Don't get weary carrying the weight of others

November 17, 2019 2 Thessalonians 3 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 23rd Sunday After Pentecost Year C Object: A jar of dirt (and an earthworm, if available) Boys and girls: How many of you like to work? Do you do chores around the house? Do you help with the dishes? Work seems to be part of God's plan for life. Even the animals work. Beavers build their dam. Bees make honey and pollinate flowers. Squirrels hide away nuts for the winter. Birds feed their little ones. We are not the only ones in this world who work. Even a lowly earthworm works. Earthworms are kind of "yucky," aren't they? Some of you may have used worms for bait when you were fishing. Some of you may know that earthworms are necessary for more than for bait. They help make our soil richer. There may be as many as 50,000 earthworms in a acre of dirt like this. They are constantly aerating the soil. In fact if you have some fertile top soil that will grow beautiful flowers or vegetables, you can thank the lowly earthworm. Each of God's creatures seem to have a purpose. You and I have a purpose for being here. Part of the reason we come to Sunday School and worship is so that we can find out why God put us here so that we can live, as best as we are able, according to God's purpose for us. That means that someday we will work at a job. But we won't mind. Because we know that we are fulfilling God's plan. Just like the lowly earthworm. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan 2 Thessalonians 3 Common English Bible (CEB) Prayer request 3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us so that the Lord’s message will spread quickly and be honored, just like it happened with you. 2 Pray too that we will be rescued from inappropriate and evil people since everyone that we meet won’t respond with faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful and will give you strength and protect you from the evil one. 4 We are confident about you in the Lord—that you are doing and will keep doing what we tell you to do. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts to express God’s love and Christ’s endurance. Discipline for the undisciplined 6 Brothers and sisters, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from every brother or sister who lives an undisciplined life that is not in line with the traditions that you received from us. 7 You yourselves know how you need to imitate us because we were not undisciplined when we were with you. 8 We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked night and day with effort and hard work so that we would not impose on you. 9 We did this to give you an example to imitate, not because we didn’t have a right to insist on financial support. 10 Even when we were with you we were giving you this command: “If anyone doesn’t want to work, they shouldn’t eat.” 11 We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life. They aren’t working, but they are meddling in other people’s business. 12 By the Lord Jesus Christ, we command and encourage such people to work quietly and put their own food on the table. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged in doing what is right. 14 Take note of anyone who doesn’t obey what we have said in this letter. Don’t associate with them so they will be ashamed of themselves. 15 Don’t treat them like enemies, but warn them like you would do for a brother or sister. Final greeting 16 May the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 17 I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. This verifies that the letter is from me, as in every letter of mine. This is how I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Stewardship Moment I am so excited, because tonight channel 11 will be airing the sesame street 50th anniversary show. When I was little I loved watching sesame street. And then Mr Rogers would come on right after that. It was my routine to watch both shows, and right now Mr. Roger’s movie is out in the show. I heard yesterday that there are two types of people in the world. There are sesame street people, and there are mr rogers people. Sesame street was a bright show with lots of colors and controversial topics. There was always a lot of activity. Wheras Mr Rogers was calm, quiet peaceful. He was also finding the good in everything and teaching us to be calm and patient. Which type of person are you? Both are great positive messages, but God calls us to have a sesame street faith. An active, bright faith. A faith that prays – but also gives and works to make a difference in the world. Let us be sesame street givers – givers that give to support God in building the kingdom through the church. Sermon Every organization, club, group has some sort of organizational rules. Whenever we come together in community for a common cause, either consciously or unconsciously we decide what it is that holds us together. And we decide how we are going to relate to one another. We decide what it means to belong. We also decide who does not belong to the group. We decide who the insiders are and who the outsiders are. Who we want in the group and who will never be a part of our group. One we start to let people in, we also start to establish rules for how to get rid of people who don’t follow the rules. This happens in any community even the church. We have our rules for belonging. We have a ceremony for accepting members. We have our rules for shunning people who don’t follow the rules. When Paul speaks to the Thessalonians, he knows exactly what to say to the insiders. He establishes a clear rule for getting kicked out