Created for Stewardship

Welcome everyone. My name's Steve. I haven't met you before. I'd be grateful if you had your Bibles

open to that section. We are working our way through the early chapters of the book of Genesis.

We'll be lingering in these chapters for a couple of weeks. So it'd be great if you had your Bibles

open. And also the St. Paul's app will give you an outline for today's message. The song Friday

On My Mind was released in 1966 by the Australian band The Easy Beats. It sat at position number one

on the list of Australia's all-time favourite songs for over four decades. And the reason for that,

according to those who study such things, is it catches something of the mindset of Australian

culture. On Monday, I've got Friday on my mind. That is, the day I start working, I can't wait

to finish working. I think about the day when I stop working. Early retirement, in fact, in our culture

is the ultimate thing to aspire to. It's even an idol in our culture, because anything is better

than having to work. And so what we're going to do today in this text is look at a couple of the key

words that keep coming up in Genesis 1 and 2, the key words of work and rest. And I think it's a

subject that's relevant for many of us today. There used to be such a thing called the 40-hour work week.

Unless, of course, you worked for the government, it was 38 hours. True, I used to work for the government

once upon a time, 38 hours. And so it's like, what happened to that? The rhythms, there used to be a

rhythm, if you like. And even in ministry, when I first started ministry 30 years ago, there was this

rhythm of work, rest, and play, and that almost doesn't exist anymore. What's happened? What's

going on? Families and communities are suffering because of a culture of work in our society. So

I've got three points on the app, called to work, how to work, and working well. So called to work.

As part of the image bearing that we see there in the creation, people are called to work. God

himself works. Genesis 2.2. By the seventh day, God had finished the work he'd been doing, and on the

seventh day, he rested from all his work. God works. And although we read there that God ceased his

creating activity on the seventh day of creation, we are told in John 5.17 that God continues to work.

He still works. In fact, as the Lord of creation who upholds everything by the power of his word,

if he ever ceased to work, everything we know now would dissolve into nothingness.

He continues to uphold the universe as it is. And so this is an amazing statement here.

What is so amazing about Genesis 2.2?

In creation accounts of Eastern culture, for instance, the Babylonian creation account,

probably the most famous Eastern creation account, called Eluma Elish,

humanity is created as a primitive, lowly creature for the purpose of laboring to keep the world going

so that the gods don't have to do anything. That's why humanity was created.

And for creation accounts like Eluma Elish, work is considered bad, primitive, terrible.

The divines don't work.

On the other hand, on the creation accounts in Western culture, like those of Greco-Roman culture,

the most famous of Greco-Roman culture creation account is Pandora's box.

Zeus gives Pandora this box. It was actually a jar, really, but it's become known as a box.

And Zeus says, open it. And she opens it.

And what comes out of the Pandora's box is all this bad stuff.

Death, disease, decay, and work.

And so in the Greek myths, work is bad.

Eastern and Western, work is bad.

And Genesis 1 is the opposite.

Work is good.

Genesis tells us that work is something that our creator God actually does.

It is something good.

In chapter 2, verse 7, we read,

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

The man became a living being.

I said last week that the book of Genesis, before anything else,

it is about God.

It is the beginning of the doctrine of God.

First and foremost, his name, God is referred to 35 times in the first chapter.

And there is something really interesting that we note here about God.

Up to this point in Genesis, Moses has used the name Elohim for the name of God.

Up to this point.

It's a name that portrays God's majesty as the creator of all that is.

It signifies a omnipotent deity.

But from chapter 2, verse 4, which technically is actually the beginning of chapter 2.

We won't get into that.

The guy who originally put the chapter headings in the Bible,

because it never used to have chapter headings.

It wasn't written with chapter headings.

And when he put the chapter headings in, the guy who did that,

apparently did it on horseback.

So, you know, we're cutting some slack here.

Chapter 2, verse 4, the name of God switches to Yahweh Elohim,

the Lord God.

And so from chapter 2, verse 4, to the end of chapter 4,

the dominant name for God is Yahweh Elohim.

And it's a combination of the creator God and the covenant-keeping relational God.

