Working from Home

All right, let's pray and then we'll dive in.

Lord, we just thank you for today.

Lord, we thank you that we get to have a time where we're in your word, studying what your word has for us, God, and being challenged by your Spirit.

As always, Lord, I pray that it is not about what I have to say, Lord, but about your word convicting us to draw us closer into relationship with you.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.

Well, last week, I know Pastor John filled in for me.

And uh I'm so grateful for that.

And if you know, you know.

I really am grateful.

I was gone last week, uh, took a family trip to Tahoe, and uh Pastor John faithfully stepped up and uh brought the word of God and ended our last series uh and allowed me just a week of uh intentional time with my family in one of the most beautiful places in our country.

And so here we are, uh we're in a five-week series in our kingdom theme this year.

So we finish up the kingdom stories, which were about the parables of Jesus.

And for the month of August, we're gonna be looking at kingdom work.

So, what does it look like for our work to be worshiped to God?

How does our work advance the kingdom of God?

And oftentimes we separate these things.

We say, our work is our work, it's a means to an end, to retirement, to provision, to security.

Uh, and then we say that's separate than my relationship with God.

But do you know one of the first covenants that God makes in Scripture is a covenant with Adam to work?

It's one of the first things he does.

He says, All right, now that you're here, you have a job to do, and you're gonna use that job to further my kingdom.

And so our work uh has a role to play in that.

So over the next five weeks, we're gonna look at how our work can be worshiped for the kingdom.

Uh, but today we're gonna look at this, the the things closest to us, and we're gonna talk about working from home and the relationships in our home and how they translate to that.

So let's imagine for a second that all of you tonight, someone important is coming, okay?

Whoever the most important person in your mind is, they're coming over tonight to your house.

Right now, does that give you a little panic?

Are you thinking about all the stuff that's not put away?

Dishes that might not be done, rooms that might not be cleaned, bathrooms that might not be pristine, all the things, pillows that are out of order, right?

And so some of you are just like the checklist is like we're going home doing some chores.

If someone important was coming over, how do you react?

Normally we react by saying, we're gonna clean up, we're gonna get this house in order, right?

And so all of a sudden, things that maybe haven't been a big deal kind of become a big deal.

The mail that's just sitting on the counter, the laundry that's on a chair that hasn't been moved, floors that haven't been fully swept or mopped, bathrooms that need a little more attention than they have gotten, uh the fluff of your pillows, the straightness of your pictures, every little speck of dust.

And all of a sudden you're like, how does our house get so dusty?

You don't really notice it until someone's coming over and you're like, this place is filthy.

Then the instructions start happening, right?

Then all of a sudden you start telling people, put your shoes away, clean your room, don't leave that there.

You know, and we've all been there, whether it was you or a spouse giving those instructions, uh, all of a sudden it gets into clean mode, and all of a sudden it's like, all right, things have to change.

Now, the reason the house changes is because someone important is coming, right?

That's why.

We think that, hey, we have to make sure that it's at this standard before this person comes in and sees our world.

But the things that did not bother us yesterday suddenly matter to us.

We often change the way we live depending on who we think will see it.

We speak differently when certain people are in the room.

We work differently when someone important is watching, and I know that happens to me all the time.

Like I'll be in conversations with someone and they're just loose-lipped, speaking freely, using language, and all of a sudden they're like, so what do you do?

I'm like, I'm a pastor.

And it's like, oh, sorry.

I won't use those words anymore.

And it's like, okay, I'm not like I don't expect you to have to be where I'm at spiritually or to even speak that, but people will adjust their behaviors depending on who they're with.

Uh and this happens even in our spiritual lives.

We can become unusually attentive when we believe other people are watching.

And that's true.

If we're serving in an area with others and we feel like they're observing us, we want to put on our best behavior, our best performance.

And so we may appear patient in public, but maybe we're impatient at home.

We may speak graciously at church, but around the dinner table, we're harsh.

Or maybe we serve enthusiastically when recognition is possible, but lose motivation when the task is unnoticed.

We are all tempted to adjust the quality of our lives depending on who is watching.

And so this morning we're going to be in Colossians 3.

And this is where Paul gives us a different way to perceive our lives and our work.

He tells us that there's never a moment when the Lord is absent.

Right?

And this is something that I think we know, but it's hard to believe and live out.

Because Jesus is present in the sanctuary and in our homes.

