What's Your Work Ethic?

Jesu Juva

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13                             

November 16, 2025

Proper 28C     

 Dear Saints of Our Savior~

        What’s your work ethic?  Are you working hard? . . . Or hardly working?  And what difference does it make, anyway?  What do faith and religion have to do with work and vocation?

        In 1904 a sociologist coined the phrase:  Protestant Work Ethic.  He noted that while religion is usually otherworldly, the protestant reformation taught that religion is to be lived out in this world.  Medieval Catholicism taught that spiritual achievement was to be found in celibacy, poverty, and by escaping from the world to convents, cloisters, and monasteries.  But Martin Luther and the other reformers emphasized the deep connection between Christian faith and Christian vocations.  Our faith bears fruit in the work we do at home, at the office, at church, at school, and in the neighborhood.

        Since it was Martin Luther who championed the great value of work in relation to faith, I say that “Protestant Work Ethic” is a misnomer.  We ought to call it the “Lutheran Work Ethic.”  But before we take a victory lap, we need to ask:  Are you living up to the Lutheran Work Ethic?

        The value and significance of work goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.  God placed Adam and Eve in the garden with the intent that they were “to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15).  There was work to be done, even in paradise.  We so often think that our work-a-day existence is a result of living in a sin-filled, God-forsaking world, but no!  God gave work to our first parents even before the fall into sin.  This means that work is intrinsically good and God-pleasing.

        It’s not hard to imagine what this work in paradise might have looked like.  There were likely fruits and vegetables to be harvested, cows that needed milking, cheese that needed making.  And that beer wasn’t going to brew itself.  (My version of paradise sounds a lot like Wisconsin, doesn’t it?) 

        But unlike Adam and Eve, we live in a fallen world.  And that fact makes our work much more difficult and far less rewarding.  “Cursed is the ground because of you,” the Lord told Adam, “thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.”  This is why work never works out the way you want it to.  Screws get stripped.  Batteries give out.  Muscles get pulled.  The leaves you rake into the street today, can get blown right back into your yard tomorrow.  But none of this changes the fact that work is a good gift from God—that God has given all of us important work to do.

        There was also work to be done among the Christians at Thessalonica.  Like us, they had been called by the Holy Spirit to trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ for their rescue and deliverance from this dying world.  But some of them apparently thought that faith in Jesus was a good excuse to take early retirement and check out of working all together.  They decided it was okay to take a permanent vacation from their God-given vocations.  Their motto was, “Take this job and shove it!”

        We don’t know whether these idle brothers were simply lazy deadbeats who were merely milking the charity of other, well-to-do believers, OR whether they were so devout and so eagerly anticipating the return of Christ that they quit their jobs like lottery winners, and engaged in a life of leisurely prayer as they awaited the return of Jesus.  But whatever their motivation, Paul makes it clear that their work-free lifestyle was contrary to the word and will of God.  The rule was this:  “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.  Get to work!  Get busy!  Take this job and love it.”

        Now, I don’t usually call people out by name in my sermons, but perhaps Pastor and Julie should rethink this whole idea of retiring down there in Margaritaville.  I’m joking, of course.  We’ve been blessed by their work among us for 13 years.  And if you know Pastor and Julie, then you are familiar with the Wohlrabe work ethic.  Their devotion to work and family, to church and country is an example for all of us.  Theirs is a well-deserved retirement—although we know the work will continue from a new place of deployment.

        I can summarize the sermon up to this point in two sentences:  Work is good.  And work is hard.  It’s difficult.  We rarely get it right.  But don’t use that as an excuse to shirk your work.  When it comes to our God-given work and vocations, the temptation is always there to say, “That’s not my job.  Let someone else do it.”  The temptations are always there to cheat, to cut corners, to be lazy, to get complacent, to do as little as possible.  And even when your work is good and God-pleasing, there’s the constant battle against discouragement and despair, when your work feels meaningless, when it seems like you’re just spinning your wheels.  St. Paul says:  Do not grow weary in doing good. 

        The problem concerning work at Thessalonica was primarily a congregational problem.  It was a problem in the church.  We know that because Paul warns them about any “brother” who is idle—brother denoting a fellow believer.  Apparently, there were plenty of “busybodies” in that congregation, people who were “busy” with gossip and meddling in other people’s business.  I don’t think that “busybodies” are a big problem here at Our Savior.  But I do think that God’s Word today should lead each one of us to ask:  As a baptized child of God and a member of this congregation, am I doing everything I can—am I working with the energy and wisdom God supplies—to strengthen our life together, to build one another up, to never grow weary of doing good for these, my brothers and sisters in Christ?  If you don’t do that work, who will?

        Work is good.  Work is hard.  And, best of all, your work has eternal value in Jesus.  No one has ever worked harder, or more faithfully, than Jesus.  No one has ever labored as lovingly as He.  Jesus was there at creation, and all things were created by Him.  But when sinful rebels needed redeeming—when a fallen world needed to be re-created—Jesus willingly took that job and loved it.  He did not cheat.  He did not cut corners.  He came into this world and He went to work.  He labored against all the frustrations that you and I face every day, amidst blood, sweat, and tears.  For busy, hard-working sinners, and for idle, complacent sinners, Jesus took on the dirty job that no one else could do.  He became the servant and slave of all.  He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

        Jesus quite literally worked Himself to death to save you.  He labored and toiled beneath the weight of all our sins.  He worked and worked until they nailed Him to the cross.  There’s an old saying:  Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.  That’s true in my experience.  But if idle hands are the devil’s workshop, then the nail-scarred hands of Jesus spell the devil’s demise.  For those hands are the hands that bless you and forgive you.  Those hands are the hands that will embrace you in love when you depart this life in peace, and finally find rest from all your labor.

        Work is good.  Work is hard.  But your work has eternal significance and value in Jesus.  He magnifies your work and honors it.  In fact, Jesus says that whatever you do for the least and the lowly, you are doing it unto Him.  Ultimately, all of your work, all of your labor and toil on behalf of others, Jesus receives it all just as if you did it for Him.  Your labor in the Lord is never in vain.  The work of your vocations is wonderful work.  God Himself receives your meager, little loaves and fishes—and uses it all for the life of the world.

He who began a good work in you, in baptism, is working still—and He will surely bring it all to completion on the Last Day—the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

        In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.