And the God of Genesis, therefore, is not a distant, cruel, angry God

who creates primitive beings to do his labor.

He is a God who is powerful but very good.

He is a God who is humble and gentle of heart.

And we get a glimpse of that, the first glimpse of it, in chapter 2, verse 7.

This is such an interesting contrast to Greek philosophical thinking,

which says manual work is bad.

Manual work is a curse.

Manual work is a punishment.

Chapter 2, verse 7,

God stoops down into the soil and forms man.

This God is a God who's got dirt under his fingertips.

Humanity is the apex of God's creation,

creating the image of God.

According to verses 26 and 28 of chapter 1,

we are his image bearers,

and part of our purpose as his image bearers

is to rule the created order.

We are God's royal figures,

his vicegerents over creation.

We exercise a delegated power on behalf of our God.

And then from verse 8,

we see in verse 2 that God is the God who plants the garden.

And then he puts Adam in it and tells him to be the gardener.

All work, including manual work,

is part of paradise.

And all work is held up as good.

It is part of God's good creation.

This is so different than the way we think of things in our world.

For instance, in communist ideology,

professionals are disdained.

Manual workers are disdained in capitalism.

But in biblical Christianity,

all work is good,

and all work has dignity.

So then how should we work?

That's my second point.

I want to touch briefly on three practical things

on how we should go about our work.

Really simply, look in,

look out, look up.

That's really the three points, really briefly.

This is how we go about our work

and what the Bible says about the nature of things.

So look in,

that is, look into what you're gifted to.

Take a look at chapter 1, verse 26.

Then God said,

let us make mankind in our image,

in our likeness,

so that they may rule.

God's image is that he is the creator

and ruler of all that he's made.

And so he makes humanity in his image

and he makes us rulers of all that he's made.

We are all made in the image of our creator

and so we create.

The Hebrew word for God creating

in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2

is that he creates out of nothing.

That's his creative work.

Ex nilio.

It is out of nothing.

Nothing exists and he creates.

And that's used three times

in Genesis 1 and 2, that word.

Three times.

All referring to God's creating work.

But there's a heap of other words

that are used in Genesis 1 and 2.

Words like form, make, separate, shape.

And they are used of both God and people.

So the truest sense of our humanity's creating work

is to make,

is to sub-create, if you like.

God's creative work

is to make something entirely new

from no matter at all

and only God can do that.

To sub-create is to make something relatively new

using existing material.

And sub-creating is what the spirit does

in chapter 1 verse 2.

Hovering over the empty matter

and bringing order from chaos,

newness out of unformed material.

And every human being,

in some way,

has a desire to reflect

that work of God.

It might be developing a product.

It might be starting a business.

It might be creating a piece of,

or sub-creating a piece of art.

It might be turning around

a dysfunctional work team

or a dysfunctional partner,

a department,

or a dysfunctional organisation.

It might be an educator

bringing out the potential in a student,

a medical professional

bringing order to a broken body,

a therapist bringing order to a broken mind.

I could go on and on and on and on and on.

A mother changing,

or a father actually,

I don't want to get,

changing a nappy.

Changing a nappy to bring disorder

from this mess.

You could go on.

It could be bringing order

to gardens and buildings

and people's hair and clothing

and raising.

I mean, you just go on bringing.

That is the work of sub-creating.

As I mentioned last week,

in Greek philosophy,

divides the world

into the spiritual being good

and the physical being bad.

It is not biblical Christianity at all.

There is something very physical

about the work of spiritual work

that I do.

And there is something deeply spiritual

about the physical work you do.

And I do.

God does not divide

between the secular and the sacred.

It is not biblical Christianity

to do that.

So as a Christian,

if you are not well,

pray to God about your sickness

and go to the doctor.

And go to the doctor.

You are not being super spiritual.

You are not being more spiritual.

You're not being more mature

by not going to the doctor.

If your car breaks down,

pray about it,

but call a mechanic.

God has gifted humanity

for the work

of bringing order

out of chaos.

That's his job.

That is our job.

So look into how God has gifted you

in that space.

I am so deeply thankful

for the people who bring order

in my life

amongst the chaos

in all kinds of way.

