"Rule Of Thumb: No Work, No Food" Series

18 November 2007

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

Ord Military Chapel

Seaside CA

BIG IDEA: During this Thanksgiving Season, Christians (everywhere) should recall the blessings which stem from working diligently.

REFERENCES: Genesis 2:15; (Proverbs 20:11 KJV (Even a child is known by his doing whether his work be pure, and whether it be right); 1 Thessalonians Chapters 1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:14 MSG (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); Proverbs 6:6 (Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise); Proverbs 30:24-26:(There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks); Proverbs 18:9 KJV (He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster); 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 NIV; 2 Thessalonians 3:10 NIV (For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “if a man will not work, he shall not eat.”); Matthews 25:14-30 (The Lord continues to warn the saints about the dangers of spiritual sluggardness in the parable of the talents);

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (NIV)

II. READ THE PERICOPE: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (NIV)

III. READ THE TEXT: 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV) For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers, during this Thanksgiving Season, to remember the blessings which come from working their fingers to the bones.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “Rule of Thumb: No Work, No Food”

VI. INTRODUCTION:

Most of you are aware that I’m an only child from Jacksonville, Florida. But, what you might not know is the fact that my parents reared me with a strong working morality.

As a result, I’ve been working and earning wages since I was 10 years of age. I have done everything from cutting lawns to throwing newspapers.

Therefore, I am a real advocate of teenagers working and learning responsibilities. Now, their job doesn’t have to be outside the home; they could have chores inside the home that earn them wages. But the bottom-line is: work is healthy for our children.

Proverbs 20:11 (KJV) says, “Even a child is known by his doing ; whether his work be pure, and whether it be right”.

Parents, unfortunately I have Good News and Bad News for you today. The Good News is God sees your faithful efforts in shaping your children into productive and future hardworking Christian citizens of society. The Bad News – Laziness is NOT a sin.

So you have to STOP telling your children that “they’re going to hell if they don’t stop being so lazy”.

Although laziness IS a behavior flaw and characteristic which promises not to serve them (or us) well in the future. I could not find (although I tried) any biblical proof that laziness (in and of itself) is damnable or sinful.

*****************TAKE 5 BEATS******************

MOVE 1: Now, it’s true that in some Christian circles, one might stumble across a phrase dubbed, “The Seven Deadly Sins”

a. (and the seventh being “sloth” or laziness) …

b. … and attribute those sins as being Biblical – but it isn’t.

c. There is no scriptural proof of “The Seven Deadly Sins”.

d. For God has made it clear throughout the Bible … that all sins are deadly …

e. … because all sins are transgression of God’s Law and will result in our damnation.

******************TAKE 5 BEATS*****************

MOVE 2: For don’t you remember, the Bible says in Romans 6:23, …

a. …“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

b. There is Good News on the horizon.

c. The Bible (in both the Old and New Testament) does highly discourage “Slothfulness and Laziness” .

d. In fact, man is highly encourage to work or don’t eat; that in and of itself should motivate some of our teens.

*******************TAKE 5 BEATS*****************

MOVE 3: For who can ever forget the Jewish Proverbs ( such as Proverbs 6:6; and Proverbs 30:24-26) which discourage laziness and encourage all to examine the lifestyle of the ant and become ANT-LIGENT.

a. In 1 Corinthians 3:8, Paul says “a man is to receive according to his labor” and in 1 Timothy 5:18 he says to his young understudy – Timotheus - that “a laborer is worthy of his wages”, which implies that the sluggard isn’t entitled to be fed or rewarded.