The dignity of work

Well, good evening, friends. Good to be here with you tonight.

You should have a sermon outline.

That'll give you some sort of an idea of the direction that we're heading

as we kick off this series on work.

This one is laying the groundwork and a fairly broad foundation,

if you like, for the next few weeks.

Let's pray.

Gracious God, as we come to your word now,

we pray that you would give us wisdom and insight,

and we pray, Father, that particularly that you would help us to connect

what we do here now and in our Christian walk

with what we do from Monday to Saturday in our life.

I pray, Father, we would not have that separation in life,

but see it all under your sovereign hand,

knowing that there is not a square inch in this universe

that is not subject to the Lord Jesus.

And so help us to see what we do in our works subject to him.

And we pray for your glory. Amen.

Monday morning feels so bad.

Everybody seems to nag me.

Coming Tuesday, I feel better.

Even my old man looks good.

Wednesday just don't go.

Thursday goes too slow.

I've got Friday on my mind.

Going to have fun in the city and be with my girl.

She's so pretty.

She looks fine.

She's out of sight to me.

Tonight I spend my bread.

Tonight I lose my head.

Tonight I've got to get to bed.

Monday I've got Friday on my mind.

They are some of the lyrics from the song Friday on my mind,

which was released in 1966 by the Easy Beats.

And what's more, it sits at position number one

on the list of Australia's all-time favourite songs for 47 years.

That's pretty astounding.

And it probably sits there because it says something about our psyche.

From the day I start working, I'm looking forward to knocking off.

We are the land that is known as of compo claims, false compo claims, sickies, days off,

weekends, long weekends, annual leave.

I was sitting with someone in Hong Kong a few weeks ago at a table,

and part of this gala dinner thing that they were doing was they were auctioning off 15 nights accommodation

in this resort in Thailand.

And the American leans across to me and says,

who gets 15 days annual leave a year?

Oh, well, I do.

And then a few extra.

From the day I start working, I think about the day I stop working.

Early retirement in our culture is the ultimate to aspire to.

It's an idol even, because anything better is better than having to work.

And so that means, if that's the kind of culture that we're marinating in,

it means that we've got some work to do when we come to this series of work.

The dominant mentality in our society is that you work to live.

You work in order to live.

That is, work is a means to something else.

It's not a purpose in itself.

And so the 90,000 hours the average person will spend in paid employment in their life

is a means to something else, not a purpose in itself.

90,000 hours of just purposelessness.

So what does God think about the large portion of our time spent working?

That's what we're going to do, look at in the next five weeks.

Let me tell you straight up, in the last year,

I've had a very steep learning curve on this issue of work.

I was discipled as a young Christian with the thinking that because the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

is the greatest thing in all the universe,

then serving the gospel is the greatest thing.

And particularly to be able to serve the gospel in full-time vocational ministry

is the greatest thing that you could do with your life.

And so subconsciously, unintentionally,

it meant that every other job wasn't as important to God as my vocation.

I'd say that my overall view of work was simply unthought through.

The sense that ordinary work is second class,

spiritually particularly second class,

wasn't so much believed and taught by me,

because I always sat a little uncomfortable with it,

but it would certainly have been caught from me.

That is, you've never heard anything from me

that suggested that God approved of secular work.

We've had commissioning services for people going on short-term mission trips,

for missionaries.

We've had prayers for people in full-time ministry.

We rejoice when someone goes to Bible college,

but I've never conducted a commissioning service for teachers,

for business people, for lawyers, for cleaners, for parents, and for chefs.

Never done it.

With the best of intentions and sincerity of heart,

I have discouraged others with some faulty ideas about faith and work

and how they connect.

I've wrongly viewed some kinds of work to be more important than others.

I have had a hierarchy of work,

and I've had a narrow view of how the gospel transforms our work.

I have given minority attention to what is, in effect, our majority activity.

I've either failed by devaluing and ignoring your work,

or I've failed by not helping you to see a more biblically robust and rigorous

and God-honoring outlook on your work.

And that has all sorts of complications and implications that flow from that.

And so right as we kick off this series, I want to say I'm sorry.

I failed in that.

And I'm hoping that what we do in the next few weeks

will recapture something more of a God-honoring view

of what we spend most of our time doing.

