Work as Crucible

So we're talking about faith and work, this massive part of our lives.

As Jaya said, our waking day, probably more than a half of our life in many ways.

And we're seeing it's absolutely critical that we think about this really important part of our life

in light of what does God say and how does God want us to think about this really important part of our life.

For those of us that are Christians, how does our commitment to love and follow Jesus

shape this really important part of our life.

And so far what we've seen is that work is not just a necessary evil,

something we've just got to grin and bear until we can one day retire or live for the weekend.

No, it's actually part of what it means to be a human being made in God's image.

And we've seen that God calls us to see our work as an opportunity to love, love our city,

love our co-workers, love the world in which we live through our work.

And I hope this has been encouraging and inspiring and uplifting.

And yet, as we said two weeks ago, that isn't always our lived experience.

Sometimes work is hard and frustrating and difficult.

Sometimes it's degrading.

And you have bosses and co-workers and markets and all sorts of things that go wrong.

And why is that?

Why is it that this thing that God gives us, which is good, can also be so hard and difficult?

Well, this morning we're going to look at Genesis 3 and understand why it is that work is sometimes

difficult and hard.

And why it is that sometimes God calls us to difficult work.

And so Celeste is going to come and read Genesis 3 for us.

And so let's listen to that.

And as she does that, I'm going to tell you, we've got two things to say.

You can come on up, Celeste.

This morning we're going to look at the curse, why work is hard.

And secondly, the crucible, why God calls us to difficult work.

So let's listen up.

So this morning's scripture reading comes from Genesis 3.

Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.

There you go.

Starting in verse 1, we read,

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman,

Did God actually say,

You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent,

We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

but God said,

You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden,

neither shall you touch it lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman,

You will not surely die,

for God knows that when you eat of it,

your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,

knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

and that it was a delight to the eyes,

and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,

she took of its fruit and ate,

and she also gave some to her husband who was with her,

and he ate.

Then in verse 16,

To the woman he said,

I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing.

In pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be for your husband,

and he shall rule over you.

And to Adam he said,

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,

and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,

you shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground because of you.

In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken.

For you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Celeste.

Let's pray briefly as we come to look at this word.

Heavenly Father,

your word is always good.

God, your word is life-giving.

You are the true God,

and your word speaks life to us.

And so God,

as we come to your word this morning,

we want to understand your heart.

We want to understand what it is

that you have to say about our work.

And God,

we want to hear your commissioning

and your calling

to send us into our workplaces

full of your spirit,

alive to you,

trusting and obeying you,

and being a light and a blessing to this world.

And so we pray, God,

as we look at your word,

won't you,

by your spirit,

speak to us.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Okay, so,

like I said,

we're going to look at two things this morning.

The curse,

why work is hard and difficult,

and secondly,

the crucible,

why God calls us to difficult work.

So firstly,

the curse.

Now,

Genesis 1 and 2,

we looked at it a few weeks ago,

describe God's pattern and design for our world,

the way that the world ought to be.

But Genesis 3 describes the way the world actually is.

And there's a big difference between the twos.

And Genesis 3 tells us

why the world is fractured and difficult and hard

and is full of sickness and death

and injustice

and selfishness

and chaos

and tears and agony

and frustration.

And at the heart of the Bible's understanding

of the world in which we live

and the brokenness of our world

is the concept of sin,

which is mankind's rejection of God,

rebellion of God,

and as a consequence,

our alienation from Him.

Now,

I know that we live in a world

in which we're always told

to think well of ourselves

and positive thinking

and, you know,

don't think about such bad stuff.

And I know it can feel like,

oh boy,

here we go again.

The past is just trying to make me feel

even worse about myself

than I already do.

But hear me out.

Because the Bible says that

unless we understand the roots of the problem,

we'll never grasp the solution

and the good news of the gospel.

And so the Bible,

like a good doctor,

goes right to the root of the problem

and tells us what's wrong with the world.

And so Genesis 3,

we see that in the midst of this

garden paradise

that God created,

God tells Adam and Eve

not to do something very specifically,

not to eat the fruit of a certain tree.

