Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
October 29, 2023
I Thessalonians 2:1-8

The full video of this worship service is available on the Trinity Episcopal Church YouTube channel. The audio is available as a podcast.

Our little dog Murphy, he has problems. Problems of the emotional variety. Murphy came to us because he was living on a ranch outside of Waco and had developed this terrible habit of breaking into a chicken coop and helping himself to the chickens. In the time that Murphy has lived with us, he hasn’t had much access to chickens, so I don’t know if he still wants chickens, but I do know that some of his behaviors have changed because Maggie, my wife, has been so good about training Murphy with positive reinforcement. To teach him to come when we call for him, we give him a treat. When we need him to take his medicine, we put the medicine inside a treat. When we need him to just chill out for a minute, we give him a treat.

So yes, Murphy is a new dog. A reformed dog. Now maybe I’m psychoanalyzing Murphy too much, and I don’t want to be that guy that always preaches about his dog, but I still have to wonder – why is he better? Because it seems to me that he does what he does, not because it’s the right thing, but because he hopes to get something out of it. A treat. That’s his motive. At his core, he is still the selfish, chicken eating dog he has always been. In that little, scheming brain of his, I don’t think he’s concerned in the least about right and wrong – no, Murphy is only concerned about his end of the bargain.

The right thing for the wrong reason. This is precisely what Saint Paul is wrestling with in his letter to the Thessalonians. Let’s set the scene. This little church in Thessaloniki, Greece is just getting started about twenty years after Jesus. Paul has probably helped this church get started. He has poured his life and soul into this little group of Jesus followers, he’s wanted them to grow, to be good disciples of Jesus. But it hasn’t always been easy. Paul talks about how he was mistreated and thrown into prison. Yet Paul kept on preaching and teaching because his motives had been pure.

But there’s a problem. 

Some other preachers have come around, and they don’t have the same motives. Paul writes, “For our appeal does not spring from deceit, or impure motives, or trickery” (I Thessalonians 2:3). The subtext of course, is that there are some who do make their appeal from deceit, impure motives, and trickery. He goes on, “As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed.” It seems that even in the very early church, there were pastors and preachers who were only concerned with their end of the bargain. Those other preachers were only in it for themselves. For deceit, for impure motives. Murphy doesn’t come when we call because he’s a good dog; no, he does it because there is something in it for him. Right thing, wrong reason.

This is all about motive. Paul is asking us why.

Now, in the church, we often get wrapped up with all the other questions. What, when, how. What should I do to be a good Christian? When should I help that homeless person I see on the street? How can I help my kids grow up to be good people? But we’re just scratching the surface. The real question of faith is why. Why are you going to church? To get something out of it, or to give your life to Jesus? Why are you praying? Do you hope to get something from your prayers, or are you giving God your heart and soul? Why are you helping that person who is hungry? Is it to look charitable, or is because you love your neighbor as yourself? And importantly on this pledge Sunday, why are you giving money to the church? Is it for the tax deduction or is it because you want to render thanks to God? Why do you commit to support the church? Is it because you think you should pay your dues, or is it because you want to see this place thrive for the gospel?

That’s what Paul is getting at – why? You might be doing the right thing, but are you doing it for the right reason?

You can say your prayers daily, you can help the homeless and clothe the naked and feed the hungry, you can be here every time the doors are open, you can pay on your pledge dutifully. But it is possible to do all of that with a costume on. You can get the mask, wear the disguise, look like a Christian. But that doesn’t mean that your heart is in it.

Halloween is actually a great way for us think through this question of motive. Are we wearing the costume of faith? Or are these our real clothes? 

Saint Paul was talking about people who were wearing a costume of faith. Those other preachers, they were like kids on Halloween. They were dressed up like Christians, knocking on the door of other Christians, and threatening them, “trick or treat.” You see it, right? Those other preachers were making demands. Their motives were all wrong. That’s why Paul belabors the point – he was like a nurse tenderly caring for his own children. He didn’t demand anything, he offered himself. It wasn’t a costume, it was the real thing. The right thing for the right reason. 

This week I am asking you the simple question – are you wearing a Christian costume, or are you living the Christian life? After church, all these kids will go home and change back into their “normal clothes.” I pray that you don’t have such things. I pray that what you say in here, is how you believe out there.

Now I’ve gone on for some time about doing the right thing for the right reason, but we haven’t yet touched on the right reason. It’s the lesson that runs through the whole of scripture. From Leviticus straight through to Matthew. The right reason is love. Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you are doing anything for Jesus that is not rooted in love, well, then you’re not actually doing it for Jesus. Anything less comes from deceit, impure motives, trickery. And we learn this from the Lord God Almighty. God doesn’t knock on the door of our hearts, demanding “trick or treat.” The Lord God Almighty loves us like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. There is no bait and switch. There is no threat. There is only a command, to love as God loves us.

So this week all those kids will knock on my door, coercing me to give them candy. I hope they all have fun. And tonight, I’ll try to give Murphy his medicine, he’ll take it eventually, not because it’s right but because he’s going to get something out of it. I pray that this week, when you hear Jesus calling, when you have a decision to make, when you have the opportunity to make the world a better place, I pray you do the right thing for the right reason, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’