“Taking Care of Little Things”

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

November 14, 2004

St. Paul Church

Rev. John Fleming

In my attempt at greatness, as a kid, I used to practice baseball almost non-stop in my parents’ backyard. I set up a baseball field, complete with a pitcher’s mound and a fence. The fence was supposed to separate our back yard from our neighbors, but for me, it was the place where home runs went to live. When I practiced my pitching, I stood on that mound (actually it was just a spot, so many feet from our house). I pitched a yellow tennis ball to a place on our chimney where the mortar had a small hole in it. If I hit the spot, it was an unhittable strike. I struck out many a superstar, there in my backyard. Not only was I a good pitcher, I was also an excellent outfielder. When someone did hit one of my pitches, I pretended that they hit a ball to the outfield. So with my glove in hand, I would throw the tennis ball just as high as it would go and then make the amazing catch, sometimes even diving for the ball. There were no rain outs for my games. When it did rain, I would move my game to our carport. The carport was built in such a way that one of the walls was the wall of our utility room, a second wall was the wall to my mother’s kitchen. And the third wall was a brick wall that had six or seven inch openings so that you could pass the firewood from one side to the other. I think that you will need this detail in the story, the wall that was also the one for my mother’s kitchen had a huge window on it that had no less than twenty individual panes of glass on it. Maybe you can see where this story is heading. I will help us to quickly get there by telling you that I abandoned the yellow tennis ball for infield practice. The bounce from the golf ball was less predictable and I liked that. Yes, this story is going where you think that it is!

On those rainy Tennessee afternoons, I would pretend that I was Glenn Hubbard or Rafael Ramirez, old Atlanta Braves greats, playing the infield at Fulton County Stadium in Georgia. I pretended that the Braves were playing another team. I would go through their line-up, making great plays. Now, like I said, I was a pretty good pitcher, an excellent outfielder, and a good infielder. But even major leaguers miss one every once and a while. And those unexpected bounces that I desired, well, every once and a while, one of the bounces would end up in my mother’s kitchen, with shattered glass lying near it. The first time that that happened, I thought about running away. I knew that the consequences would be great. My father had warned me to return to the yellow tennis ball, but I had not followed his advice. I thought about telling my dad that some strange man walked up our driveway, up to our carport, took the golf ball out of my hand, threw it through the window, and then ran away. Instead I told my dad the truth and after that, he kept extra panes of glass just in case I missed another one.

I am glad that my dad pulled out his tool belt and fixed the window panes. Have you heard about this? Have you heard about the shattered glass theory? The theory says this, that when a pane of glass breaks, when it shatters around you, if you do not fix it in a short period of time, it can lead to a bigger problem. This theory, this idea says that you can go to any city and look around at some of it’s buildings. There is a contrast in them, of course. Some of them are beautiful. Others are falling apart. You would be surprised at what causes the demise. According to the theory, it is not the age of the building, it’s location, or even the financial situation of the building’s owner that causes it’s downfall. There is a trigger, the theory says. And sometimes that trigger is as simple as a broken window pane. Researchers have discovered that one broken window pane, left unfixed for a significant period of time makes it’s residents feel a sense of abandonment. It causes them to believe that their landlord does not care about them or where they live. So soon after that, a brick is thrown shattering another window. Before long graffiti appears on the building. Then trash appears in the doorways and junk emerges on the property. And pretty soon the cost of fixing things is more than an owner wants to pay. It all begins, says this theory, because of a broken window pane. I am glad that my dad took the time to fix my mother’s kitchen window.

I know, I know, it sounds a little far fetched. But hear me out. I hear that this theory really is true and that taking care of the little things stops bigger things from happening. I understand that Rudy Giuliani used the theory to help New York City and it’s crime rate. He started taking care of small crimes in his city, like having policemen arrest those who jumped the turnstiles at subway stations. He was criticized for that. His antagonists said, “You are concentrating on turnstile jumpers when drug pushes and muggers are ruling the city!” Well, as it turns out, there were some outstanding arrest warrants on these turnstile jumpers. They just happened to be wanted in more serious crimes like drug deals and muggings. In New York City, during Rudy Giuliani’s tenure, the murder rate went down significantly, from two thousand a year to six hundred a year. This happened because a mayor and the powers that be started focusing on the little things.