Now,

what is so important about that tree in particular?

Well,

probably nothing.

Very important.

Wasn't that tree.

The issue is the instruction.

Will they listen to God

and trust Him

and obey Him?

Will they trust that God knows what's best?

Or will they go their own way?

And so,

Satan comes to Adam and Eve

and he says three things.

Firstly,

he twists God's word

and he says,

has God really said this?

And he puts a different spin on it.

Secondly,

he questions God's word

by saying,

you won't really die.

God is lying to you.

You can't really trust Him.

But thirdly,

he says,

if you do what I tell you,

you will be like God.

And so Adam and Eve

trust the Satan

and they rebel against God.

Now,

on the one hand,

what the Satan said

was absolutely right.

In a sense,

Adam and Eve,

mankind,

humanity,

did become like God.

It didn't become divine in that sense,

but we took on the status of God

in our lives

and in our world.

We decided,

we know what's best.

We'll determine what's right and wrong.

We will become our own authority.

We will decide how we should live.

And so,

having dethroned God

from the heart of humanity,

having usurped His authority

and put ourselves

where God should be,

we unleashed this catastrophe

across the world.

And because of our rebellion,

it unleashed the root

of all that's wrong

and broken with our world.

But,

so on the one hand,

what Satan said was right,

but on the other hand,

what he said was absolutely wrong

because he says,

you won't surely die.

Nothing's going to happen to you.

And yet,

as a result of Adam and Eve's rebellion,

absolutely death entered the world.

Now,

Adam and Eve didn't suddenly fall over

and stop breathing,

right?

But,

but in a sense,

decay,

deterioration,

breakdown of society,

death itself entered

into the very kind of fabric

of our entire world.

So that every aspect of our world

and our humanity,

physically,

spiritually,

emotionally,

psychologically,

every aspect of this world

is now tainted

and affected

by the deterioration

and the death virus.

Our world is broken.

Nothing works

as it should be.

It's kind of like,

I don't know if you've seen those

before and after photos,

right?

You see them everywhere

in the MTR station,

right?

Before you signed up

for that dieting program

and afterwards,

right?

Before you bought that

million dollar hair treatment program,

right?

You look like me

and afterwards,

right?

You look like Oscar,

okay?

Before and after photos,

right?

It's kind of like that

except it's the other way around.

Before,

the world is full of beauty

and joy

and purpose

and delight

and meaning

and significance

and harmony

and afterwards,

the world is full of chaos

and confusion

and pain

and agony

and heartache

and anxiety

and stress

and the death virus

has come in.

And Genesis 3 says,

or Genesis says

that this is true

of every area of life

but as Celeste read to us,

one of the areas

that this impacts

is our work.

Our work.

And so,

look at Genesis 3 with me

if you've got in the bulletin.

Verse 17,

to Adam,

God said,

because you have eaten

of the tree

of which I commanded you

saying you shall not eat of it,

cursed is the ground

because of you.

In pain,

you shall eat of it

all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles

it shall bring forth for you

and you shall eat

of the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread

until you return to the ground

for out of it

you were taken

from,

you are from dust

and to dust

you shall return.

Now,

this passage

is rich and full

and there's a lot

we could explore in it

but let me just

pick up three things

that relate to our work

in this passage.

The first is this.

It tells us

that our work

is frustrating

and difficult.

Okay?

Now,

you probably don't need me

to convince you of that.

If you've worked

more than one week

in your life

you will know that.

Right?

Work is hard.

It's frustrating.

Whether that's physical work

or mental work

whether it's paid work

or unpaid work

you're a student

at university

and you put in

so many hours

in that exam

and you still

only just pass

or maybe you don't.

Okay?

You,

it feels like

you're pushing

rocks up a hill.

Look at what he says here.

The ground

is cursed of you.

It means

the resources

that you're meant

to work with

time

and people

and energy

and things

they seem to conspire

against you.

You put hundreds

of hours

into something

and you see

mediocre results.

Now,

it's not that work

itself is a curse.

It's not that God

says,

okay,

you sinned.

Now,

I'm going to make you work.

Before that,

you could just live

on holiday.

