The Big Picture

We put flags on our cars and drink copious amounts of alcohol

and get arrested as we celebrate who we are as a nation.

And part of the Australian Day celebrations,

the two Aussie larrikins, Roy and HG, were part of the televised...

I think they were at the Opera House or something like that.

And at one point during the celebrations,

Roy suggested that Australia Day should be renamed as Bludger's Day.

And it should, in fact, not be a day of celebration,

but it should be a whole week of just doing nothing, just being a bludger.

And at which point did the crowd, when he said that,

just erupted with cheers and applause.

They were obviously thinking it's a great idea.

And then he suggested at that point that, well, you know,

the fact is no one wants to work.

Certainly no one wants to go back to work tomorrow after a day like today.

And the crowd cheered even more at that point.

They tapped, in that moment, they tapped into something of the Australian psyche.

The most popular Australian song of all time is Friday On My Mind,

which was released in 1966.

It's been popular since 1966 amongst Australians, released by the Easy Beats.

It's a song that catches something of our Australian culture.

On Friday...

Sorry, on Monday, I've got Friday On My Mind.

The day I start work, I'm looking forward to the day when I stop work.

I think about the day when I'm stopping work.

You know, we are known as the land of the long weekend and of strikes and of sickies and false compo claims.

And you look at television and newspapers and billboards,

they sell the stage of life that we call retirement as the ultimate freedom.

That is, in our culture, we aspire to retire.

That's what we aspire to.

It's the ultimate freedom.

You work in order to accumulate so that you don't have to work.

A number of years ago, there was a survey in the United Kingdom

which asks why the Australian show Home and Away was so popular in the UK.

And not surprisingly, it wasn't the acting.

Or the plot.

Three things were mentioned as the top reasons why British people,

millions of British people, tuned into Home and Away every day.

Number one, the sun's always shining.

Popular in England.

Number two, the beach is always inviting.

And number three, no one ever appears to be working.

You could say that the dominant mentality in our culture

is that we work in order to live.

That is, work is a means to an end.

We work in order to holiday.

We work in order to have the money for leisure.

We work in the...

And the series that we're launching into now,

over the next number of weeks,

is about putting some purpose back into what we do

when we're not gathered in this place.

It's about lining what we do Monday to Saturday

with what we're doing here right now on Sunday.

And I think this is so essential for us

because we are now working harder and harder,

faster and faster for what is seemingly more and more meaningless.

And if we could truly believe that what we do

for most of our waking hours

is actually part of God's good and eternal purposes,

I think it would be a tonic more invigorating than a couple of these.

Or a...

No, I agree, Sam.

Or a triple shot espresso.

Or whatever it is that you use for your tonic.

We may even result in this, I think,

waking up on Monday morning

and instead of thinking of Friday,

might actually conclude,

thank God it's Monday,

ready for another week of serving him.

And so my task tonight is to connect

what we do with the rest of our weeks,

what I'm calling through this series,

and you've seen up there on the screen,

your front line with God's purposes.

That is, I want to give us a different view of our working life

to the standard view which is in our culture.

And the rest of this series will be unpacked,

beyond this one,

be unpacked in how we might see God honoured

in the rest of our week outside of this building.

Now, I should first of all explain what I mean by work.

Otherwise, the retired, the unemployed,

the art students, the parents,

the care...

I will rebuke myself later for that comment.

I want you to know that.

The children amongst us,

we'll just switch off for the next few weeks.

The biblical idea of work has its meaning in the word vocation.

One of the major differences

between what you might call a job or a vocation

is that someone calls you into a vocation.

The word vocation simply means calling.

And so I'm thinking of vocation

when I talk about work.

And understood in the correct way,

Christian vocation is centred on the sovereign God

who calls us to embrace the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

and to follow him in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so our first and primary calling is to Christ.

That is, we are called to someone rather than something

or somewhere.

But under our calling to Christ,

we all have secondary callings in life.