The legal professionals

who jump in

when there's legal disorder.

for Craig,

sitting over here,

the work that he does,

most of us

are not even aware of.

We get to sit in an ordered building

because of this guy.

We get to enjoy

ordered grounds

because of this guy.

You ought to be praising

his work as much as mine.

Or more,

if you don't praise mine at all.

Look out

is the second point

to a world around you

and give the world

what it needs to have.

Chapter 2, verse 15,

the Lord God took the man

and put him in the garden of Eden

to work and take care of it.

To take care of it,

not to abuse it,

not to exploit it,

not to use it.

And this is the issue

of stewardship.

We are stewards

of God's resources.

We are stewards

of God's gifts

that he's given us

for a higher purpose.

our own glorification

but for the creating of order

in society,

in his world.

You see,

the first point

of looking in

to see how God gives me

really does suit

the Western individual

mindset really well.

Thanks for that, Steve.

Let's finish the sermon there.

But this one

about the rest of the...

Not so much.

And this is the balance.

work

is not just

about using

my gifts

and fulfilling me.

It is about

working for the good

of others.

So the biblical view

of work

is we are stewards

of the world

and the people

around us.

How is my work

in contributing

to the advancement

of society?

How is it contributing

to the advancement

of society?

That's a question

for you

before you go

to work tomorrow morning.

Or if you're not sure,

ask me,

I can tell you.

In one way or another,

it's really...

I mean,

it's clear.

I mean,

my optometrist

over here

helps me to see things

so I can write sermons

and read.

Get a greater glimpse

of the world.

Bringing order

out of chaos.

The last one

is to look up

to the one

who has called you.

There is to be

a sense of mission

or purpose

to our work.

Ephesians 2.10,

we are God's

handiwork

created in Christ Jesus

to do good works

which God prepared

in advance

for us to do.

The Christian perspective

on work

is that if we look in

and see the way

God has gifted us,

if we look out

to make a difference

to those gifts

in the wider world

to bring order

to chaos,

then we know

ultimately

that God

will use that work.

And if we work

like this,

we will be content

with our vocation

in life.

But we need

all three things

together.

All three of them.

And that moves me

here to the final point.

Because what I've just

said can seem

so unrealistic.

There is certainly

truth in that thought.

Frankly,

for me personally,

I have a job

that ticks

all the boxes

for me.

My vocation

in life

ticks all the boxes

for me.

But even so,

every single job,

every single vocation

can be

unbelievably

frustrating.

And at times

crushing.

And filled

with all kinds

of difficulty

and anxieties.

I fully understand

that our work

can hurt us.

It can drain us.

It is so frustrating.

And yet,

we haven't got

to the rest

of the Bible yet,

which is so realistic

about this.

Work will never

be the good

it was created

to be

unless we see

that

what we need

in our hearts

in order

to work well.

So let's move

to the third point

on working well.

What we need

in our hearts

to work well

is rest.

That's what we need.

Genesis 2,

2-3.

By the seventh day,

God had finished

the work

he had been doing.

And so on the seventh day,

he rested

from all his work.

Then God

blessed the seventh day

and made it holy

because on it

he rested

from all

the work

of creating

that he had done.

God finished

his work

and he rested.

It is the only

day of creation

that God blesses.

He made

the seventh day

holy.

That means

it's been set apart

and it's been set apart

for us.

Unlike

the previous

six days,

the number

of the day

of this particular day,

day seven,

is repeated

three times

in Genesis 2

and 3.

Chapter 2,

2 or 3.

The seventh day

stands

apart

in

solidary

grandeur

as the crown

to the six days

of creating.

God's rest

here

is one

of deep

pleasure

and satisfaction

at the fruit

of his labor.

From the beginning

of creation,

the seventh day

was central

not only

to creation

but to the

ultimate

destiny

of all

of humanity.

We can read

in these

two chapters

a rhythm

of work

and rest

and it's

certainly good

for all people

to practice it.

But the Bible

tells us

there's more

to this rest

than is

immediately

obvious

here.