Work itself

is not a curse

but now our work

operates under

a cursed

and fallen world

and so our work

becomes hard

and difficult.

Look at verse 19.

By the sweat

of your face

you shall eat bread.

Okay,

that just feels like

life in Hong Kong

in the summer,

right?

That's just the way

it is.

In pain

you shall eat of it

all the days

of your life.

So,

in other words,

you'll be fruitful.

It won't be that

there'll be no fruit

from your work

but it'll come through

difficult work.

Rather than the environment

working with you,

now it seems like

the system is stacked

against you.

Maybe you spend

months developing

this new product

or this system

and you're about

to unleash it

and you get a new boss

and in one minute

he pulls the plug.

Okay,

I'm sure many of us

have experienced that.

Or maybe you spent

years developing

this product,

you sign this deal

and you're about

to go full steam ahead

and the next day

one of the key members

of your team

resigns,

hands on their resignation.

It just feels like,

oh,

can everything,

just obstacle

after obstacle

after obstacle.

And remember,

God's mandate

to Adam and Eve

was to work the ground

to cultivate the garden

so it would flourish

and fruit trees

and blessing.

And what do they get?

Thorns and thistles.

In other words,

the garden of delight

at times resembles

more of a desert.

It's hard work.

Maybe you have

this great vision

for your industry

or your company

and you've got to

introduce something

that's going to bring

safety for employees

or change the way

that the industry works

or change business

ethics in your company.

And yet it just feels

like the more you try,

you come against obstacle

and frustration

and difficulty.

It's just hard work.

Now if you were here

last year,

we preached

through the book

of Ecclesiastes

and one of the things

that Koheleth,

the teacher,

says to us

in chapter 2,

he talks about work

in the broken world.

Look at what he says.

He says,

I gave my heart

up to despair

over all the toil

of my labors

under the sun.

Because sometimes

the person

who has toiled

with wisdom

and knowledge

and skill

must leave it

to be enjoyed

by someone

who did not work for it.

What is a man

from all the toil

and striving

with which he toils

under the sun?

For all his days

are sorrow.

His work

is an irritation.

Even in the night

his heart

does not rest.

How many of us

can resonate with that?

You sign off

on Friday afternoon,

you should be at rest

for the weekend,

but the whole weekend

your mind is thinking.

Or you lie in bed

at night

and you're wondering,

grappling.

Even at night

your heart

does not rest.

Now,

what's the implication

of this?

Well,

one of the implications

is this.

It doesn't mean

that if work

is hard or difficult,

it doesn't mean

you're in the wrong job

or the wrong career

and you need

to jump ship,

right?

So sometimes people say,

oh,

I'm working so hard,

50 hours a week,

can you believe it?

Maybe this is not

my calling.

I know my calling

is to be a quality assurance

control manager

at Lindt Chocolate,

right?

That must be my calling

in life.

Or to,

you know,

be a snow ski instructor

on the slopes

of Japan.

That must be what God

has called me to do.

Or maybe,

my calling

is to test

the deck chairs

in the Maldives,

right?

Somebody's got to do it.

Okay, God,

I will respond

to that calling,

right?

No,

but actually,

just because work

is hard,

difficult,

doesn't mean

you're in the wrong place.

Because all work

in some sense

is going to be hard.

Because we live

in a fallen

and broken world.

Every job

is going to have

difficulties.

Every job

is going to have

its challenges.

And many jobs,

they look like

the perfect job

until you get inside.

And then you find

that actually

your manager

at Lindt Chocolate

is the grumpiest

person in the whole world.

Or maybe you finally

get that job

at Lindt Chocolate

and some batch

is contaminated

and a whole bunch

of people in Brazil

get sick

and you are responsible,

right?

Every job

in its world

is going to be difficult.

And just because

we think this job

doesn't spark joy

in my life,

doesn't mean it's time

to change jobs

so that you're

in the wrong job.

Actually,

God's design

and calling

for our work

is not to necessarily

be the most wonderful

place in the whole world.

It's to love.

It's to serve.

It's to serve our society

and God.

So,

first thing,

work is difficult

and challenging.