And it's where we live out our primary calling to Christ,

where we live it out with faithfulness and fruitfulness

to the God who's called us.

And even though it's a secondary calling,

it must not be minimized or devalued.

What makes the secondary calling significant

is the God is the one who calls us to it

in a life of service and contribution to him and to society.

And so first and foremost, work, vocation,

is not about economic exchange or financial remuneration

or personal significance or career paths

or the thing that I must do in order to have holidays

and long service leave and everything else.

Work is about God honoring creativity

and contribution to others.

Our work or vocation, our calling, our position in life,

whatever it is, whether we are paid for it

or whether we are not,

is our specific human contribution

to God's ongoing creation

and to the common good of society.

And that's what this series is all about

and how we are to be faithful and fruitful

and God honoring in your vocation,

whether you are retired,

whether you're a student,

whether you're a child,

whether you're unemployed,

whether you're a banker,

whether you're an electrician,

whatever it is that you are,

whatever position you are in life.

What that means is

that there's not a person in this room who doesn't work.

That's what I mean.

And I'll be referring to that work or that vocation

as your front line throughout this series.

It's the place where you spend the majority of your time

outside of this building.

It is where you're in contact with God's world,

society and the people who need Jesus.

That's your front line.

So let's jump into the Bible.

Genesis chapter one.

Just read out to us a moment ago.

Grab a Bible.

It would be fantastic if you had that in front of you.

It's noteworthy,

as Sam has just read out for us,

that the Bible begins talking about work

as soon as it begins talking about anything.

That is how important and basic it is.

Genesis describes God's creation of the world as work.

And then it shows us human beings working in paradise.

It is remarkable that at the end of Genesis one,

God not only works,

but that he finds delight in his work.

Verse 31,

God saw all that he made

and it was very good.

God finds what he has worked for,

what he has done,

as beautiful.

Like all and good, satisfying work,

the worker sees themselves in it.

Genesis two goes on to show

that God works not only to create,

but also to care for his creation.

God creates human beings

and then he works for them as their provider.

He forms the man in verse seven,

plants a garden for him

and he waters it in verses six and eight

and fashions a wife for him,

a helper for him in verses 21 and 22.

And the rest of the Bible tells us

that God continues to work as provider.

He is caring for his world,

watering it and cultivating the ground in Psalm 104.

He gives food to all he has made,

giving help to all who suffer

and caring for the needs of every living thing

in Psalm 145.

Not only does God work, however,

but that he commissions his people,

his workers to carry on his work.

So in Genesis chapter one, verse 28,

he tells human beings to fill the earth

and subdue it to rule over it.

The word subdue there indicates

that though all God had made was good,

there was still a great degree of it

which was undeveloped.

God left creation with a deep,

untapped potential, if you like,

for cultivation, development,

for society that people were to unlock

through their work of exercising rule

over the created order

under God as his image bearers.

And then you see in Genesis chapter two,

verse 15, that he puts Adam and Eve

in the garden to work it and keep it.

And so while God works for us as our provider,

we also work for him doing his work.

He works through us.

So the book of Genesis leaves us

with a striking truth.

Work was part of paradise.

God's good plan and creation

always included human beings

living in a constant cycle of work,

rest, work, rest, work, rest.

It was part of God's perfect design

for human life.

We were made in God's image

and part of his glory and happiness

is that he works.

And the Lord Jesus Christ,

who is the perfect image of God,

says this of himself in John 5,

my father is always at his work

to this very day

and I too am working.

So the Lord Jesus did the work

his father assigned him to do

and he calls us as his disciples

and ourselves as image bearers of God

into God's work in his world.

It's startling to think

that God made work part of paradise.

Work wasn't introduced

as part of the brokenness

and curse of sin.

Work is part of the blessedness

of the Garden of Eden.

And so work is much

a basic human need

as food and beauty

and rest and friendship

and prayer and sexuality.

It is not simply medicine.

It is in fact food for the soul.