Immediately

obvious.

if we

truly

want to

be able

to work

as we

have seen

here

then we

need to

have a

truly

Sabbath

rest,

a deep

Sabbath

rest.

Let's just

dig a little

bit deeper

on that.

Psalm 95

is all

about worship.

Psalm 95

all about worship.

At the end

of the

psalm

we read

something

that's a

little

unusual.

I'll

paraphrase

it a

little bit

for us.

Hear

his voice.

Do not

harden

your hearts

as your

ancestors

did.

So I

declared

on oath

in my

anger

they shall

never

enter

my

rest.

It's all

about worship

and God

says

they have

rejected

me and

therefore

they will

never

enter

rest.

It

doesn't

end there

though.

If you

go further

into the

Bible

Hebrews

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3 and

4

it says

there

that there

is still

a rest

for the

people of

God.

What's

that all

about?

Well

jump back

into Psalm

Psalms 3:5

chapter 3

verses 5

and 6

this is

David

I

lie

down

and

sleep

I

wake

again

because

the

Lord

has

sustained

me

throughout

my

sleep

I

will

not

fear

though

tens

of

thousands

assail

me

on

every

side.

So here's

David

saying

I am

surrounded

by tens

of thousands

of enemies

and I'm

sleeping

like a

baby.

Apologies

if your

baby

does not

sleep

that

well.

The

Psalmist

is talking

here about

deep

deep

rest

of the

soul.

Deep

rest of

the soul

a rest

that we

all need

and a

rest that

so many

do not

have.

And it

plays out

in our

work.

She's

one of the

biggest

selling

female

artists

of all

time

having

sold

over

400

million

albums

around

the

world.

She's

done

TV

work,

film

work,

launched

her own

line of

clothing,

her career

has

expanded

more than

four

decades

and she's

won

multiple

Golden

Globes

and

Grammys.

But

Madonna

still can't

find

rest.

When

Madonna

was in

the

heyday

of her

cultural

significance

she gave

a now

famous

interview

with

I think

it was

Vanity Fair

or Vogue

for me

I don't

care.

She said

what she

said there

about her

work was

very sobering.

I have

an iron

wheel

and all

of my

will

has always

been to

conquer

some

horrible

feeling

of

inadequacy.

I'm

always

struggling

with that

fear.

I push

past

one

spell

of it

and

discover

myself

as a

special

human

being

and

then I

get to

another

stage

and I

think I'm

mediocre

and uninteresting.

My drive

in life

is from

this horrible

fear of

being

mediocre

and that's

always

pushing me

pushing me

because even

though I

become

somebody

I still

have to

prove

that

somebody.

My

struggle

has never

ended

and it

probably

never

will.

that

was her

answer

to the

question

of why

do you

work

so

hard?

Harold

Abrahams

was an

English

athlete

who won

the 100

metre

gold

medal

at the

1924

Paris

Olympics.

What was

his motivation

to work

so hard

train

so hard?

He was

asked that

question

what drove

you?

He said

quote

I've got

10 seconds

to justify

my

existence.

You see

on top

of the

work

that we

do

our

vocations

in life

is this

deeper

work

that's

going

on in

the

soul.

A

work

that

sits

under

all

of

that

work

and

for

most

part

for

the

most

part

it's

unseen.

so many

of us

unaware

that we're

not actually

just working

in our

vocations

we're

working

deep

in our

souls

at the

same

time.

The

atheist

Stephen

J.

Gould

put it

like

this

we're

here

because

one

odd

group

of

fishes

had a

peculiar

fin

anatomy

that

could

transform

into

legs

for

terrestrial

creatures.

Because the

earth never

froze entirely

during an

ice age

because our

small and

tenuous

species

arising in

Africa a

quarter of a million

years ago

has managed

so far to

survive by

hook or by

crook

we may

yearn for

a higher

answer but

none

exists.

This

explanation

though

superficially

troubling

is ultimately

liberating

we have to

construct

therefore

any

meaning

ourselves.

And he's

absolutely

right.

If you

want to

begin

with the

premise

that there

is no

creator

God

that it's

all an

accident

a freak

accident

then you

have to

construct

meaning

for

yourself

because

no

other

meaning

exists.

