Work as Service

Good morning.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Chris.

I'm on the pastoral staff here, and it's after the typhoon.

It's good to see all of you in one piece this morning.

We're going through a series, a six-part series, looking at faith and work together.

We're going to be looking at some different stories through the Bible.

And just kind of getting a picture of how the Bible talks about our work.

Last week, we started off talking about our work as worshipped.

And I told the story, the very famous parable of the three bricklayers.

If you remember, we talked about a guy walking along, and he sees somebody laying bricks,

and he asks him the question, what are you doing?

And the guy says, I'm laying bricks.

He comes to the next person, walking along, sees him doing the same thing, building a wall there.

And he asks him, what are you doing?

He says to him, I'm building a church building.

He walks along to the next person, sees another guy building a brick wall, laying bricks, asks him, what are you doing?

The guy says to him, I'm building the house of God to the glory of God.

And we said last time that those three kind of different images show us three different ways of looking at work.

One looks at work like a job.

That's the first one, just a task you've got to do.

The second person looks at job as like a career.

You know, there's something I've got to achieve, something I've got to get to.

The third person sees their work as a calling, their work as something of a higher purpose, something which is about worship to God.

And we said that secular research is showing us increasingly that if you want to find meaning in work,

you've got to have something bigger than yourself, higher than yourself, more satisfying than yourself to make your work meaningful.

And we very briefly talked about how God is a God who works.

And we are made in his image to reflect him.

And if we want to live truly human lives, we work, but we work in such a way that it's about him, not about us.

There was a former Dutch prime minister who was called Abraham Kuyper.

This is for Henrika here.

And she said, sorry, he said, not she, he.

He said, there's not one square inch in the whole domain of human existence in which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine.

Not one thing in the whole of human existence that God does not cry, mine, over.

And yet the question is whether that is true of our work or whether we're a bit more like, you know, the seagulls in Finding Nemo who are like, mine, mine, mine.

Are we like that?

My fulfillment, my security, my finances, my money, and that's how we view our work.

It's mine.

And so we kind of separate our lives into like a nice little bento box, you know, God over here, my work over here.

And the gospel is going to come into us and say, if you want to know what it leads to live as a Christian and what is the majority of your life, you've got to get the Bible's view of work.

So, and just remember, we said work is anything you do that is not leisure.

So if you're a homemaker, if you're a student, if you're a volunteer, all of that is work, okay?

So today we just want to, I want to develop the idea a little bit more, kind of put in some more flesh in looking at the story of Joseph and looking at the idea of work as a calling and work as service to God, okay?

And so what we're going to do, we're going to skim through the story of Joseph.

We've just seen a couple of passages there.

I'm basically going to skim, it's 13 chapters, the story, so I'm going to kind of give you a skim overview and then I want to pull out some threads from it, which tell us something about what calling and service means for us in our work, okay?

So that's kind of where we're going to go.

Let me go through the story.

So you can have some of your bulletin open.

I'm going to give you some more that's not there.

But basically, Joseph is a very talented, arrogant teenage brat, okay?

He's the kind, you know, I've already started a mobile app company at the age of 10.

You know, he's that kind of guy.

He's like 17 years old.

He's the most loved son of his father.

He's a visionary in the literal sense of the word because he's having dreams about himself being the greatest in his family and all the rest of his family bowing down and worshiping him, basically.

He's the one who's the most successful person.

So he's got ambition, this guy.

And, you know, even if you have a kind of dream like that, it's not very sensitive to go and tell your family that that's exactly what's going to happen.

But this guy, his ambition is all about his status, his respect.

He doesn't care what other people think because when he's great, they're just going to have to acknowledge it.

But what happens later in the story is not exactly the career path that I think he would have chosen.

Out of anger, his brothers throw him into a pit, then sell him to foreign traders.

And basically, he gets trafficked to be a domestic helper to the head of the secret service in Egypt.

He's a rich, this guy's a rich man who's got slaves.

This master is called Potiphar.

So here is Joseph in a foreign country.

He's in a different culture with a different religion and people looking down on him like a migrant worker.

And he's trapped.

But instead of getting depressed, and maybe he did for a little while, but the story doesn't say that.

He doesn't say, okay, this is not where my passion is.

I'm a leader.

I'm supposed to be fulfilled in my job.