Second thing is this.

Our relationships

at work

are affected

by the fall.

Now,

we're going to talk

about this a little bit

more next week.

So,

let me not say

too much about this.

But in verse 16

that Celeste read to us,

one of the things you see

is the breakdown

of relationship

between Adam and Eve.

And this is symbolic

of all relationships

in the world.

That where God

has put people together

to partner together

and work together

and strengthen

and encourage each other

for the task

that He's called us to,

now often those relationships

are marked by

friction,

frustration,

difficulty,

irritation.

And we see this

all the time, right?

With our colleagues

and our co-workers.

Rather than celebrating

and encouraging each other,

strengthening each other,

now there's aggression.

There's competition

from colleagues.

There's managers

degrading and abusing people.

There's gossip.

There's talking

behind people's back.

And our relationships

get difficult and hard.

And sometimes

the work environment,

Jaya spoke about it.

It's not always easy.

Now,

we'll talk more

about this next week.

But what are the

implications of this?

Well,

one of the implications

is this.

Develop the discipline

of examining

your own life

and your own heart.

What I mean by that

is this.

Sometimes

at work people

are difficult.

Sometimes

colleagues

in particular

can be difficult.

And it's easy

to think,

oh,

I can't believe

I get to work

with these people,

right?

But here's the thing.

They might just

be thinking

the same thing

about you.

Okay?

And maybe

one of the reasons

why there's friction

in the team

is because I'm selfish.

And it's my issues

with my heart.

And so one of the

best things

we can do

is to pray

Psalm 139.

Search me,

oh God,

and know my heart.

Try me

and know my thoughts.

God,

see if there's

any grievous

way in me

and lead me

in the way

of everlasting life.

And then secondly,

make it your goal

to be the best

colleague,

the best

member of the team

in your school,

your company,

et cetera.

Okay?

So the fall

affects our work

itself.

It affects the

relationships,

the people at work.

But here's the third

thing that the fall,

the curse of the

broken world does,

is that it makes

work selfish

and enslaving.

Again,

Jaya spoke about this.

One of the main

consequences of

the fallen world

in Genesis 3

is the fact that

our relationship

with God,

the life source

of all hope

and meaning

and purpose

in life,

is now,

that relationship

is fractured.

And there's an

alienation that

has come into

the world.

And so,

what that means

is that we now

tend to look

to things in our

world to do

what only God

is meant to do.

We tend to look

to the things

in our world,

such as work

and people

and money,

to provide

the things that

God is meant to

or play the role

that God is meant

to play.

And so we often

tend to look

to our work

as a kind of

God-like idol.

What's an idol?

An idol is something

we look to

or make sacrifices

for,

something we

lay down our

life to in some

way,

something we

worship,

trusting that

in return,

it will bless

us,

it will provide

for us,

it will keep

us safe

and secure,

it will give

us validation

and identity.

The things that

God has meant

to provide for

us,

we now look

to work

to do those

things.

And so we see

this not long

after Genesis 3

in Genesis 11.

it's a fascinating

account of a

bunch of men

and women

that come

together,

they've made

some technological

and engineering

breakthroughs,

they've learnt

how to bake

bricks rather

than just relying

on stones,

and they come

together and

they say this,

let us make a

tower and a

city and we

will make a

name for

ourselves.

And so they

gather together

to build the

city, this

tower, the

tower of

Babel.

Tim Keller

says that in

the Bible,

to make a

name for

yourself,

always means

to construct

an identity,

to build a

sense of

self-worth

that proves

to us that

we're not a

nobody.

And that's

what the

people are

trying to

do, right?

They come

and they

work together

to construct

an identity,

a sense of

self, to

prove that

I'm not a

failure, I'm

not a

nobody.

But friends,

don't we do

this with

work all the

time?

Jai spoke

about it.

We look to

our work

to provide

an identity

to prove

to ourselves

at least

that we're

not a

failure.

We look to

our work, we

make great

sacrifices to

our work.

We sacrifice

our kids

on the

altar of

work.

We sacrifice

our well-being

and our

health on

the altar

of work.

So that

work can

provide for

us what

God has

meant to

provide.