And particularly, I'm hoping that at the end of these five weeks

that you'll be able to connect what you do on Sunday

with or even what you do in your own personal spiritual devotional life

with what happens with you on Monday through to Saturday.

I think that it's so essential

because we are now working harder and harder and faster and faster

for that which is seemingly more and more meaningless.

And if we could truly believe

that what we do is part of God's good and eternal purposes,

I think this would be a tonic more invigorating than a Red Bull

and a triple shot espresso.

It may even result in us waking up.

And I'm not sure this is going to necessarily happen in the next five weeks,

but it may result in us being able to get up on a Monday morning

and instead of thinking on Friday,

be able to say, thank God it's Monday.

Let me just pause there and plug one resource.

And that is this book,

Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller.

This is astonishingly good.

I didn't start my thinking here,

but it has formed a lot of my thinking.

So I am unashamedly ripping off Tim Keller.

If you're going to rip anyone off,

Tim Keller is a good guy to do it with.

And so I'm unashamedly ripping him off.

I'm still in the learning process in this.

And what I'm doing in my couple of talks today and next week

is I'm taking some of the ideas from here.

But if you want a fuller picture,

and particularly a fuller biblical picture,

because I frankly haven't got time to do what he does

in the times that we're going to be meeting together.

You want a fuller and a more robust theology of vocation,

work and jobs and stuff,

read this book.

Get it, read it, digest it.

It is awesome.

There's two or three at the back.

Two at the back.

And this is the third one that's there.

So buy it tonight.

Don't all rush over just yet,

but be quick at the end of the service.

Okay, let's kick off.

The Bible begins, interestingly enough,

about talking about work

as soon as it begins talking about anything.

That is how important and basic it is.

We just had it read out there in Genesis 1 into Genesis 2.

The Bible begins talking about work

as soon as it begins talking about anything.

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

It's what God does.

And then it shows us human beings working in paradise.

So God creates the world.

He works to create the world.

And then it says,

a little bit further down in chapter 2,

that there was no one to do work in the garden.

So he created man.

It's remarkable,

at the end of Genesis 1,

God not only works,

but he actually finds delight in his work.

Have a look at it there in verse 31.

God saw all that he made,

and it was very good.

So God finds what he has done as beautiful.

He stands back,

takes in the whole creation that he has just made,

and goes,

yeah, not bad.

Not bad.

That's good.

Like all good and satisfying work,

the worker sees himself in the work.

So a friend of mine came and stayed last night,

and we were walking around outside,

and he walks on this deck

that we got out the back of the rectory,

and he's going,

oh,

see,

this is pretty solid.

This is good work.

And I'm like,

I did that.

I made that.

And while we're at it,

see this chair?

I completely renovated this chair as well.

It's something that you do.

I mean,

it's a bloke thing as well.

You cut the grass,

you pack the dishwasher.

Did you notice what I did?

You did a good job,

Steve.

Even my girls learned to do that.

You know,

Izzy comes along,

Daddy,

you cut the grass really well.

She's going to be a great wife one day.

She's just fantastic.

Genesis 2,

there's more to being a great wife

than just,

you know,

propping up your husband's ego.

I can say that.

Genesis 2 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.

So in verse 7 of chapter 2,

he forms the man,

he plants a garden for him

and waters it in verses 6 to 8

and fashions a wife for him

in verses 21 and 22.

And the rest of the Bible

tells us that God continues

to do this work of providing,

caring for the world,

by watering and cultivating the ground.

For instance,

in Psalm 104 verses 10 to 22,

Psalms 104:10–22

giving food to all that he's made,

giving help to all who suffer

and caring for the needs

of every living thing,

according to Psalm 145 verses 14 to 16.

Psalms 145:14–16

But we also see in Genesis

that not only is God working,

but he's commissioning workers

to carry out his work.

That's the point there in,

I forget which verse it is,

where God says,

there's no one to do the work.

He wants someone to do the work

to carry out his work.

And so in Genesis chapter 1 verse 28,

Genesis 1:28

he tells human beings

to fill the earth

and subdue it.

And so that command there

is a lot more than just have babies.

A lot more than just have babies.

And great reformers like Luther and Calvin

have specifically expanded upon that

and what it means to feel and subdue the earth.

