JUMANNE TAREHE 7 SEPTEMBA 2021, ASUBUHI
2 Wathesalonike 3:6-12
6 Ndugu, twawaagiza katika jina la Bwana Yesu Kristo, jitengeni nafsi zenu na kila ndugu aendaye bila utaratibu, wala si kwa kufuata mapokeo mliyoyapokea kwetu.
7 Mwajua wenyewe jinsi iwapasavyo kutufuata; kwa sababu hatukuenda bila utaratibu kwenu;
8 wala hatukula chakula kwa mtu ye yote bure; bali kwa taabu na masumbufu, usiku na mchana tulitenda kazi, ili tusimlemee mtu wa kwenu awaye yote.
9 Si kwamba hatuna amri, lakini makusudi tufanye nafsi zetu kuwa kielelezo kwenu, mtufuate.
10 Kwa kuwa hata wakati ule tulipokuwapo kwenu tuliwaagiza neno hili, kwamba ikiwa mtu hataki kufanya kazi, basi, asile chakula.
11 Maana twasikia kwamba wako watu kwenu waendao bila utaratibu, hawana shughuli zao wenyewe, lakini wanajishughulisha na mambo ya wengine.
12 Basi twawaagiza hao, na kuwaonya katika Bwana Yesu Kristo, watende kazi kwa utulivu na kula chakula chao wenyewe.
Uwakili wetu kwa Bwana;
Kanisa la Thesalonike likikuwa na waamini waliopokea Injili, wakafikia hatua ya kuacha kufanya kazi. Ujumbe wa Yesu kurudi mara ya pili waliutumia kumngoja Yesu, bila kufanya kazi. Mtume Paulo akalazimika kuwaandikia waraka huu akiwasisitiza kufanya kazi. Toka waraka wa kwanza Mtume Paulo anaandika akiwapa mfano wa yeye kufanya kazi;
1 Wathesalonike 2:9
9 Maana, ndugu, mnakumbuka taabu yetu na masumbufu yetu; kwa kuwa mchana na usiku tulifanya kazi tusije tukamlemea mtu wa kwenu awaye yote, tukawahubiri hivi Injili ya Mungu.
Leo hali hii ndiyo imekithiri. Kuna watu hawafanyi kazi, lakini wanakula. Wapo sehemu nyingi. Wengine hawashughuliki, wanafanya utapeli. Hii haikubaliki. Hakuna Injili inayohalalisha uvivu.
Jambo hili linatakiwa kufanyiwa kazi kwanza na serikali na jamii kwa ujumla. Sheria kali na utekelezaji wake ni muhimu katika kukomesha uvivu katika jamii yetu.
Lakini pia tukirejea kwenye somo, kama Mtume Paulo anavyoandika, kila mtu awe na kazi ya kufanya, afanye kazi. Asiyefanya kazi na asile. Tafsiri yake nini? Mtu asipokula atakufa. Sasa lazima ale, lakini ale nini? Tumeumbwa kuwajibika na siyo kuwa wavivu tukisingizia Injili, maana hakuna injili inayofundisha kula jasho la mwingine. Uwakili ni kuwajibika.
Siku njema.
TUESDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2021, MORNING
2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-12 (NIV)
Warning Against Idleness
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Or tradition
Our stewardship to the Lord;
The church at Thessalonica, with the believers who had received the Gospel, went so far as to stop working. Because of the message of the second return Jesus for the second time, they used to wait for Jesus, without working. The apostle Paul was compelled to write this letter, urging them to work. From the first epistle the Apostle Paul writes giving them an example of him working;
1 Thessalonians 2: 9
9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.
Today the situation is even worse. There are people who don’t work, but they eat. They are in many places. Some do not earn their living legally, they commit fraud. This is unacceptable. No Gospel of Jesus justifies laziness.
This needs to be addressed first by the government and society at large. Strict laws and their implementation are essential in ending laziness in our society.
But also going back to the subject, as the Apostle Paul writes, let everyone have a job to do, to work. He who does not work, let him not eat. What is its interpretation? If a person does not eat, he will die. Now he must eat, but how should he eat? We are created to be responsible and not lazy to slander the Gospel, for no gospel teaches to eat the sweat of another. Stewardship is being responsible.
Good day.