According to the Bible,

we don't merely need the money

from work to survive,

we need the work itself

to survive and thrive.

Rather than working to live,

we live to work.

That is,

I have four weeks annual leave

in order to be refreshed

to work the rest of the year.

That's the purpose of my leave.

I don't work in order

to accumulate annual leave.

I get annual leave

in order to work.

That's a complete flip

of the culture in which we exist.

But that's a biblical view.

So rather than working to live,

we live to work.

And I think the Apostle Paul

makes that point

in 2 Thessalonians 3,

2 Thessalonians 3:10

verse 10,

where he says,

if anyone is not willing to work,

let him not eat.

Now, Paul doesn't rebuke

those there that cannot work

for any reason,

but he does say

an unwillingness to work

is no trivial matter.

For anyone to refuse to work

is a fundamental violation

of God's design for humanity.

But the Bible also keeps us

from falling into the opposite mistake,

and that is making work

the only important human activity

or the badge of honour.

So when we say,

you know,

I work long hours

and I work all the time

and I haven't had a day off

for weeks or something like that,

that's sin.

That's making an idol of your work.

That's not part of God's good design.

You see, work is not all there is to life.

You will not have a meaningful life

without work,

but you cannot say

that your work

is the meaning of your life.

If you make any work

the purpose of your life,

including church work and ministry,

you create an idol

that rivals God.

So first of all,

it's a real tonic to know

that it's not just

your service in the church

that matters to God.

That's the first thing.

Your vocation,

your position in life

matters to God.

And as I mentioned before,

I get that from 1 Corinthians 7,

where God assigns people

their position in life.

Your front line

is where God has put you

to fulfil his purpose

for his world.

It's a further tonic

to know that God

is in fact still at work

in his world himself.

So in Colossians chapter 1,

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

which Sam read out to us,

Paul is allowing

the Colossian church

to in on his prayer life.

And his prayers

are prayers of thanksgiving

as he reflects on the fact

that the gospel

is bearing fruit

all over the world.

It is transforming situations

in verse 6.

And so when Paul moves

to pray for the Colossians,

what does he think

their greatest need is?

And bear this in mind

as we enter into a week

of prayer here at St. Paul's

in terms of how to shape

your prayer life in this week.

What are your prayer priorities?

What does he think

the Colossians need

more than anything else?

What shapes his prayer for them?

It is that they be filled

with the knowledge

of God's will.

In verse 9,

so that they will live lives

that are worthy of the Lord

and that they will bear fruit

in every good work.

Growing in the knowledge of God

and strengthened to keep going

in their lives of faith.

That's what he desires

for the Colossian church.

He then moves in to talk about

the significance of what Christ

has done

and then he just puts on display

from verse 14

at just a litany

of amazing truths

about Jesus Christ

that are probably the most

concentrated descriptions

of the glories of Jesus

in all of the New Testament.

Have a look at it there.

There's 15 of them

in a few verses.

Verse 14,

in him we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins.

Verse 15,

he is the image

of the invisible God.

Verse 15 again,

he is the firstborn

of all creation.

That is,

he's the specially honoured

firstborn son,

the inheritor

of the estate

of all.

That is,

he's the inheritor

of all creation.

Verse 16,

by him all things

were created

in heaven and earth,

visible and invisible

where thrones

or dominions

or rulers

or authorities.

Verse 16,

again,

all things

were created

through him.

Verse 16,

again,

all things

were created

for him.

Verse 17,

he is before

all things.

Verse 17,

again,

in him all things

hold together.

Verse 18,

he's the head

of the body,

the church.

Verse 18,

again,

he's the beginning.

Verse 18,

again,

he is the firstborn

from the dead.

Verse 18,

again,

he is the preeminence

in everything.

Verse 19,

in him all the fullness

of God

is pleased to dwell.

Verse 20,

he reconciles

all things himself,

whether on earth

or in heaven.

