Living in the Spirit

November 11, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

N. T. Wright has written extensively on the impact of worldview on our faith practices. You might want to check his work out. Going against cultural norms is hard. I find myself intellectually, even spiritually, agreeing about the changes in our society that are needed for all to prosper well. At the same time, it is hard to divorce myself from the “way we have always done it.” My mother was open to change, however, when she was in her nineties, I remember her saying she liked the newer songs being sung at church but wished they would occasionally sing some of the old ones. I also remember a program in the Star Trek series where one of the staff actually cooked a meal for the others because all they had ever known about food preparation was to order a machine to produce their meals.

Paul, in Thessalonians, is attempting to help these new Christ’s followers in the move from their old worldview to a new one.  We face similar challenges as our world progresses and we learn to move out of our exclusive communities into the Beloved Community Christ foretold as a constant. Isaiah 43:18-19 put it this way:
Do not remember the former things,
   or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
   now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
   and rivers in the desert.

We would not have the Bible if God did not intend for us to learn from God’s followers in history. The Bible offers us the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and their successes. There is nothing wrong with making a pie from scratch in celebration of a family’s history. There also is nothing wrong with driving by the fast-food window to pick up dinner for the evening because it grants more time for the family to eat together.

People are still people. We work in different ways; our idols are unique to us; our neighborhood is the world and becoming the universe, not our clan; women are no longer simply incubators; and all people are made in the image of God, not just the ones that are the same color or gender as us. Paul sums up his point in this way: Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Prayer: Lord, help us use all the tools you provide us to determine what is right.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.