Well, this guy doesn't have much of a choice.

Okay, in chapter 39, what he does, he just basically gets on faithfully doing his job well.

He does his job well, and it tells us Joseph was such a good employee that he gets promotion to the chief household manager.

And, you know, he uses his skills, and God's grace is with him, and the master's business just flourishes.

And just as Joseph thinks, oh, my career is beginning to take off again, Potiphar, the master's wife, kind of takes a bit of a liking to him.

Joseph's a bit of a looker.

And so Potiphar's wife tries to kind of get in bed with him, and he resists.

He says, listen, I can't do that.

I love my employer.

I love God.

How can I do this thing against God?

The wife kind of keeps coming back and keeps coming back.

He resists.

Eventually, the wife says, basically, falsely accuses him of sexual harassment.

So, from the point of getting up, moving up the ladder, suddenly Potiphar hears about this.

Joseph's right back down in prison.

And he's in prison for about 10 years, okay?

10 years.

And he's been doing his work really well.

He's been trying to honor God in everything, and look where it's got him.

Right back down in the bottom.

Life is unfair.

Think of the opportunity cost, okay?

He's like prime time in his life to really be developing, and he's back in prison.

And while he's kind of languishing in prison, it's really interesting, because if I was there,

I'd be incredibly depressed.

I'd be kind of, oh, I can't believe what's going on.

Joseph gets on and sees in prison there's some things he can do.

So, he's actually, he gets on serving everybody else, and eventually he gets promoted to overseeing

the other prisoners, which, I mean, I guess that's a promotion.

And it says the Lord was with him in the pain.

Then we come on to a little bit of the story which we had in the bulletin.

Chapter 40.

Two government ministers, okay?

The cupbearer and the baker.

Now, I know they're not kind of government positions now, but they were then.

And they get arrested and thrown in prison, okay?

Government corruption is nothing new, okay?

They get arrested.

They get thrown in this prison, and Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of looking after them,

okay?

Now, what does Joseph do?

He's this high-flying, ambitious Jewish boy who's languishing now in prison, right in the

prime of his life.

He just gets on and serves them.

He gets on and serves them.

Even though they're on the opposite team, they represent the very people who are oppressing

him.

And one day, he's bringing breakfast to these guys.

You know, it's mundane, ordinary work.

And, you know, I'd be thinking, these guys are the enemy camp.

Why should I treat them nicely?

Why should I give them anything special?

Why should I serve them?

That's what I'd be thinking.

But Joseph comes in, and he doesn't do that.

He goes in, and he sees that the cupbearer and the baker there, they've got a few issues

going on.

They seem troubled.

So he takes the time to ask them, hey, guys, what's going on?

And what they sell him is that they've just had a dream.

They've had a dream.

And in this dream, they don't know what's going on.

And they're worried about this dream.

And it's very interesting because Joseph could have been just so wrapped up in the stuff that

he's doing, like I'm getting wrapped up in the stuff that I do, and feeling sorry for

himself about the unfairness of the situation, that he doesn't notice them.

But he notices them.

He asks them what's going on.

He listens to them.

And then he says, hey, listen, I belong to God, and God's a guy who kind of helps me with

dreams.

So let me interpret your dream for you.

And what he does, he's there at the right time, and he gives hope to the cupbearer, basically

saying, you're going to get out of prison.

And he tells the other guy, the baker, that judgment is coming on you.

Now, Joseph, as I think I would in that situation, he basically says, cupbearer, when you get

out, listen, I've helped you.

You kind of remember me down here and help me get out as well.

Okay?

Fair deal, right?

Fair deal.

Do you know what happens?

Cupbearer gets out of prison, becomes restored to the government again, forgets all about Joseph.

Completely.

For two years.

I mean, just imagine that.

You've tried to help this guy out.

I mean, that would have been getting to me by now.

I don't know about you.

But I've been looking out for others.

I've been trying to serve God.

But they're only looking out for themselves.

And the moment I've given them help, then they're out of there.

No gratitude.

No thanks.

I'd be thinking, where's God?

God, forgotten, alone, abandoned, trapped.

I don't know if you've ever felt like that.

I don't know if you've ever felt like that in a workplace.

But that's, I think, how Joseph must have felt.

Two years go by.

Story's still going.

