Shattered glass.

It's a mess to clean up, and a real pain to repair.  But when a rock goes through your window, you had better pull out your tool kit or you'll have a much bigger problem on your hands.

Walk around a major city, and you'll notice a striking contrast:  Some buildings are beautiful and well-maintained, while others are ugly and covered with graffiti.  Surprisingly, it isn't the age of a building that causes it to fall apart, or its location, or even the finances of its owner.  Instead, there is an intriguing trigger mechanism at work here, one that quickly turns a lovely, well-preserved building into an ugly, dilapidated hulk.

A broken window.

I'm not kidding.  A single broken window can trigger the downward spiral of a beautiful building.  Researchers in the field of crime and urban decay have discovered that one shattered pane, left unrepaired for a significant period of time, causes residents of the building to feel a sense of abandonment.  They begin to believe that the owner doesn't care about them, or have concern for their building, so they get careless or angry and break another window.  Then they start to litter, and allow junk to accumulate.  Graffiti appears, and no one cares enough to scrub it off.  Serious structural damage begins, and in a relatively short amount of time the building becomes damaged beyond the owner's desire to fix it.  The sense of abandonment felt by the residents suddenly becomes reality.

All because of a piece of shattered glass.

This "Broken Window Syndrome" has inspired police departments in  New York and other urban areas to crack down on the small stuff in order to keep out the big stuff.  In his book Leadership, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani tells of how he applied the Broken Window Syndrome to crime, and in the process reduced murders from 2000 a year to under 600.  He started with "Squeegee guys" -- the annoying guys who used to run up to your car at a traffic light, wash your window with filthy rags, and then demand payment.  Giuliani had them arrested for jaywalking and -- surprise, surprise -- a huge percentage of them were found to be felons.

It turns out that murderers and muggers tend to break a lot of little laws, too.  So when you crack down on the little infractions – when you fix the broken windows – you end up catching criminals that otherwise would have gotten away.  By attacking small and petty problems, you can get a handle on the major issues, and prevent the condition of your building – or your city – from spiraling out of control.

The apostle Paul seems to have this syndrome in mind as he writes his Second Letter to the Thessalonians.   Notice that he doesn't focus on the big issues of the Christian faith, talking about the importance of trust in God or faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  No, he advises the Thessalonians to attack their petty problems and fix the broken windows of the Christian community.

"Now we command you, beloved," writes Paul, "to keep away from believers who are living in idleness" (2 Thessalonians 3:6).  Paul reminds them that he himself was never idle when he was visiting their community, but instead he worked night and day and paid for his own bread so that he would not be a burden to anyone.  Paul did this to set an example for the Thessalonians, and he delivered to them the command, "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat" (v. 10).

I doubt this went over too well.   After receiving this message, there were probably some Thessalonians who said to themselves, "Paul, take a chill pill."  After all, idleness is hardly the worst of the seven deadly sins, and it doesn't even make Paul's own list of the fifteen works of the flesh: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, and carousing.   He warns that "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).

Compared to these major league sins, being idle doesn't seem like a biggie.

The problem with idleness is that it's a broken window.  Left uncorrected, it creates larger and more destructive difficulties.  Paul hears that some of the Thessalonians are "living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work" (v. 11).  The sin of idleness may be small, but it leads to the greater sin of being a busybody – being a chatterer, a gossip, a big-mouth, a blabbermouth.  We all know how gossip can eat like a cancer through the Christian community, so Paul is right to nip this problem in the bud.  He understands that idle hands are the devil's tools, so the Thessalonians had better put their hands to work if they are going to accomplish some good instead of some evil.

I discovered on my trip with the Midlife Men on a Mission just how healthy and therapeutic a week of hard manual labor can be.  Down in Honduras, we started work as early as 6:30 in the morning, and we often labored until 6 at night, digging postholes, pouring concrete, carrying cinderblocks, lifting steel beams.  Then we would return to our hotel for clean-up, happy hour, and dinner, followed by a time of Bible study and reflection.  I felt terrific throughout the entire week (except, of course, when I was hit in the leg by a telephone pole).  I was truly inspired and energized by the work we were doing.  Following the example of Paul in today's passage of Scripture, "with toil and labor we worked night and day" (v. 8), and we came out of the week feeling close to God and to each other, ready to start talking about another mission trip.

