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I Thessalonians 4:9-12; John 15:1-17
Note: Audio file is at the end of this text.
Yesterday many of us attended the funeral of Rene Naccari. He was 87 and part of the group that some have labeled, "The Greatest Generation". He enlisted in the Navy right out of high school and was shipped to the Pacific to fight with others who believed that they should sacrifice for their country. After the war he got a college education, married, raised five children and worked for Texaco.
Some of his neighbors from his generation spoke at the funeral and they talked about how they all helped each other rear their children and keep their homes and yards in good repair. Everybody pitched in on the hard projects that were made easier when many hands joined in the work.
Sadly, I am part of the generation that has turned out to be self-centered. Somehow, these hard-working parents of ours made our lives so easy that we developed a sense of entitlement and it looks like, in general, the next generation is more like us than Mr. Naccari.
So let's turn to two scriptures that tell us how to get back to living more like our parents and grandparents who put their faith, their country and their family above self.
In Thessalonians Paul is writing to the Jesus followers and reminding them of what Jesus himself said that is recorded in John 15. He says, "I am telling you all the secrets of God our creator. I am telling you that you I have loved you and will lay down my life for you because of my love for you. And, I expect you to love others as I have loved you. This means you must be willing to lay down your life for others. This is my command: Love each other."
Paul assumes everyone in the church at Thessalonica remembers these words of Jesus and then he adds more. Paul writes,
9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
From the starting point of loving so much that we are willing to die for another person, Paul gives us three steps to success in life here on earth.
First, live a quiet life. Don't be bragging and bringing attention to yourself. This is like Mr. Naccari and his friends. They didn't have vanity plates on their cars, they didn't try to jump ahead in line, they didn't assume that they deserve anything without working for it. We need to do our best at every task and even do the work before we are asked and we need to let the results of our efforts speak for themselves.
Second, mind your own business. Take care of yourself and don't worry about the other person. UCLA Coach John Wooden lead his basketball team to 10 national championships and he practiced this key to success. When he was asked how he prepared to beat the competition he said he never thought about the other team he only worked to prepare his players to do their very best. This scripture is telling us to spend our time improving ourselves rather than wasting time thinking about and worrying about what someone else is doing or what someone else has achieved.
Third, work with your hands. This to me means you have to roll up your sleeves and be willing to get dirty. This is for sure what we saw our parents and grandparents do. They worked the soil, built their houses with their own bare hands and were willing to do for themselves what had to be done to provide for their families. They didn't ask for a handout from the government or complain that they didn't have steak on their tables every night for dinner.