Jesus is Lord of Sunday as well as Lord of Monday through Saturday.

And yet we get caught up in this rhythm of like, well, I go to church Sunday morning and that's where Jesus is.

No, he's with us all the time.

And he is Lord all the time.

So Jesus is Lord over all of our worship, he's Lord over our words, our marriages, our parenting, our chores, our employment, our leadership, and our responsibilities.

So when we understand that Jesus is the Lord of everything, it changes why we do what we do, how we do what we do, and who we are doing it for.

So this morning we are going to read from Colossians 3, 17 through 24.

So would you please stand as we read God's word together this morning?

Colossians 3.17 says, and whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for his for this pleases the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.

Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive inheritance as your reward.

You are serving the Lord Christ.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So let's jump into our first point this morning, which is put the name of Jesus over everything.

Paul begins in verse 17 and says, Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through him.

Now, several important words are said right there in this verse.

Paul says, Whatever, everything, word and deed.

Notice what Paul does not say.

He doesn't say, Whatever you do at church.

Whatever you do Sunday morning.

No.

Whatever you do when you're praying, he just says, whatever you do.

Whatever.

Everything we say, everything we do, this includes public and private actions.

It includes worship and work.

It includes rest and responsibility, conversations and commitments, family life and community life.

There is no spiritually neutral territory where the lordship of Jesus does not matter.

So throughout this letter, Paul has been showing the readers the supremacy of Christ.

So at the beginning of this letter, he's trying to convey who Jesus is.

And he says this in Colossians 1:16 for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:16

Then in verse 17 he says, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And then at the end of Colossians 3 11, he declares, Christ is all and in all.

So here the repetition Paul is using.

All things were recreated through Christ.

All things were created for Christ.

All things hold together in Christ.

God is reconciling all things through who?

Through Christ.

Through Jesus, his son.

Therefore, Paul says, everything you do then, do it in the name of Jesus.

So Colossians, it moves from an all things Christology to an all things discipleship.

And if Jesus is Lord of all creation, then Jesus has to be Lord over all of your life.

And Paul says, do everything in the name.

Now here's what's great.

The Greek word translated name, Anoma, in scripture, a name represents more than sounds to help identify someone.

So it's not like we're just saying Ryan.

Okay, that sound identifies that person.

No, name biblically they had meaning and had uh it represented someone's authority, their character, their reputation and identity to do something in the name of Jesus.

It's not simply attaching in the name of Jesus to something.

So you're like, okay, I eat this sandwich in the name of Jesus.

Like, that's not what the author is talking about here.

It's not what Paul's intending.

It means that we're gonna do everything under the authority of Jesus, that we're gonna do everything as a representative of Jesus, that we're gonna do things in a way that's consistent with the character of Jesus and for the purposes and reputation of Jesus.

So we could think of it like this: an ambassador to a nation.

Right?

They represent the nation that sent them.

They do not have the freedom to go to another country and then just start giving their own message.

They don't get to go and just say, okay, well, this is what I really want.

No, right?

As an ambassador, they are representatives of the nation they're representing.

And so, in the same way, Christians, we bear the name of Jesus.

And so we're not people who merely believe things about Jesus.

We are people who are representatives of Jesus to this world.

So let me ask you, in everything that you're doing in your life, so just think about the last two days, everything you've done in the last two days, were you saying, I am doing this under the authority of Jesus, consistent with the character of Jesus as a representative of Jesus?

And we're like, no.

Because that would be hard.

It is hard.

And it's challenging.

And yet that's the challenge Paul's giving us.

There are so many situations in life where, you know, the Bible doesn't give us an exact reference of what to do.

Right?

Like the Bible doesn't say, hey, when you start scrolling Instagram, only spend 10 minutes on there.

Right?

Because that didn't exist.

And so we will find ourselves in situations in life that there's not a specific verse for, but what the Bible does do is give us God's principal call for our life.

It gives us instruction for who we are supposed to be as followers of Jesus to help us navigate those moments.

And so what Paul is doing here is calling us to something deeper than just an endless list of rules.

Because if that's all scripture was, was just rules, then we would find a way around it.

That's what happens with rules, right?

We find loopholes, right?

Any lawyers in the in the room, right?

You're like, oh yeah, give me a law, I'll find a loophole around it.

And and so we as people are always trying to do that, right?

