Reading: 2 Thessalonica 3:7-12. At various points throughout history, some Christians have been accused of being too focus on the end of the world. Precisely, they emphasized the life to come. Because they are unduly concerned for their ultimate destination of heaven, they easily exclude most their attentions towards this present world.

In the church at Thessalonica in Saint Paul’s day, many Christians were heavenly minded, while they were not earthly good. They were convinced that Jesus was returning at any moment, so they ceased working and waited for him. Consequently, there was an imbalance within the early church with some Christians working harder and carrying the load for the others.

In this Sunday’s second reading from his second letter to the Christians of Thessalonica, Saint Paul dissociated himself from a spirit of laziness or sloth due to a misguided expectation of the second coming of Christ. Paul was never a burden to the community in exercising his ministry among them. He always provided for his needs when performing his ministry. Nowhere in scripture can be found that Saint Paul and his associates were lazy loafers. Not only did Paul see the importance of his preaching, but his modeling the gospel to the converts as well. For this reason, he could ask for imitation of his conduct.

It is not very reasonable that Saint Paul and his associates never accepted a gift or a meal from others. Christians at that time and even now have been generous in giving supports to the missionary work. But what Saint Paul meant was that they were self-supporting and did not leech off others. They earned the bread they ate. In fact, they worked long and hard, lest be a financial burden to any of the Thessalonians.

Of course, the apostles lived this way to give their converts an example of what it means to sacrifice for the good of others. The apostles had every right to receive physical help for spiritual ministry. But they chose to sacrifice this right in order to teach the importance of self-sacrificing love and industry.

Saint Paul taught the Thessalonians to be persistent in fulfilling their duty of bread-earners to support themselves. It was a firm rule of Christian conduct. Here, Paul did not focus on those whose “could not work” because of their disability or total dependence, but those who “would not work” because of their indolence and idleness. They droned away their lives and became importuned burdens to others. Paul’s ethic of work was to let those drones go hungry so that they would be forced to do right and go to work. No Christian, who is able to but unwilling to work, should be maintained by others who labor on his/her behalf.

In fact of life, there are people who are lazy, who have no ambition, no drive to achieve, produce, or provide. In contrast, there are people who are workaholics, always work their fingers to the bone. Society in every time and age is full of both extremes. On one hand, there are workaholics. On the other hand, there are bums avoiding work. Although the lifestyle of workaholic is wrong according to the ethic of work, it might be acceptable to some degrees. However, the lifestyle of sloth is strongly condemned in its erroneous ethic of work. Though it is strongly addressed by Scripture, it is unfortunately more endemic in society.

The workplace is full of disorderly workers, workers who slack off and do as little as possible; workers who are men-pleasers, who work only when they see the boss coming. In addition to these, there are many in society who could be working, but who choose not to work due to selfishness, laziness, and lack of motivation. They have found ways to sponge off the government, social services, churches, and neighbors.

Christians should never be categorized as lazy, for work is ordained by God. It was his creative invention from the beginning. Scripture declares that God worked. Therefore, by working we resemble God. Created in the image of God, we have the ability to work, make plans, implement them, and be creative. In addition, God gave us the task of ruling over and taking care of his creation. Thus, work is seen as a form of our obedience to God’s calling us as human beings. It is for the service and glory of God.

After the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, work becomes laborious due to sin. Not only that, God intends that humans are to work as long as they live. However, we should not view work as a curse resulting from Original Sin. Work itself is not a punishment. God’s point is that pain and toil are involved when humans seek productive results, “By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat” (Gen. 3:19).

Despite the sweat of laborers’ brow, work has three basic purposes: to meet human needs, to provide for a quality of life, and to serve God. First, work provides money or resources to supply the necessities of life. In his prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for our “daily bread.” A way that prayer is answered is through work. Second, work enhances the quality and satisfaction of life. Furthermore, work helps us obtain a sense of balance in psychological and mental health. That is, a person receives a sense of personal dignity and worth from work. Most Americans, when introducing themselves, share their name and occupation. It seems that people who are without work often suffer from depression and poor self-image.

The final purpose of work is to serve God. According to Saint Paul, work helps Christians in a matter of obedience to God. It is a stewardship from God that demands a commitment of obedience and a consistency even when the boss is not looking. Therefore, Christian workers approach the job sincerely. Second, we are to see our work as service to Jesus Christ who is our real boss. Finally, the reason Christians maintain such a high the ethic of work is because we know God will reward us.

Here is a demonstrative story in keeping with Paul’s viewpoint of work. It is taken from the book of Practical Illustrations.

Ben and John worked as janitors for the same company. Ben felt his Christian testimony should be reflected in his work. John knew this as well, but never seemed to let that interfere with a good conversation.

One day Ben was busily washing windows. John was busy too, busy talking to Ben. Ben wanted to stop and talk, but knew he had to stay focused to do a good job. He was soon glad he had resisted the temptation to goof off. In the reflection of the glass, he saw the supervisor walking up the stairs behind them. Ben continued to clean. John continued to talk. The boss continued to observe.

Several minutes later, John turned and noticed the boss. He greeted him with a quick, “Oh, Hi,” and moved along to his area. Later John asked “Ben, why didn’t you tell me the boss was standing there?” “Well, not to sound mean or anything,” Ben replied, “but Christ was standing there the whole time, and that didn’t seem to bother you.” John got the point and worked more faithfully from that point on.

In sum, since God ordained work, humans will only find fulfillment in working. It is the key to finding purpose in life. The Bible demonstrates that we can find our personal responsibility, dignity, and purpose in working. If we can fulfill our daily job according to the Christian ethic of work, it is really a daily offering to God.

Rev. Linh N. Nguyen