At the very least,

the word subdue indicates

that though all that God has made is good,

it was still in a great degree undeveloped.

And so part of the work of people

is to develop God's ongoing creative work,

to develop further,

to grow it,

to expand it,

to make it good.

God left creation

with deep, untapped potential

for cultivation

that people were to unlock

through their labor.

You'll see in Genesis chapter 2 verse 15

Genesis 2:15

that he puts Adam and Eve

into the garden

to work it

and to keep it.

And so while God works for us

as provider,

we also work for him.

He works through us.

And 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 and rest.

Work and rest.

It was part of God's perfect design

for human life

because we are made

in the image of God

and part of his glory

and happiness

is that he works.

As does the Lord Jesus

who says in John chapter 5 verse 17,

John 5:17

My father is always

at his work

to this very day

and I too

am working.

So it's startling

to think that God

made work part of paradise.

Many people

make the mistake

of thinking that

work is a curse

and that something else,

leisure, family,

spiritual pursuits

is the only way

to find the meaning of life.

The Bible, I think,

exposes the lie

of that idea.

Work wasn't introduced

as part of the brokenness

and the curse of sin.

Work is part of the blessedness

of the garden of God.

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 food

for the soul.

According to the Bible,

we don't merely

need the money

from work

in order to survive.

We need the work

itself

to survive

and to live

fully human lives.

So rather than

working to live,

which is the dominant

marinade,

if you like,

of the culture

in which we're soaking,

we live to work.

Instead of

working to live,

we live to work

is closer

to the biblical idea.

And I think

that's what the Apostle Paul

says in 2 Thessalonians

3.10

where he says,

if anyone

is not willing

to work,

let him not eat.

He makes

the issue

of work

a life and death

matter.

If you don't eat,

you die.

Paul does not

rebuke those

who can't work

for whatever reason,

but he does say

an unwillingness

to work

is not

a trivial thing.

For anyone

to refuse

to work

is a fundamental

violation

of God's

creation design

for humanity.

But of course,

what the Bible

does is it

stops us

from falling

into the opposite

mistake,

namely that work

is the only

important human

activity.

Work is not

all that there

is to life.

There is more

to life

than work.

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,

even if that

is church

ministry work,

you create

an idol

that rivals

God.

Your relationship

with God

is the most

important foundation

for your life

and indeed

it keeps

every other

factor within

balance,

your work,

your friendships,

your family,

your leisure,

your pleasure,

keeps all

those other

factors from

becoming so

important to

you that

it becomes

addicting

and distorted.

So work

is something

that God

does and

it is designed

and created

by God

for us to

do as

his image

bearers.

Now I think

I should just

pause there for a

moment and

explain what I

mean by work

otherwise

those who

are retired,

the unemployed,

the students,

the children,

the stay-at-home

mums or dads

are just going to

switch off for

the next five

weeks and go

this is not

for me.

The biblical

and I want to

say it is for

you so listen

it is for you.

The biblical

idea of work

has its meaning

in the word

vocation.

Unfortunately

the classical

understanding

of vocation

has been

mostly exchanged

today for

what is

essentially

amounts to

skills training

for specific

jobs.

The idea of

vocation is

gone.

One of the

major differences

between a

vocation and

a job is

that someone

calls you to

a vocation.

That's what

in fact the

word means.

The word

vocation means

a calling.

So when I

talk about

work I

mean calling.

I mean

vocation.

That's what I

mean.

I don't mean

a job.

I don't mean

nine to five

job sort of

thing.

So understood

in a correct

way in a

biblical way

Christian

vocation is

centered in a

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.

We're being

called by God

into relationship

with himself

through the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

So if you're

Christian that

is your primary

calling and

that governs

every other

calling in

life.

But under

that we all

have secondary

callings.

A secondary

position in

life in which

we live out

our primary

calling to

Christ.

Christ.

And even

though it's a

secondary calling

we must not

minimize or

devalue it.

What makes the

secondary calling

significant is

that God is the

one who has

called us to a

life of service

and contribution

to society.

That's basically

the idea of

1 Corinthians 7.

So first and

foremost work

vocation is

not about

economic exchange.

