Why we need to work

Okay, let me pray for us as David comes to speak to us.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that David's with us this evening,

and we do pray for him and his family,

that you might continue to encourage them

and supply them with all that they need.

We want to pray just especially as he asks

that they might know your will and your plan for them as a family,

and that you might open just the right doors

for them for a fruitful service.

And we pray this evening as we consider work,

we ask, Lord, that you'd help David to help us

to think clearly and faithfully and biblically

about the tasks that you've given us to do

and how we might do them for the glory of your name.

Amen.

All right, thanks.

Grateful for the opportunity to speak today.

Sorry that I'm going to use my MacBook,

but I was sort of in a frenzy,

and like a mad scientist was in the thick of this,

and I looked at the clock,

and it was like 10 till 6 p.m.,

and so I said,

I better go so that I can actually say some of this

and not just study it.

We're going to be in 1 Peter.

That's where we're going to base ourselves.

And I'm going to, I know we've prayed a lot just now,

but I'm going to pray again,

because I'm actually not sure what of this that I've prepared

God actually wants to come out.

And so I'm going to pray that he would pick and choose within there.

And maybe it's something totally different, and we'll see.

But let's pray that God would say what he wants to say.

Father, we are amazed at who you are and what you've done

and how you love us,

how you want us to be with you,

and that you've literally moved heaven and earth so that we could.

Lord, I pray that whatever is said tonight,

whether it ends up being about work or about something else,

that, Lord, it would be about you,

and that we would come to see you and know you better,

and that we might walk out of here

and be able to serve you better and more.

Lord, that we would be consumed by your greatness and your glory,

and our lives might reflect that as we go.

So, Lord, I pray you speak tonight.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So it's funny.

I was out of...

I've never taught a work-related text out of 1 Peter,

and the Lord put it in my heart, on my mind, to come here,

and we're going to talk about priests.

And then Steve brings up Jesus as the high priest

and Melchizedek, which we'll talk about.

And so I believe the Lord is actually at work,

and he's going to tell us something good.

But for way back on...

So, well, let me do this first,

because I think it'll be helpful for us.

Because in any conversation, any talk about work,

some of you, your eyes might glaze over,

and you might think, this is not for me,

because you might not work in a traditional sense,

or the view of work that you think you have

doesn't include whatever you do in your life.

So when I say work,

like, I want to know what we're all doing

throughout the day, right?

So just name some of the work that you all do.

Go.

Go.

Taking care of the house.

Amen.

That's work.

What else?

What are some, like, jobs that you do?

You work at a charity.

Steve is a pastor.

Child-minding.

What else do we have?

Being a dad.

Being a dad.

Amen.

That's work.

Being a mom, we'll just go ahead and say it.

Biggest job ever.

What?

Studying.

Yes, if you're in school and you're studying.

Right?

I was, at one point, a banker,

and then I did some other stuff

and made up some things

and just created jobs for myself

because I didn't want to do those other ones.

Right?

Like, so there's work that we get paid for.

We do a lot of different things,

you know, whether it's charity,

whether it's business,

whether it's church work.

Right?

And then there's work that no one pays us for.

Being a mom, being a dad,

being a student.

Right?

And there's work that fills in the gaps between those.

All of it's work.

Right?

It's what we spend our time doing.

Full stop.

Right?

And so I want you to think about everything that we say,

not in the context of,

well, this is my job that I get paid for.

And if you don't have one of those,

that it doesn't apply because it does,

whether you haven't had one yet

or you've had one and now you've retired,

like there's still work for you to do.

There's still work that we do.

So anyway, all of that to say,

I want, it helps to like think through

what we're talking about from,

from the broadest picture.

And so we might start high level.

I promise it'll get more practical,

but good theology is the foundation of good living.

And theology should not only help us understand

more about who God is,

but help us to answer the question of how should we live.

And so it's,

it's ultimately wrapped up in head and heart and hands

and it's all of life.

Right?

And so that's where we're going to be.

So one Peter,

we know who Peter is.

I'm going to also say that I think most of us

are followers of Jesus and we're Christians.

And so this will help us to apply how that works.

if we're not,

or if we're not yet,

this will be helpful to think through

why you might want to be that,

why that might make sense for you.

So it doesn't matter then whether you are or not,

like it's not,

it's also for you.

So Peter wrote one,

this,

this letter,

it says,

we're going to jump around in it.

