Wednesday, June 2, 2021

“Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business.” (2 Thessalonians 3:11, New Living Translation)

                So, I finally put the snow shovel away this week.

                I could argue that I was being cautiously prudent in waiting so long. After all, we did have a couple of hours of wet snow just last week. You never know…

                But the truth of the matter is that I was being a lazy procrastinator. I couldn’t be bothered. It wasn’t disturbing me while it rested on the front stoop. It was not in my way. In fact, I stopped noticing it long ago. It is not that hard to put the thing in the garage – it wasn’t going to get there by its own power. Nevertheless, even as I sat in my outside chair right next to it, I couldn’t find the where-with-all to put the shovel away. Laziness is next to godliness – no, that doesn’t sound right.

                I grew up with the saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Although not exactly found in the Bible, the adage still has a lot of biblical roots. “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.” (Ecclesiastes 6:11, NLT) We were raised imbued with the Protestant Work Ethic. Hard work was the best route to success, prosperity and a meaningful life. If you weren’t succeeding, work harder and smarter! Hard work never killed anyone. Apply yourself. Work hard. Make an all-out effort.

                Even Jesus seems to approve of hard work. His several parables about servants being ready for action and prepared to do their duty are mindful of the work that Christians will be called to do. The one parable that stands out is the Parable of the Labourers for the Vineyard. The main question was, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” (Matthew 20:6, NLT) It seems implied that there are no excuses for idleness.

                I’m tired just researching and reading this material!!

                The Apostle Paul is no shirker, either. He made a living for himself even as he was evangelizing and preaching – a tentmaker by trade and saw himself as a model for others to emulate. “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you.” (2 Thess. 3:7, NLT)   He was quite harsh about the lazybones in his churches, calling them out for being a burden on the church. Even worse, this idleness left to a bevy of bad behaviours. For example, a few widows who “learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house; and they are not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say.” (1 Timothy 5:13, NLT) Ouch!

                Paul has some advice for us who carry the bulk of the work in our churches, but it could apply to businesses, homes, organizations, governments, etc.: “Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 13 -15, The Message Bible)

                “But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.”  (1 Corinthians 3:13, NLT)

                I don’t think he means putting away snow shovels, either!

 Dale