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
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
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
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
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.