We're getting somewhere.

Two years go by.

The king of Egypt, Pharaoh, has a dream.

No one can interpret him.

The cupbearer finally remembers after two years.

There's a guy who can interpret dreams.

Pharaoh calls Joseph.

Joseph interprets his dream and says,

there's going to be a famine here soon.

You need to have a great project manager

who's going to be able to sort this job.

Pharaoh looks at the guy, realizes,

Joseph, man, he's a smart young kid.

He's got ideas.

So he hires him.

He hires him to be prime minister of Egypt.

Now, just think about that kind of career progression.

Okay?

That's a little up and down, right?

And the crazy thing is,

there wasn't even a vacancy.

Joseph couldn't even have applied for the job,

even if he'd wanted to.

Both as a migrant worker,

but also no one knew that this famine was coming.

But God, all the time,

throughout the whole of this up and down cycle,

had something bigger that was going on,

a bigger call on his life.

Because, you see,

once Joseph got to that title of prime minister,

you see, before, when he was a young kid,

he thought, I'm going to rule,

and it's going to be all about me.

When finally God takes him through to that place at the end,

where he is actually second in command,

everyone is bowing the knee to him,

it's no longer about the title.

It's no longer about the fame.

It's no longer about the respect.

It's about serving a people who are facing starvation.

And so what he does,

he uses the management skills that he's learned all the way through,

and he uses it to create kind of a warehouse system,

which practically and tangibly

puts food on people's tables.

You see, his work has become about loving and serving real people,

even if they're foreigners,

people who have oppressed him.

And he sees all the time,

you go to chapter 45,

right at the end,

right at the end,

his brothers come back to him,

they're expecting him to be taking revenge on him.

But what he says to them,

and it's quite incredible,

he says basically to them,

in chapter 45 on your bulletin,

he says,

hey guys,

don't be distressed or angry with yourselves

because you sold me here.

You know, this isn't a bitter guy.

For God sent me before you to preserve life.

Verse 7, he says,

God sent me before you to preserve you.

Verse 8, he says,

it was not you who sent me,

but God.

He has made me a father to Pharaoh.

God was calling me.

God was sending me.

Now that's very interesting.

Because he's begun to see that

the opportunities that he's been given

are to be used,

and the talents he's been given

are to be used both to serve and worship God

and to love other people.

Total change from right at the beginning.

So what do we get from this story?

I mean, it's a fascinating story,

and I do encourage you to go back

and actually read the whole story.

It's amazing how it works out.

Because this story is a story

about calling and about work as service.

You see,

in the Bible,

God sends many people.

God sends Moses to Pharaoh.

God sends prophets to Israel.

God sends the apostles out to the world.

But here,

God sends Joseph

to work in a secular organization,

a government.

But for Joseph to work out

and get to that point,

it takes him 13 years.

13 years of not knowing,

really,

where he was going at all.

So,

what does this tell us about calling?

The very interesting thing is

a lot of modern researchers

are now telling us,

we need to find our calling.

You need to find your vocation in life.

But the way you've got to do it

is find your passion.

Okay?

Find your passion.

And do your passion.

Follow your dream.

Be true to yourself.

If you can't find a fulfilling job

and you love chocolate,

go and open a chocolate shop.

Okay?

Do a startup.

Do something

which is going to kind of

follow your dream.

And you know,

that's fine.

There's some great things about that.

But the problem is

many of us haven't lived enough life

to know what our passion is.

I finished university.

I had no idea

what I wanted to do in life.

And I find most graduates

that I meet don't.

Right?

And I found many people

who've opened the chocolate shop

soon discover

they can't pay the bills

because chocolate only gets so far.

And so they come with life

kind of gets in the way

of your passion

and your dreams sometimes.

And so there's another way

we resort to making decisions

about work.

And what we do

is we choose the job

which makes us the most money,

gives us the most status

and the most security.

And you know,

maybe,

I don't know about you,

but many of us

are just doing the jobs

that we're doing

because our parents

pushed us that direction.

Or maybe,

if you're a domestic helper,

just the needs

of the situation

just to get money

have kind of pushed you

into a certain place

and you don't have a passion

for where you are.

But you just kind of

followed along

with the expectations

and you kind of ended up

where you are today.

And so that's often

why we struggle

with the idea of calling

because it doesn't sound

very kind of spiritual.

