Proper 28 Year C 11/16/2025
Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Both of St. Paul’s letters to the church in Thessalonica have a running theme… the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Paul is addressing the misunderstandings of the early church about what to expect when the King returns.
You see people in the church thought that maybe Jesus had already come back…
Some wondered how they would know if Jesus was to return…
And to this Paul addresses their questions.
But he says more…
Because in their confusion about the return of Jesus…
The church became dysfunctional…
Some of the people lacked self-control… letting their passions get the best of them.
Some of the people became lazy… not wanting to work or do ministry because why work if Christ Jesus had already come back.
And this is where our New Testament picks up.
St. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians:
…keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received…
Paul encouraged them to avoid being idle…
To avoid being mere busybodies and not doing any work.
Not doing their part within the community.
Some of you may have heard of the Pareto principle…
Also known as the 80/20 rule.
80% of consequences come from 20% of causes…
In business terms it might be said:
80% of sales come from 20% of clients…
or…
80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.
Yet, being part of a community…
A church community…
being a part of the people of God…
Comes with responsibility to serve…
a responsibility to be active and not idle.
Which is at the heart of what St. Paul was writing about.
There are a lot of distractions in our world…
The events in our nation…
The busyness of life…
The stress of relationships…
The fears of the unknown…
Creating an anxious spirit.
We can show up on Sundays for worship –
hearing, but not listening…
singing, but not praising…
eating, but not receiving…
and then drifting off into the week…
following the distractions of life.
Yet, here we are – gathered together – the community of St. Edward’s…
We are part of the full body of Christ – present in this world – to minister the presence of God to the people around us.
This is why we must not be idle à because we are a community.
And not just any community…
The community of Christ Jesus.
- T. Wright wrote concerning our text,
The idleness against which (Paul) warns wasn’t caused by preaching the world’s going to end, so why work?
It was the result of his teaching that Christians should live as brothers and sisters in a world where siblings formed a single socio-economic unit.
Part of the meaning of agape was the very practical one of mutual support.
Now he addresses the flip side of the coin: each must contribute to the best of their ability, not simply sponge off the others.
It is ironic that today these warnings might apply to welfare scroungers rather than to anything that goes on within the Church.
In other words, what N.T. Wright is suggesting is that all members of the church have a role to play… a service to do… a ministry to support. We all have a part to play in the community of St. Edward’s – doing, sharing, encouraging, giving…
The last verse in our 2 Thessalonians reading goes straight to the point,
Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
Let us not grow weary in doing what is right in our Christian community.
We ALL have a role to play…
A part to fill…
In our community.
Perhaps the best way to describe it is with the three T’s…
You know them…
If you been in the church for a good while…
Time, Talent, and Treasure
Most of us can give time,
We all have talent to give,
We all have some treasure to give…
We can give time and talent by working in the gardens…
We can give time and talent by helping our upcoming outreaches or by helping with our food drives…
It may be helping at a parking fundraiser or coming to a community dinner.
We can give financially with our pledges…
Or to other financial drives…
Some can help with special projects.
We ALL have a part to play in this community.
But what St. Paul is pointing out is that we give not out of duty, but out of love.
I would compare this union we have at St. Edward’s like when a young man and a young woman fall in love…
Remember that feeling –
two young love birds –
it’s not really love at that point (it’s really infatuation), but we usually call it love…
Because no one is going to look deep into the eyes of the one they are with and say “I am infatuated with you…”
It just doesn’t sound right.
“I love you” sounds much better.
In fact, I did just that one time with my wife, Tera…
Tera was working on something in the other room.
I came in and looked at her and said, “Tera, I am infatuated with you.” She just looked at me with a smirk waiting to see if I would say something more or if I was just being my typical dorky self…
Now, Tera and I met way back when we were both in middle school…
We met at a youth group meeting back in Sarasota, Fl.
As we got a little older and things got more serious…
Guess what I did?
I gave her my Time, my Talent, and my Treasure.
I never thought of spending time with her as a duty… something I must do – I just did it.
Out of passion, out of love…
Whatever talents I had back then I gave to her…
I worked at an Oriental Rug Store and spent my money on her…
Not out of duty, but out of love.
Ah! but someone will say…
What about when you get married and real life sets in…
Well, let’s be real… infatuation comes and goes –
but love becomes something much deeper than that –
it becomes a commitment – a loyalty… a decision…
not out of duty, but a greater depth of love.
Just like we have folks come up to the altar so often for an Anniversary blessing to celebrate 40, 50, even 60 years of marriage.
Scottie and Windy Witherell who just passed were married for 70 years.
Well, that’s not duty… that’s deep love… committed love…
I still give my Time, my Talent, my Treasure to Tera and the family… but not out of duty – out of love.
And this is what Christ is calling us to in our community…
Let us not be idle…
But let us give our Time, our Talents, our Treasure to the ministry of the Kingdom of God through the people of St. Edward’s.
Yes, we live during some crazy and unsettling times…
But this is all the more reason to cling to the community we have…
To defend her… to support her… to uplift her…
Who is she?
She is the church – the bride of Christ.
The one for whom our Lord Jesus will return and bring to himself.
The people of God – whom Jesus died on the cross for.
And as children of God…
He gives us the grace to love one another…
Serving one another in community.
Finding ways to care for each other.
We need each other…
We need to support each other…
Let us not fail to gather together under this roof,
So that we can worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
As we serve our Savior, Jesus Christ…
Let us give with our Time…
Our Talents,
And our Treasure…
Let us not grow weary in doing what is right…
But rest in God’s faithfulness to his church.
Amen.