So there's not,

I'll,

I'll show you where we're going,

but he writes it to God's elect.

So that is people who have,

are following Jesus.

These are Christians scattered throughout the provinces,

a bunch of places in kind of the Roman world.

And so they're,

they're kind of across Asia minor and these other different places.

And then,

and so he's writing this to Christians.

He's writing it to encourage them.

And,

and then it kind of,

this answer to this question is,

you know,

okay,

what,

what are we to do once we believe,

right?

There's a lot of energy and effort and,

and time that goes into,

especially in church to talking about what you should believe.

You should trust Jesus.

You should become a follower of Christ.

You should,

you should see that.

But then sometimes we forget and talk less sometimes about what we do

then.

Right.

And there's a bunch of Christians that Peter is talking to.

These are,

these are Gentile Christians.

So they,

they've come to faith,

come to follow Jesus,

like as adults,

basically in this case.

And so they're part of their question is,

what do I do now?

Right.

Like I felt that Jesus has,

has come in and changed me in some way.

I kind of understand that I shouldn't keep doing the things that I used to do,

but what do I do with these now?

And one Peter is sort of a letter to them in,

in some ways,

encouraging them to that answer.

And he addresses some specific things that they're dealing with,

but,

but broadly you'll see that he's sort of answering this question.

What are we to do once we believe?

How,

how do we live?

And this is what Peter says.

So I'm going to paraphrase,

and then we're going to look at some specific bits,

but the hard thing is that I want to read all five chapters,

but that would ruin all the time.

And then all the stuff that I don't have time for,

I would never,

I wouldn't get to anyway.

So it might be the best thing because it's amazing stuff.

But Peter says to these believers,

he says,

you were chosen and redeemed,

not to keep on living the way you did before,

but he says,

at the beginning of chapter two,

he says,

verse four,

verse five says,

you like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.

Hold that one.

Offer spiritual sacrifices accepted,

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

And then go down to verse nine.

He says,

but you're a chosen people,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

So you've got this piece where he's saying,

you know,

you're,

you're,

you're,

you're something new.

You're God has made you and chosen you into be this thing,

this holy priesthood,

this royal priesthood.

And so then he goes on and he says,

um,

I didn't put the reference,

but he says,

we'll find it.

He says,

I urge you to live such good lives that they,

the pagans may see your good deeds and glorify God.

So he says,

okay,

you,

you're,

you're chosen.

You're,

you're,

you're someone new.

You're,

you're a royal priesthood.

Well,

what does that mean?

And it's part of that is live such good lives that they may see your good deeds and glorify God.

And then it goes on.

He says,

as a result,

don't live your law,

your earthly lives for evil human desires,

but for the will of God.

Sorry,

I'm jumping all around and I didn't put the verses.

You'll figure it out.

Uh,

and then in chapter four,

we get to this,

um,

moment.

It's chapter four,

verse seven.

It says,

the end of things is near.

Therefore be alert and sober of mind.

And so that you might pray and above all,

love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.

It says,

offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

And here's where it gets good.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks,

they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.

If anyone serves,

they should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things,

God may be praised through Jesus Christ to him,

be the glory and the power forever and ever.

Amen.

So in summary,

you were chosen and redeemed,

not to keep on living the way you did before,

but to be this royal priesthood,

God's special possession,

and to live such good lives that they may see your good deeds and glorify God.

And as a result,

you wouldn't do the things,

the old things,

you would live for the will of God,

and you should use whatever you've been given to serve others and be faithful stewards of God's grace,

so that in all things,

God may be glorified.

And so I want to pull all that together to kind of the thesis statement for this evening,

which is,

our calling from God has always been to do his will as his royal priests so that he would be glorified.

And so that's what we're going to hang the rest of this talk on, right?

And I told you,

eventually it'll sound like something about work,

but we'll get there.

And so let me break that down.

So our calling from God has always been to do his will as his royal priests so that he would be glorified.

So this idea of always been, right?

God's calling on our lives is consistent.

So you've got the meta-narrative of the Bible, right?

The whole gospel story.

There's smaller narratives,

but then there's a larger narrative that crosses all of scripture.

And it can be broken down.

You've probably heard this into kind of four buckets,

creation,

fall,

redemption,

and restoration or new creation,

right?

And in the beginning,

God,

God created the heaven and earth and they were united with God's presence dwelling together with man in Eden,

right?

