Last week we heard Paul again emphasizing the faithfulness of God to the believers at Thessalonica. He had established this church and given them so many gifts and would guard them against the evil one. In turn, they were to hold fast to what had been handed down to them, the very Word of God, in which God would direct them especially to His love and the steadfastness of Christ and to thank Him with their good words and works in everyday life. Paul also asked them to pray for him and his fellow workers, that this Good News of Jesus would “speed ahead” to many other people through their witness.
Then, in 2 Thess. 3:6, Paul returned to a concern he had already raised in his first letter - that some people were living in a disorderly way, especially in being idle and not working and supporting themselves and others when they could do so. (See 1 Thess. 4:11 and 5:14.) Paul must have heard that this problem was continuing among some and may have been because of the idea that “the day of the Lord had already come”
(2 Thess. 2:2) or would come so soon that they might as well just quit their jobs and whatever else they were doing and just sit and wait for Jesus.
Remember that the Greek word for “idleness” was a military word which meant “getting out of line,” not marching in step, and even ”deserting one’s post” or place of responsibility. Paul called such disorderly conduct, such “idleness," “not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” Here he was clearly speaking of God’s Word, not just a human tradition, since he said, “We command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness.”
Paul then used himself as an example, calling upon the Thessalonians to “imitate” him and his fellow workers (2 Thess. 3:6-9). Paul’s previous job was as a tentmaker, and he went on remind the people that he was not “idle” but had worked at this job or another the whole time he was in Thessalonica. The same was true of Timothy and Silvanus, so that none of them would be a burden on the people they were reaching out to with God’s Word.
Paul made it clear that they had the right to ask for help and support. (See v.9 and 1 Corinthians 9:9-12,18 and 1 Timothy 5:18, for example. Paul often welcome and received such support.) In this case, though, he and the others chose to work hard, to set an example for the Thessalonians and to show that the Gospel is “free” and they were not preaching for profit or out of greed, for themselves (1 Thess. 2:5).
Paul also wanted to show that he tried to practice what he preached: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2. Thess. 3:10). Some in the church at Thessalonica were not listening, though, and were “walking in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies,” bothering and interfering with lives of others and doing nothing useful for themselves or others (v.11). (See a similar situation and the concern of Paul in 1Timothy
5:13.) Paul then “commanded” and “encouraged in the Lord Jesus Christ” such idle persons to “work quietly and to earn their own living” (literally, “to eat their own bread”) without expecting others to take care of these and their needs. (See what Paul had already said in 1 Thess. 4:11-12, with similar words.)
Obviously, other Scriptures also recognize that not everyone can or must work for pay. Some have illnesses or disabilities or problems of many kinds. Others are elderly or infants and children and cannot work and support themselves. The Scriptures say much about the need to help the widows and orphans, the poor and the needy, and others who cannot help themselves. A parent staying home and caring for children, and a spouse caring for home duties or helping other family, a student and many others are all doing plenty of “work” without being paid, too.
Paul was not trying to put an unnecessary “guilt trip” on people. So he added, “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” Every Christian has callings, vocations, in life and can do good in a whole variety of ways. Keep doing what you can, Paul was saying, for yourself and others, even if it is very limited. We don’t have to do spectacular things. “Work quietly,” Paul wrote. An elderly person who just prays is still doing much good. Keep doing what you can until the very moment Christ returns. Just don’t be lazy and idle and be a “deserter” about what you can do, until He returns.
In closing, Paul spoke once again about “taking note of an ‘idler’ and having nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” The goal of any “warning” or use of God’s Law is to wake a person up to realizing wrongdoing and to call him or her back to the right and better way, according to God’s Word. We need to try to treat each other as “brothers” in Christ, Paul said, as we all fail at times and need warnings about various things to wake us up to repentance, too. See, for example, Galatians 6:1-2. And thank the Lord that He is willing to forgive and lift us up, too.
We could do another whole study on what “having nothing to do with” someone might mean. Jesus gave us direction for discipline in the church in Matthew 18:15-18. The last step is removing someone entirely from the church, though even then, the hope and prayer is that the person would repent and be restored to the church. You can find examples of that in 1 Corinthians 5, with gross immorality, and Romans 16:17-18, where false doctrine is harming and leading others astray, away from the Lord.
In this 2 Thess. situation, though, Paul still seemed to be at an earlier stage of warning people, while still treating them as brothers in the faith. Notice in the final verses of this letter, Paul twice said, “The Lord be with you all” - with everyone, including those who were weak and struggling in some way. That means that we are included, too, even in our own low moments in life (2 Thess. 3:16,18).
Paul ended this letter with a prayer that “the Lord of peace” would give the Thessalonian believers “peace at all times in every way” (2 Thess. 3:16). We may not seem to see and feel that peace, but it is the promise of God and the way God looks at us through Christ, as we trust Him. See the words of Jesus in John 14:25-27 and Paul’s words in Romans 5:1 and Philippians 4:6-7 and many other places. All this comes through “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the love and favor and forgiveness that Jesus earned and gives to us, though we do not deserve any of it (2 Thess. 3:18).
Paul added one more special note to this letter. He signed it in his own hand (2 Thess. 3:17). This was the way he wrote, so that there would be no question about whether this letter was genuinely from him.(Remember the rumors mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:2. We are told in other places that sometimes Paul dictated his letters to other Christian leaders, who actually wrote them down for him. God guided this whole process, though, so that we have exactly what He wanted written down and have all the letters He wanted to have preserved for us. See also Colossians 4:18 and 1 Corinthians 16:21, where Paul indicated that he signed those letters in the same way.)
Next week, we will move on to another portion of Scripture - possibly to the passages in the Gospels that tell of the birth of Christ, since we are now only three weeks away from the beginning of the Advent/Christmas season, where we focus on the specific first coming of Jesus, as God and man, into our world. Best wishes in Christ to you all.
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