Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us.
Idle hands are the devil's workshop (not found in the Bible but, who knows, maybe inspired by 2 Thessalonians).
I preached a sermon once about Jesus the moocher. Jesus, during the three years of his ministry anyway, was always a guest at the table of others. He always seemed to be going from house to house eating other people's food. The only time he was the host was at the last supper with his disciples.
Apparently, there were folks in the church in Thessalonica who were trying to imitate the savior. They didn't work but simply mooched off of others in the community. Maybe they were lazy. Maybe they thought they were important teachers and shouldn't have to work. Maybe they were waiting for the imminent return of Christ and thought working to be a distraction from appropriate spiritual preparations. Whatever the reason, the writer of this letter--perhaps Paul--chastised them for not pulling their weight in the church.
Most of us today probably have the opposite problem--we work too much. The church sometimes sends a mixed message. We encourage people to pause, pray, meditate, nap, etc., while at the same time calling (coercing?) people to work on behalf of Christ in the church and the world. Its like watching kids play the old game Red Light, Green Light.
In one scene in the movie Chariots of Fire, the Scottish runner Eric Liddell is in conversation with his sister who challenges Eric's decision to put mission work on hold to train for the Olympic Games. Eric says, "But, Jennie, I know God made me for China someday, but he also made me fast. I feel his pleasure when I run."
Maybe the question is not how much to be active and how much to be idle. Maybe the question is, what activity allows me to feel God's pleasure?
As I filled out my time card for this week and saw that it added up to 68 hours, I thought this is NUTS! I have 8 weeks of vacation accrued, why have I allowed that to happen? I need some idle time! But I also need time that is filled with spiritual replenishment. Not just mind numbing TV or facebooking (though there is some merit both of those as well). Perhaps an early New Year's Resolution for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know whether these 'idle' people were imitating Jesus, or something else. This passage is one of a group of passages that may have been written by Paul or by men who wrote in his name to tell a share community that some of their group were abusing the benefits of living in such a situation. This letter seems to indicate that this community was having a problem with idleness. Members of the community who did not share in its responsibilities but took advantage of its benefits.
ReplyDeleteI don't think showing hospitality to a stranger turns that stranger into a 'moocher.'
The question is “what are the things that I can do or not do to open my heart to God?” I don't know what pleases God. I just try to have compassion for others, and do the best I can each and every day.
Jade--Sounds like a good plan for any day.
ReplyDeleteTodd--Shouldn't you be on vacation until the new year or so?