Verse 20,

again,

he makes peace

by the blood

of his cross.

It's an astounding

list of the glories

of Christ.

And frankly,

you know,

what I should have done

is,

time permitting,

just read each one

and just sat there

and savored it

for a moment.

You see,

in order to live lives

that are worthy

of your calling

and to labor

to be fruitful

in fulfilling

God's purposes

in this world,

you need to have

confidence

in the God,

what he is,

in God,

what he's done,

in what he is doing

and what he will do

into the future.

And that's what

those verses do for you.

You need to have

a big vision

that the whole

of creation

matters to God.

if we are to live

whole lives

for the glory

of God,

we need to see

that God's mission

is about

all things

being reconciled,

all things

being reconciled,

all things

being transformed

and not just

some things.

Jesus created

all things

in the beginning,

he holds all things

together as a rule

of the universe

and God will reconcile

all things

through Christ

at the end of time.

And my friend,

let me just pause

for a moment.

If your heart

wavers,

you know,

you leave this building

and you're out there

on a Monday morning

at your front line,

whatever it is

that you're doing,

you know,

raising children

or being a banker

or whatever it is

that you're doing,

if your heart

ever wavers

or it grows cold

as a disciple

of the Lord Jesus

out there

in that world,

then come back

to these verses.

Memorize

this list

of the glories

of Christ

and ask God

to give you

affections

that correspond

to the measure

of the greatness

of Christ.

Paul teaches us here

that Jesus Christ

created all that is.

They were created

through him.

He was with

and in God

and was God

and as God

created all things

through him

and all things

were created

for him.

All that came

into existence

came for Christ.

That is,

everything exists

to display

the greatness

of Christ

to his created order.

Nothing,

let me just emphasize

that,

nothing

in the universe

exists

for its own sake.

Everything

from the bottom

of the oceans

to the top

of the highest mountains,

from the smallest

particle

to the largest star,

from the most

boring school subject

to the most

fascinating science experiment,

from the ugliest

cockroach

to the most

beautiful human being,

from the most

glorious saint

to the most

wicked

genocidal dictator,

everything that exists

exists

to make

the greatness

of Christ

more fully known

to his world

and that includes

you

and the work

that you will do

tomorrow morning.

Is that a tonic

to get you out of bed

a little bit better

than a coffee?

I'm not saying

abandon the coffee,

I mean I'm not going

to do that

tomorrow morning,

but a shot

in the arm,

there's a lot

of undoing here

because over the years

our primary

and second

callings in life

have been

unhelpfully separated

and a hierarchy

have been put

in place

and I was

disciplined,

sorry,

I was discipled

in this kind

of teaching.

That is,

I was discipled

in the teaching

the most important

thing that you can

do with your life

is to live

for Christ

and therefore

if that's true

the most important

thing that you can

do with your life

is to go

into full-time

ministry

and if you're

not in full-time

ministry

and not every

Christian is,

and you are

a Christian

then your vocation

should be to

support full-time

ministry.

Get a job

and give money

to the church

and when you're

not working

at that

sign up to a

roster on church

time and give

your time to the

church.

The most

influential thinker

in Western

Christianity

in the 300s,

that's a long

time ago,

was Augustine

of Hippo.

He distinguished

between the two

main aspects

of life.

He called it

the active

life and the

contemplative

life.

The active

life was all

the ways that

people serve

one another.

So for him

it was farming

and crafting

and trading

and raising

families and

stuff like that.

The contemplative

life was the

Godward life,

the Godward

focused life in

prayer and

worship and

spiritual disciplines

and stuff like

that.

Now while for

him both aspects

were good,

he suggested

that the

contemplative

life was

the most

spiritual and

God-pleasing

in life.

Now the

separation of

the physical

and spiritual

aspects of

life were

further distorted

in the 11th

century when

clergy were

mandated to

celibacy and

therefore separated

from ordinary

active life of

family and

business.

They were put

away in

monasteries,

put brown

robes on them

and walked

around and

hummed and

stuff.