Using uh semantics to be like, well, you said this, but really I did this.

And you're like, it's the same thing.

You're just using a different word.

Or we'll say, How close can I get to this line before I step over it?

Right?

How close can I get to sin, to breaking this rule before I actually do?

But it's much harder to avoid the question, can I put Jesus' name on this?

So let's walk through Paul's instruction found in the verses and see how we can live this out.

So Paul ends verse 17 by saying this giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Now, this isn't random.

Paul has been giving, uh, using thanksgiving repeatedly in context.

Verse 15, he says, be thankful.

Verse 16, he says, sing with thankfulness in your hearts.

And now here in verse 17, he says, giving thanks to God the Father.

So gratitude then is the atmosphere of the kingdom life lived out.

We do not serve Jesus to earn his love.

And I think that's honestly what some of us we've convinced ourselves that's what the Christian life is about.

We live this so we can earn Jesus' love.

He'll love me if I live a good life, if I live an obedient life.

But you can't earn his love.

We serve because we've already received his love.

You see the differences of approaching that.

If you're only living for Christ because you're like, okay, this is the only way he'll love me, you've missed it.

Because Jesus is saying, I do love you.

I love you more than you could love yourself.

And that love is already there.

And so when you approach it with like, because he loves me with everything, I now live this way because in response to that love.

Earlier in the chapter, Paul calls believers, God's chosen ones, holy and beloved.

So our work does not create our identity, our identity in Jesus changes our work.

We are not trying to work our way into the family of God.

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been rescued, forgiven, reconciled, and welcomed.

That means obedience is not payment, it's gratitude.

So when we are following God, when we're following the way He's instructed us to live, that's because we're grateful for what God has done to us.

And how many of us, and parents, maybe you you can you can relate to this, the difference when a kid does something, and it's from the place of like, I did this because I love our family.

I did this because I know this is what's good for our family, as opposed to fine, I'll take out the trash.

You know, it's like there's two clear differences there, right?

One is like, I'm doing this because I'm being told and I'm being obedient.

And so, yeah, they're being obedient, but the attitude of the heart is so off of that.

But same for us as Christians, when when we respond, it's the in the gratitude, we we respond in that way.

Grace says, God has given himself for me, gratitude responds, then I will give my life for him.

Romans 12, 1 says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

So worship is not limited to what happens here Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.

Worship is not just music you hear and it stops when the music stops playing.

Worship continues when you leave this building.

Any task can become worship when it's offered to Jesus.

But are we willing to put the name of Jesus over everything we say and do?

That's hard.

I mean, myself, I'm not just preaching at you here.

I'm preaching with you because that is a hard task.

That means everything we do, everything we say, would we feel comfortable putting the name of Jesus on those things?

And there's some conviction there for us, which brings us to our second point.

Let the lordship of Jesus reshape your relationships.

So after verse 17, Paul begins applying this lordship over ordinary aspects of our lives.

Uh, he addresses wives and husbands, children and parents, and bondservants and masters.

This section of scripture is often called the household code.

Now, household instructions were common in the Greco-Roman culture.

Philosophers often discussed how the male head of household should govern his wife, his children, his servants, uh, finances and property.

So there was already a system in place when Paul wrote this.

There was already an expectation of how husbands would manage their household and how the family unit would operate and function.

But Paul is not simply repeating the assumptions of the culture, he is bringing every relationship under the lordship of Jesus.

So he's saying, you have separated, you have chosen to compartmentalize relationships and chosen to say, this is my role, and then over here is what God is in charge of.

And what Paul is saying is it doesn't work that way.

Jesus is Lord over everything, He is Lord over every relationship.

So he begins in verse 18 and says, Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.

Now, we need to notice both the command and its qualification.

Paul says uh to submit, but he says, submit as is fitting to the Lord.

No human authority is ultimate.

And these these are some of the verses that we've seen, right, that can be abused within Christian circles, within the church.

And it is important for us to understand that no husband has the authority to command his wife to disobey Jesus, to participate in sin, to conceal abuse, to surrender under her conscience, or to remain silent in the face of evil, right?

A wife's ultimate allegiance belongs to who?

The husband?

No, Jesus.

Paul is also not teaching that women are spiritually, intellectually inferior.

This is just one part of how he is calling the unity of the relationship together.

And so he's saying, wives, submit, but remember that your ultimate Lord is not your husband.