And,

and God plants a garden in Eden.

And he tells the man to work it and take care of it and to rule it and subdue it,

right?

He gives man a job,

a role.

And it's an,

so the interesting thing about this is that garden,

that,

that place that God made is unfinished,

right?

Eden is,

is a beautiful,

amazing place.

This is a garden that,

that you could imagine in your mind as being just incredibly beautiful,

but it's a garden,

a garden needs tending,

a garden needs,

you know,

cultivating,

right?

And,

and,

and so as we cultivate it,

it grows and changes and becomes more beautiful and better,

right?

And this is his intention that God,

we are designed to partner with God,

to build a beautiful world that proclaims his glory and where we would live in harmony with him forever,

right?

This is what God's intention was in creation.

This is where we go.

But unfortunately,

Adam and Eve,

they want what God promises,

but they don't want to work for it and they don't want to wait for it.

So they take a shortcut offered by the serpent.

And because of this,

they're removed from the garden and they're no longer are they able to be in the presence of God.

And so they're left here on earth,

separated from him,

right?

And so they're removed.

And in,

in,

in,

in the moment of that,

God,

I mean,

this is all in the first three chapters of the Bible.

Genesis one to three,

just like read it every day.

It's unbelievable.

So in the moment,

God,

he says to Eve and to,

to Adam,

as he's proclaiming the,

the consequences of their actions,

he says in his goodness,

but one day there will be,

the seed will come and it will defeat the serpent and reverse this curse,

right?

We,

we know this,

right?

And if we don't know it,

we can talk about it later,

but the,

this is coming in the rest of the story,

the rest of the Bible,

all of its stories,

all of its details,

the people,

the sacrificial system,

it's saving events.

It tells us how this will happen by slowly unfolding this good news,

this,

this promise,

which ultimately leads us to Christ.

And,

and as it unfolds,

Christ eventually come comes God's own son.

And by his life and his death and his resurrection,

the father creates this new humanity,

this new version,

which we call the church now.

And,

and we enjoy the forgiveness of sins with new hearts and access to the father by

the spirit,

right?

And,

and in Christ,

what the triune God originally intended crippled by the fall can now be

restored.

And in restoration at the end and final resolution of the story is that

because of Jesus's death and his glorious resurrection,

the earth and heaven are rejoined and restored into something that's described

as the new Jerusalem and the new creation,

right?

And so you've got this,

if you can imagine it,

I wanted to have this on a,

on a slide,

but if you can imagine it,

the,

the timeline of history,

right?

starts at creation and it's moving somewhere,

right?

But then it breaks off with the fall,

but then Jesus comes in and,

and brings it back to restore.

And,

and basically it's moving back toward the original timeline.

And that's what the beauty of the gospel,

the beauty of,

of what God has done is that he said,

this thing that you broke,

I'm going to restore it.

And I'm going to bring you back to experience the full glory of what I had

intended in the very beginning.

And so even though you ran and you,

you wanted the shortcut and you didn't want to do it the way that I had

described,

I actually am good enough that I'll bring it back to the thing.

So this is where we are.

And so,

and in that end,

humanity carries on partnering with God to build a beautiful world that

proclaims God's glory for all of eternity.

And we get to live with him in it.

Right?

So,

so the idea from the beginning is the same idea at the end.

Right?

And so,

so the way God created us originally is who will be in the longterm with

this beautiful bit of God fixing our problems in the middle.

Right?

And so,

so this is really important.

His calling is consistent.

His,

his aim for us,

the way he created us is for eternity.

And his plan has always been this and it will always be this.

So just hold that in your mind for a bit.

And I'll,

I'm going to dive back in with,

with some of what that means.

So,

so in my statement,

it was,

our calling from God has always been to do his will as his royal priest so

that he would be glorified.

So what,

what does it mean to be royal priest?

Right?

So Peter has this moment in chapter two,

he says,

but you're a chosen people,

a royal priesthood.

It's,

it's not out of the blue.

Uh,

thankfully,

Steve helped us talk about this.

This idea of a priest has existed throughout this meta narrative,

throughout this story.

Right?

It's,

it's part of God's consistent plan and design.

Um,

in the beginning Bible,

when the Bible introduces humanity,

it's as his royal priests,

right?

They're ruling with God in Eden,

right?

But in the fall,

they forfeit that calling.

And so then it,

um,

God promises that one of their descendants would be an even better priest,

basically.