In the very same way, active involvement in the life of Fairfax Presbyterian is a powerful antidote to the sin of idleness.  Today is Stewardship Sunday, our annual day of commitment to the life of the church.  We are dedicating our financial pledges, which are promises to support our church's budget throughout the year to come.  Now unlike some charities, we are not asking you for one big annual gift that will be paid in one lump sum.  Instead, we are asking you to devote a portion of your resources to the mission and ministry of this congregation, a gift that will be given a little at a time, week by week or month by month.  "Brothers and sisters," says the apostle Paul, "do not be weary in doing what is right," – do not be weary in supporting God's work, a little at a time, all throughout the year to come (v. 13).

Of course, stewardship is not only about money – it is also about gifts of time and talent.  This is good, because time and talent are an even better antidote to idleness -- your participation in the day-to-day life of the church will keep you engaged in activities that are constructive, instead of destructive.  By teaching a Sunday School class, you avoid the temptation of gossip on the church steps.  By volunteering to help the homeless at the Lamb  Center, you undercut the envy that you might otherwise feel towards your neighbor with the new car.  By offering your best ideas and efforts to a church-wide activity, you avoid the factions and dissensions that can tear a congregation apart.  By participating in regular Bible Study, in a weekly class or monthly women's circle, you resist the lure of idolatry – a temptation that can grab us whenever we shift our focus from the things of God to the things of this world.

Now it's true that no single activity is going to change your life, all by itself.  Instead, it's going to feel like fixing a broken window.   But remember: When we crack down on the small problems, we are keeping out the big problems.  When we fix our broken windows so that our personal spiritual structures remain attractive and healthy and strong, we are taking a stand with Paul and showing our commitment to "doing what is right."   Back in the days of Mayor Giuliani, there was a problem with graffiti – even on garbage trucks.  As an example of focusing on the small stuff, Giuliani refused to allow a single garbage truck to leave the lot and start picking up trash until the truck itself was tidy.  Yes, the trash truck itself had to be clean and free of graffiti.  Through the combined efforts of 20 city departments, graffiti was all but wiped out in the City of New York.

So, what's your  condition?  Are you carrying any graffiti?  Make an effort to scrub it off, beginning today, and you'll be amazed at how much better this church will look, and feel, and perform the work of God.

Our challenge is always to put our best effort into doing what is right.  This may not be awe-inspiring or exciting, but it remains foundational for our spiritual health.  We can be most useful to God when we're not spiraling out of control, and when our bodies are safe and secure structures for the Holy Spirit to live in.

We can take a lesson from airline mechanics, who know that fatal accidents can be avoided by taking care of the little stuff.  This includes the cleaning of a plane, which might seem to be a rather menial task beneath the dignity of a mechanic … but it's not.  "The rules require that aircraft be cleaned," writes one professional in Aviation Today magazine.  "And what better way to find a cracked, corroded, or broken part than the close examination that happens during cleaning?"  The closer and more personal mechanics get with the products they work on, the more problems they'll find.  (Editor's Notebook: Fundamental Focus, Aviation Today Website, www.aviationtoday.com/cgi/am/show_mag.cgi?pub=am&mon=0304&file=0304editorsnote.htm. Retrieved May 10, 2004)

So let's take a close and personal look at ourselves, and determine where we need cleaning.  Through honest self-assessment, we can identify our cracked and corroded parts, and take the steps we need to fix what is damaged within us.  When we acknowledge our brokenness before God, we can be restored to wholeness by the gift of forgiveness.

Our Lord does not want us to spiral downward, you see.  He wants us to be solid and strong, not shattered.   Amen.