Now the

key development

in understanding

work happened

ironically in

the 6th century

by a guy

named Gregory

the Great.

Like I've

said this

morning, I

don't know

why he was

great but

we'll just

call him

Greg.

Greg was

a monk who

valued the

contemplative

life above

the active

life but

whose world

was totally

rocked when

the Pope

called him

to Rome

to head up

administrative

duties and

he's like

all of a

sudden he's

got to

work.

And his

whole world

was rocked

and his

personal

journey helped

him to see

that the

active life

of service

to others

was not

an unwelcomed

or a

spiritually

damaging

distraction

from the

contemplative

life.

So he

connected

every aspect

of life

into a

unified

whole,

the

contemplative

life

equipping

us for

active life

service

of others

and the

active

life

grounding

us in

acts of

love to

our

neighbours

which kept

us from

floating

off into

spiritual

pride and

you know

irrelevancy.

He connected

work and

particularly

service of

others and

use of

gifts and

position in

life with

spiritual

maturity.

Primary

and secondary

calling are

intimately

connected.

And so

the impact

of Greg's

work was

that in

the Middle

Ages

Pope

Benedict

made

manual

labour

the duty

of every

monk in

a monastery.

So they

blamed Greg

and they

made mead

whatever else

they did

scotch and

stuff.

Now

let's be

frank here

old habits

die hard.

we are

in danger

and I've

been there

let me tell

you of

propagating

this

historical

secular

sacred

divide.

And part

of what

we're doing

in this

series is

trying to

break that

down a

little bit

for us.

It is

easy to

class,

let's be

frank about

this,

it is

easy to

class what

we are

doing now

in corporate

worship

as worship

but it's

much more

difficult for

us to

think about

what we're

going to

do tomorrow

as worship.

And if

you agree

with that

statement,

yes it

is more

difficult,

then it's

quite possible

that you

have the

secular

sacred

divide.

You've

been

operating

from that

position.

It's

easy to

see this

as spiritual

and what

you're going

to do

tomorrow

as

unspiritual

something

that you

must do

in order

to live.

You see

without a

real sense

of calling

our motivation

to get

out of bed

tomorrow

morning and

go to

work will

be little

more than

I owe,

I owe,

so off to

work I

go.

You see

faith in the

Lord Jesus

helps us to

see the

dignity of

work.

Work has

dignity

because it

is something

that God

does and

it's something

that he

calls us

to in his

place as

his

representatives.

The plants

and the

animals were

simply called

to reproduce.

But people

are explicitly

given a job

in Genesis

2.

They are

called to

subdue and

have dominion

or to

rule over

the created

order for

control,

order,

beauty,

creation of

beauty,

other things

like that.

So not

only does

work have

dignity but

all kinds

of work

have dignity.

unity.

This is

where the

great

reformer

Martin

Luther and

John Calvin

was the

same,

very helpful

at this

point.

For instance,

Luther noticed

there's a bunch

of places in

the Bible

where God

says that he

will feed

all of his

living creatures

and Luther

sees that as

a promise

that God

himself will

fulfill.

God does

that.

But he

says how

does he do

that?

How does

God fulfill

his promises?

He says he

feeds you

and I'm

going to

paraphrase him

and modernize

him a little

bit.

He feeds

you through

the farmers

who grow

the wheat,

the truck

driver who

delivers it

to the

silo,

the trader

who sells

it to the

baker,

the baker

who makes

the bread,

the supermarket

who sells

it to you

and he

says the

people who

do the

simplest of

work are

the fingers

of God

to bless

you.

When I

go to the

restaurant,

the waitress

who brings

me my

food,

the chef

who's

prepared in

the back,

the delivery

diver,

the wholesalers,

the workers

in the

food processing

factory,

the family

and everyone

else in

the economic

food chain

are used

by God

to give

me this

day my

daily bread.

It's God

at work

using people

in their

vocation

to serve

me and

others.

