A sermon by Associate Minister Elsa A. Peters, November 14, 2010
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
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These observations about the text in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 have informed Elsa’s preaching. This is not a manuscript of the sermon though you’re more than welcome to obtain a sound recording by calling the Church Office at 799-3361.
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This brief passage concludes with an exhortation: “Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.” Of course, we must immediately ask what is right. Who has the privilege to decide what is right? Who has the responsibility to determine this moral code for the whole Christian community?
One might think that Paul’s first letter to Thessalonica answered these questions. This second letter seems to build on the concepts offered in the first letter, but uses a completely different style. For several more reasons, this second letter is not included in the writings that are attributed to Paul (including 1 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians and Philemon).
In the first letter, the church of Thessalonica was celebrated for the ways that they received the power of God’s word. Paul was deeply impressed in the ways that they became “imitators” of the Lord. However, that doesn’t mean that the community doesn’t have questions. Their biggest question (which doesn’t seem to go away after the first letter) is about “the times and the seasons” in which Jesus will return as Lord. Paul hopes they will be prepared when the Day of the Lord comes like a “thief in the night.” So, Paul gives them some very simple advice. “Be at peace among yourselves,” he says. There are specific instructions toward how to do this. Paul explains,
We urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
It’s these words from the first letter that are restated in this brief passage. Paul never went back to Thessalonica – but these words from another author got to the church there. This letter falls into the category of New Testament epistles that Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan refer to as conservative Paul, by which they mean that this text is anti-Pauline.
As we hear in this first letter to Thessalonica, Paul encouraged the church to admonish those who are idle. This author instructs that same teaching to be an instruction to “keep away” from those that are “living in idleness.” That’s not the same thing. The word admonish reflects a spirit that believes something can change. There’s encouragement to offer. There’s a reminder toward duty. This isn’t a lost cause as the writer seems to indicate by dismissing these “believers who are living in idleness.”
After all, this is a community that believes in no uncertain terms that the rite of their baptism has made each and every member of that community equal to another. In the radical words of Paul, these are people that are “baptized into Christ” so that “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” These aren’t just words. This is a way of living so that no one is better than anyone else – no matter how idle or busy they may be. And so, we must wonder what would make a community suddenly change their ideals so abruptly? Is it as verse 13 suggests that they have become weary? What has caused this weariness? What has pulled them apart in such a way that this community cannot see that they are clothed in Christ?
It’s easy to point fingers. We point to who is not earning his keep, who is bucking the system and who has ruined it for everyone else. As this writer (whoever he or she may be) has done, it’s easy to point that judging finger at those “believers who are living in idleness.” It’s about imitation to this writer. They have given the church the tradition. Now, they are commanding this church to live in that tradition that they’ve modeled to “work night and day” in order to earn their own keep. This model should be imitated. However, this commandment comes from a bunch of guys who make a living traveling from city to city talking. Their wise counsel is to work quietly. It is as if they are saying: imitate what we say and do, but do it quietly. Indeed, it’s easy to point fingers.
To do what is right – as the end of this passage suggests – is not to point fingers. Instead, it’s to recognize that you’re tired. You feel like you’re doing it all by yourself. To do what is right is to recognize that feeling that is deep within you without layering it on top of someone else. The call of the baptized community is to live in such equality that this shared faith “spills out into the streets and fills up all the Christian life.”
Idleness is what happens when anyone of us fails to live up to this bold call. Paul encourages us to admonish that idleness, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak and – above all – be patient. The radical message of Paul’s message is that no one is to be dismissed for any reason. There are times where you’ll be tired. There are times when I’ll be tired. Be patient, Paul reminds. We’re in this together. When you need help, that’s my job. When I need encouragement, that’s your job because we are all clothed in Christ. That is the tradition of Paul.