The Victory of the Lord

Pentecost 23 – November 16, 2025

Malachi 4:1-2a
Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

As in all of Paul’s letters, we only get Paul’s side of the argument and have to guess at what was going on in Thessalonica. Paul, in our passage for today, is writing to those who are living in idleness and are mere busybodies. The message to them is that they should get back to work. What that means for the community and why they were living in idleness is not completely clear. Paul reminds them that while he was there he was not idle. In fact, as he was telling them of Jesus’ salvation, he also worked to pay for his room and board. This may be an indication that the Christians in Thessalonica were trying to live as the community in Jerusalem where everybody shared what they had. And those who were living in idleness and were mere busybodies were not contributing to the community and were therefor just living off of the hard work of others. While this is speculation we have a better idea of why they were sitting around not doing anything. Paul lays that reason out for us quite clearly. They, because of some things that were going on in their world, were convinced that Jesus’ return was immanent – or even had already happened. They believed that they no longer had to work because someone convinced them of that. With Jesus’ return they did not have to work any longer.

In some sense they were just like the people who were admiring the beautiful temple. For them is showed that everything was alright. They did not have to change their life because it was perfect. Jesus warns them that is not true. That, one day, the temple will be destroyed. They should have known this because it had happened before – the Babylonians had torn it down. Jesus was reminding them that nothing is permanent but God. Although the people were more interested in when the temple would be destroyed, ignoring the consequence it would have on their lives. Remember that the previous time the temple was destroyed they were taken into exile. 

Our texts today remind us that we are not to be concerned about when Jesus will return and not to be satisfied by how things are today. We are called to be active in building up the community of God. We are not to sit about in idleness or being mere busybodies – telling others what they should or should not do – instead, we are to actively imitate Jesus in our daily lives. I know that is difficult. We are constantly being told one of these two things – either to be satisfied how things are because of the glamour of it all or because we will be saved and the rest of the world condemned. How many times have you heard the the end is near? There are many misinterpretations of the Bible to tell us that. Jesus tells us to ignore all of that. It is not for us to know. What we are called to do is share God’s love in this world now. 

This is where our psalm comes in. The psalmist tells us to “Sing a new song to the Lord for the Lord has done marvelous things.” Just look around and you will see all that God has done and all that God has done for you. From creation to salvation, from birth to life ever-after, you have been gifted by God. So there is not time to sit around in idleness as busybodies. Sing a new song to the Lord with your life. Sing that song in cheerfulness and prayer. Sing by giving yourselves, your time, and your possessions to the Lord. Sing by following Jesus and showing the world what God has done for them. Sing to the Lord and invite others to sing with you. If you do not know the words to sing, God will give them to you through the victory won for us by Jesus.