Orderly Conduct

Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Sunday, we find ourselves reading the second and last major part of St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. As is the case in many of St. Paul’s letters, he concludes with substantive exhortations. In this case the exhortations were occasioned by a letter about which we heard last Sunday, a letter in which some of St. Paul’s opponents were claiming that the Day of the Lord had already happened and that Jesus had returned to reward some and leave others behind. Unfortunately, some of the members of the church at Thessalonica were misled by this letter and had withdrawn from purposeful work within the community. Why should they not? If they had been left behind, what was the purpose in their work to spread the Gospel, to bring new believers into the church, to support the members of their community, etc. They decided that they would set aside the work of building community and would, instead, eat, drink, and be merry.

St. Paul holds himself up in this passage as someone who did not act in a disorderly fashion. The key word in this passage is “disorderly.” One of St. Paul’s obsessions, very evident in his letters, is order in the community – a place for everything and everyone, and everyone and everything in its place. Disorder is a major threat to communal well-being. Unlike our Western culture in which the individual takes priority, the culture of the Middle East places great importance on the group, the family, or the community. The individual found his reason for being in his connection to others. Consequently, the exhortation of St. Paul presents himself as a role model for orderly conduct. He reminds the Thessalonians that while he was among them, he preached at the same time that he worked. He did not expect people to simply support him. We know that he was a tent maker, and that he practiced this trade in the various communities which he visited during his missionary journeys.

In the Middle East, economics as we know them in the West did not yet exist. The people of the Middle East interacted by means of an implied dyadic contract. “You do something for me, and I will do something for you.” Rather than paying for services rendered, the culture of the Middle East operated on a principal which we now refer to as “paying it forward.” This cultural contract worked to keep communities intact and functioning. On the basis of this cultural principle, Jesus could send his apostles out to preach and urge them not to be weighed down with excess baggage which would impede the mission. If the locals did not support the preachers, they were to move on.

While the dyadic contract is a legitimate cultural strategy by which common people could make a go of it in difficult circumstances, it could also be abused. A person might delay or “forget” to repay the favor but expect still other favors. Such a person would have time to “mind of the business of others” and stir up problems, fomenting division in the community. The advice that St. Paul offers is to mind one’s own business and take care of oneself until they learn mutual reciprocity.

Our culture does not operate in this way. In the West, we are guided by an internalized set of principles we usually call “conscience” and an economic contract which involves payment upon receipt of services rendered. In the Middle East, conscience is replaced by public scrutiny of behavior. St. Paul recognizes its devastating consequences and urges, “in the Lord Jesus Christ,” that they refrain from behavior that is best described as being a busy-body.

While this expectation is aimed at a specific situation in a specific community, it is something that can also be applied to our situation and community. Today we see and hear people engaged in conspiracy theories, spreading false news, and various other tactics that lead us to a disorderly community. Gossip and exaggeration have made it difficult to trust one another and has fractured our community life in devastating ways. Consequently, St. Paul’s exhortation is just as applicable to our situation as it was to the community of Thessalonica.

This liturgical year is coming to an end. Next week we will celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, the traditional ending of Ordinary Time. Throughout this liturgical season that we call ordinary, we have listened to several of St. Paul’s letters and rediscovered both his theological insights as well as his practical advice. When we stop to consider the life of St. Paul, it becomes very clear that preaching the Gospel of Jesus was not simply a matter of words but rather a life that exemplified those words. He truly practiced what he preached and, is for us, as he was for the communities of Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia and Thessalonica, a man who best represents the way to put our Christian faith into concrete behaviors that build up our community.