It's not

about financial

remuneration or

a pathway to

the Australian

dream but

about God

honoring activity

and contribution

and the

building up of

society.

That's vocation

under God.

Our work, our

vocation, our

calling, our

position in

life, whatever

it is, whether

we are paid

for it or not,

is our

specific human

contribution to

the ongoing

creation and

to the common

good of

society.

Tim Keller, I'm

not sure if he

says it in the

book, I don't

recall him saying

it there, but he

certainly said it

at the conference

we're at, that

his view is that

work is everything

in your life

except your

Sabbath rest and

your leisure.

It's everything

else.

Including me

cutting the

grass.

depending on

whether or not I

regard that as

leisure or not.

And I think

this is the

point here in

1 Corinthians 7

17, the word

called is used

eight times.

What is primary

there?

It is God who

calls.

Being called into

relationship with

God.

And the second

thing that flows

out from that is

that God who

calls us into

relationship with

him and it is

God who assigns

us certain

positions in

life.

And he says

they're be

content with

those positions

in life.

So Martin

Luther's idea

that there is

no hierarchy.

There is no

hierarchy in

your calling in

life, in your

assigned positions,

because God is

the one who

gives it.

And so over

the years,

however, the

primary and

secondary callings

have been,

if you like,

unhelpfully

separated.

And we

have put a

hierarchy in

place.

In its

early historical

development in

Christian theology,

vocation was

understood to

mean that

everyone is

called by

God into

salvation and

a life of

service through

the Lord Jesus

Christ.

Everyone.

There's no

separation between

clergy and

laity.

Eventually, the

theology of

vocation was

distorted by the

early 300s.

vocation was

applied primarily

just to

clergy.

Clergy were the

called ones.

Everyone else

kind of wasn't

really.

The most

influential thinker

in Western

Christianity in

the 300s was a

guy called

Augustine of

Hippo.

I knew someone's

going to smile

about that,

Hippo.

It's a really

unfortunate name.

It's where he

was from, not

the size of him

or anything like

that.

It wasn't

Augustine the

Hippo, it was

Augustine of

Hippo.

Now, he

distinguished between

two main aspects

of life.

He called the

active life and

the contemplative

life.

The active life

was all the

ways that people

serve one

another, farming,

crafting, trading,

raising kids.

That was the

active life.

The contemplative

life over here

was a life of

prayer and

worship and

spiritual

disciplines.

And while he

said both aspects

of life were

good, he says

the contemplative

life was the

best and

the most

important and

the bit of

life which was

the most

pleasing to

God.

The spiritual

life.

And so if

you, so in

those days what

it meant was to

have a vocation,

a calling from

God meant that

you were a

minister or a

monk.

That's basically

it.

And the

separation of

the physical,

spiritual, the

active,

contemplative life

was further

distorted and I

think to its

ultimate degree

in the 11th

century when

clergy were

mandated to

celibacy and

therefore separated

from ordinary

life activity,

the life of

family and

business and all

that sort of

stuff.

Kind of got

locked away in

a room and

prayed.

That's kind of

it really.

That's the

ultimate distortion.

creation.

The key

development in

understanding work

happened in the

6th century through

Gregory the Great.

As I said this

morning I've got no

idea why he was

great but that's

his name.

Gregory was a

monk and as a

monk he really

valued the

contemplative life.

And his whole

life went into a

bit of turmoil when

he was called out

of the monastery

in the contemplative

life and thrust

into the papacy with

all the administrative

duties that went

with that.

He was Pope and

so all of a sudden

his life's in

turmoil.

I've got all this

activity but I

value the

contemplative life.

And so his

thinking developed

through the

scriptures where he

actually saw that

there ought not

be a distinction.

His own personal

journey helped him

to see that the

active life of

service to others

was not a

distraction to the

spiritual life.

he concluded

that in fact we

need times of

contemplation but

also times of

action.

He says both of

those things are

needed if we are

going to love

our neighbor, if

we're going to

fulfill the mandate

of Matthew 28 to

use our God-given

gifts for the glory

of God.

And even the

activity life, the

life of action,

drives us back into

contemplation where

we give thanks to

God for his

activity in the

world and we cry

out to him for the

frustrations that we

feel about the

active life.

He says they both

need.

It's a cycle.