of the community. Whoever does not work does not eat. Wow! It is just that simple. Whoever does not work on behalf of the church should not benefit from the churches efforts. When we hear that with modern ears, it seems a little cliquish. Arent we suppose to welcome anyone? Arent we supposed to be accepting of all people. It seems strange to say that there is something that someone could do to be kicked out of the church. In reality – Paul was just expressing a feeling that has existed for thousands of years, and it present in countless other places in the bible. The old testament speaks very clearly of who belongs in community and who does not. And there are very clear rules for getting rid of people who are a danger to the community. Widows, the sick, the disabled, the foreigner, - none of those people belonged in community. And it seems that the new testament is Jesus story of how he went after each of those people to include them. And yet there is one rule of belonging to community that still sticks with us in modern times. Those who don’t contribute to the church. There are stories all throughout the old and new testament about how important it is to work hard. Hard work is expected in all areas of our community. It is important because the community is only as strong as the weakest link. Who we are as a community is determined by how much our members work to make a difference. The End Was So Near One of my friends this week reported on a TV preacher recently talking for an hour about his new book that supposedly explained everything we needed to know about the coming of Jesus and the end of time. "You must have this book," he said over and over again, a telephone number (not even toll-free) constantly flashing at the bottom of the screen. Seems that he was the only one who had prophetic insight into world events, and for a mere $14.95 we could have the benefit of his wisdom. We would not survive the coming terrors unless we had this book. A pastor called the number and suggested to the poor operator that if this preacher really thought this was so vital to the survival of the planet, and that the end was so near, he would be giving the book away! I mean, he won't need the money, right? It's all coming to an end anyway. Who needs a bank account? True, it costs money to print, but he will not have to pay for it if it goes as he says. The woman on the other end of the line was not amused. "Sorry, sir," she said, "but I don't know much about theology," to which the pastor responded, "Neither does the writer of the book you're selling." David E. Leininger, When Your Church Provokes You In Thessalonians, Paul was addressing a special issue. There were many people who has joined the church and we excited about Jesus message. But for them, they believed that the coming was right around the corner. The end of time was near. So they were all getting ready. They were ready to give up their lives, in order to leave this earth with Christ. If Christ was coming, then there was no need to work or prepare for anything. They stopped working, they stopped contributing, that stopped volunteering, because there was not need to even try. So Paul had to remind them that being a Christian was not about giving up and doing nothing, it was about doing everything. A bishop and professor of the church was asked what he was going to do if he knew Jesus was coming tomorrow. He said that he would do the same thing that he did yesterday. If he had to do work the day before, then he would just continue to work. Because when Jesus did came he wanted to be found faithful. The key is that remaining faithful through it all is the most important part of our faith. An "if" believer follows God if he receives blessings and rewards in return. He waits to see what God will do first, then decides whether or not to respond in obedience. Jacob is a good example of an "if" believer. A "because" believer follows God because God blesses and rewards him. He has seen the connection between his obedience and God's blessing, and he wants to keep it going. King David is a good example of a "because" believer. But there's a third kind of believer, said this pastor. This is the "regardless" believer. A "regardless" believer loves God no matter whether he/she ever receives any blessings or rewards in return. Job, the man whose very name is synonymous with suffering, was a "regardless" believer. A "regardless" believer loves God in spite of the circumstances, in spite of their hardships. On the day he heard that sermon, Mr. Hall devoted himself to being a "regardless" believer for the rest of his life. (2) Pastor Ron Hutchcraft suggests to us that Jesus wants us to “go M.A.D.” That’s an interesting way of putting it. Of course mad is spelled capital M period, capital A period, capital D period M.A.D. Don’t look for that in the original Greek, by the way. M.A.D. is an acrostic. When Hutchcraft says that Jesus wants us to “Go M.A.D.,” he’s saying that Jesus wants us to “go make a difference.” If you make a constructive difference in people’s lives, you won’t have time to be a busybody. In Thessalonians 3 – Paul seems to get mad in another way. By first saying that if we don’t work, we don’t get to go the church potluck. But he goes even further, his words are pretty harsh to us He goes on the say that we should ignore those people who are not carrying their fairshare of the load. He says that there are some people in the community who rather then being busy, have become busybodies. Not only are they not working, but they make a point to get into everyone else’s business and make it difficult for those who really are working. Every