditions that we find even in the Old Testament

and Proverbs. The consequences for a busy body

should be the same as someone who makes excuses

or refuses to work. They should not eat until

they learn to use their time wisely. Now, Paul

addresses a final way of idleness, and it's actually

a type of idleness that helps us combat idleness,

combat laziness. And verse 13, Paul says, as

for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing

good. Laziness in daily work and through busy

work is actually a result in laziness in good

work. And just like anger or fear or any of the

other heart issues we have mentioned, laziness

starts in the heart. And how do we know it starts

in the heart? Because as Christians, the heart

is where our Lord reigns. The heart is what the

Lord changes. And Colossians 3 .23 tells us that

whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord

and not for men. As Christians, if we're not

being idle in good work, we're remembering that

our work goes to the Lord. It is an act of worship,

and it's done for His glory and not our benefit.

And when our hearts aren't right, we fail to

offer up proper worship to God. Also, when we're

idle in good works, it's a sign that maybe we've

forgotten our redemption, what Christ had created

us for. Titus 2 tells us, for the grace of God

has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly

passions and to live self -controlled upright

and godly lives in the present age, waiting for

our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory

of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who

gave himself for us to redeem us from lawlessness

and to purify us for himself, to be a people

for his own possession who are zealous for good

works. When we are redeemed by God and we keep

that in focus and we keep that on our minds,

we cannot help but work harder. How can you be

lazy when you're focused on serving others, serving

the people of God? How can you be lazy in your

own work if you're focused on feeding those who

do need to be fed? Or how can you be lazy if

you're working for the King of Kings and the

Lord of Lords instead of working for yourself?

Working to gain the new house or the new car

or maybe even to afford your daily Starbucks.

Or as some of the young girls call it in the

congregation, Starbys. Our work is to be something

that is done for the glory of God. And it's something

that will mark us out in the day of judgment.

Matthew 25 tells us, then the king will say to

those on his right, come you who are blessed

by the father, inherit the kingdom, prepare for

you from the foundation of the world. For I was

hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and

you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed

me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick

and you visited me. I was in prison and you came

to me. We are not to grow tired and doing good

works and serving others and clothing those who

need to be clothed We need to not grow lazy in

our daily means of grace The the means of grace

are the tools that God has given us the strength

in our faith It's hearing the preaching of the

word and being in daily devotions Proverbs sets

the sluggard against those who are wise and we

know that wisdom can only come from the true

God. We should not grow lazy in our good work

because prayer is an essential part of the Christian

life and it protects us from laziness. Martin

Luther has a beautiful quote. We must be careful

not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine

other works to be necessary, which after all

are nothing of the kind. Thus, at the end, we

become lax and lazy, cool and listless towards

prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy and

careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager

to sin, and is disciplined to the spirit of prayer.

Prayer helps us to fight back against laziness.

It helps us to not grow weary and doing good.

And then finally, The other means of grace that

helps us in our laziness is not neglecting, gathering

together what we're doing this very evening.

Hebrews 10 tells us, and let us consider how

to stir up one another to love and good works,

not neglecting to meet together as is the habit

of some, but encouraging one another. And all

the more as you see the day drawing near. So

as we see that day drawing near that we talked

about this morning or as the Thessalonians looked

at the day drawing near We must not grow weary

and doing good We must not be lazy laziness is

a sin and it needs to be dealt with Idleness

is not just doing nothing. It's avoiding what

matters and Christ worked to save us So we must

work to serve him and serve others Again, idleness

is not just doing nothing. It is avoiding what

matters. Christ worked to save us, so we must

work to serve him and others. We must look at

that old ruddered cross and remember the shame

that Christ bore for us, the work that he accomplished,

and be encouraged ever more to work for him and

for his glory. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank

you. for this word that you have given us, this

command to not be lazy. Lord, we pray that you

would give us the strength to work to your glory

in all things, that we would not have ourselves

in focus, but we would have your kingdom in focus.

Lord, help us this evening to stir up one another

in good works, to be an encouragement to one

another as we go to fellowship. Pray all of this

in Jesus' name, amen.