“Work and Worship”

I have a confession to make.

It is a confession that may be fairly dangerous to make on this particular morning, when we welcome the members of the St. Andrew’s Society to this service.  The St. Andrew’s Society, which was established in 1836, in large part by members of this congregation, has done exemplary work in the city of Toronto for over 150 years.  While it was originally established to provide aid to Scottish immigrants as they began their life in this country, the Society has done a remarkable amount of charitable work over its history, not only with people of Scottish descent, but on behalf of anyone who needs a helping hand. 

As well as its charitable work, the Society has also worked to celebrate the best of the Scottish cultural heritage.  We all realize, of course, that the Presbyterian Church in Canada is no longer the primarily Scottish tradition that it once was. In this city alone, there are Presbyterian Churches whose worship is conducted in Hungarian, Portuguese, Spanish, Ghanaian, English, Korean, and Chinese; and within many of our congregations there are people from many different cultural backgrounds.  But today, as we are joined by the members of the St. Andrew’s Society, we honour the influence of the Scottish church on our heritage.  It is good to have a number of the members of the Society in this time of worship with us today.

My potentially scandalous confession, however, is this -- although I have been in the Presbyterian Church since I was baptized, as an infant, at Glenview Church, I have never yet attended what some stereotypically consider to be the high holy day of the Scottish Presbyterian tradition.  I have never been to a Robbie Burns dinner.

I hope that I might redeem myself, at least in part, by mentioning that while I may never have attended a Burns dinner, it was only a few years ago that my wife Karen, and our two daughters Kate and Madeline, spent a lovely two week holiday in that bonnie country which lies on the barbarian’s side of Hadrian’s Wall.  One of our closest friends was being married in the town of Kirkcudbright, and we extended our holiday in order to take a trip through Scotland.

While we enjoyed many parts of the country, perhaps the most memorable experience – aside from the wedding itself -- was our journey out to the island of Iona.  Iona is not a particularly easy place to get to.  Lying off of the west coast of Scotland, one needs to travel, by ferry boat and bus, from the town of Oban, across the island of Mull, and then onto another ferry in order to arrive at Iona itself.

It is a long journey – but certainly worth it.  The island of Iona – as well as being the burial ground of a number of Scottish kings – is home to a recently restored abbey and to a wonderful spiritual community. 

Although the history of Iona stretches far back in time, to the days of St. Columba, the modern chapter of its life began in the middle part of the twentieth century.  In 1938, a minister in the Church of Scotland – named the Rev. George MacLeod – founded the ‘Iona Community’ with the intention of restoring the abbey, which had fallen into significant disrepair. 

But MacLeod was not just interested in restoring the abbey.  Having seen the poverty and deprivation in parts of Scotland, MacLeod was convinced that the mission of the church was bankrupt if the church did not also care for the physical well-being of struggling people. As a result, he made arrangements for a group of unemployed or underemployed individuals – primarily from the Glasgow area – to participate in the work of restoring the abbey. 

In so doing – and in many of his writings and sermons – MacLeod offered a tremendous reminder to the church of the importance of holding work and worship together in the Christian life. As that abbey started to be restored, both the work and the worship of the community came together.  Often, the daily morning worship services would not conclude with a benediction, as a way of reminding the community that all of the work that they did, throughout the day, was a part of their worship of God; and it was not until their closing worship service in the evening that the concluding blessing would be spoken.  In the view of MacLeod, and the members of the Iona Community, work and worship were inextricably woven together in the Christian life.

This relationship between work and worship was not new to MacLeod, nor was it a particularly Scottish contribution to the history of Christianity.  Rather, from its earliest days, our ancestors in the faith have emphasized the importance of work as a necessary component of Christian discipleship, and as a vital component of a healthy Christian community. 

Consider, for example, today’s lectionary text from 2 Thessalonians.  

The text is concerned with a tendency towards laziness in the church in Thessalonica.  As we consider this text, this morning, I would invite us to pay particular attention to three phrases in this short reading.  The first is found in verse 6 – “…keep away from believers who are living in idleness”; the second is found in verse 10 – “anyone who is unwilling to work should not eat”; and the third is found in verse 13: -- “brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right”. 

The first of these phrases seems rather judgmental.  “…keep away from believers who are living in idleness”. 

It seems that there were some, in the church in Thessalonica, who were using their newfound freedom, in Christ, as a license for laziness.  Some may have believed that Christ’s return was so imminent that there was no longer any point in working hard on what seemed to be worldly concerns; alternately, some may have been influenced by certain Greek philosophical traditions that emphasized sloth or laziness in life. Whatever the reason, it seems that there were believers in the community who were quite lazy. As verse 11 states, “for we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work”.

The author sets before them a different example.  Rather than living in idleness, the author suggests that they should imitate those who had worked diligently among them, including Paul himself, not only in spiritual tasks, but in the day-to-day work of the community. 

In order to fully comprehend the reasons for this admonition against idleness, it is necessary to hear the second phrase that we consider this morning.

And that second phrase is even more difficult to read.  “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”

This is a troubling statement.  This sentiment has often been used, at both ends of the ideological spectrum, to set boundaries on generosity.  Some, on the right, have used this idea to critique any system of social assistance or welfare, arguing that those who do not work do not deserve the blessings of life. 

On the other end of the spectrum, those who embrace a radically left-leaning ideology have also, at times, appealed to this idea to that anyone unwilling to work should not eat.   The last century witnessed entire political systems which were established with the intention of harnessing the collective productivity of all of the members of a state.  In such systems, those who were unwilling to work – whether because of extreme wealth or extreme idleness – were deemed to be undeserving of their share in the necessities of life. 

