Welcome to this week’s episode, a special rerun from our Speaking of Life archive. We hope you find its timeless message as meaningful today as it was when it was first shared.
Watch video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt99mrWxcmw
Program Transcript
Speaking Of Life 1051 | Souls Under Construction
Jeff Broadnax
Have you ever had your home remodeled? You excitedly start with a vision of what will be, but once construction begins, you wonder if you should have ever started. The project disrupts your normal routine, makes the house messy, and usually takes far longer than anticipated.
Sound familiar? Well, only if you have gone through a home remodeling project…or…if you have experienced being “remodeled” by Jesus, the master carpenter.
C.S. Lewis, in his book, Mere Christianity, describes Jesus’ remodeling like this:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
This quote is a good reminder of what the Father is doing in Jesus by the Spirit in our lives. His remodeling project may not be easy in the present, but our hope in the finished work moves us forward in joy.
The prophet Isaiah directed the people of Israel with similar words written with a cosmic scope.
[LOOK DOWN]
“Pay close attention now: I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I’ll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people: No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish.” (Isaiah 65:17-19 MSG)
[LOOK UP]
If you want to improve your house a little, a local handyman will probably do. But if you want to be a home where every square inch is overflowing in delight and joy…well, you will need a craftsman for that. His name is Jesus and he always finishes what he starts. The project he starts will be a lot bigger than you can imagine. But it will be well worth it.
I’m Jeff Broadnax, Speaking of Life
Program Transcript
Speaking Of Life 1051 | Souls Under Construction
Jeff Broadnax
Have you ever had your home remodeled? You excitedly start with a vision of what will be, but once construction begins, you wonder if you should have ever started. The project disrupts your normal routine, makes the house messy, and usually takes far longer than anticipated.
Sound familiar? Well, only if you have gone through a home remodeling project…or…if you have experienced being “remodeled” by Jesus, the master carpenter.
C.S. Lewis, in his book, Mere Christianity, describes Jesus’ remodeling like this:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
This quote is a good reminder of what the Father is doing in Jesus by the Spirit in our lives. His remodeling project may not be easy in the present, but our hope in the finished work moves us forward in joy.
The prophet Isaiah directed the people of Israel with similar words written with a cosmic scope.
[LOOK DOWN]
“Pay close attention now: I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I’ll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people: No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish.” (Isaiah 65:17-19 MSG)
[LOOK UP]
If you want to improve your house a little, a local handyman will probably do. But if you want to be a home where every square inch is overflowing in delight and joy…well, you will need a craftsman for that. His name is Jesus and he always finishes what he starts. The project he starts will be a lot bigger than you can imagine. But it will be well worth it.
I’m Jeff Broadnax, Speaking of Life
Isaiah 12:1-6 • Isaiah 65:17–25 • 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13 • Luke 21:5–19
This week’s theme is the Lord’s work. Our call to worship response is taken from Isaiah 12 where we join in giving thanks to the Lord and making known his works among the nations. The Old Testament text continues in Isaiah 65 with a vivid description of the new heavens and new earth the Lord is about to create. Our New Testament reading from 2 Thessalonians recounts Paul’s address on the problem of those living irresponsibly and meddling in the affairs of others. The Gospel text from Luke presents Jesus’ discourse concerning the end of Jerusalem and the temple along with the coming of the Son of Man.
Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.
How to use this sermon resource.
Grace that Works
2 Thessalonians 3:6–13 ESV
Today we reach the end of the season of Ordinary Time which will be capped off next week with the special day known as Reign of Christ Sunday. Then we gear back up with Advent to repeat the liturgical cycle. We are also at the end of our time in 2 Thessalonians, which visits a short passage that is only three verses shy of the end of the letter. Either way you slice it, we are nearing the end. Which is fitting, seeing that our passage has running in the background some distorted views on the “end times” which have created some destructive patterns in the Thessalonian church.
