“Don’t Grow Weary in the ‘Be Loving’ Life”
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
26th Sunday after Pentecost Pastor Chip Winter
Grace to you and Peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen. The text for our sermon is the epistle appointed for this day and already read for us from St.
Paul’s second letter to the churches in Thessalonica.
My dear family in Christ, I must confess I have been laboring under a misconception for
quite some time. I thought a certain word had a couple of different meanings – or more accurately
that I could justifiably use it in two different ways. Now I find that truly one was the preferred way
of using it. That word, found in this morning’s text, is “weary.”
While Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary allows for “causing or showing tiredness” to
define weary, that’s not the main sense. I’ve used it in this sense when describing how one feels
after a great deal of exertion, when something has been accomplished with a significant amount of
effort. There is a feeling of tired or weariness for church workers for example, when Christmas
arrives following the extra energies exerted in Advent, or Easter after Lent’s observance. It’s a
good weariness to be sure, but a weariness none the less.
But the main sense of weary, and the way in which it is used in our text, is “at the end of
one’s patience…causing or showing…dispiritedness.” As St. Paul writes our brothers and sisters
1 in Thessalonica, and “CCs” us, today, he is concerned that we might be losing our patience with
those around us. Hm. How did he know?
When we’re “up and at ‘em”, working, getting things done while others are lazily idling
about the place or, if they appear busy they are mere busybodies in their feinted activity – people
who could be described as “all about the drama” or those who are “all hat, no cattle.” – that’s
when we can come close to losing our patience. Such frustrations can understandably be wearying!
Now, lest there be a misunderstanding we’re not talking in the day of St. Paul about political
differences and disagreements: those are irritating, no doubt about it, but they’re a different kind of
frustration and impatience. In this text we’re talking about people who assume that Jesus is going to
return at any moment, so why involve ourselves in the transient things of this world? If all of this is
going to be gone tomorrow, why should I get all worked up about it?
The two other texts for our worship this weekend, from Malachi and Luke, leave no doubt
about the return of our God for the Day of Judgment. But their focus on the impending “Day of
Lord” is the exact reason why we should be busy! We need to be about the Lord’s work while
there is yet time! Night is coming when no one can get work done – it’s got to be done now!
As we encourage others to the tasks of discipleship in this day we are called by St. Paul to a
very important distinction: we are not to look on the idle, the busybodies as our enemies. No, we
are to warn them as brothers who need to be alerted to God’s return and the work that He has given
us to do. Indeed, that’s the way are to look at all people, as brothers and sisters to be won to Jesus
and called to the work that is all around us, needing to be done and not simply talked about. “Care
for the sick, pray for the needy, visit those in prison, use your gifts in your daily work.”
This Lord Who comes is, after all, the One who brings healing. He is the One Who has
purchased our forgiveness, our life eternal through His passion, death and resurrection. One
2 prepares diligently for a Monarch’s arrival and it should be no less for the LORD of all creation.
One goes to great lengths to welcome the One Who has saved their life! And one draws strength
from that memory, that gratitude!
But then we turn to the other definition of the word “weary”, the one meaning “tired or
dispirted.” You know the feeling that strikes you when you see the Day Planner’s agenda and are
overwhelmed at all that lies before you. If it’s not an outright panic attack there’s a weariness that
washes over you when you realize that there is so much yet to be done! How on earth can I do it?
Where do I begin?
St. Paul calls upon us with the recommendation to imitate him, and examples can often be
helpful. Where do we begin? Well, let’s begin by doing what he did. But can we really imitate St.
Paul or St. Peter…or Saints Timothy, Silvanus or Titus, for that matter? They may be second tier
saints but theirs are daunting examples, too!
Is St. Paul asking us to pick out walking sticks and start traveling the countryside as he did
Asia Minor? Are we supposed to practice our public speaking in anticipation of going to speak
before large groups of people in the market place? Are we to mark out dates on our calendar for
debating others in their churches? The thought of these, indeed, is wearying!
No, for truly what St. Paul wants us to imitate in him was his following of the Lord Jesus.
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (I Corinthians 11:1), “Therefore be imitators of God,
as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) at which point St. Paul then described
how that loving imitation of God in Christ Jesus takes the form clean living, right and wholesome
speaking, walking in the activities of the light instead of scuffling around in the works of darkness.
3 Always bear in mind that simple things as well as heroic things constitute the fulfillment of
“beloved, be loving” in daily life. We have the opportunity to give the gift of life through blood
donations on the 25th of this month, when Christ Lutheran sponsors the afternoon in a Red Cross
Blood Drive. I don’t know about you but sitting there hooked up to the double red machine is one
of the easiest ways I know of providing a necessity for someone in need. This Advent we will have
opportunities to provide gifts to those living in difficult times through the “Angel Tree” and the
“Bags of Hope” campaigns.
Along with these measures of interaction in our community we have the care of our own
families. Prayers at the start and close of meals render thanks where it is truly due. Listening,
actively listening to spouses, children or parents does involve work, but what a measure of caring
that provides.
When was the last time you sent a note of encouragement to your godson or goddaughter?
A simple message that you have been praying for them (1) lets them know they are important to
you, (2) talking with God is important to you, and (3) the promises you made at their baptism are
important to you.
This Lord Jesus, who provides the way and the strength, exchanging His lighter burden for
our heavy burdens, is the One Who has a claim on us in our baptism. We are purchased by His
blood and empowered by His Spirit. His is the assurance at the close of the Gospel, amid all the
bedlam taking place – bedlam that would weary the hardiest of souls, “Now when these things
begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing
near.”
My friends, do not grow weary in doing good. Beloved, do not grow weary in this “be
loving” life. Look to our Lord: look to His words and work – speaking the truth in love for the
4 greater good of everyone He encountered; look to His suffering on your behalf; look to His death
which has purchase your forgiveness; look to His resurrection which means He is alive, marching
forward into each new day with you. Amen.
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