A sense

of identity,

a sense

of hope,

a sense

of security,

a sense

of purpose.

And what

that does

is it

makes work

selfish and

it ultimately

enslaves us.

Richard Phillips

said it like

this,

God never

designed people

to find their

identities or

their ultimate

delight in the

achievement of

their own

hands.

God intended

for our work

to be a way

of delighting

in and

worshiping

him,

not an act

of self-actualization

and self-glory.

This is why

one of the

consequences for

sin is not

only that work

is difficult,

but that success

is empty.

That's a

profound thought.

One of the

consequences of

sin is not

only that work

is difficult,

but even

success is

empty.

Now,

what are the

implications of

this?

Well,

for work to

not become an

idol,

the thing that

you look to

to validate

you or give

you meaning

or purpose

or identity

in life,

you've got to

encounter in a

profoundly deep

way the true

and living God.

In other words,

unless you,

God says this,

the way to

demolish the

idols in our

heart is not

just to tell

ourselves,

don't worship

work,

don't worship

work.

You've got to

encounter a

better and

more profound

God, the

living God,

the true God

himself.

And you've

got to encounter

God in such a

way that he

disrupts your

life,

okay, by

dismantling your

idols, but at

the same time

gives you profound

peace because

you've encountered

the true and

living God.

You've got to

allow God to

disrupt your

life by

dethroning the

idols that you

look to.

And yet, as you

do that, as you

trust him, you'll

find that in that

disruption, actually

he'll bring you

peace.

You see, one of the

things with idols is

that we look to them

to give us security

and peace, and all

they give is us, they

give us restlessness.

They actually rob us

of peace.

And God says that if

you allow him to

dismantle the idol, to

demolish the idol, if

you allow him to

actually disrupt your

life, it will feel so

scary.

It'll feel like you're

taking a step out of

the boat onto water.

It'll feel profoundly

scary, and yet in that

place, you will find

peace.

peace, the peace

that your heart

really longs for.

Remember the words

of Augustine, our

hearts were made for

you, O God, and

we'll always be

restless until we

find our rest in

you.

And so that's what

the gospel is all

about.

Jesus says he came

to prove to you by

going to the cross

and dying and rising

again, that he alone

is God, but also

that you can trust

him.

Okay, so work is

difficult.

difficult.

Work itself is

difficult.

Our relationships

are difficult.

Work becomes ensnaring

and selfish.

But the other thing

that we see in the

Bible is work is not

only operate under the

curse and difficult

and hard.

Secondly, work is a

crucible.

Why God calls us to

difficult work.

So what I'm trying to

argue here is that all

work is hard and

difficult because we

live in a fall and a

broken world.

But here's the

question.

Sometimes God calls

us specifically into

difficult work.

And why is that?

Why doesn't God just

call, you know, why

doesn't God just say,

listen, you're a

Christian now.

I love you.

You should go and work

in the Maldives, right?

Let all the difficult

work be done by those

people out there, right?

Why does God call us to

difficult work?

Well, one of the things

that the Bible tells us

is God doesn't just say,

listen, you live in a

fallen world, a broken

world, suck it up, one

day you'll get to heaven,

okay?

One of the things that

God tells us is that you

live in a fallen and a

broken world, that's true,

but the difficulties that

come our way are not just

bad luck, but are filtered

through the hands of a

loving Father, okay?

In other words, to endure

the difficulty of work is

not just a fact of life.

For many of us, in some

way, it's part of God's

divine call on our lives.

It's actually that God

calls us and leads us into

difficult work.

And that's because if you

are a Christian this

morning, and I know not

all of us are Christians,

but if you're a Christian

this morning, part of God's

call is to see your work

as a crucible.

Now, I don't know if you

know what a crucible is.

A crucible is this pot or

a container that is put

into an extremely hot

furnace so that the thing

that's inside of it, often

precious metals or gold or

silver or something, is

able to be melted and

refined and purified or

shaped and molded.

So they put some gold or

some kind of metal in a

crucible, they put the

crucible in this insanely hot

furnace, and it melts the

thing inside so that it can

be purified.