If you remember from the last two sermons from 2 Thessalonians, Paul is addressing new Gentile believers who have been experiencing persecution. They have also had to contend with some people who have been speaking in Paul’s name, claiming that Jesus has already returned. Paul aims to encourage the believers on the first point, and he aims to set the record straight on the second point. However, Paul had a third issue he wants to revisit from his first letter to the Thessalonian church that apparently went unheeded. There are some believers who are not willing to work. They are also meddling in affairs that do not pertain to them, becoming “busybodies,” in Paul’s words. It is this third concern that Paul addresses in our short passage today. Seeing that he has already addressed this issue in his first letter, you will notice that Paul is taking a stronger stance on the issue.
Just for some background, let’s read how Paul first addressed this issue in 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12:
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 ESV
Now that is certainly a gentle correction wrapped in a compliment. Compare that to our text today:
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. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 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. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13 ESV
It’s pretty evident that Paul has escalated his clear command on this issue. Before we get into the text, it may be good to make an observation on these two styles of correction contrasted in each letter. Has Paul lost his cool? Is he now being mean because they didn’t respond the way he wanted? Or can we say that both responses are a response of grace? A proper understanding of “grace” will help us see that in both letters Paul was being full of grace towards these new believers. He has not lost his cool or turned up the heat as an overaction. Paul is holding the new believers, which he insists on calling “brothers,” to grace.
That may sound like an odd assessment in our culture today where extending “grace” is often understood as giving someone a pass on a wrongdoing or misdeed. But this is not the biblical understanding of grace. Grace is better understood as God’s unwavering gift to us, where he refuses to leave us in our sins, but commits himself to our becoming what he created us to be.
God’s grace is not an overlooking of our sins as if they don’t really matter. If that was the case, then we could rightly say that he doesn’t really love us. In fact, he would be quite indifferent towards us altogether. But he is not indifferent, he is implacably for us, more than we are for ourselves. He will never cease working for our good, and that means he will never settle for anything that harms or interferes with who he created us to be. Paul’s strong return to the same issue in this second letter reflects the same committed love and grace of the Father. Paul will not let the issue go. Paul is trying to call forth a fitting response of faith from those who are new followers of Christ. So, as we read through the text, don’t confuse the tone of the passage as something other than God’s grace spoken to us through Paul’s response to these idle “busybodies.”
Now, let’s go back through the passage to see how Paul’s words may also speak a word of grace to us as well.
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. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 ESV
Notice how Paul addresses the issue within the context of community. The idleness that Paul is addressing is not just an individualistic problem, but it is one that presents a danger to the community. So, Paul enlists the community of believers to be part of the solution. In fact, his first command is directed, not at those being idle, but to the other believers in community with them. Paul commands, “keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness.” Wow, that sounds harsh. But let’s not miss a couple of key details.
First, Paul is still referring to those being idle as “brother.” He has not commanded that they be removed from the church. But there is to be some form of “keeping away.” How this is worked out we are not told. But it seems the intent is to place the burden that the idle ones were bringing to the community, back on themselves. And it will help to define a little better the word being translated as “idle.” The word in Greek is ataktos, which is an odd little adverb that is only found in this passage. The word means “disorderly or irregularly” and has also been translated as “unruly” in other translations. “Unruly” gets more to the point that Paul is addressing. Later we see that they are also referred to as being busybodies. However, as this is being played out, these “unruly” ones are not contributing to the community by pulling their own weight but instead are likely staying busy by wasting their time poking their nose in matters that don’t concern them. It is also possible that they are a burden on others in the community. By telling the other believers to “keep away,” Paul intends they will in effect prevent further enabling of the idle brothers’ unruly ways. These busybodies will have to bear the burden of their own choices.
In this way, Paul is giving them the chance to learn by experiencing the consequences of their own actions, since they were not willing to listen to Paul’s instructions. We might say, “Ok then, you will need to learn this the hard way.” It would have been easier had they just listened to Paul in the first place. In fact, Paul goes on to show that he and his partners not only told them not to be idle but showed them by their own example a life that was diligent in service and obedience to the Lord.
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 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. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:7–10 ESV
Paul and his co-workers could have demanded pay for their services, but they were more concerned about the community than their rights. Paul may also be putting distance between himself and the common practice of some traveling philosophers who would wheel into town with their ideas and demand money for their teaching. Paul did not want to be mistaken as just another windbag looking for a payoff. He wasn’t spouting off his own ideas; he was proclaiming the truth of the gospel he had received by direct revelation from Christ (Galatians 1:11-12). Now that Paul has addressed the community on how to deal with the unruly ones, he will conclude by once again commanding those who are idle to change their ways.