Right?

And that priest would defeat evil and intervene to restore Eden.

And,

and so then there's this part of this story going through,

you see different priests and,

and the,

the idea of a priest pop up where they can intercede for us with God.

Right?

So the way we've seen,

uh,

in Hebrews,

Jesus is shown as the great high priest who,

who perfectly intercedes for us.

There's pictures and types to show us what that would look like before Jesus did come.

And so the,

the initial idea of a priest,

right?

Um,

when God creates the,

the,

the tabernacle and he says,

look,

there's a,

there's a place where,

uh,

only the high priest can go where this.

And so he intercedes.

He's the,

the conduit between the rest of us and with God.

Right?

And so that's this,

this idea that they represent God to us and re-represent,

uh,

and represent us to God.

Right?

And so,

um,

the,

the first kind of expression,

the,

the first question of this is this guy called Melchizedek,

which is,

there's a whole long story,

but he's,

he's not in the line of Abraham.

He's,

he's with separate to Abraham and,

and sees Abraham and Abraham.

There was this big battle.

Lot got himself in trouble.

Abraham goes to save him and ends up winning.

And so then Melchizedek on,

on the mountain that becomes Jerusalem,

right?

Melchizedek is the priest of Salem,

which is Jerusalem.

Uh,

and he basically,

he,

he does this priestly thing.

Uh,

and Abraham gives him 10% of what he got.

And,

and this is a whole,

this is a picture of who Jesus would be in the longer term.

I was not the most theologically perfect,

but it gets the point across.

Right?

And then Moses is sort of this priestly figure.

Um,

when he,

he,

you know,

that comes back.

And so we have this moment and then,

and then David is this priestly King.

Uh,

and then he himself describes this future priestly King in Psalm 110,

uh,

who he describes as my Lord.

And all of these are types or pictures of the real high priest that would come in Jesus.

And the ultimate royal priest who suffered and died for a failed humanity so that we could be restored to our original calling as royal priests.

And so here we are,

as Peter calls us as believers and followers of Jesus as royal priests.

And,

and the priest,

the temple priest was responsible for caring for the temple,

for offering sacrifices on behalf of the people.

Uh,

he,

he announced God's blessing over the people and they represented God to the people and people to God.

Right?

And so we,

we look around though.

And even now we're,

we,

we're like,

well,

we're not priests.

We don't use that kind of terminology.

We do other things,

right?

We're,

uh,

we work for charities and we,

uh,

our students and we're teachers and we do other things,

right?

Um,

we,

we're working in the world and not in temples.

Uh,

and yet we can speak and behave as priests.

We can believe that Jesus is the ultimate royal police ruling all of heaven and earth,

uh,

as his temple.

And we are an extension of him here on earth.

We interceding for one another,

as we just prayed,

uh,

we offering our bodies as a living sacrifice as in Romans 11.

And,

uh,

we care for the temple,

his earth and creation and,

and God's people as his temple where he resides.

Right?

And so this idea,

of,

of this royal priesthood is this,

is part of this meta narrative that God created us in a specific way to do a specific thing.

It got kind of jacked up and in his goodness,

he wants to bring us back to doing this work.

Trust me,

this will,

this will make sense.

Right?

Um,

and so our job is to,

to,

to live for the will of God.

Right?

So to,

to do God's will as royal priests,

right?

And that God's will for our lives is not a secret.

It's explicit in the Bible.

Right?

A lot of times we,

we think about,

and even as I was just thinking,

just saying,

like,

I don't know exactly what he wants me to do.

Right?

I,

I,

I've moved back to a place out of my own intention.

Uh,

and I don't know exactly what he wants me to do,

but I do know exactly what he wants me to do in a global sense.

Right?

Because what,

what is the will of God?

Peter says that we would not live for our own desires,

but for the will of God.

So what is the will of God?

Well,

God gives us a very clear direction.

And there are three unsubtle directions from God throughout the Bible.

Uh,

there are more,

but there are three big ones.

And the first is what I'm going to call the great collaboration.

It's from Genesis one.

Sometimes it's called the cultural mandate or the creation mandate,

but it's what God looks at Adam and says,

uh,

in,

in Genesis one verse 26,

he says,

let us make mankind in our image,

in our likeness,

which makes us unique so that they might rule over the fish of the sea and the

birds of the sky and over the livestock and all the wild animals and all

over the creatures that move along the ground.

