Hush!

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As I reflected upon what to share today my mind began to think about the recent events that took place in the church recently. On one hand we have the gentleman who walked in the front of the church with a gun aimed at the pastor, supposedly advised by God to kill this pastor of that congregation. Then secondly the controversy of Pastor Keion silencing or telling a woman in the worship service to “hush”, whether you agree or not this took place. By definition, the word hush is defined as make (someone) be quiet or stop talking or silence. This word hush also has been present in the trial of Former President Trump as Stormy Daniels yesterday testified for the first time regarding the HUSH received from former President Trump. Going back to childhood I can recall this word used within our learning context whenever our classroom became too loud. This four-letter word has great significance in various settings.

In our pericope today, Paul is writing to the Thessalonians reminding them about living in such a way that pleases God, be holy and stay away from sinful living, and love one another. When he gets to verse 11, Paul encourages them to do three things: 1. Study to be quiet- strive eagerly to live quiet lives, amongst a world that is constantly pushing people to live out loud we need to be reminded that sometimes we need to hush. Every thought or opinion is not necessary, everything doesn’t have to be posted for discussion or commentary. 2. Do your own business- govern your own affairs, each of us have enough our plates that we don’t have room to meddle in other’s affairs. In the words of the Williams Brothers, “sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mines”. 3. Work with your own hands- some of the Thessalonians during that time began neglecting their own work expecting the immediate coming of Christ and depended upon others bounty, we should always look for the coming of Christ but work while we wait. Even as we wait let us wait silently, respectfully of other’s boundaries, and actively. Somebody say HUSH!