What God is saying is this,

throughout the Bible, God

says again and again and

again, that God calls us

sometimes to difficult and

extremely hard circumstances

because God uses those

circumstances as a crucible

to shape us and to purify us

and to mold us and to shape

our characters to be the

kind of people that he's

called us to be.

So for instance, Proverbs 17

says, a crucible is for

silver, a furnace is for gold,

but the Lord tests the heart

of his people.

In other words, sometimes the

struggle and the frustrations

of our work is not only

because of the curse, but

because actually they are God's

crucibles to shape us, to

reveal what's inside of our

hearts.

What are we really trusting in?

Where are we really finding

our identity and our hope and

our security?

And for those of us who are

Christians, we tend to think,

okay, my identity is in Jesus,

I know that, I'm secure in

him, until you get to work and

that deal falls flat, right?

Or your boss scolds you or

something goes wrong or you

don't make that promotion and

suddenly our whole world

crumbles and falls apart.

What's happening?

The refiner is at work in your

world.

God is at work in your life and

he's shaping you and he's

molding you.

And so sometimes the

difficulty of work is meant to

refine our characters.

So God wants us to be

patient, but how are you ever

going to know how impatient you

are until your patience is

tested, right?

Or how are you going to see

that you've got an anger

problem when life is always

going your way?

Sometimes God uses the

difficulty of work to reveal

what's really in our hearts

and to show our need for him.

I often think to myself, I

used to, I kind of laugh at

this, I used to think I was a

very patient person.

Until two things happened.

One, I had kids.

And two, a whole bunch of

work situations arose where I

got so impatient with people

and I realized I am a very

impatient person.

But it took the difficulty of

the crucible to reveal that,

right?

And so sometimes God allows

difficulty to come our way,

oftentimes in and through our

work, so that we can see our

need for him.

Paul writes this in

Corinthians, listen to what he

says here.

He says,

we do not want you to be

unaware, brothers and sisters,

of the affliction we experienced

when we were in Asia.

Some of you might feel the

same, right?

In America, it was so easy.

I came to Asia, deep

affliction.

For we were utterly burdened

beyond our strength and we

despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we felt we had received

the sentence of death.

But that was to make us rely

not on ourselves, but on the

God who raises us from the

dead.

You see that?

Again and again, the

scriptures say that the

hardship and the difficulty of

work are meant to be like a

shepherd's goad, a shepherd's

staff that are actually meant

to draw us back to God and

lead us to the foot of the

cross and say, God, I need

you.

They're meant to reveal the

counterfeit gods that we are

trusting in.

And sometimes we may think,

oh, work is difficult and the

environment isn't that good,

it must be time to leave.

Maybe, but maybe not.

Maybe that's exactly where God

wants you because he wants to

show you what you're trusting

in and what's in your heart.

Friends, again and again and

again, the scriptures tell us

that God is absolutely clear on

this, that God is infinitely

more concerned about our

character than our comfort.

And I know that in the 21st

century, that's hard to believe

because we think that the one

thing we're entitled to is a

comfortable life.

But again and again and again,

God says that he's infinitely

more concerned with our

character than our comfort.

Just read almost any book in

the Bible, any of the New

Testament epistles, any of the

gospels, right?

You'll see again and again

suffering and hardship,

anxiety, difficulty, stress.

This is a normal part of the

Christian life.

And sometimes God brings these

things into our life because he

wants us to see what's in our

hearts.

Now, last thing before we, last

section.

What about, what about if your

job or you work in an environment

or a company or for a boss that

the values directly contradict your

values as a follower of Jesus?

Maybe your company is very vocal in

supporting a cause or a movement

that you as a follower of Jesus

don't, can't support.

Maybe you work for a company that

invests in the industry or brokers

deals for an industry that is doing

harmful stuff to the environment or is

contributing towards division in

society and breakdown society.

What do you do?

What do you do if your boss treats

people badly or sexist or racist or

abuses people in the company?

What do you do when your boss wants you

to go out drinking with clients and

binging on alcohol so that you can

win business for the company?

Should we leave our job?

Go work for a Christian NGO?