For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:11–13 ESV
Paul now pulls together more succinctly the issue at hand. These people are being idle, meaning unruly, while at the same time meddling in other peoples’ affairs. So, they are busy with the wrong things. Paul not only commands them but encourages them “to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” That would be a blessing to them as well as the community of believers they belong to.
Paul’s final exhortation is for the brothers to “not grow weary in doing good.” This is the proper orientation; it does not allow room for being unruly and not working in a way that contributes to the community. If our focus is on “doing good” then we will not be insisting on our rights or taking advantage of others. Perhaps these unruly ones have grown weary in doing good after they heard the false rumor that Jesus had already returned. We know this rumor created alarm, and they were shaken. If they believed that Jesus had returned and forgotten them, it’s understandable that they felt hopeless. And hopelessness leads to weariness and despondence.
“Doing good” will be one of the things that will be characteristic of the new heaven and earth Jesus establishes upon his return. We will never outgrow “doing good” to others and acting in a way that benefits the community. The kingdom of God is not a place for unruly busybodies, but the place where we live truly as humans who live out the love Jesus showed toward us by giving his own life to save us.
Perhaps the challenge that confronts many of us in this passage is learning how to live with the unruly busybodies in our community. The approach Paul takes amounts to grace. We will need to be for those who have yet to learn how to be for others. It will be a struggle to patiently and consistently be an example and a corrective to behaviors that are not fitting for the kingdom of God. In our sure hope of the coming of the fullness of the kingdom, we live out now what we look forward to enjoying then. And we seek to help others grow in the same direction — namely, peace with God and man; a peace that means we are fully for one another in the same way God is fully for us. That’s a kingdom of grace. Not a grace that permits behaviors that run against the kingdom, but a grace that will not settle for anything less than God’s best. In that sure hope, may we too “not grow weary in doing good.” Amen!
Dr. Dwight Zscheile—Year C Proper 28
Listen to audio: https://cloud.gci.org/dl/GReverb/GR069-Zcheielle-YearC-Proper28.mp3
Sunday, November 16, 2025 — Proper 28 of Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 NRSVUE
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Program Transcript
Dr. Dwight Zscheile—Year C Proper 29
Anthony: Let’s transition to our next pericope of the month. It’s 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Proper 28 in Ordinary Time, November 16.
Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother or sister living irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not irresponsible when we were with you, 8 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. 9 This was not because we do not have that right but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11 For we hear that some of you are living irresponsibly, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
So, what’s Paul doing here? Is he inviting us to condemn brothers and sisters who are not living as we are living? He gives an imperative in verse 6, to keep away from people living irresponsibly and according to tradition. Easy for me to say. What’s going on here, Dwight?
Dwight: Yeah. So, this is a very interesting text for us to wrestle with in today’s church because we, of course, become very uncomfortable often when we think about, we’re supposed to keep away from our sisters and brothers in Christ. And often a lot of churches for good reasons, really want to have a generous spirit of inclusion and not shame or exclude people. But I think part of what we need to get back to is what does it mean to live faithfully in this in-between time as a community, again, justified and sanctified by Christ in the Spirit for a particular purpose of witness and faithfulness in the world? And I wonder to me if Paul in this isn’t saying, look, there are people who are bringing discredit to the gospel in the ways that they are living again, living irresponsibly. Maybe it’s just that they’re like, hey, we don’t need to do any work because we’re expecting Jesus, to come back and take care of the mess. We’re not going contribute to our own livelihood, to loving our neighbor, to serving our neighbor, to being productive kind of citizens of the community
Paul’s saying, “Hey, wait a minute, you’re really missing out on what it means to live in this in-between time and to be the Body of Christ.” And so, I think what’s at stake in this is something really bigger than simply shunning someone. It is about, what is the integrity of our vocation as the church in this time, right? So, when he talks about people living irresponsibly, not doing any work: if to follow Jesus to be a Christian means that we just give up on loving and serving our neighbors, Paul has no patience with that. I think he’s saying, no, no, no. Our witness to our neighbors is going to be not in us withdrawing in that way, but in us actually loving them and serving sacrificially and as Jesus did, and being able to name a reason for the hope that is within us as to why we do that.
