Tackling Tradition 40: 2 Thessalonians 3:6 - 15

 Micah 2: 1 Woe to those who devise wickedness

    and work evil on their beds!

When the morning dawns, they perform it,

    because it is in the power of their hand.

2 

They covet fields and seize them,

    and houses, and take them away;

they oppress a man and his house,

    a man and his inheritance.

3 

Therefore thus says the Lord:

behold, against this family I am devising disaster,

    from which you cannot remove your necks,

and you shall not walk haughtily,

    for it will be a time of disaster.

3: 9 

Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob

    and rulers of the house of Israel,

who detest justice

    and make crooked all that is straight,

10 

who build Zion with blood

    and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 

Its heads give judgment for a bribe;

    its priests teach for a price;

    its prophets practice divination for money;

yet they lean on the Lord and say,

    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?

    No disaster shall come upon us.”

12 

Therefore because of you

    Zion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

It ought also go without saying that there’s a sense in which we are all poor before the LORD.    Why does God appear to favor the poor?  Answer: Because we all constantly marginalize God all day & all night.   

The purpose of the created order is to testify to **God’s** existence, attributes, & authority.  Our worship and sexual ethics are to be derived from the LORD’s image & authority **not our own** and, given the tenor of Romans 1:28 - 32, all our ethics are to be so derived — lest God proverb us into the extraordinary crime rate that is part & parcel of a society with major systemic issues.   On the one hand Reformation Charlotte contends with the World System that its representatives see at work around us, yet they chronically & notoriously balk at just about any notion that these issues include a rather large systemic component that has accreted over time.   

These people deserve our compassion and help, and the Bible calls us, as Christians, to step in when family or other means of support are unavailable. But let’s not conflate this with the welfare queens and professional moochers who’ve learned to milk the system for all it’s worth. The Bible is clear that if a man will not work, he shall not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). There’s no ambiguity there.

That’s just Ecclesiastical Tradition.  Let’s take a look at 2 Thessalonians 3:6 - 15. 

2 Thessalonians 3:6–15 (ESV): 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 the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 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. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 

13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 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. 15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 

Some people believe that this text supports draconian cutting of the social safety net.   Isn’t it obvious?  If someone doesn’t work, they shouldn’t eat.  In truth, 2 Thessalonians does not support this concept. The selected text is referring to the Thessalonians’ fellowship meal and the Lord’s Table.

People in that church had decided to withdraw from church life in view of the immanent return of Christ.  There was also a sharp divide between people of means and the poor.

A group of people had visited Thessalonica and taught them.  Those same visitors, realizing how poor most of these people were, refused to accept payment for their work.  Instead of accepting payment for their services, these visitors used their money to pay the people for the food they provided.   

The example that they set is an example of serving people in unexpected ways.  Paul in 1 Corinthians talks about the right of people serving others (apostles and their entourage) and expectation for payment.  Ministers and visitors serving the church should receive monetary support when possible (1 Timothy 5:18).  However, these particular ministers chose to forego payment, a monetary love offering, and instead they assisted the church and its people. Instead of money, they accepted what the Thessalonians gifted them by way of food, shelter, & fellowship.  

When Paul speaks to the idleness problem, he isn’t as concerned for the world as much as he is concerned for the church.  The world, of course, should emulate what the church does when the church gets it right.

Paul is not laying down a principle that we should do something like cut the social safety net for idle people in draconian fashion.  Rather he is laying down a principle for dealing with people who, through idleness become chronic busybodies and gossips who ultimately cause problems in the church & should, if the their activity has reached it’s crescendo or near crescendo, be barred from the fellowship meal - but not the ministry of the Word.  That said, even this is the option of last resort. 

Thus, the text is about church discipline within the local church.  Those who are idle should be sanctioned with a penalty that is fit for the problem.  Why food?  Because this is a weekly or biweekly fellowship meal that their congregation put together. 

What should these people do for food during the week?  The church should provide for them like the visitors provided for the church.   Society should emulate this behavior in accordance with Matthew 6.  

This text isn’t about “personal responsibility,” it is about our duties to each other as Christians & how to handle those who fit a particular profile.  If someone has been barred from the Table under these conditions, the church should help feed them during the week.  

Question: If society chooses to regulate the recipients of social safety net benefits, how large or small a sanctioning should it be?  

Answer: The equivalent of the cost of their plate & cup in a fellowship meal, not the equivalent to the cost of living for the week.  They should also be blessed, not merely sanctioned.  

Why? To give them hope and to maintain their connection to the church community, and with respect to the civil order, hope that can help them rise above where they are right now and begin contributing to the whole community again. 

Matthew 6: 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  (Matthew 6:25–34, ESV)

These items constitute the necessities of life.  The Bible teaches the 3 uses of the Law & Gospel.  Therefore, Government does bear some of the burden for providing assistance to those in need. 

O LORD, Hear our prayer(s)!