That is, he

connected every

aspect of our life

in a unified

whole.

The contemplative

life equipped us

for an active

life of service.

The contemplative

life grounded us,

if you like, in a

life of love of

neighbors, and the

active life kept

us from floating

off into a

bizarre spiritual

world of spiritual

pride and irrelevance

where we saw

ourselves as better

than everyone else.

Now that bit's

crucial.

He saw that those

who live the active

life, and

especially things

like feeding the

hungry, caring for

the sick, teaching

the ignorant, humbling

the proud, he saw

those who pursued

the active life in

faith as being

better equipped to

experience the riches

of the contemplative

life than those who

absorbed all of their

life in spiritual

pursuits.

And so what he does

is he connects my

life of service with

my spiritual life, my

life of faith.

He connects my work

with my faith.

And he goes as

far as to say

that a life of

spiritual pursuits

without an activity

life of loving

neighbors and serving

people is actually

spiritual immaturity.

I would go as far as

to say that your

all-Christian education

ought to lead us to

humble hearts and

activities of love to

people.

And if it doesn't,

it's distortion.

The impact of

Gregory's work was

that in the Middle

Ages, Pope Benedict

came along, loved

what he said, and he

made manual labor the

duty of every monk.

Doll!

He said, you

blokes have got to

start working.

And so, you know,

the monasteries became

orphanages, some of

them became hospitals,

and they started

brewing beer.

Not sure what the

connection is, but

that's kind of what

they did.

I suspect that we're

in the danger of

propagating this

historical, sacred,

secular divide.

It is easier to

class what we do

right now as

worship, but much

harder to class what

you're going to be

doing this time

tomorrow or earlier

tomorrow as

worship.

It is easy to see

this is spiritual and

that is unspiritual.

And we only do it in

the end because we

need to do it to

live.

Without a real sense

of calling from God,

our motivation to get

out of bed tomorrow

morning will be little

more than I owe, I owe,

it's off to work, I go.

Faith in the Lord Jesus

helps me to see the

dignity of all work.

That's the point,

Martin Luther's point

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

Work has dignity

because it is

something that God

does and because we

do it in God's

place as his

representatives.

The plants and

animals are called to

simply reproduce, but

God gives a specific

job to us in

Genesis 2.

We are called to

subdue and to have

dominion or to rule

over the earth.

So not only does

work have dignity,

but Martin Luther

particularly, and

John Calvin's

exegesis of 1

Corinthians 7 and

a couple of other

bits of the New

Testament, says that

all work has

dignity.

even unskilled

simple work, as

Tim Keller has

written in this

book, no task is

too small a vessel

to hold the

immense dignity

of work given

by God.

Luther particularly,

I think, was

helpful in this

point.

Luther looked at

lots of places in

the Bible that

says God is a

God who continues

to provide.

He feeds every

living thing.

And Luther sees

this as a promise

that God fulfills.

And how does he

fulfill it?

He feeds you

through the farmers

who grow the wheat

and the truck driver

who delivers it to

the silo and the

trader who sells it

to the baker and

the baker's assistant

who makes the bread.

That's how he sees

God fulfills that

point, that he's

promised to feed all

his living things.

He says that the

people who do the

simplest kind of work

are the fingers of

God fulfilling his

promises to you.

So when I go to a

restaurant, the

waitress who brings

me my food, the

chef in the back who

prepares it, the

delivery driver, the

wholesaler, the

workers in the food

processing factory, the

farmer and all the

accountants and lawyers

and business people and

cleaners and stuff that

are connected in that

whole network that is

the economic food chain

are all being used by

God to answer my

prayer, give me this

day my daily bread.

All work has

dignity.

So God is loving me

through the work of

other people.

All work is God's way

of caring for his

creation.

And I think this is

really crucial for us

to come to terms with.

There is no biblical

foundation for elevating

doctors over shelf

packers.

No biblical foundation

for it whatsoever.

Luther gets that from

1 Corinthians 7.

That ought to impact

our attitude when

you're pushing the

shopping trolley on a

Sunday night trying to

dodge those people in

the aisle.

Notice in 1 Corinthians

7 that God calls

people to different

positions in life and

roles in life.

He assigns it to them.

It's dignifying because

God is the one who

does the calling and he

calls us to be content

with it.