The ultimate Lord is Jesus.

Now, if that was it, we could have long discussion on what that looks like.

But that's not where Paul ends.

He immediately transitions to addressing the husbands in verse 19 when he says, Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Now, in many ancient households, the instructions and the emphasis was on how the husband should rule the house.

Uh, here Paul emphasizes how the husband must what?

Love.

So notice that he doesn't instruct the wife to obey.

Wives, obey your husbands.

He says, Why submit?

And that's the difference.

And then he goes to the husbands and says, Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Uh the husband is not given permission to dominate, he is commanded to love.

And Paul expands this instruction in Ephesians 5 25.

He defines the husband's love by pointing to Jesus, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

So you see the pattern here is not control, the pattern is sacrificial love.

Christian relationships are not about asking how much authority do I have over the other person.

They are asking, how do I use all that I have for the good of the other?

And Paul also adds in their husbands, do not be harsh with them.

So don't allow bitterness to shape the relationship.

Do not use anger as a weapon, do not use silence as a punishment.

Do not use finance, physical strength, religious language, or emotional pressure to control the relationship.

Jesus does not give us authority to make the other smaller.

Jesus gives us authority to help foster the other to be the best that they can be, to do the best good for them that you can possibly do.

And that translates to kingdom authority across the board.

Kingdom authority reflects the king who laid down his life for others.

And I've heard it said, right, because we live in a culture where there's this tension here, right?

Where we're like, well, no, women, no, I'm not submitting.

That's a bad word.

We don't say submit in my house.

We are we are co-equal in this relationship.

And that's because it's just been not lived out biblically.

It's because we've had people abuse that.

We've had husbands stand the ground and say, You submit to me, woman, and you do what I say.

And then he goes on to sin and cause her to sin or to mistreat or to mislead and all those things.

And he's not actually loving his wife as Christ loved the church.

But, husbands, if we were to love our wives the way that Christ loved the church, if we gave everything To serve, to honor, to love, to teach, to raise up, to encourage, to bless.

Do you think it would be hard for wives to submit?

No.

Probably not as hard.

And Paul is saying, listen, all that tension is there.

This is the system that he's speaking to.

And remember, neither of you are lords over each other.

Jesus is the Lord over this relationship.

Then he continues on in verse 20.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

So once again, notice the motivation.

He doesn't say, uh, hey, kids, obey because your parents are stronger than you are.

Hey, obey because your parents feed you or they buy you cool stuff.

Like, no, that he's saying, obey your parents because this pleases the Lord.

Even children are addressed as people capable of responding to Jesus.

A child's obedience can become an act of discipleship.

And Paul then again turns to verse 21 and he addresses the father.

And he says, Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.

So again, addresses a wife, addresses a husband, addresses the kids, addresses the husband.

See the pattern?

Fathers, there's an important role for you in this when it comes to the family and comes to the household.

How are we leading?

How are we discipling?

How are we loving our family?

Now, this would have been striking in a world where a culture where fathers possess enormous authority over their household.

Here, Paul places a boundary on the power of the parent.

He says, hey, don't provoke them.

Don't crush them with constant criticism.

Don't humiliate them.

Don't move the standard every time they get close to accomplishing it.

Don't make them feel that nothing they do will ever be enough.

Paul is concerned that children might become what?

Discouraged.

Man, look at our culture today.

Doing youth ministry for 20 years through a time unlike any other time in history, the time of social media.

You know what I've seen?

A rise of discouraged kids.

A rise of kids disconnected.

You see, Paul's idea is that these kids they might lose heart, their spirit might be broken, they might give up trying because they've concluded that pleasing their father or mother is impossible.

But parents, we have to know this.

Correction is a part of love.

Boundaries are a part of love.

Discipline is a part of love.

But the purpose of Christian discipline and correction is restoration and formation, not humiliation.

Oftentimes we give in to our anger and we punish a child because we want some form of self-justice as a parent.

But that is not what God calls us to in discipline or correction.

It's to build them up, it's to form our children.

Ephesians 6.4 says it like this: Fathers, do not provoke your child to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Our children should not merely learn that their parents are in charge, they should learn what Jesus is like through their parents and how they exercise authority.

Now I think back.

And I just think back to how I was raised.

And again, I didn't grow up in a Christian home, but I wonder what the difference would have been if I would have been able to look at how my parents raised me and say, I see Jesus in that.