God is

loving me

through the

work of

other people.

All work

is God's

way of

caring for

his creation.

This is

important for

us to come

to terms

with.

There is

no,

no biblical

foundation

to elevate

the work

of doctors

over the

work of

plumbers.

None

whatsoever.

In fact,

the foundation

in that

is pagan

Greek

philosophy

where the

thinkers

were regarded

in higher

order

than the

doers.

Greek

philosophy

is not

biblical.

As I

mentioned,

1 Corinthians

7,

God calls

people to

different

positions and

roles in

life and

whatever the

position is,

it's

dignifying because

God is

the one

who does

the calling

and assigning.

And so

be careful

of participating

in the sneering

attitude our

culture has

towards people

who do

simple jobs.

Whenever

Luther talked

about vocation,

he deliberately

used the

simple and

the mundane

in order to

elevate the

significance of

it.

He referred to

the father

washing

nappies,

the maid

sweeping the

floor,

the brewer

making good

beer.

By doing

our appointed

work in

society,

we become

the means

or the

agents of

grace through

which God

serves others.

So

traditionally,

we have

used the

language of

Christian work

to refer

exclusively to

what I'm

doing now,

what I do

in my work,

ministry and

missionary work

and parachurch

callings.

this distorted

understanding

exposes an

inadequate grasp

of the

biblical

understanding

of vocation

and if

you're a

Christian,

you are

about to

embark on

a week of

Christian work

in the same

way that I'm

about to

embark on a

week of

Christian work

when you

leave this

building.

What will

that look

like for

you?

depending on

your theological

position and

your vocation,

you might

say the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

work with

a grateful,

joyful,

gospel-changed

heart through

all the ups

and downs.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

do whatever

gives you

the greatest

joy and

passion.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

make as

much money

as you

can so

you can

be as

generous

as you

can.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

further

social

justice

in the

world.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

be

personally

honest,

to evangelize

my colleagues

and set up

Bible studies.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

do

skillful,

excellent

work.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

create

beauty.

Or the

way to

serve God

at work

is to

work from

a Christian

motivation

to glorify

God,

seeking to

engage and

influence the

culture to

that end.

It will

depend on

your theological

position,

depend on

the work

you do.

But I

would say

that Christian

work is

generally

speaking a

mixture of

all of

those things.

Not every

vocation is

going to do

all of those

things.

I do

struggle to

see how

accountants

create beauty,

frankly.

If you're a

Christian

airline pilot,

it doesn't

mean that

you use

the

plane's

intercom

to share

the gospel

with your

passengers from

point A to

point B.

At the

very least,

it means

land the

plane and

do it

well,

smoothly.

Doing your

work well

honors God.

For

mums,

you know,

Billy Graham's

wife had a

plaque above

her kitchen

sink which

read,

divine services

conducted here

three times a

day.

She understood

her vocation

and that it

honored God.

It was

worship.

Lining your

kid's school

uniform,

changing a

nappy that

overfloweth,

or, you

know,

mowing your

lawn are not

simply jobs

when done

for God.

God is

working through

you to create

order and care

for his

creation and

creatures,

to redeem,

to advance

his purposes.

Is this not

what the

Bible teaches

us in

Colossians

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3?

Have this

verse ringing

in your mind

tomorrow morning,

maybe go home

and print it

out and stick

it in your

pocket, put

it in your

lunchbox or

something like

that, whatever

it is that

you do.

Whatever you

do, work

at it with

all of your

heart as

working for

the Lord,

not for

men.

Since you

know that

you receive

an inheritance

from the

Lord as

a reward,

it is the

Lord Christ

that you

are serving.

Let's pray.

Gracious

Father, may

your favour

be upon us

and give us

hope and

purpose and

meaning and

joy in our

weekly work.

Pour out

your favour

on us and

establish the

work of our

hands for

honour and

glory of

your name

and the

joy of

all people.

Amen.