I think there’s, of course, lots of different moments in church history. We can look and say people withdrew and gave up everything waiting for Jesus to come back. And then were disappointed in some way and I think God doesn’t really want that. God wants us to be engaged with our neighbors in a way that is, you know, generous and fruitful, because that’s where the witness takes place.
Anthony: I love how you talk about vocation in the in-between times and this inaugurated eschatology and this vocation, this calling can feel like work, right? At the end of the day, it can feel like work, a heaviness to it.
And Paul gives the statement to not be weary in doing what is right. And so, I’m going invite you to maybe make this personal. Have you experienced weariness in doing good and or witnessed it in others who are close to you? And if so, what would you suggest is underneath that lived experience? And how do we address it?
Dwight: And yeah. Absolutely. I absolutely have experienced weariness like I think so many of us have, right, in trying to both to follow Jesus and to love others in the context of that. And I think underneath that so often is, what’s our relationship with God? How goes your walk with Jesus, in the sense of, are you grounded in the practices of spiritual presence in which God’s grace is made known to you daily in which you can sink into that embrace?
I think often when I’ve grown weary, it’s when I have fallen into a pattern of self-justification, when I think it’s all up to me, and I’ve got to just work harder, and my own spiritual rhythms and practices have gotten out of whack. And I’m not keeping a Sabbath or I’m not doing the kind of practices of prayer and scripture reading each day or whatever that would ground me in God’s presence.
And I see this sometimes with leaders. It’s very easy as a leader, it can be heady to be at the center of everything and to be the one who’s bringing the energy and really trying to fix everything for everyone and do it all. And I think when we fall into that trap, we very easily grow weary as a way of just missing, I think again, this basic premise that central to faith, a life of faith is trusting that God’s ultimate. And it’s just hard to remember that and practice out of that kind of place. And when we don’t, we really do very easily grow weary and, gosh, we think of a lot of leaders of various sorts, not just pastors, but other kinds of leaders who end up falling into all kinds of misconduct and things like that because they’re just not grounded in that way.
And so, I think it’s important when we think about the importance of spiritual practices in our lives not to think of those as justifying activities on a list of many things to do, we’ve got to tick those boxes, but rather as the spaces through which we are rooted in the vine as branches as in the John 15 kind of way of Jesus and his love. And if we’re living out of some other kind of rootedness, some other kind of soil, if you will, ultimately, we’re not going to bear fruit. We’re going end up burning out.
Anthony: Yeah, that’s a good word. And I agree with everything you said and you just were speaking about rootedness. I have also found in my own personal walk that when I isolate from community in any way, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that’s where weariness sets in. I just firmly believe healing happens in community. And should we be surprised by that we’re made in the image and likeness of a triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, a community of other-centeredness. That’s where the good stuff happens. And if we isolate in any way, it’s just not good. It’s unhealthy and, at least for me, that’s where weariness and burnout can set in. A word for all of us. Yeah.
Program Transcript
Dr. Dwight Zscheile—Year C Proper 29
Anthony: Let’s transition to our next pericope of the month. It’s 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Proper 28 in Ordinary Time, November 16.
Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother or sister living irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not irresponsible when we were with you, 8 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. 9 This was not because we do not have that right but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11 For we hear that some of you are living irresponsibly, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
So, what’s Paul doing here? Is he inviting us to condemn brothers and sisters who are not living as we are living? He gives an imperative in verse 6, to keep away from people living irresponsibly and according to tradition. Easy for me to say. What’s going on here, Dwight?