So God created mankind in his image,

in the image of God,

he created the male and female.

He created them.

God blessed them and said to them,

here's the thing,

be fruitful and increase in number,

fill the earth and subdue it,

rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living

creature that moves on the ground.

And so this is God telling humanity what his intention is.

He says,

look,

your,

your job is to be fruitful,

to,

to bear much fruit,

to increase in number,

to fill the earth,

to subdue it.

What does it mean to subdue something,

to,

to,

to take care of it,

to,

um,

make it work in a way that it needs to work,

right?

It's this idea that,

um,

you know,

we're,

we're cultivating something,

you know,

it's this culting cult culture.

It's where we get agriculture.

It's where we get culture,

culture,

right?

It's,

it's this creation of something,

uh,

that wasn't there,

right?

We're,

we're taking that in.

So there's this great collaboration,

which he announces at the beginning.

And then there's the great commandment,

which,

uh,

in Mark chapter 12,

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Jesus says one of the teachers of the law came and heard,

uh,

them debating,

noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer.

He asked them,

well,

of all the commandments,

which is the most important?

And Jesus answers the most important one is this hero,

Israel,

the Lord,

our God,

the Lord is one love the Lord,

your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

And then he goes on.

The second one is like it.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no commandment greater than these.

So God,

Jesus gives us another specific commandment.

I mean,

God had given it to us a long time ago,

uh,

in Deuteronomy is the Shema,

which Jesus is quoting.

Um,

but he's saying,

love God with all your heart,

with everything you have and love your neighbor.

So you have very clear understanding of what the will of God is.

And then he gives us one more,

uh,

right before he ascends in the great commission in Matthew 28,

he said,

the love of the disciples,

they're in Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

And when they saw him,

they worshiped him.

Some doubted,

but Jesus came to them and said,

he said,

all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore,

go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and the Holy spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you.

And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.

So I want you to see in these three great commands,

if you will,

and the great collaboration,

the great commandment and the great commission,

that we find the will of what God has called us to.

Our work is everything we do to fill the earth and subdue it.

Our work is everything we do to love our neighbor and to love God.

And our work is everything we do to go and to make disciples.

It's not three things.

It's one thing.

And our work isn't just what we might get paid for.

It's everything we give our time and energy to.

And our role as priests on earth isn't just our spiritual life.

We're priests all the time.

You see it?

It's all one job.

Our work,

whether it's paid or unpaid,

whether it's full time or part time,

whether it's outside the home or inside the home,

whether it's sacred or it's secular,

it's all how we love our neighbor and how we love our God.

It's all how we develop culture and establish society.

It's all how we live such good lives that they might see our good work and glorify God.

All of it.

It's all the same.

Our work is just our life with God.

Right?

So whatever we're doing,

we're doing it as royal priests.

We're doing it as children of God.

We're doing it toward his glory

so that he would be glorified.

Right?

So this is the end of the thing.

God's calling for us is to bring him glory,

which is our greatest good.

Peter says there in chapter four,

he said,

each of you should use whatever gift you have,

whatever gift you've received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

You should do it.

If anyone serves,

they should do it with the strength that God provides

so that in all things,

God might be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.

Amen.

Right?

Use whatever gift you have received to others.

Right?

God has given you something.

Some skill,

some ability,

some resource,

something.

Probably more than one.

But let's just say you only got one.

Right?

He's given you it to you.

Are you using it?

God is only,

he can only multiply what we actually put out into practice.

And so,

whatever gift we have,

we're called to use.

Right?

As faithful stewards,

right?

We didn't self-generate our skill or ability.

We didn't manifest it for ourselves in some capacity.

God has given it to us to steward,

to take care of,

to use for him.

Right?

You get the parable of the servants and the stewards.

Right?

One of them gets ten and he double,

or gets five and he doubles it.

One of them gets two and he doubles it.

One of them takes his and he kind of puts it in the soil.

And he gets chastised for it because he didn't do anything with it.

God gave him something.

And he just put it away.

Because he's afraid,

because he didn't understand.

It doesn't matter.

We have to do it.

We're stewards.

Will we be a good steward?

Right?

And so,

and the verse carries on.

Whatever gift you have received,

use it as faithful stewards.

And that if you're going to serve,

you should serve with the strength that God provides.

God will give us what we need.

We don't have to be a super person.