Or although I see is I'm just a bad kid and I'm being punished.

Parents, our kids see so much, not just through the words we say, but through how we live and how we exercise authority.

You know what our kids should experience from us?

They should experience truth and grace.

They should experience correction and encouragement, boundaries and affection, conviction and forgiveness.

Now, parents, we will not do this perfectly.

We won't.

We will speak too quickly, we will become frustrated, we will overreact, and we will not understand.

That is so true.

I thought that being a youth pastor for all those years, I would be the perfect parent because I would just know.

I've worked with teens, I've worked with the hardest age group of kids, I will be so good at this.

And what I've learned is a hard, humbling lesson that other kids are not my kids.

That just because I know something doesn't mean I know how to live that out or practice that.

But you can learn.

One of the most spiritually powerful things a parent can do is look at their child and say to them, I was wrong.

I should not have spoken to you that way.

Will you forgive me?

Can you imagine that?

Like a kid who's like, wait, you're the one in charge.

You're the one who dictates what's right and wrong in this house.

And you are asking forgiveness from me, the child?

Yeah, because you're modeling Jesus to them in that.

That does not weaken parental authority, by the way.

It places parental authority beneath the lordship of Jesus where it should be.

And here's the broader principle here in that.

The lordship of Jesus is revealed in how we treat the people closest to us.

Right?

If if it is possible to appear spiritual in public but harsh at home, it is possible to sing about grace in the church, but refuse to extend that grace to our family.

But if Jesus is Lord over everything, then that means he's also Lord of our dinner tables.

He is Lord over the tone of our voices, he is Lord over conflict, Lord over our apologies, he is Lord over how we use our power and our authority.

Some of the clearest evidence that Jesus is Lord will not be seen in what we do in public.

It will be seen by those closest to us in our homes and in our daily lives.

Which brings us to our third point.

Work from the heart for the Lord who sees it.

So Paul continues now to the next area in verse 22.

He says, bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

So before we just jump to the application of bondservants being the workplace, we have to acknowledge that Paul is talking and addressing slaves.

These are enslaved people, not modern employees.

Roman slavery was not identical to the race-based slavery developed in the modern Atlantic slave trade.

Roman enslaved people performed many kinds of work.

So some would work in brutal conditions, others managed households, some conducted business, taught children, kept financial records, served as skilled workers.

That does not mean just because it was different than American slavery, that we dismiss this type of slavery for anything less of the injustice that it was.

Enslaved people did not possess moral freedom or legal autonomy.

They could not simply choose a different employer.

They could not negotiate for better conditions or walk away from a relationship.

So an enslaved person in this time was still someone who was indentured, who belonged to another person.

So we should not pretend that Paul is talking about just a normal job here.

Nor should we pretend this passage abolishes the Roman system of slavery.

It doesn't.

So there's a moral tension when you talk about slavery in the Bible, because I'll tell you, the secular world loves to say, well, that's why I can't be Christian.

Because the Bible condones slavery.

On the contrary, it recognizes slavery as a part of the system that was in that world at that time, that had always existed to that point.

Yet what we see here is something very significant.

Look what Paul does as he speaks to this condition.

He directly addresses the enslaved people as disciples.

That's incredible.

Because before, as a slave, you don't get anything.

There's no status, no power.

And so he's addressing them, hey, you are a disciple of Jesus.

He tells them their earthly master is not their ultimate Lord.

So he says, yeah, they might be, have power and authority over you, but they are not your Lord.

He tells them that Jesus sees their work.

He tells them that they will receive an inheritance, something that an enslaved person would ordinarily have no legal claim to possess independently.

And after this passage that we're looking at today, Paul tells this to the masters.

He says, Treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

So the earthly master is not autonomous.

The master has a master.

The person with social power is accountable to Jesus.

The gospel plants a truth in the middle of the Roman household that exposes the system's deepest lie.

Slave and master stand before the same Lord.

So both are image-bearers of God.

Both need grace.

Both belong to the same body, and both are accountable to Jesus.

So now that we kind of have that frame of mind, we can now apply it to the modern employment relationships.

They're not exactly equivalent to Roman slavery, though it may feel like it sometimes.

Paul's teaching about integrity, motivation, human approval, ultimate allegiance and accountability that speaks powerfully into the way we work today.