Go start a Christian investment

company?

Maybe go work for a church because,

you know, we don't have any

challenges at the church.

Okay.

Well, friends, the Bible doesn't give

us answers to each and every

situation, but let's just think about

this briefly.

And I want to say three things to us

in that situation.

Four things.

One, it's really hard and there's no

short, quick answers.

Two, that book over there by Daniel

Doriani is a really great book and

he's got a great chapter on that

called Work in Hard Places.

I encourage you to read it.

Three, no workplace in the earth is

going to be purely good or purely easy

or purely ethical.

Okay.

Every workplace is going to come face

to face with these challenges.

And every workplace, in fact, in some

ways, the more corrupt the workplace,

the more it needs God-centered people

who have the wisdom of a God-fearing

life and who's hard to shape our

Christ to be in that place.

And so if it's possible that you can

still work in that place without

contributing towards the evil, maybe

God wants you to be in that place

as specifically to bring some element

of wisdom or light to that workplace.

It may be that God wants us to stay

there because our responsibility is to

love others more than find a

comfortable job.

And when we think about it in the

Bible, there's actually tons of

examples of men and women that worked

in really difficult work environments.

So I think of Daniel, right?

Daniel goes to Nebuchadnezzar and he

works as an advisor to King Nebuchadnezzar,

the king of Babylon, who was this

pagan, ungodly man.

And Daniel works in the palace for

almost 70 years, his entire life for

Nebuchadnezzar and his followers.

Or think about Queen Esther.

She's married to King Xerxes, the

king of the Persian king.

He was a terrible man, a misogynist.

And she's in the palace.

Or think of a man called Obadiah, who

worked as a court official in the palace

of Ahab.

Ahab was a terrible king in Israel.

Murders people, kills people.

Obadiah works as a court official in

his palace.

And Obadiah, we're told, is a God-fearing,

godly man.

All these men and women worked for in

the service of pretty wicked,

egomaniac men.

And yet, who did terrible things.

And yet, they stayed there.

And one of the reasons why they stayed

there was because they saw that God had

called them there and that their purpose

there was to serve, and in many instances,

save the lives of people that otherwise

would have been severely impacted had

they not been there.

So, for instance, right, Esther saves

almost the entire Jewish nation in

Persia because she's in the palace and

can speak up and stand up for the people

who are going to be exterminated.

Daniel saves the lives of other advisors

to the king of Nebuchadnezzar and gets

to tell Nebuchadnezzar about the God of

Abraham and Israel and Isaac.

Look, Obadiah gets to save a number of

people, hundreds of people in Israel

because he's in the palace and because

of his influence there.

And so, all these men and women

saving get to save and do great good

even though they work in extremely

difficult circumstances.

Imagine they had left and said,

I think I'm going to go taste chocolate

at the Lymph Factory, right?

But God had a calling there, a purpose

there.

But here's the other thing that we

really need to see.

All of these men and women served in

dangerous and difficult situations and

yet all of them were willing to put

their jobs and even their lives on the

line because they knew who their true

king was.

And so, while they serve in the palace

of the king, all of them ultimately know

there is a higher king who has a higher

authority whose voice I will listen to

ultimately.

All of them knew that there was a God

in heaven who had the ultimate

authority of their lives and who they

had given their ultimate allegiance to.

And so, do you remember Esther?

She does a very dangerous thing.

Mordecai says to her, if you keep

silent at this time, God will bring

deliverance through another means.

And she says, I will speak up to the

king even though it is against the law

and if I perish, I will perish.

Or do you remember Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego?

They say to Nebuchadnezzar, you want to

throw us in the fiery furnace?

Our God is able to save us and deliver

us.

But even if he does not, we will not

bow down to you, O great king.

And so friends, these are difficult and

challenging decisions and there's no quick

answers.

But ultimately, what's going to determine

whether the hard and challenging

environment corrupts you or whether it

refines you is who is your king?

Who have you sworn allegiance to?

Who holds the ultimate voice in your

life?

Where does your allegiance lie?

And so here's my final thought for us

today.