Dwight: Yeah. So, this is a very interesting text for us to wrestle with in today’s church because we, of course, become very uncomfortable often when we think about, we’re supposed to keep away from our sisters and brothers in Christ. And often a lot of churches for good reasons, really want to have a generous spirit of inclusion and not shame or exclude people. But I think part of what we need to get back to is what does it mean to live faithfully in this in-between time as a community, again, justified and sanctified by Christ in the Spirit for a particular purpose of witness and faithfulness in the world? And I wonder to me if Paul in this isn’t saying, look, there are people who are bringing discredit to the gospel in the ways that they are living again, living irresponsibly. Maybe it’s just that they’re like, hey, we don’t need to do any work because we’re expecting Jesus, to come back and take care of the mess. We’re not going contribute to our own livelihood, to loving our neighbor, to serving our neighbor, to being productive kind of citizens of the community
Paul’s saying, “Hey, wait a minute, you’re really missing out on what it means to live in this in-between time and to be the Body of Christ.” And so, I think what’s at stake in this is something really bigger than simply shunning someone. It is about, what is the integrity of our vocation as the church in this time, right? So, when he talks about people living irresponsibly, not doing any work: if to follow Jesus to be a Christian means that we just give up on loving and serving our neighbors, Paul has no patience with that. I think he’s saying, no, no, no. Our witness to our neighbors is going to be not in us withdrawing in that way, but in us actually loving them and serving sacrificially and as Jesus did, and being able to name a reason for the hope that is within us as to why we do that.
I think there’s, of course, lots of different moments in church history. We can look and say people withdrew and gave up everything waiting for Jesus to come back. And then were disappointed in some way and I think God doesn’t really want that. God wants us to be engaged with our neighbors in a way that is, you know, generous and fruitful, because that’s where the witness takes place.
Anthony: I love how you talk about vocation in the in-between times and this inaugurated eschatology and this vocation, this calling can feel like work, right? At the end of the day, it can feel like work, a heaviness to it.
And Paul gives the statement to not be weary in doing what is right. And so, I’m going invite you to maybe make this personal. Have you experienced weariness in doing good and or witnessed it in others who are close to you? And if so, what would you suggest is underneath that lived experience? And how do we address it?
Dwight: And yeah. Absolutely. I absolutely have experienced weariness like I think so many of us have, right, in trying to both to follow Jesus and to love others in the context of that. And I think underneath that so often is, what’s our relationship with God? How goes your walk with Jesus, in the sense of, are you grounded in the practices of spiritual presence in which God’s grace is made known to you daily in which you can sink into that embrace?
I think often when I’ve grown weary, it’s when I have fallen into a pattern of self-justification, when I think it’s all up to me, and I’ve got to just work harder, and my own spiritual rhythms and practices have gotten out of whack. And I’m not keeping a Sabbath or I’m not doing the kind of practices of prayer and scripture reading each day or whatever that would ground me in God’s presence.
And I see this sometimes with leaders. It’s very easy as a leader, it can be heady to be at the center of everything and to be the one who’s bringing the energy and really trying to fix everything for everyone and do it all. And I think when we fall into that trap, we very easily grow weary as a way of just missing, I think again, this basic premise that central to faith, a life of faith is trusting that God’s ultimate. And it’s just hard to remember that and practice out of that kind of place. And when we don’t, we really do very easily grow weary and, gosh, we think of a lot of leaders of various sorts, not just pastors, but other kinds of leaders who end up falling into all kinds of misconduct and things like that because they’re just not grounded in that way.
And so, I think it’s important when we think about the importance of spiritual practices in our lives not to think of those as justifying activities on a list of many things to do, we’ve got to tick those boxes, but rather as the spaces through which we are rooted in the vine as branches as in the John 15 kind of way of Jesus and his love. And if we’re living out of some other kind of rootedness, some other kind of soil, if you will, ultimately, we’re not going to bear fruit. We’re going end up burning out.
Anthony: Yeah, that’s a good word. And I agree with everything you said and you just were speaking about rootedness. I have also found in my own personal walk that when I isolate from community in any way, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that’s where weariness sets in. I just firmly believe healing happens in community. And should we be surprised by that we’re made in the image and likeness of a triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, a community of other-centeredness. That’s where the good stuff happens. And if we isolate in any way, it’s just not good. It’s unhealthy and, at least for me, that’s where weariness and burnout can set in. A word for all of us. Yeah.
Small Group Discussion Questions
- In comparing the two passages of Paul’s address about the “idle,” what stood out to you and how can we say both addresses are full of grace?
- Do you see other reasons Paul would have told the community to “keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us?”
- Discuss how a faulty understanding of Jesus’ return in the future can affect our behavior in the present.
- What are ways we can help those who fall into the category of being idle or unruly, who are living lives that do not contribute to the blessing of others?
