Keep On Working

Late at night, by the light of a small lamp, a man is still working. His hands are rough. A needle goes in and out of heavy cloth. He is a preacher, and a teacher, and an apostle. And he is paying his own way.

Paul has already written once to the church in Thessalonica. Now he writes again. Things have become muddled. Some people were saying that the day of the Lord had already come, and Paul has to calm them down. And something else has gone wrong. A few members of the church have stopped working. Perhaps they thought, why bother, if the end is so near? Whatever their reasons, they are not earning their keep. Instead, they are eating at other people's tables, and getting busy in everyone else's business. Paul's letter speaks to them directly.

Paul's tone becomes firm. In the name of the Lord Jesus, he says, keep away from any brother who is living in idleness, and not following the teaching you received from us. Then he points to himself. You yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you. We did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it. Instead we worked, with labour and toil, night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you. And here is the interesting part. Paul says, it was not because we did not have the right to be supported. Teachers of God's word could rightly be cared for by the church. But Paul chose not to claim that right, to give them a living example to copy.

Then Paul reminds them of a rule he had given them in person. If any would not work, neither should he eat. Notice the words. Would not work. Paul is not talking about people who are sick, or old, or who cannot find work. The church cared for those people. He is talking about people who could work, but chose not to. We hear, he says, that some of you are not busy, but busybodies. So he tells them plainly. Settle down. Work quietly. Earn the bread you eat. Ordinary work, done quietly and well, was part of following Jesus too.

And to everyone else in the church, the ones working hard and sharing their food, Paul says this. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. Don't grow tired of doing good. If someone refuses to listen, Paul says, take note of him and don't keep close company with him, so that he will feel ashamed and change. But do not treat him like an enemy. Warn him as a brother. Even when Paul has to be firm, the goal is not to push someone out. It is to bring a brother back.

Paul was a trained Jewish teacher who also worked with his hands. The book of Acts says his trade was tentmaking. That was not unusual among Jewish teachers. A saying preserved in the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish teaching written down around the year two hundred, praises the study of God's law joined with an honest trade. Many Greek teachers of the time, by contrast, expected to be paid by students or wealthy patrons.

Keep on working. You'll find Paul's words in Second Thessalonians chapter three, verses six to fifteen. Faith in Jesus does not make ordinary work less important. It makes it a way of loving others. So here is a question to carry with you. What work has God given you to do today, and how can you do it well, and keep on doing good?