That is

the bedrock

of secularism.

There is

no such

thing as

purpose in

life and

Stephen Jay

Gould is

one of the

few

atheists

who

actually will

acknowledge

that

or did

acknowledge

it.

And so

many of

us in

our

productivity

driven

western

world

are

trying to

construct

that

meaning

out of

our

work.

Out of

our

vocation

out of

our stages

in life

out of

our

gifting.

There is

a deeper

work going

on that

our vocations

feed into

and that

we actually

try to

extract from

our work.

And that

is what

makes our

work such

a burden

such a

mess

so far

from the

ideal.

If

anything goes

wrong with

our work

then our

sense of

self becomes

unraveled.

When we

retire our

sense of

purposelessness

increases.

Our identities

get rocked.

This is where

the Christian

teaching on

creation and

work is just

so helpful

for our

sense of

being.

in Genesis

2 when

God finishes

the sixth

day of

creating

he

effectively

declares

it is

finished.

It's

done.

Centuries

later the

same God

cries out the

same words

it is

finished.

The first

time God

got rest

because of

creation

the second

time Jesus

Christ

calls out

it is

finished on

the cross

so that we

could have

deep soul

rest.

Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4:9

verse 9

puts it like

this.

There remains

then a

Sabbath rest

for the

people of

God.

For anyone

who enters

God's rest

also rests

from their

work just

as God

did from

his.

See the

rest of

Hebrew 4

tells us

that we

can enter

God's

eternal

rest

the purpose

of creation

right now

in Jesus

Christ.

Right now.

The approval

that every

human being

needs

is to be

approved

in God's

heart.

The

significance

that we

really need

is the

significance

that we

get from

God's

eyes.

The

security

that we

need

is the

security

of being

wrapped

in God's

arms.

work

will

never

ever

give it

to us.

God's

work

is

finished

on the

day of

creation

and the

day of

redemption.

The

Lord God

is Yahweh

Elohim.

He is

our creator

and our

redeemer.

In

Jesus

Christ

our

existence

is

justified

before we

even get

up in

the morning

and head

to work.

He is

our

existence

and he

is our

justification.

He is

not our

work.

Religion

turns even

him into

a work.

We will

never have

joy and

freedom and

rest in

our work

until we

realize that

the deepest

work,

the work

to redeem

and to

justify

our souls

has

already

been

fully

completely

accomplished

and

finalized

in

Jesus.

And so

what Jesus

does is

he calls

us to

come to

him.

Come to

me all

you who

are weary

and burdened

and I

will give

you rest.

Take my

yoke upon

you and

learn from

me for

I am

gentle and

humble in

heart and

you will

find rest

for your

souls.

for my

yoke is

easy and

my burden

is light.

He offers

us deep

deep rest

because he

took our

burden.

A rest

that's so

deep that

your world

can move

into chaos.

Your

workplace,

your vocation

can move

into chaos

and yet you

can still

have rest.

He was

crushed for

our sin,

he shouldered

our burden.

So how

do we know

that we

are truly

resting in

the finished

work of

his redemption

and not

just his

creation?

Well, for

a start we

can take

time off.

We can

stop and

we commune

with him.

If we do

not stop

from all

of our

work to

be with

God,

God,

it's one

of the

first signs

that we

do not

have

spiritual

rest in

Jesus.

Our

experience

of rest

is

proportionate

to our

trusting in

him.

Our

wholehearted

trust

brings rest

to our

souls in

all of

its divine,

cosmic,

and ideal

dimensions.

as the

great

Saint

Augustine

said,

our hearts

are restless

until they

find rest

in God.

Life

apart from

Jesus is

constant

striving,

and we

will remain

restless no

matter what

we obtain

or what we

attain in

this world.

And so

Jesus calls

you,

the weary,

the burdened,

to come to

him and

receive the

gift of

rest.

His deepest

heart towards

you is not

to lump you

with more

work.

His deepest

heart towards

you is

gentleness

and humility

and rest.

Come,

follow

Jesus,

treasure

Jesus,

and find

rest for

your souls.

Amen.