It becomes obvious, therefore, that these two extremes of ideology can adapt this text to suit their needs.

However, it is important to remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a tool of the left or the right, and the Church of Jesus Christ is never subservient to any political ideology.  So how do we hear this strange text in a way that does not fall into either ideological camp? 

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that this text was written to a group of people who were a part of a Christian community. 

And what the author was advocating was that all members of the community should contribute to its wellbeing. Those who were living in idleness were encouraged to imitate the example of those who had worked hard among them -- simply because a community that is maintained by the work of only a few of its members will soon be in danger of collapsing. 

The author’s words were intended to remind his Thessalonian readers it was not enough for a few to make significant and sacrificial contributions while the rest sat idly by; nor was it proper for some to have to give of their time, their talents and their treasury while others simply showed up to receive what the community had to offer. 

It was not right that some were willing to work while others simply desired to be fed.

This same idea has informed many different types of church communities throughout the ages.  The monastic communities, for example – not unlike Iona – were all based upon the idea that, though hospitality was to be extended to all, the members of the community itself needed to work together for the common good.

Such an idea offers a significant challenge to the ways that we sometimes ‘view’ church life in the modern world.  We live in an individualistic age, in which the question of the common good is usually secondary to the question of how we satisfy our own individual desires.  We also live in a consumer society, where the first question that we ask, in almost every part of our lives, is what can we ‘get’ out of some experience or some involvement.

In this individualistic, consumer culture, there is a dangerous tendency to extend the same questions to our participation in the church.  We approach church life primarily with the question of how our individual needs might be satisfied, or what the church is offering that we can ‘get’ out of it. 

This challenge is not simply meant for those who are new to the community, or who are ‘shopping’ for a church.  In some ways, the challenge that is offered to us who are already a part of the community is even more significant.  Within every community of faith, there are radically different levels of engagement, of dedication and of commitment among the various members. 

Consider some of the differences within a church community.  Some members of the church seek to follow the biblical invitation to set aside a tenth of their income for the work of the church; others set aside whatever spare change they have in their pockets when the collection plate comes by.  Some work tirelessly, behind the scenes, to ensure that there is a sufficient amount of help in the various ministries of a church – from the staffing of Sunday Schools, to the oversight of the maintenance needs of church building, to the provision of help in specific ministries of the church; others simply assume that the services of the church will be there when they need them to be. 

An example.  We have one member, of this congregation, who, though well over eighty years of age, rises just after 4:00 in the morning, every Tuesday morning, in order to have enough time to eat a bowl of porridge before driving all the way from Mississauga to come and serve a hot breakfast to those in desperate need on the streets of this city.   Her inspiring dedication to the Tuesday morning Out of the Cold breakfast programme is not born out of a desire to primarily get the church to do ‘what she wants’ but rather out of a desire to participate in the mission that God has entrusted to us.   And she is not particularly unique.  There are so many members of this community who quietly work to further the mission of this congregation in unseen ways.

Of course, those who offer their time in such ways rarely like to be held up as examples, because they have discovered the great mystery of compassion, and that is that their participation in the mission of the church feeds them in ways that seem to go beyond whatever contribution they have made.  They have discovered that for those who are willing to work, there is nourishment to be found.

But anyone who is unwilling to work will find it more difficult to find the same nourishment -- which should not be understood as a statement intended to exclude others, or to somehow suggest that God’s grace and love are only intended for the hardest working.  To the contrary, the church will always be a place that meets human needs, and will seek to do so in the most gracious and inclusive ways that it possibly can. 

But it is wise for us to remember the profound truth in the biblical statement that we benefit more in giving than in receiving.  As in so many things, what we get out of the church is often directly related to what we are willing to put into it. To put it another way, and to paraphrase John Kennedy, the primary question that we should ask is not what the church can do for us, but what we can do for the church.  Or, as George MacLeod and the Iona Community so wonderfully remind all of us – the work and the worship of the church are inextricably woven together.  That beautifully restored abbey on that tiny island off of the west coast of Scotland reminds us that the church is built and rebuilt, in every generation, by the combined work and worship of the faithful.

But this does not mean that those who work hard do not, from time to time, get tired.  Which leads us to our third and final focus from this text.  “Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.”

There are times when working hard is tiring.  There are times when we put all that we have into a church community, and things do not work out as we would want them to.  Some of you have been in churches in which you have worked diligently and sacrificially, only to see the church close.

It is in those times that we need to remember that we are to do the right thing not because it is always successful, in our eyes – but simply because it is the right thing to do.  We are not to grow weary in doing what is right – even when doing what is right does not lead to success.  As 1 Corinthians 15 reminds us, we are called to “be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.”

Which leads us, in fact, to the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ.

After all, Jesus did the right thing – and he was about as far from successful as one would ever hope to be.  He was so unsuccessful, in fact, that not only did most people not really understand what he was teaching them, but his own friends decided, in the end, to pretend that they did not even know him.

But he did what was right.  And the good news of the Gospel is that the power of God was at work, even when all of Jesus’ work seemed in vain. 

Everything that we do, as Christians, is simply a response to the One who has given everything for us, and who has sent us out into the world, in the power of his love, to declare his good news both in our work and in our worship.

And what is that good news?

It is this.  In Jesus Christ, the vision that Isaiah saw has started to come true.  A new heaven and a new earth are about to be revealed.  The kingdom of God is coming. 

Thanks be to God.

Amen.