community is based on some type of rules and understanding. The word that Paul uses for busybody in greek is the word for the undisciplined. Those who don’t uphold the good of the order. Those who work against the church, instead of for it. An unknown author said he met the strangest man on his way to church. Here is how he described this man: “He said he believed in the Bible, but he never reads it. “He said he thought well of the church of which he is a member, but he never attends or invites others to share in its ministry. “He said a person should be honest with God in money matters, but he never tithes. “He said the younger generation needs the Lord, but he isn’t leading them in that direction. “He said the church needs dedicated Christian members, but he isn’t one. “He offered some ‘constructive’ criticism of some of the workers but he never works. “He said the church should do more in ministering to people, but he doesn’t help. “He is critical of the way the church is ‘run,’ but he never participates. “He says he believes in the Second Coming, but he lives as though the Lord will never return. “He says prayer will change things, but he never prays. “He was,” says this author, “a strange man, indeed!” (3) Not so strange. Their number in the church is legion. St. Paul called such people busybodies. They are busy, but not with constructive behavior. What we tend to overlook is this: the mind is always active; it is never still. It is either thinking positive thoughts or negative thoughts. A person may have an idle body, but not an idle mind. An idle brain is the devil’s playground, as the old expression goes. This is the reason why so many idle persons regardless of their age get into trouble. The trouble can range all the way from becoming a busybody to murder. It is dangerous business to be idle. I give this sermon, not because it applies to anyone in this room, but because it reminds each of a lesson in our Christian journey. The Christian journey is always an active journey. There is always something for us to do. And Jesus calls us to be active in whatever we do. We can pray and hope and dream. But we also can work and use our hands to make a difference. A visitor in a coal mine stopped to talk to one of the miners. He told the miner how sorry he was for him, spending his time monotonously picking coal down there in those dark tunnels. The miner picked up a piece of coal and said, “I don’t think you understand. This is not just a lump of coal. This is light and heat and power. Perhaps it will light a city, or it may warm a home or run a train. I’m not just a miner for the company. I’m helping people I don’t even know have a better way of life.” Because of the drive for clean energy today, many miners are losing their jobs. The principle has not changed, however. If you feel like your work is making a difference in the world, it can bring you real satisfaction. If you can see a purpose higher than a pay check, it can improve your attitude toward your work. You are helping produce a product that will improve the quality of people’s lives. You are helping to keep a city running. You are educating young people for the future. I know that it can sometimes seem that we are just a cog in a great machine, but what if your job was not done? Would society be the worse off for it? Most of us can find a purpose for what we do if we try. If we cannot, we may be in the wrong place. Work allows us, first of all, to be partners with God in the provision of the world’s needs. The bottom line is that Jesus called us to stick together and to work together. Jesus changed the rules. Jesus opened to door so that the outsiders, could become insiders. And Jesus calls each of us to keep working until the door is open to everyone and everyone is a part of the church. I like Paul’s final word to us – never get tired of doing the right thing. Never get tired of making a difference, and doing the work of Christ. there is a saying that when the knight came to king Arthur’s court they were reminded that they did not come to retire but to serve. Each of us here is called to serve also. There is a Lutheran church in Philadelphia who got a donation from a former member. The daughter of the member gave them old anniversary bulletin for 75 years ago. As the pastor read the bulletin and saw all of the churches that had been attendance. On the list of 30 churches, 20 of them were now closed. This was a wake up call to the pastor, of how important it was for his church to be a survivor. Word on the street was that you went to the Lutheran church when you needed groceries, but if you wanted to experience the holy spirit you went to the Baptist church. The pastor realized how important it was for his church to realize their mission. No longer could the church run itself like a social club. No longer could they follow the rules of any other club in town, it was time for them to live into what it means to be the body of Christ. A body that no only works, but also prays, loves, and most importantly lives a disciplined life. a life of a committed follower of Christ, not a busybody. We too are called to be the body of Christ here in Wilmington – what work is there for us to do together as community. Let us pray…. Additional illustration… There's an old Chinese proverb often attributed to Confucius. It goes like this: If you would be happy for one hour, take a nap. If you would be happy for one day, go fishing. If you would be happy for one week, kill your pig and eat it. If you would be happy for one month, get married. If you would be happy for one year, inherit a fortune. If you would be happy for life, love your work.