You know,

I went for a job interview

at Morgan Stanley

and I got the job.

It doesn't sound

like a very spiritual calling.

Right?

But what is this story

telling us?

What is this story

telling us?

I think it's telling us

a few things.

I think firstly,

this story is telling us

if you want to find a calling,

a calling starts

with a caller.

Okay?

It's not rocket science.

Right?

Notice Joseph.

Joseph,

whether he's up or down,

whether he's at the heights

or whether he's

at the low points,

God is the centerpiece

of his life.

Did you get that?

When he's resisting Potiphar,

he says,

Potiphar's wife,

he says,

this is sin against God.

In prison,

he says,

God is with me.

And he experiences love.

When he's meeting

with his brothers,

at the end,

he's like,

God has sent me.

God is just this kind

of continual theme

going all the way through.

The Puritans,

who were kind of Protestants,

English Protestants

about 400 years ago,

used to talk about

a primary calling

and a secondary calling.

Okay?

They took this

from the Bible.

They took the primary calling.

Like in John,

it says,

God calls us,

first of all,

primarily into relationship

with himself.

That is your first calling.

If you're a Christian here,

you are called.

Did you know that?

You are called.

You are called

into relationship with God.

That is the first call.

Okay?

The second call

is he then provides you

with gifts and talents

and opportunities

and resources

to steward

and to use

for his glory.

and that's what you do

with your life

to worship him.

That's the secondary call.

Okay?

First call,

who you are.

Secondary call,

so first to God

and as a Christian,

second to work for him

and they kind of overlap together.

But if you don't make

the first call

your priority,

then you're going to miss

the second call.

Okay?

Now,

that may sound

just very obvious,

but

think about it.

If someone calls you

on the phone,

okay,

what's your first thought?

Is it,

I wonder if this phone call

is going to fulfill me?

Is it,

I wonder if this really

fits my passion

to come and pick up

this phone call

at this moment?

No,

the first question you ask is,

who's calling?

Right?

Who's calling?

And the word,

I don't know if you know

the word vocation

is the Latin word

which means call.

So if you want to find

a vocation in life,

you've got to know

who is calling you.

And the Bible says,

God,

the creator of the universe

in whose image

you are made,

is the one

who calls you

to himself.

It's not about you,

it's not about your fulfillment,

and everything that you do

flows out of this now.

So it's not,

does this job

make me feel valued?

That's the wrong question.

The first question is,

who's calling you?

That's important

because this,

if you think

your first calling

is to primarily

to pursue your passion,

to find a fulfilling job,

to gain influence,

if you think that's first,

then when God puts you

in situations

like with Joseph,

you know,

in prison,

don't seem to be finding

any fulfillment,

you know,

you're with a load of idiots

in your office,

okay,

they don't fit

your personality type,

you're going to get depressed,

complaining,

thinking life is unfair,

hating your boss,

hating your clients,

hating everybody else,

because you thought

the secondary calling

was actually more important

than the primary.

I mean,

why in Hong Kong

do we have to change job

every single year?

Because we wanted to find

fulfillment in it,

right?

Right?

But if,

even if you're down there,

or even if you're made

to be the prime minister,

you know,

you become the boss,

everything's going well,

everything's going successfully,

if you don't make

that primary call

the primary call,

you're not answering

that call to him,

you're going to be

like the cup bearer

who just forgets

about Joseph's service,

you'll forget about God,

and you'll kind of be like,

yeah,

I'll pray occasionally

when I'm in trouble,

but basically work

is all about you.

But if you know

the caller

is your priority,

you're going to be

constantly on the phone

to him.

You're going to be

constantly,

because it's relationship

throughout your day,

checking in

before a meeting,

help,

okay?

You're not going to be

like a teenager

in a boarding school

who only ever calls

their parents

when they run out of money,

right?

But isn't that so often

how we treat God,

particularly in our work days?

I do.

I get so wrapped up

in the busyness

of what I want to do

that I forget

I'm actually

to be relating

to the one

who has called me.

So calling

is a day-to-day relationship,

okay?

It's not just

kind of a big,

you don't just

have a kind of

once-off call

to your parents

and that's it.

It's a day-to-day relationship.

