INTRO.- Keep away from the brothers. That’s strange advice. Keep away from certain people. That may not be so strange.
ILL.- A farmer, seeing a lot of crows picking up seed he had sown in a field, took his shotgun and fired at them. All the birds flew away except one that lay wounded on the ground. Going to the wounded bird, the farmer discovered that it was his own pet parrot. It had gotten out of its cage and flown the crows in the field. Its wing was broken from the shot. Picking it up, the farmer said, "Polly, this is what happens from keeping bad company."
He put the wounded parrot under his arm and headed back to the house. As he neared the house, his little girl ran out to meet him. She said, "Have you shot any crows?" The farmer replied, "I have shot Polly." And before he could tell his little girl what happened, Polly piped up and said, "Bad company. Bad company."
Bad company could get a person shot or maybe imprisoned or something else.
ILL.- George Washington once wrote, "Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your reputation. For it’s better to be alone than in bad company."
ILL.- William Gladstone said, "Choose wisely your companions, for a young man’s companions, more than his food or clothes, his home or his parents, make him what he is."
Is he saying that peer pressure is stronger than parent’s pressure on a child? It could well be. It was in my case.
I Cor. 15:33 "Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character."
Most of us realize that you just don’t want to associate with certain kinds of people. Evil or bad habits, etc. rub off on people. And it seems like evil rubs off easier than good does.
14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Paul is saying that there some within the church that we should not associate with! KEEP AWAY FROM THE BROTHERS! Wow!
Are there some bad brothers in the church? Could be. The church is the place where sinners can come to be saved but sometimes, it takes a while for some people to overcome their sin.
Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. If people act like they don’t want to associate with you, doesn’t that make you wonder? Like, "What’s wrong with me? What did I do?" And we may have done something wrong.
Keep away from certain brothers if they are not living right. It might help them to realize that they are wrong and need to change. Paul is talking about an idle brother. What’s so wrong with being idle? A little idleness is ok if it doesn’t lead to orneriness.
When some people get in the idle mode, they are not just idle. They are worse than idle. Some, in fact, are downright lazy!
ILL.- George Borrow said: It has been said that idleness is the parent of mischief.
ILL.- Isaac Watts said: Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do. Or as we heard in the past: Idle hands are a devil’s workshop.
If you give most people too much idle time and they’ll end up doing something that they shouldn’t do. This may not be true for everyone but it’s true for many people. Why does this happen? Because Satan is alive and well on planet earth! And he loves to tempt people to sin anyway he can!
Paul is speaking about a form of ildeness that leads a person to be lazy and a busybody. PAUL SAID, "Keep away from every brother who is idle."
PROP.- Our text tells us what idleness is in God’s eyes.
1- Idleness is sinning
2- Idleness is stealing
3- Idleness is snooping
I. IDLENESS IS SINNING
6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
ILL.- A teacher gave a subject for composition class. The subject given was “WHAT?” For an hour, the whole class busily expounded, expanded, and defined this word and related concepts in pages of paper. A mischievous boy submitted his paper in 1 minute and left the class. On his sheet, he had written: “SO WHAT?”
I would call that laziness, wouldn’t you? He was clever but lazy.That student wasn’t even willing to give it a good try.
Why would laziness or idleness be considered a sin? Because when a person is completely idle they are not doing anything good and we are supposed to be doers in life! And doers of the Word and doers of work! Laziness is a sin.
Proverbs 10:4 "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth."
Proverbs 26:15 "The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth."
A person is pretty doggone lazy when they don’t even want to feed themselves.
Ecclesiastes 10:18 "If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks."
OUCH! Is there something around your house that needs to be done, repaired? It certainly won’t get repaired if the owner is lazy.
James 4:17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins."
When we know there are some good things that we ought to do, then we should do them. Otherwise, laziness, procrastination, etc. could be a sin in our lives. In fact, most people are probably more guilty of the sin of omission than the sin of commission!
ILL.- A survey in England reveals that although 26 million persons are baptized Anglicans, only 2,887,671 are registered on church membership rolls.
In Latin America, long considered a Christian stronghold, 88 percent of the population are baptized Roman Catholics, yet Catholic authorities report that the “vast majority” seldom see the inside of a church.
Brothers and sisters, I think it’s a sin to claim Christ as your Savior and then not attend the Lord’s Church with a certain amount of faithfulness! Some people who claim Christ have the attitude of: "I’ll go if I want to go, but if I have something else I would rather do, I will do that." THAT’S A SIN! That’s indifference. That’s a lack of commitment and dedication to the ONE person who is going us eternal life! That’s idolatry!
But it gets worse than not attending church. There are other things that we fail to do that are as bad or worse. WHAT?
Failing to evangelize the lost when we have the greatest gift of all to give to people! How many times have we had an opportunity to speak for Christ and didn’t? We’re all guilty.
ILL.- Dr. Margaret Mead, distinguished anthropologist and author, made a very interesting observation in an address. She pointed out that for a long time it was the universal custom to say on parting: “Good-bye,” which is a shortened form of “God be with you.” Today it is quite common instead to say: “Take it easy.”