That working in hard and challenging

environments, it may be that God has

sent you to that environment because

out of love for those people, he wants

them to hear about the good news of

Jesus.

Friends, isn't that why Jonah went to

Nineveh?

Hundreds of thousands of people in

Assyria did not know God.

And so God sends Jonah into Nineveh,

into Assyria, to tell them about God.

Isn't that why God sent Joseph into

Egypt to save people?

Friends, is that not why God the Father

sent the Lord Jesus Christ into a dark

and crooked world?

Because of his profound love for you

and for me, that we could come to know

the hope of the gospel.

You see, we didn't read it, but in

Genesis chapter 3, we go back to the

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

curse.

In verse 15, there's an amazing line.

And God says to the snake, which is a

symbol of the Satan, he says,

there will come a descendant of the

woman of Eve.

A man will be born and you will make it

your business to destroy him and to

crush him.

And you will try to kill him.

And even as you kill him, actually he

will be killing and crushing you.

And so God says to the Satan, there will

come a descendant of the woman who you

will think that you have crushed him and

yet, and you'll even think that you've

succeeded.

And yet in doing so, he will crush you and

the rebellion that you've unleashed on the

earth.

There will come a man that you will think

that you've put to death and yet his

death will actually bring life because

in his dying, he will take upon himself

the curse of this broken world so that

all those who trust in him will start to

feel the curse of this world start to

lift off of their shoulders.

Friends, God tells to Satan that there

will come a descendant who will in dying

bring an end to death, who in dying will

bring life.

Kevin DeYoung summarizes the entire message

of the Bible saying, the snake crusher has

come to bring us back into the garden.

And friends, isn't that true?

Jesus Christ came, Satan did his best,

tried to kill him and crush him.

And yet in his dying on the cross, he crushed

the curse of what Satan had did in the world.

And on the cross, you remember what Jesus'

final words are?

Some of his very last words, he says,

Father, it is finished.

My work is done.

Father, I've done the work that you called me

to do.

Friends, Genesis 3 is full of darkness and

difficulty.

It tells us about how the curse has come into

the world because of our rebellion.

And yet even there in the Bible's darkest

moments, there's a ray of light, a ray of hope,

because it tells us about how Jesus Christ

will come and reverse the curse and take upon

himself the curse of the world so that all

those who hope in him and trust in him and

believe in him and follow him will start to

feel the curse lift off our shoulders as we

start to feel the effects of the new world

come in.

Friends, work is hard and is full of frustration

because of the curse of sin.

But thank God almighty, that's not the final word

in the Bible.

The final word is that Jesus has come and Jesus

is coming again.

And he will take those who love him and trust him

into the new heavens and the new earth where we

will work with joy and dignity and delight and with

pleasure and out of love and where the curse of this

broken world will be no more.

Friends, because if you trust him and love him and follow

him and obey him, sometimes God will send you into the

darkest and the hardest moments and places of our world

full of his strength, full of his power, full of his

light, full of his hope that you can bring hope into

those places as well.

Let's pray together.

Maybe actually before we pray, I've got some questions on

the screen.

Maybe you can go there.

Let's take a minute just to think and reflect about these

scriptures and these questions and then I'll lead us in a

time of prayer.

Friends, in what ways God, in what ways have you experienced

the frustration and difficulty of work?

In what ways work a crucible to shape and grow you?

How might God be calling you to trust him this week?

Is there anything you need to pray, confess or celebrate?

Let's take a few minutes just to think about that and then

I'll lead us in prayer.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, today we offer you our work with all its

joys and frustrations, its delights and difficulties.

Father, we pray through the power of your spirit, won't you

help us to worship you in our work, to love and serve others

through our work, to persevere amidst the frustrations of our

work, to live out our distinct identity as we work.

Father, won't you help us to surrender the idols that steal our

work and to trust you in the challenges of our work, to be

steadfast for you in the crucible of work and to be a light of

transformation where we work.

Father, as we worship you now and tomorrow, through songs at

church and through our work, won't you give us the faith to know

that you will refine us and use us in your ultimate work of creating

a new heavens and a new earth.

We pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Hodan II its начemed

Awesome music

That's Earlier

Please

See