And the more

you become

sensitive to his voice

in the day-to-day,

the more you'll begin

to understand

and hear his voice

in the bigger decisions

that you have to face.

If you've only ever

tuned into your voice

in the small things

of life,

then it's going

to be really tricky

to try and understand

what is God calling you to

in these bigger decisions

of job choice.

So that's the first thing.

Calling starts

with a caller.

Secondly,

calling requires

day-to-day faithfulness.

I don't know,

if I'm to ask you

right now,

what has God

called you to?

Thinking secondary calling.

What has God

called you to?

Can you answer me?

Can you answer me?

Because

here is where

we often struggle.

we have both

the,

okay,

he's called me

into a relationship

with himself,

he's called me

to do something,

but sometimes

we're kind of like,

well,

I get a bit fuzzy

in between.

I'm not quite sure

where I am.

And sometimes

I meet so many people

who feel like

I'm missing out

on God's call.

You know,

I'm not doing

what I'm passionate about.

And yes,

if you have a choice,

passion is one

of a number of clues

to steer you

to a calling.

You know,

Joseph,

he seems to be

pretty good at management

all the way through,

okay?

There are interests,

there are gifts,

there are abilities,

they can guide you,

but we've got to be careful

a little bit

that we don't make

the idea of calling

all about me.

Because in most of history,

most people have never

had a choice of jobs.

You know that?

Like,

because poverty meant

that you had to do anything

just to get food

on the table.

Joseph doesn't have

much of a career choice.

Now,

we've got far more

career choice than him.

Sometimes you wish

you didn't have

so many choices

because it makes it easier,

you know,

like a menu.

You've only got 50 choices

on the menu.

It's so much harder

to make a decision,

right?

But in the midst

of slavery,

unfairness,

injustice,

famine,

a kind of restricted choice,

Joseph still finds

a calling in God,

which I find encouraging.

I find that encouraging

because if you feel,

if you feel like

you're trapped

in your work

and you don't feel like,

I don't really get

where the meaning is,

or you're even

in a high-flying job

and you're in

even a great position

but you're like,

I can't sense

where the call

is in this,

then Joseph

has got a lot

of hope for us

because Joseph,

I don't think

when he's in prison

he's like going,

oh,

I feel really called

here.

But what he does,

he gets on

in his day-to-day work

and he gets on

and does faithfully

what he's there

to do.

He uses

the talents

God has given him,

the place

where God has placed him,

the needs

and the opportunities

which are around him

and he gets on

and does it.

He gets on

and serves.

And that's where

you find your calling.

Just not like

a big voice

kind of saying

it's there,

okay?

Now some people

do have that strong,

and that's great

but I find most people

don't.

Most of us,

it's actually

as we look around

the situation we're in

and what God

has given us

and we say,

okay,

let me get on

and be faithful

day-to-day.

I heard this story

of a young lawyer

in New York.

At heart,

she was really passionate,

wanted to be an artist.

But when she got

to choosing her degree,

she decided to do law

because that's where

she could make money,

right?

And art exactly

doesn't kind of

exactly pay well.

so she joins this law firm

and after a while

she just kind of feels

like I'm just missing,

missing my call.

This is not where

I'm passionate about.

And she would go

to her pastor

and say,

pastor,

should I quit?

And just as she got

to the point of quitting,

she got a promotion.

And then this kind of cycle

continued for a number

of years.

She was good at her job

but, you know,

she just wanted to get out.

She gets to the point again

of wanting to quit

and get out of the job

and then she gets

another promotion.

And this kind of cycle

goes on and she's like,

God, why are you doing this?

And finally she gets

offered a position

as a partner in the firm.

She's like,

but I don't even

want to be here.

And finally,

just in talking to

a pastor one day,

she suddenly realized

her passion

as to be an artist

meant that all the

normal temptations

of power,

money,

money,

status that drove

most of the other lawyers

in her law firm,

they weren't temptations

for her at all

because she wanted

to be an artist.

But that meant

she could analyze

and see clearly

issues which others

couldn't because

they were tainted

by their own self-interest.

It meant that she

was actually in a position

to lobby for change

within the company

and working practices,

conditions for junior

staff,

without any kind

of sense of like

her own

self-interest

being at stake.

And she began

to see that

God had placed her

there for such

a reason

and she just

had to be faithful

and God was using it.