So he says in verse 22, not by eye service or people pleasers.

This word eye service describes work performed primarily when someone is watching.

So the version of this is like, hey, you're just doing work, and then all of a sudden the boss is walking by, I'm focused, I'm dialed in, got all my work done.

And then he walks away and it's like on my phone.

That's what Paul is saying about eye service.

You're only working enthusiastically when you're receiving praise, when someone is looking and watching, uh, not when you feel like you're overlooked.

And he calls this people pleasing.

People pleasing asks, who is watching?

Will I get credit?

And will anyone notice what I'm doing?

Right?

And I'm sure all of us have seen that.

Where someone's like doing something, and you're just, you know, like, okay, great, they're doing it.

And they're like, do you not see what I'm doing?

Look how great this looks.

Look how hard I've worked.

You know, and all of a sudden you're just like, okay, well, I'm glad you did that.

Uh, but why, again, why were you doing that?

For praise, for acknowledgement?

Faithfulness asks, what honors Jesus, what serves my neighbor, and what is right.

Jesus taught in Matthew 6 that our Father sees what is done in secret.

Paul applies that truth to our work.

Integrity is not simply doing the right thing when people are watching, integrity is becoming the same person, whether human eyes are present or absent.

So saying, I know who I am as a son or daughter of Jesus, and therefore I have been called to serve with integrity, with character, and to live above proportional life.

So I am going to do what is right, whether someone's watching or not.

So even if I could get away with doing something that's a shortcut or the wrong way, I'm not going to do it because I know that my Lord is not just my boss, it's Jesus.

He continues and says, with sincerity of heart.

So he contrasts eye service with sincerity of heart and fearing the Lord, which describes this undivided heart.

Not one person in public or another in private, right?

Sometimes I think we treat it that way.

Oh, when I'm in front of people, I say, I speak a certain way, I act a certain way, but in private, I could just be myself.

And Paul's saying, you have to be the same person always.

Not faithfulness as performance, but faithfulness as character.

Because we have biblically accurate understanding of who our Lord is, that's how we can live that out.

When we truly have a relationship with Jesus, when we understand who he is to us, it helps us become the men and women we've been called to be in all circumstances, even when we're overlooked.

Verse 23 says, Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.

Heartily here means something like from the soul, from the whole self.

So he's saying from deep within, give it, give your all to this.

What he's not saying is, hey, put work above everything else.

He's not saying that.

He's not saying Christians should never rest.

He's not saying, hey, man, you have to work even at the cost of your family.

Hey, you have to work and ignore your health.

You have to work and make your employer your new God.

No, the Bible teaches both work and rest.

Your employer is not your Lord.

Your business is not your Lord.

Your career is not your Lord.

Even your ministry is not your Lord.

Who is our Lord?

Jesus.

Yeah, that was rhetorical.

You could shout back.

Jesus is always a safe answer, by the way.

So even if you were unsure, you said Jesus, and you're 99% of the time going to nail it.

So, and precisely because Jesus is Lord, work cannot consume everything else he has entrusted us to.

To work heartily is not to work endlessly, it is to work honestly, willingly, and wholeheartedly within the boundaries of faithful discipleship.

And he adds on, as for the Lord.

So Paul changes the ultimate audience, right?

He's saying that you are not serving, you're not working, you're not doing these things just so you can get praise from other people.

You were working as to you're working for Jesus.

The biblical doctrine of vocation teaches that God serves people through ordinary work of other people.

How amazing is that! Being a pastor is not the only way you serve God.

Serving on Sunday mornings is not the only way you serve God.

You there are so many vocations that God will use for his formation.

So when a teacher educates children, God forms minds through that vocation.

When a mechanic repairs a vehicle, God helps provide safe transportation through that vocation.

When a nurse cares for a patient, God extends mercy through that vocation.

When a parent prepares a meal, God nourishes a family through that vocation.

When someone cleans a building, God creates a safe and welcoming environment through that vocation.

The work does not need to only happen in a church building to matter to God.

1 Corinthians 10 31 says, Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Ephesians 2.10 says, For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

There is so there is no such thing as insignificant work when it's offered faithfully to Jesus.

So that doesn't mean every job is going to be enjoyable.

It doesn't mean that every workplace is healthy, it doesn't mean that every calling is permanent.

But wherever God has placed you, the question is, can you offer it to Jesus?