The Apostle, Paul, would not have known about the Shattered Glass Theory, but he seems to be using it in our scripture lesson for this morning from his second letter to the Church at Thessolonica. I want you to see this. Paul does not focus on major things. He does not talk about things like salvation, faith, and the lordship of Jesus Christ in these words of his. Instead he focuses on smaller problems. He asks the Thessolonians to pull out their tool belts and to work on these smaller issues. Listen again to his words, “Now we command you, beloved, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness.” Evidently idleness had become a problem in Thessolonica. Our lesson is the third time that Paul deals with the issue. The issue has come

about because there were those, in the city, who believed that either the second coming of Christ had already happened and so they did not have to work any longer. There were others who believed that Jesus’ second coming was imminent and immediate, that it was going to happen any second, and so there was no real reason for them to go to work.

It is not the same, but it reminds me of the test that I was supposed to take on a Thursday when I was in junior high. It was a big test; it was an important one. I did not study because our trusted weatherman said that it was going to snow and that there was going to be a significant accumulation of frozen precipitation in the city. Friends, I did not study. It did not snow. And I did not pass the test.

Paul says that the best thing for the Thessalonians is to stay away from people who are not working. That does not sound very Christian of Paul, does it? His fear was that spending significant periods of time with them would cause them not to work. To build his case, Paul reminds the Thessalonians about his work habits. When he was with them, Paul was not idle. Paul worked night and day and paid for his own meals, even though he had the right to expect help because he was their spiritual leader. He could have drawn a salary. He could have expected to be invited for Sunday dinner at the Smith’s house. He did not draw a salary. He did not eat at anyone else’s house. He did not do these things in hopes of setting an example for the Thessalonians.

Now, friends, I just have to think, “Idleness? Idleness?” That is the big problem in one of your churches? That is what you are concerned about? That is what you are writing to a church about? Idleness, after all, is not one of the seven deadly sins. Idleness does not appear in Paul’s own list of the fifteen sins of the flesh, when he warns against things like: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy drunkenness and carousing. When he writes of those sins, he warns against doing them because doing them will keep them out of the kingdom. Idleness. It just does not seem like a big deal to me. But then again, maybe it is. Maybe it is like a broken window. Maybe there is some wisdom to the Shattered Glass Theory. Maybe grandmother’s advice is true. Maybe idle hands are the devil’s workshop. So let me ask you this, “Where is idleness a problem for you?”

I know what you must be thinking. In fact I think that I just heard someone think it out loud. “Did our preacher just say idleness? I would love to be convicted of the sin of idleness. I’d do anything for a little time to just do nothing!” Being busy, we can be convicted of that. We are busy beyond belief. We run from meetings at work to parent teacher conferences at school. We go to soccer games and dance recitals. Next Sunday, Annie Grace will have her first dance recital. I wonder how many I will go to in my lifetime? Then there are all the things the preacher wants and needs for us to do at church, volunteering there, meetings there. The list is endless. Can I ask you this, what is the difference in being idle and being busy doing things like I have just mentioned. Going to meetings at work, being present and piano recitals and baseball games is important. Miss one and you will know the power of them. But somewhere in our lives, we have important decisions to make. If we do not fix small things. If we do not clean up the unproductive things in our lives, our whole world might come crumbling down.

It will show up in things like your marriage. Maybe there is a problem in your marriage. It is not a big problem. It is a problem that has been around for a while. It is an argument that you often have. But you have not done anything about it. Nothing has changed. Susie and I have only had one fight in our eleven year marriage. Unfortunately we have this fight every three or four weeks. Nothing has changed and the shattered glass is still on the floor. Maybe there is a problem in your spiritual life. You know that praying is a good idea. You know that reading your Bible is a good idea. You know that you ought to be in church every week, being nurtured by the folks on the journey with you. You know that, don’t you. But you are not here every week. So you ought not to be surprised when you feel dry in your spiritual life. Maybe there is a problem in your personal life. You know that there are things that you ought to be doing to take care of yourselves. We talk about these things in terms of recharging your batteries and filling your cups. But you are not doing those things, either. “Brothers and sisters, “writes Paul, “do not be weary in doing what is right.” Give me the chance to re-writ this scripture, and I would put it this way, “Do not be weary in doing the right things.”

Can I ask you to go home with this, this morning? I want you to think about these questions. Where are the broken windows in your lives? What are the things that need fixing? What do you need to spend a little more time on. What have you been putting off? If you have trouble coming up with an answer to those questions, ask your spouse and they will tell you. Ask your mother and father and they will tell you. Ask a good friend and they will tell you. Often other people see things in us that we do not see in ourselves.

I know that this is not the most awe inspiring sermon that I have preached in my lifetime, or even at this church. But it is important. Because, after all, we are the most useful to God and to those around us when we are not falling apart. Let us pray.

(Special thanks to the writers of Homiletics Magazine for the idea for this sermon).