We don't have to understand everything about what it is.

The task is putting it out there so that we might,

so God might use it.

And so that in all things,

God might be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.

The point

of our lives,

the point of our work,

is that God might be glorified.

And,

and

there was a point in my life where

that

would be

unsatisfactory.

That would have been,

uh,

God's glory?

Like,

is that enough?

Like,

is that what I'm aiming for?

Like,

even as a Christian,

it would have been,

it would have felt a little unsatisfactory

because I didn't quite understand

what that meant.

You know,

what is God's glory?

And,

and why should I care

that he gets the glory?

Right?

And John,

John Piper,

it famously,

his big thing is,

um,

God is most glorified

when we're most satisfied in him.

But,

he describes God's glory like this.

The glory of God

is the infinite beauty

and greatness

of his

manifold

perfections.

Right?

And describing glory

is a bit like describing beauty

in that

you can,

you can see it,

you can recognize it,

but it's hard to put into words

exactly what you mean by that

because it's a little different,

you know,

it's not like the same thing,

right?

I can describe a basketball

and tell you what that is

so that you might recognize it

and be able to tell the difference

between it and,

you know,

a football

or,

uh,

something else.

But,

describing beauty

is hard to do.

Describing glory

is hard to do.

And so,

it's,

you know,

when,

uh,

in Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

he,

he enters the room

and,

and there are,

like,

wacky beings

saying,

holy,

holy,

holy,

right?

Holy means different,

unique,

special,

unlike anything else.

And they're saying,

holy,

holy,

holy.

They're telling each other this.

And,

and Isaiah,

his,

his only response

to being in the presence

is to hit his face

on the ground,

to,

to pray for mercy

and,

and believe that he's not,

should not be there

because he's

overwhelmed.

And,

and when he's able

to describe

what it's like,

the only thing,

he said,

look,

the train of his robe

filled the temple.

Like,

there's a bunch of stuff.

It was unbelievable.

Like,

I can't describe it.

The only thing I can think of

to,

to bring to this

is that the train

of his robe,

right?

The part that you don't care about,

the,

the little bit

at the bottom

and the back,

it was so amazing.

It filled the temple.

This is

God's glory.

If you could think of,

like,

the best thing

in the world,

right?

Like,

riches,

jewels,

like,

all these things,

right?

You,

you'd be like,

man,

that would be amazing

to,

to have that

or to be with that.

Like,

God is

infinite amounts

of that

forever

perfected.

It's,

it's so amazing

that being

in its presence

not only is,

like,

would be just,

like,

I just want to be,

like,

associated with that.

You know how,

like,

a famous person

comes by

and you're like,

I don't need to be them.

I just want to,

like,

be their buddy,

like,

be behind them.

This is,

this is what we get to do

with God,

right?

So,

if we make much of him

and we bring him glory

and his glory

is made known

and we get to be part of it,

we get to be there

with him

and experience it

and he is so good

that he wants us

to be in it with him,

to enjoy it

and to be there.

So,

our work,

our lives

are such to,

to,

to show that

as being real

so that others

might see,

man,

that,

that looks interesting,

that looks good,

I might want to be part of that

and then we get to go

experience it forever.

That's what the Bible is for.

That's what,

this is what it is.

So,

when you ask me

to talk about work,

I just want to talk

about God

because he's so good

and that my life

can now be spent

doing stuff for him

so that he gets glory

and the,

so how does that

manifest itself

into the things

that I do

on a daily basis?

Right?

And that's where,

like,

okay,

practically,

what do you mean,

David?

Like,

this is great,

you know,

you don't have to convince me

to love Jesus,

I'm already there.

Well,

so,

so what does that mean then

for us

to,

to go out every day,

to walk out of here

and do something tomorrow,

whether it's you get up

and you actually go

to an office

or to some sort of workplace

or,

or it's something else

in your life,

right?

What,

how do I live differently

tomorrow

and do things in such a way

that this becomes part

of who I am

and what I'm doing?

I think

the thing that

shifted in my life

was recognizing that

everything I,

it's all one thing,

right?

So if I come here on Sunday

and I am consumed,

you know,

singing a worship song

about God

and recognizing who he is

and that,

you know,

I don't have like

deep emotion,

like emotionally,

I'm not,

I don't have like a high bandwidth,

but like in,

in the context that I have,

right,

I am like consumed

with emotion

in recognizing God's greatness

and his love for me,

right?