ISN’T THIS THE TRUTH? But I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to tell people to "take it easy." I want to encourage people to go to work, to do something, to get involved, to serve one another in love, to witness to others for Christ, etc.
I most certainly believe and practice saying to people, "God bless you," but I also want to challenge and encourage others to be busy for the Lord! Idleness is sinning in the sense of failing to do good.
II. IDLENESS IS STEALING
7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
ILL.- A man, charged with stealing a turkey, appeared in court. He told the judge that his action was an answer to prayer. When the judge asked him to explain, the man said: “Well, judge, it was the night before Thanksgiving, and I didn’t have a turkey. I prayed for the Lord to send me one. At midnight I still had no turkey. So then I prayed for the Lord to send me after a turkey. And He did!”
BALONEY! God doesn’t tell anybody to steal from someone else!
ILL.- Thefts from hotels and motels have reached 500 million dollars a year and probably more. Hotel managers count on 1 of every 3 guests stealing something. In a recent year, 4,600 Bibles were lifted from New York City hotel rooms. Professional thieves frequently strip motel rooms of TV sets.
One magazine reports that during the first ten months’ operation of a New York hotel, these items were stolen: 38,000 spoons, 18,000 towels, 355 silver coffee pots, 1,500 silver finger bowls, and 100 Bibles.
Stealing is a sin, but there are many different forms of stealing. A person can steal without literally stealing some object from someone else. Idleness is stealing.
ILL.- One summer while I was in church camp I had a preacher friend ask me, "Do you work 40 hours a week?" He said, "There are many preachers out there who don’t."
And what if a preacher or anyone else, for that matter, were hired to work 40 hours a week and they didn’t work 40 hours a week?? That would be stealing.
Idleness is stealing time from an employer. Idleness is not working hard. And it could be not working at all!
ILL.- It was said of preacher John Wesley that he traveled over 250,000 miles on horseback over a period of 40 years preaching the Gospel. He preached 40,000 sermons. He wrote 400 books. Knew 10 languages. At 83 he was annoyed that he couldn’t write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes. At 86 he was ashamed because he couldn’t preach more than twice a day. He complained in his diary that there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 in the morning. (in other words, he thought he was getting lazy)
John Wesley was a hard worker. Few people today work as hard he did. And I realize that we all have our own pace, but some are purposely slow because they don’t want to work.
Idleness is stealing not only from an employer but also from the God of heaven! Huh?! How’s that?
Ephesians 5:15-17 "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."
Are we always making the most of our time for the Lord? Are we using our time for the Lord? How much time do we waste on a daily basis on frivolous things when we could do something for the Lord? Some idleness could be stealing from God.
III. IDLENESS IS SNOOPING
11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. 14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Some are not busy. They are busybodies.
ILL.- Do you remember the old days when you had to ring the operator to get a certain phone number? And do you remember those days when you were on a party line? And did you ever listen in to a neighbor’s phone call? Ah ha, what is that?
ILL.- Do you remember back in September when Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin’s email account was hacked into? The stolen data contained five screenshots from Palin’s account, including the text of an e-mail exchange with Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell about his campaign for Congress.
Why would anybody want to do something like that? Either they wanted to be snoopy or meddle into her business or else they wanted to sabotage her campaign. Or maybe they just wanted to see if they could do it. Sounds like a kid and it was a kid.
David Christopher Kernell, the University of Tennessee student, son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, D-Memphis, turned himself in after being indicted by a federal grand jury. He can stay out of jail for now as long as he stays off his computer. He got off easy. But not everyone does.
ILL.- Tuesday, Dec. 16, 08. Former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano was sentenced to prison for running an illegal wiretapping operation that gathered information for a list of well-to-do clients, including celebrities, attorneys and business executives.
Now the 64 year-old is going to jail. He’s been found guilty of 78 charges, including wiretapping and racketeering, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
ILL.- Here’s another. A number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama’s personal cell phone account. All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay.
Snooping, wiretapping, computer hacking, etc. can get a person into serious trouble; jail trouble! But there are lesser ways of snooping into other people’s business. And even though most people wouldn’t wire-tap, etc. they might do other things to snoop into people’s affairs.
Most people wouldn’t do this kind of thing but sometimes, we would like to know about other people’s business or perhaps be able to tell others how to run their lives and their business.
Paul is saying in our text, of course, that we must be busy, minding our own business, doing our own work and then we won’t try to meddle into other people’s business or lives. But if someone is a big meddler, keep away from that brother!
CONCLUSION------------------------------
ILL.- Henry David Thoreau said, "Why should we be in such a desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
Brothers and sisters, we DO hear the beat of a different drummer. We hear the Lord Jesus in His Word. And we follow Him as best we can, which will always keep us doing His work and keep us out of trouble and out of other people’s business.
When we focus on the Lord and doing His will, we won’t have to worry much about causing trouble for others.