Now it took her

quite a few years

to find that.

Now I'm not saying

that you shouldn't

change jobs.

I have.

But I am saying

that some of us

need to learn

to see where

we're up to

and maybe to see

that God

wants to use you

and there is a bigger

picture with where you are

than necessarily

what we see day to day

and he calls us

to be faithful with it.

Some of you may have

no idea why you're

working where you are

but you don't have

to have the big picture

to realize that God

is doing and painting

a bigger picture

than you can ever realize.

Some of us may actually

have to leave our jobs

because we're holding

on to our jobs

because we're wanting

the financial status

and security

and the gifts

and the passions

and the talents

and the opportunities

and the needs

that you see around you

there are opportunities

for you to move

into those

but you're not doing it

because of fear

because you're trying

to hold on

to those other things.

And so we need wisdom

to ask God

to speak

to get godly counsel

from people around us

to see God

with what you've given me

it's no longer

and Tim Keller says this

when we begin

to see our work

as a way of service

to God

and our neighbor

the question regarding

our choice of work

is no longer

what will make me

the most money

give me the most status

or even the most fulfillment

the question

must now be

how

with my existing

abilities

and opportunities

can I be

of greatest service

to others

knowing what I do

of God's will

and human need

and sometimes

it's just being faithful

where he's placed us

until he opens

another door.

So calling

requires a caller

calling requires

day-to-day faithfulness

and you'll see God

working out a picture.