So be careful of

participating in the

sneering attitude of our

culture has towards

people who do simple

jobs.

If you lived in

Seville in February

this year,

you would appreciate

garbage collectors

because when they

went on strike for a

few days,

it almost brought the

whole city to a

standstill when

6,000 tons of

rotting waste was

left on the streets

and no one knew

what to do.

The whole city nearly

came to a standstill.

It's in those moments

you appreciate the

dude who drives you,

wakes you up in the

early hours of the

morning with his

truck,

emptying your bins.

Whenever Luther talked

about vocation,

he deliberately used

the simple and the

mundane in order to

elevate the significance

of everything.

The father washing

nappies,

the maid sweeping the

floor,

the brewer making

good beer.

By doing our

appointed work in

society,

we become means or

agents of grace

through which God

serves others.

So friends,

traditionally we have

used the language of

Christian work to

refer to basically the

sort of stuff that I'm

doing right now,

to missionaries,

to parachurch

callings.

This distorted

understanding exposes

an inadequate grasp of

the biblical understanding

of vocation.

It will be Monday

again tomorrow,

and if you're a

Christian,

then you're about to

embark on a week of

Christian work.

Paid or not,

it's irrelevant.

And what will that look

like for you in the work

that you do?

Depending on your

theological position,

you might say,

Christian work,

the way to serve God

at work is to work

with a grateful,

joyful,

gospel-centered 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 possibly can so

that you can be as

generous as you

possibly 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

personally be honest

and to take every

opportunity to get

Jesus into every

single conversation

and lead my

colleagues into

prayer of sinners

repentance.

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 a

positive end.

I would probably

say now that

Christian work is a

mixture of all

those things.

at any time.

It could be a

mixture of all

those things.

I love the story

of Charles Spurgeon.

Once upon a time,

you would have

interviews to become

members of churches

and particularly in

the Baptist church.

And so Spurgeon,

the great old preacher,

would sit there with

his elders of the

church and he'd

interview each person

individually.

And one day there,

he's sitting there

interviewing a person

wanting to become

member of the church

and he says to

them, a young

lady says to

them, give us

evidence of the

transformation of

the gospel in your

life.

Why should, and

without that evidence

we're not going to

give you membership

of the church.

And she was a

cleaner.

And she said,

well, ever since I

have become a

Christian, she said,

I no longer sweep

the dust under the

mat.

I actually clean it

up and get rid of

it.

And Spurgeon said,

give her entry to the

church immediately.

You see, the gospel

has impacted what she

does Monday to

Saturday.

And so if you're a

Christian airline pilot,

what does it mean for

you to be a Christian

airline pilot?

Does it mean you hop

on the plane and you

use the intercom

opportunity to captive

audience to share the

gospel with them?

Ladies and gentlemen,

we're just in route to

LA.

We've got 16 hours

together.

Let me just share a

few thoughts with you

or put two ways to live

on the screen.

I mean, is that?

I think most basic and

fundamental to be a

Christian airline pilot is

to land the plane and do

it smoothly.

Think about the people

in the plane.

The most basic thing,

do your job well.

And if it means that you

get an opportunity to

witness to people, most

likely when the plane's

going down, there's a

good opportunity to do

it.

Do your work well,

honours God.

Billy Graham's wife, the

great evangelist, had a

plaque above her kitchen

sink which read,

divine services conducted

here three times daily.

She got it.

Ironing your child's

school uniform and

changing a nappy that

overfloweth or mowing

your lawn are not

simply jobs when they are

done for God.

God calls us to exercise

dominion over the

created order for the

good of society.

If I do not cut my

grass, do you think my

neighbours would be happy

with that?

Is it loving my

neighbours if I choose not

to cut my grass and let

all the rats and the

snakes and the junk to be

dumped in there and it

looks like an absolute

schmuzzle?

Is that loving my

neighbour?

When you do it for God,

you do it to love your

neighbour and so you cut

your grass.

You deal with the

weeds.

It's not just simply a

job.

It's my calling for the

good order of society

and for the dominion of

creation.

Is there one that the

Bible teaches us in

Colossians 3.23?

Whatever you do, work at

it with all 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 God 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 the honour of your

name we pray.

Amen.