And,

and so I can teach

or,

or do whatever I do here

in this way,

right?

if I can then translate that

and,

and go

and do my other things

in life

with the same

stuff

that I would have done

in the church building,

right?

That,

that's what we're meant to do,

right?

The,

the,

the goodness

and the beauty

and the truth

of Jesus

and the gospel

should

transform

whatever I'm doing

toward

his glory,

right?

Everything we make,

everything we do

are like

little icons

and,

you know,

iconography,

you've,

you've got our,

our issues with that,

but the point,

the icon is to,

to look at it

and it,

to lift our gaze

to the person

that it describes,

right?

And so everything we do,

whatever you do

and however you do it,

it should lift

the gaze

of whoever looks on it

to,

that,

that's actually,

what's that about?

However you did that,

whatever you did just there,

that's,

that's different

than I experienced elsewhere,

right?

That's speaking about something

that's better than

what I thought it was.

How are you doing that?

What are you doing that?

How is that for?

So,

I'm going to,

I'm going to keep rambling

because I want to keep talking,

but,

what,

I want to take questions

because I,

I feel like there's some people

looking at me

and saying like,

what the heck's going on?

Um,

when Romans 11 says,

present your body

as a living sacrifice,

it means give him

everything you've got

in every area of life

for,

for every,

all of time

such that

he becomes the one thing

that's most important

and everything I touch,

everything I do,

everything I say

should reflect that

such that

he's the one

who gets the glory

at the end,

right?

And so,

if you go

and you are a trash collector,

might God be glorified

that you are caring

for his world

and his temple

in such a way

that you're willing

and able

to do that

with the most

excitement

and energy

that you could do,

right?

As you teach

children

and they're

driving you

insane,

that you might

teach them

such

that they might

one day look at,

say,

that teacher

was not like

every other teacher.

teacher.

She or he

lived in a way

that I can only

describe

as being

otherworldly,

right?

You write code,

nobody does that

anymore

because AI

does it,

but write code

such that

someone might

describe that

piece of code,

that line of code

as a thing

of beauty

and it's

why would you

put so much

effort and time

and energy

into something

that no one

will ever see

but God.

And this is

how we live

our life

and all of

those things

are such

that

we can love

our neighbor

so that

people might

see

what you've

done

and give

glory to

the God

that you

serve.

That's our

task,

that's our

role

as Christians

Christians.

It's not

about work

in the sense

that,

oh,

what do I

do with

work over

here?

It's life

as a Christian

and we

happen to

spend a lot

of it

working

and our

work is

building that

kingdom

on that

timeline,

right?

We're still

building toward

it.

Even now

we're building

toward it.

It's going

to be a

renewed

earth,

a renewed

Jerusalem

that God

is going

to take

somehow

in his

things that

we don't

understand.

He's going

to take

the things

that we

build now

and some

of them

will make

it.

Some of

them,

the Bible

says,

will not

be consumed

in the

refining

fire and

will actually

come out

on the

other side

because they

were worth

lasting.

We can

build that

kind of

things now

if we

trust him

to do it.

Let me pray

real quick

and then

I'll be

here.

We can do

something else.

I'd love to

talk more about

this,

as you can

tell.

So let

me pray.

Father,

thank you.

Thank you

for being

the same

God that

started the

earth and

who will

be there

in eternity

and that

somehow in

your goodness

you saw

fit to

come and

rescue and

redeem a

bunch of

rebels so

that we

might be

with you.

Father,

I pray

that as

we do

life,

as we

go about

the things

that we

have to

do on a

day-to-day

basis,

that we

would recognize

that part

of what

we're doing

is building

towards your

kingdom,

that we

exist between

now and

not yet,

and we

can bring

bits of

the kingdom

into our

earth now so

that you

might be

glorified and

people might

look to you

and say,

that's

something I

would be

willing to

live for.

God,

would our

lives proclaim

the goodness

of who you

are and

proclaim the

greatness and

the glory of

who you are

and we'll be

consumed by

it such that

we can't

even form

words and

we get up

here and we

act like a

bumbling

idiot because

we're just

amazed that

you let us

be part of

it.

So,

Lord,

help us

to do

it.

Give us

the strength

that we

need.

Lord,

help us

to just

take

whatever

you've

given us

and to

offer it

back to

you in

service to

you as

a steward

of the

things you've

given us.

We pray

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.