Third thing

how calling

looks like

day-to-day

okay

what calling

looks like

day-to-day

I think there are

two things

that the gospel

shows us

and this passage

shows us

one is

we take pride

in our work

the second is

we see people

beyond the task

okay

Joseph

is placed

in this position

he becomes

the second

in command

with all these

management skills

and abilities

that he's been given

and he realizes

that this is about

serving people

this is about

loving people

he's carrying out

two of the great

commands of the Bible

love God

love your neighbor

through his work

do you realize actually

you carry out

those commandments

in your work

I don't know if you realize that

you see

how does he do that

he takes pride

in his work

you know

Joseph makes sure

he's got the best

storage distribution

system available

okay

he's not cutting corners

he's not saying

I need to go and pray

and I'll leave

I'll leave the logistics

to somebody else

no he's

he's

he's doing the good job

because he knows

people are going to starve

if he doesn't do it

and often

that kind of setting up

of systems

it's administrative

it's mundane

but he knows

that it was sustaining life

for families

and so he did it well

now some of us may struggle

yeah I don't feel like

I'm feeding starving people

with my trading

or something

but

when I go to the bank

to get money

my first concern

is not

I hope they tell me

about Jesus

when I go there

my first concern

when I go to the bank

is that I get good service

right

and if when I go down

you know

I don't know if you've ever seen this

I sometimes go down to the bank

and I go to get served

and then the people behind it

just chatting to each other

and like

I'm kind of like an interruption

you ever felt that

I don't feel loved

at that moment

right

or you receive a letter

and it's just filled

with all these typos

and I feel like

couldn't you be bothered

couldn't even proofread it

right

you see

is that how much

your work means to you

no

Joseph would say

and the Bible would say

no

take pride in your work

do your work

so well

because actually

that's a way of loving people

right

whatever you're doing

whether it's cleaning

whether it's

number crunching

whatever it is

do it well

it's a way to love God

and love your neighbor

but the other thing is this

to love God

and love our neighbor

through our work

to serve

we go beyond the tasks

and we see people

even

the snobbish

arrogant

self-consumed enemies

like the cup bearer

we see them

made in God's image

and we treat them

like people

you know

Joseph

has had a hard time

from these guys

he's got every right

to think

this is not fair

I'm going to treat them badly

but he doesn't

he goes out of his way

to ask

how are you doing

how are you doing

you know

I heard some

a member of our congregation

went to hospital

and you know

while they were there

doctor came past

came to see them

basically says

hey

you've got this problem

don't know

you might not get

you might be paralyzed

in one part of your body

and

yeah

okay

we hope you'll be

out of hospital soon

and then left

a Christian doctor

came

to them

and sat down

with them

and spent five

ten minutes

with them

just explaining

to them

the process

of what was going

to happen

listened to some

of their inquiries

and things

and just

was there for them

treating them

like a human being

do you know

that member

came to me

and said

you know

there was such

a difference

between the way

the Christian person

did it

and the way

the other person

did it

one just saw it

as a job

one saw me

as a human being

and you know

whether it's

your secretary

whether it's

the receptionist

whether it's

the cleaners

whether it's

your colleagues

do we see

the people

as human beings

and do we

take the time

to love them

you know

there was a

president

of one marketing

firm

he said

he said this

he said

I owe much

of the health

of my business

to my COO

Jill Evans

he said

he used to go

I used to go

about making

day by day

making decisions

in response

to events

and situations

rarely thinking

about the people

involved

I don't know

do you ever do that

I do that

all the time

but Jill

his colleague

regularly asks us

to look at things

from another perspective

to see people

in their unique

circumstances

she quietly asks

in a response

to some emergency

I wonder what

must be happening

over at their shop

for them to be

responding to us

like that

what chaos

must be causing

them to tyrannize

us

man that's tough

the light goes on

he says

for just a few minutes

and we think about

their boss

or the pressure

they have

after some business

or some business

failure

and it often

softens us

and causes us

to be gentler

as we enter conflict

or some difficult

negotiation

he says this

in helping us

to see ourselves

as servants

of those around us

she has changed

our whole model

of business

can we see people

and I'm not saying

you may be in a situation

where you

are like in prison

and you're trapped

with two people

in your office

or in your workplace

or at your home

or you may be

in a position

where you are

overseeing

many many people

but do you see

the people around you

do you see them

and the thing is

what stops us

seeing them so often

is because we feel

like things are unfair

we're mistreated

there are difficulties

around us

and I know

that's so tough

but Joseph

is different

and you know

the Bible has

an even greater

Joseph

because what's

fascinating

in this story

the parallels

between Joseph

and Jesus

are huge

you see

Jesus Christ

was also

the beloved son

of his father

he was hated

and tyrannized

by his people

he was thrown

into a pit

accused of wrong

though he was

utterly innocent

blamed for mistakes

that he didn't make

and yet he continued

to serve

his accusers

he said

I did not come

to be served

but to serve

and to give my life

as a ransom

for many

and you see

he does that

not just for random

people out there

he says

I do that

for you

I came to serve you

and you know

how I often respond

and I think

how we often respond

we say

thank you Jesus

that's great

just like the cup bearer

and then we go off

and forget about him

and wouldn't that

annoy you

if you were like

if someone did that

to you

but do you know

how Jesus keeps

responding

it says he keeps

serving

he keeps showing

grace

he shows forgiveness

on the cross

he says

father forgive them

and he keeps

reaching out to you

again and again

and he says

I want to be with you

whether you're in the prison

or whether you're out

in the highest place

I want to be there

with you

and the caller

is constantly

calling you

saying

I'm here

I'm here

I'm here

will you pick up

his call

because when you see

that grace like that

is shown to you

even though you

treat others

in so many different ways

in a culture

where it's all about me

he's serving you

that actually begins

to change your own heart

so when you begin

to see

the people around you

who do exactly

the same thing

to you

you run back

to him

with grace

you realize

his kindness

and then that

frees you

from making work

all about your own

fulfillment

it frees you

from making it

all about getting

everything for yourself

it frees you

about the frustration

and I know

we have to do it

again and again

and again

because we keep

getting frustrated

but in that call

do you see

he's saying

when you're free

from having to just

wrestle with all

the unfairness

and all the bitterness

and why are they

not doing this

and why are they

not doing it

when you're free

from all of that

you begin to see people

you begin to see people

so the call

of this is

look to the caller

in your work

every day

every hour

help

can't do this

God

but then ask him

right now

who has he placed

around you

for you to serve

and for you to love

by doing your work

well

because you know

if you try and love

people and you're not

doing your work well

they're just going to

think you're an idiot

right

but if you're working

well

but actually

you also take the time

to just take an interest

in people

that has so much

power

I used to

I had one

receptionist

I used to

every morning

I'd just take

two minutes

just say hi

after a year

of just saying hi

hi

just finding out

how she's doing

after a year

she started going

back to church

in the moment

you don't always know

what's going on

but if you're faithful

with what he's given you

God will do something

so much greater

than you could have imagined

and there will be meaning

and purpose

in your work

let me pray