You may not, it may not be your dream position, it may not be the season of life you would have chosen for yourself.

You may be carrying responsibilities that feel repetitive and difficult, but Paul says your work can be become a part of this hidden transaction between you and Jesus.

So you can use your work to be faithful.

And what's great is your work then becomes your mission field.

You know where a primary of non-believers are?

Not here.

They're not in this room on Sundays.

They're in your workplaces, they're in your neighborhoods, they're in your grocery stores, they're all around.

So there's your mission field.

God has given you an opportunity to live out a life that reflects Him and puts everything under His Lordship.

The kingdom divides work into faithful and unfaithful.

And then finally he says, you will receive the inheritance.

Verse 24, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward, you are serving the Lord Christ.

So we are heirs.

Our work is not in vain.

We will be inheritors of an inheritance.

That means that we will get to one day receive the fullness of the grace that God has offered us here and now.

Because of the faith that you've had in Jesus in this life, in the next, we will get the glory of that.

Not because of anything we did, by the way, not because we worked hard enough for it, but because we had faith in the one who could.

And so Paul is just saying, remember that you are inheritors of this, that we were rescued by grace, forgiven by grace, reconciled by grace, raised with Christ by grace.

But the Lord who saves by grace also sees and honors the faithfulness that grace produces.

So work becomes worship when Jesus, not the world, is the reason for your work.

So as we look at this new series of kingdom work and we start thinking, like, oh, I don't know, Ryan, you don't know what I do.

My job's horrible.

I have to do this, X, Y, and Z, and I don't like it.

I hate every moment of it, but it's a paycheck, and I've been doing it for X amount of years.

And have you ever said, Lord, would you take this career?

Would you take this job?

Would you take this position?

And would you be Lord of it?

And how can I, how can I be a representative, an ambassador to your name to do this job?

It changes everything.

It allows our different ways.

So from our family, our relationships, and our work, we are called to make Jesus Lord over everything in our life.

There is no ordinary work when it's offered to an extraordinary king.

Amen to that.

Well, this morning, I want to just give an invitation.

To those who may be in here today, and you're like, you said Jesus a lot.

You said the word Christ a lot.

You said this word Lord a lot.

What is that?

That is our God who loved us so much that he stepped into human history, took on the form of man that we call Jesus, lived a perfect life, and then offered that life as a sacrifice for an atonement of our sins, my sin, your sin, the sins of all humanity.

Because he was the only one worthy enough to do that.

And then he said, Whoever believes in me won't perish, but they'll receive eternal life.

Not because you gave enough, not because you were good enough, not because you did enough.

It is simply by believing.

And what do we call that?

We call that faith.

So if you're here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, this morning you can.

You can say yes to Jesus.

You can accept him as your Lord and Savior, and you can receive that.

And you can stop living based off of your own achievement.

Because no achievement of yours can erase sin, no promotion can reconcile you to God, no human applause can give you eternal life.

Only a relationship with Jesus can do that.

And so he offers that to you today.

All you have to do is say yes to them.

And then for the rest of us who we are here, we are believers, and we already belong to Jesus.

I want you to hear this.

Put the name of Jesus over everything.

The Lordship of Jesus, let it reshape your relationships.

Work from the heart of the Lord who sees.

And I know some of you in here are like, Ryan, I'm retired.

I'm done with that stuff.

There's always work to be done.

There's always places to serve.

There are also, there's always people in your life that don't know Jesus that you get to be a light to.

So let us ask, how are we putting the Lordship of Jesus over everything, over all we are?

Let us pray.

Jesus, even as I I preach and teach the your word of God here this morning, Lord, I'm convicted myself because I know the challenge that comes with putting your Lordship over everything.

So, Jesus, I just pray, God, that this sermon wouldn't be about making people feel bad, but Lord, that there would be a healthy spiritual conviction for us to say that we have been living two different lives.

And that, God, we we need to repent and that, Lord, we need to lean into the call that you've given us, that we need to pursue righteousness, that we need to begin to implement the Lordship of your Son over every part of our lives through our thoughts, our words, our actions, and our relationships.

So, God, would you begin to do that here?

May we begin to see a new kind of stirring and revival among the people here in this room because we've decided that we're going to do the hard thing, that we're not going to be okay and just content, but Lord, we're going to strive to be in closer relationship with you.

And Jesus, we just pray this in your name.

Amen.