Stewardship, November 16, 2025

Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Grace, Peace, and Mercy from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, we hear of real community problems. Often, we forget that when we inhabit this community we call the church, it’s a gathering of real human beings called to live in the way of the Gospel. So of course, because we are human, we will encounter problems as we learn to live together as Christians. Paul’s letter testifies that the earliest Christian communities faced the same issues from the get-go. But we hear certain things in today’s letter that have been misinterpreted in our modern day, so we must be careful in our reading. The main problem that Paul was facing in this text seems to be in regard to some “idlers” in the community that seem to have ceased working for the common cause and therefore have renounced their responsibility within the community while also benefiting from the faithful work of others. What Paul is NOT saying in this text is what many people have superficially used this text for in the public sphere, utilizing this text to criticize government welfare or justifying the statement that those that do not work are less than those who do. Paul is addressing a theological and practical concern within the Christian community itself. In the early days of the Church, many had the expectation that the end times, the

arrival of Christ in glory to establish His Kingdom was going to happen imminently. And so because the Last Days were upon them, many simply stopped working, they “idled” by as their brothers and sisters in the faith lived up to the practices rooted in Christ’s teachings. The early communities established by Paul sought equality under God, so all were called to contribute as they were able to the mission of the church. So this is not so much about poorer members taking advantage of their more well-to do siblings, nor was it about lazy people in general. It was the specific problem that people within were participating in the misuse of the church’s limited resources. They were eating off the work of the hands of their brothers and sisters, when they were well and able to contribute to the cause of feeding the hungry, and then justifying themselves in their idleness by saying that God’s Kingdom was coming soon, so why bother. This meant that these idlers were not living by the Gospel given to them. They were grasping the fruits of faith, without living into the responsibilities and tasks of faith. Therefore, as Paul wrote, they were not “doing what is right” in light of the Gospel. Just because the world is going to end does not mean we cease “doing what is right”. Indeed, if Jesus was coming tomorrow, would we stop feeding our hungry neighbor now because of that? By no means Paul would say!

I believe this in turn leads us to one of the main themes we’ve been hearing about here at House of Prayer for the past Sundays regarding stewardship. “Doing what is right” as Paul instructs the Thessalonian church is the question of stewardship. After God has revealed His Will in Christ Jesus, are we doing what is right in regard to our work? Are we doing what is right in regard to how we use our collective resources? Are we doing what is right in regard to our time and efforts to further the mission of God’s Kingdom? All these are questions of stewardship. Are we being faithful in how we employ the things that God has given us? Remember, beloved, that everything we have is not something we possess, it all belongs to God and is a gift from God. If we have many possessions, they are not simply for our personal enjoyment, they are for the furthering of God’s love in the world. If we have things to use they are for the betterment of my neighbor, for they also belong to the created goodness that is also theirs. We did not create the essentials of the material world. The food and clothing we gift to the needy are made from things we did not create in the first place. We merely distribute and use them in benefit to human life. So Paul correctly instructs, do what is right, be faithful to Christ in how we use the things that are from God for the benefit of the neighbor.

It is healthy for us a congregation to always have this in mind. That we might inhabit a spirit of active faithfulness rather than idle faith! Not because God will not give us His grace if we are idle one day or another. But because God is pleased when we are actively loving our neighbor! How pleasing it is also that people can come through these doors and see Christians actively living and enjoying the fruits of their Gospel faith and labor. That motivates people to join a cause worth joining, even more so, it is what we were created to be in the first place! So as we think and live together our way through a month of stewardship, we can be active and creative in our thinking, how are each and every one of us pitching in for this outpost of the Kingdom of God called House of Prayer Lutheran Church. I often like to say that our collective work here is to ensure that in Hingham, Mass there is one more corner where God’s overwhelming love and compassion is manifested for people to receive. This church is God’s Mutual Aid center, where we are all called to support and care for one another in charity and mercy. We are called to mutually give each other the gifts of God, so that Christ’s life and mission may be visible to all. Our shared support of this place, our faithful stewardship, becomes a channel by which others can come here and receive the same God-given gifts you have received from it. It is a challenging enterprise, as Paul well in

advance lets us know, but what joy we can receive from it! It doesn’t even need to be something that’s on the newspapers. It is a place that perhaps quietly, like a flowers blooming on the journey, or like a tree with many fruits, people can stop on their way, and taste and see that the Lord is good. In that, to work in this place that God has set before us is a blessing. This place, by God’s grace, beautifies and changes the atmosphere in which it stands. Like the prophet Malachi declared, here at House of Prayer we have been entrusted with the task of revering and bearing the Name that brings the sun of righteousness, and with healing in its wings. Your active faith in this common life of being the church is a healing balm, beloved. Let us never forget what God is doing with us here. That, in the end, is the goal of stewardship. To not forget what is right in light of the Gospel, to tend to the least of these, to be a healing place, to be a space of reconciliation, of compassion. And that whatever we set out to do, we might seek the Lord’s face in all that we do.

Currently, in a world where much mistrust and division has been sown, let us be unified in participating in God’s movement of grace for all people. We are all ambassadors of such a movement. Our common life and service can be a living testimony. Our endurance in doing what is right gains us our souls, Jesus says. So let us not be idle in loving our neighbor, in

praying for them, in being a space where people can hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, that we are wholly loved by God. That we are called to a life beyond self-interest and competition. We are called to be human beings that imitate God in Jesus Christ, the true picture of humanity. What God does here beloved, is a gift that we should not squander, but share openly and freely. Let us then ask God to give us the peace and strength that can endure and be active in the works of love, that our stewardship of this place reflect Him that loved us into being. What we do as a church becomes a part of who we are. Then everything we do together, then becomes part of our identity. What a great thing God in Jesus Christ has made. He’s made love and forgiveness, service and fellowship in Christ, the essence of who we are. And that is something to celebrate and sustain. Let us then pray: