Vocation and Identity

As the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and his unending

mercies are new every morning.

So too is our invitation to actively participate in the multi-layered

redemptive narrative of God rescuing his people so that you

and I can commune with him as one.

And together with His Holy Spirit, we bring restoration, clarity and purpose to

a desolate, hurting and suffering world.

As has been mentioned this morning, today is a hinge message if you

like, on identity and vocation.

If you've been chur, if you've been around church for a long time, they

are two words laced with meaning.

But in contemporary Christianity, they are at increasing risk of being misunderstood.

How do we as followers of Jesus's way work hard at work worth doing?

How does that industriousness joy, rest and rhythm permeate our lives?

Despite it being extremely challenging and sometimes

downright heartbreaking at times?

What is work worth doing?

What does hard work look like?

And the answer may not be as obvious as one may think.

And so today my intention is to reflect in part on the author and

some characters within the book of Philippians, where we've been for the

last three months, and also to help us launch as a springboard for our next

series, which is on the way of Jesus.

But it doesn't really matter what sermon I provide or what teaching

you receive, because the tools will always remain the same.

To understand who we are and where we come from, the tools are

always going to be the Bible, a unified story that leads to Jesus.

Secondly.

You and I are gifted to each other, the community of faith, and we have

this specific community of faith Red door, so that we are able to learn

together, not just to follow the way of Jesus through the Bible, but

through the actions of you and me.

The way of Jesus.

It is the core at the definition of a Christian.

And so if we are called to follow Jesus naturally, questions arise about how

do you and I think, speak, love, act, show, show up and be about the father's

business because these things form the foundation on which we build our life.

What is very important this morning is that we begin to create understanding that

funnily enough, in something which can probably only be learned by experience

being a disciple of Jesus is in stark contrast to being a disciple of church.

We are building identity, vocation, and profession.

Sometimes combined in a jumbled, convoluted mess is built on manmade

and flesh led floating bubbles of inevitable fallibility and comparison.

So if following Jesus is what you and I decide to do, then it is an incumbent on

us as mature believers to think deeply and to consider deeply about the areas

of life that must be appropriately ventilated in light of the life changing

redemptive nature of the gospel.

A part of that life is what you and I do with our waking hours, whether

that's a profession or whether there is a buy or try vocational aspect

to your life, whatever that may be.

And so the starting point for us this morning I would suggest are some loose,

evolving, defined terms just to get a flexible frame around our thinking.

And so, as I was diving deep into what the definition of identity was, the

best definition that I got, at least for our purposes today is what makes

you you, which isn't particularly helpful, uh, at least at this moment.

Because if you like, I have had the privilege of doing, have followed

Jesus for an amount of time.

The catalog of Sunday School Lessons and Youth Group meetings in your mind

would suggest that this message will land on the thrust of our identity being

in Christ, his death and resurrection, transforming us in nature and purpose,

and adopted as citizens of King.

As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The answer to all of that, of course, is yes.

But before jumping to that conclusion, one of the things about following the way

of Jesus is that the process is sometimes just as important as the outcome.

I hope that makes sense, and so I would submit for your consideration this

morning to ask ourselves with honesty.

What are the other elements or raw materials have we allowed to make us, us?

What have you allowed in, in other words, to what extent have

we all have, we all had a hand in constructing our own identity?

I.

What is the reliability and permanence of these sources of raw materials that

we have used due in part or in full to culture, societal norms or insecurities

to self construct our own identity?

And how does this skewing of our own identity actually impact our behavior

and our presence in the world?

Uh, the late Great Tim Keller talks regularly about adopted Christ-like

identity being part of a gift.

It's a gift.

You cannot earn it.

You cannot achieve it.

It is given freely.

It is so interesting to look at a posture where if someone believes

that they have made themselves the smug, self-made satisfaction.

And how you act is very, very different to gratitude for the giver as a gracious

recipient of one's identity, I hope that comparison is made quite clear

and based on those two attitudes, what then spills out are

revealing statements and behaviors about how you spend your time.

How do you spend your money?

How do you show up in spheres of influence?

Noting that, as we've shared on Mother's Day anxiety or fear of the future, is

actually presenting a false gospel on the basis that God does not go before.

Therefore, we are anxious, but we know that is untrue and we know

that to be untrue since time began.

And the core part of our identity as children of God

is not something that changes.

And this is in stark contrast to my confession to you this morning, and

that I have exhaustingly and labor intensively over my years crafted

a perceived identity based on how I interact through my electronic

footprint or my face-to-face footprint.

Including again, that subtle difference with a self-confessed over

reliance on good things and Christ image bearers to shape my identity.

I'll go through that in a second.

Spouses, families, friends.

Work, church.

These things have all influenced and shaped my identity, and whilst good

and whilst beautiful, what it means is that I've spent a significant amount

of my life being influenced by these flimsy, fallible, raw materials.

Of course, God is infallible.

And what this actually does is that it provides you and I with a much

more stable base for us as children of God adopted into sonship, to

then tame the wild and the waste represented as early as Genesis one.

And that's the thing about having a secure identity is that scripture

is laden with God the father, and Jesus being secure in that identity.

As we can see in Exodus three 14 and John 10 30.

Uh, the verse is just up there on the, on the screen.

And what this does is that it gives confidence in mission and vision and

the vocation engaged to breathe life into the mission and vision given.

So I'll just recount there.

Exodus three 14 is a moment where God, the father, says to Moses, I am who

I am, which is a pretty clear, uh, identity, clarity and following on

from John 10 30, I'm the father of one.

So that's identity vocation.

The Latin derivation of the word vocation is actually a summons, but the question

that we have to ask ourselves as we sit here this morning is a summons to what?

How does the Bible written years and years ago, provide this information

to me in the manner that I want?

How does the Bible provide the information to me?

In my attitude of consumption, which we need to repent of, the answer is

quite clear that all roads, all roads lead to and through Jesus, and shadows

of Jesus now shadows preempting his arrival and shadows, celebrating his

death, resurrection, and ascension.

I will talk about shadows in a minute, but when you approach the Bible, because

it's 43% narrative, 33% poetry, and 24% discourse, there's plenty of room

for creative thought to allow the living word to become alive enough.

But there is a word of caution, which I want to introduce this

morning, is that whatever you are looking for, you will find.

So if you are looking for a theological dictionary, you'll find it.

If you're looking for a moral handbook to persecute others, you will find it.

If you're looking for a way to exonerate yourself, you'll find it.

If you're looking to be offended or if you're looking to offend, if you are

looking to justify a six month alcohol fuel party, you can find that too.

I'll talk about Esther a little bit later.

That isn't the intention.

That was never the intention

because the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.

If there is one thing that you are trying to find wedged between the pages

of the strange narrative devices of a culture, we are still learning about it.

Is this because God is love and Jesus is the personification of

love, we are always looking for love.

But it is a love that is bespoke and unique for all of God's

people different to you and me.

And what that means is that you are unlikely to find straight answers

all the time for every topic under the sun, relevant to your 21st

century Australian specific context.

That's not how the Bible works.

So as you think about vocation, it's foolish for me to attempt to cherry

pick scriptures to help you craft a remote working from home policy.

It is foolish of me to try and find the ideal curriculum vitae for the

job that you believe you deserve from within the pages of the Bible.

Nor will you and I actually be able to get complete clarity on

what each of us needs to do to guarantee a meaningful profession.

But what I've noticed is that there are some breadcrumbs that if we follow

and begin walking, rather than finding the right answers, we begin as a

robust, mature community of faith.

To ask the right questions.

Now, I'm not the first person to find this out, and there are plenty

of heroes of our faith that I've been inspired and encouraged by.

And so as you sit there this morning and you think maybe this message is for me

or someone that I love, how does Jesus lovingly approach identity and vocation?

How do shadows of Jesus, who I define as minor, but significant characters in the

Bible, how do they act in anticipation of him or in celebration of him?

And how do they adopt this posture of work as a gift?

How do these shadows use their resources, whether that is money, position, or

authority, as a way to love others, and how do we observe these patterns today?

And how do we hold each other lovingly to account to pursue

this together as a community?

And how does a life live with Jesus?

Inform and shape the way in which we view work, career, and what are

some non-negotiable behaviors to ensure that no matter what, we remain

bearers of the presence of God as members of his royal priesthood.

And so today what I'd love to be able to do with you together is to tease

out a few stories, um, little character studies in this grand sweeping tapestry.

Now, given the time that I have, they are by no means exhaustive, but my hope

and how I'm sort of running the slides as well is that today's enough just to

pique your interest, to allow you and your loved ones to engage in some further

research or conversations during the week.

The reason again, and I want to be clear, is because of our own

individual bespoke creativity and diversity, there is no formula.

This has made sense.

The deeper I prepared for this week as every single person Jesus

interacts with has a unique and distinct character, and that's why

Jesus didn't preach in formulas.

But he told stories and the use of the narrative device is so critical

because it allows you and I to insert ourselves into the narrative and

uncover and unpack the truth that is in there individually for you.

But the device can be easily hijacked, and it's so important that as

red door people, we hold the word sacrosanct and we are always prepared.

As one Peter three 15 says, to give an answer to everyone who asks you for the

reason of the hope that you have, but to do it with gentleness and respect.

Those are the key words there, and all scripture again, as Timothy 3 10

17 says, is useful for teaching and rebuking correcting and training.

So with this in mind, where do we start?

Well, if we want to actually see the blueprint of the intention of

work, which is a lot different to the modernized western view of work, we

probably have to start at the beginning.

But before we do, so, would you join with me as we pray?

Father, we thank you for your great love for us, and we thank

you that you have made us alive with Christ even when we were dead.

Thank you that it is by grace that we have been saved.

And that you have raised us up with Christ and together we are

able to express kindness to others.

Thank you Lord, that you have provided us with the opportunity to be your

handy work created in Jesus to do good works, which you have actually

prepared us in advance for us to do so.

So Father, as we sit here together, may you.

Make us so aware of your presence.

May the peace that surpasses all understanding rest on this place

that we would understand how to work hard at work worth doing, would you

be with us as we learn and hover around the word of God together?

Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

So at the very beginning of the Bible, weave, within the story of chaotic

disorder, there is a garden where in the center of the garden, life and

creative power is available to God, breathe and image bearing humanity.

The key verse in this part of our walkthrough, the Bible is

actually found in Genesis two, two.

And again, just to clarify, I'm not going to read all the scriptures

out because of time, but again, they are there for your own consumption.

Um, with thanks to Dr. Tim Mackey, the term in Hebrew given to the Earth

being formless and empty, which we see in Genesis one, is Tohu wa Bohu.

In English, it is better described as wild and waste.

And so in the Bible, what you will see is that this word is

commonly used to refer to anything involving desert and wasteland,

desert of sand, desert of water.

The entire thing is tohu, ba, bohu.

And so what are we seeing God doing in Genesis chapter two,

verse two, there is a detailed list of work which he has been doing.

In Genesis chapter one,

the heart and essence of God's work in Genesis chapter one, and the practical

application for you and I this morning is this God the creator, takes the

wild and the waste takes what is disorderly, chaotic, dark, and raw,

and he creatively generates beauty.

Structure and order, which results in benefit to others.

You'll see that in the creation of the world into the garden.

The key here for us is to appreciate that God is always in the business of making

something which will benefit others.

And what this thing suggests is that if we are to follow Jesus and

be about the father's business, our work and our vocation.

Is and always should be an other centered activity.

So as we step into Genesis two, there are some interesting themes here of self

perpetuating growth and an invitation not just to create, but for others to step

into their own role and responsibility.

If we have a look at Genesis two 15, what we see is that the Lord God took

the man and put him in the garden to work it and take care of it.

The emphasis is on care.

Part of the early definition of work and perhaps why God the father was envisioning

humans that this work was worth doing was because this is a dignified,

beautiful vocation of taking potential.

In all of its shapes and sizes and bring order and beauty so

that others can benefit more than just me as a human surviving.

And so this extends and this theme extends to so many jobs, whether it is

law or medicine, or dentistry or creative arts, or whatever the case may be.

I just wanna very quickly mention this whole idea of creative arts, if that's

what you enjoy, that the creative bent.

Where you actually love seeing things come to life, that creative Ben, where

you can create something out of nothing, that is a very, very clear vocational

clue in what you actually have been created to do in mirroring what God the

Father has been doing since time began.

So not only do we observe this idea of work and ruling over the land,

but there's this beautiful aspect as we see here, of taking care of it.

Intentionally taking care of things, a healthy reason,

vigilance in the stewarding of the garden as we go about our work.

See, the whole point of the garden motif is so that there can be a surplus so that

others can eat a surplus of resources so that others can find shade and clothing.

And as you can see, God, the bespoke Taylor weave some more

creative genius in Genesis 3 21.

As he takes furs and makes clothes for Adam and Eve, it is the exact same

vision when we talk about our work as red door people, and it's therefore

a little different to the accepted Western definition where in this

particular case, work is a divine gift.

Where humans, you and I imitate the creativity, imitate the goodness, and

imitate the intention of the creator by working on and caring for whatever

patch of the garden that appears to be in front of you for this season.

Now Genesis three takes a bit of a turn, and I wish I had some

more time to sort of unpack that.

But what I will say is this, is that as you engage in your vocation, you

are likely to have combinations of good seasons and not so good seasons.

The fact that you are working hard doesn't necessarily mean

that you're in the wrong place.

But what it does mean is that you and I live in a world

that is compromised by sin.

Yeah.

And so if you are looking for some practical things to extract out

of the creation story, there are a couple of questions which I'd like

to present for your consideration.

Noting the definition of Tohu wa bohu being wild and waste, where is that

wild and waste in your workplace?

Where does that exist?

You can probably already see it.

Where is the wild and waste inside of you?

Where can you put your hand, either at work or somewhere else that

can bring order or do something beautiful to benefit others?

How do you enter your workplace, not just with your salary in mind,

but how can you enter your workplace in a posture of loving and serving

others as a non-anxious presence?

Knowing that God goes before.

Even though they may not actually understand what you're doing,

and if you're in a Genesis three season of, of your work or your vocation.

Where have things gone wrong here in the place where I work?

And is there any way that what Jesus has done for us can somehow be part of solving

a problem or mediating an argument or seeking peace or finding a way to solve

a problem so that more people can benefit from this garden, that God has put in

charge for us to curate and take care of.

But of course the story complicates itself because we have autonomy

and God commissions the humans to work and to flourish.

But we are always given a choice, and the choice which humanity made

in Genesis chapter three means that we have to wait for a wounded victor

to crush the head of the serpent as we see predicted in Genesis three 15.

So these shadows start to appear.

I hope that makes sense.

So because of human's decision, there are then shadows which

begin to anticipate the Messiah.

And so the second fact pattern that I want to be able to present after we've now

moved from the garden seeks to highlight another aspect of vocation, which I think

we often miss and forget in your life.

As there happened in mine, there are various God ordained moments.

There are circumstances and there are people that life brings your way, which

actually help you begin to formulate what you have been put on this earth to do.

Now, sometimes these moments and these people, they appear in

array of beautiful, godly light.

Sometimes these moments and people appear in the opposite, A harsh sports coach.

A bad singing teacher, a clumsy pastor, death, divorce, disability.

The light and clarity of what that moment, however dark or however

bright was for appears later.

And as we will see in this, um, old Testament story, which I'll unpack

sometimes it appears at the last minute.

We begin to think now, if I may, about God being the unseen visible,

which means whilst you may not see God, you can see the effect of God.

Um, there was a Lion King reference earlier this

morning, so I'll go with that.

There is a point where Rafiki says to Simba, when he's having an identity

crisis, you need to look harder.

And so if we look harder, if we look beyond our circumstance, what we

find that although God may not appear present, and I have felt that perceived

abandonment many, many times, even today, if I let my thoughts run away

from me, I feel aspects of abandonment in my work and my personal world.

But we have to hope and believe that God is engineering

circumstances behind the scenes.

So if I may, I want to open up, uh, 11 chapters of the Book of Esther.

I'm gonna do so in about five minutes, so please bear with

me, uh, during this time, right?

So after the garden, God's chosen people, they are scattered.

And so what they are doing is they're trying to gather stories to help

them remind themselves of what we stand for, who do we stand for?

And so the salient points of.

Esther's story are as follows, the King of Persia has a 187 day party on day 187.

He demands that his wife, queen Vashti, show off her beauty.

She refuses the King Deposes Vashti and gets some wise counsel.

And what the Wise Council is, is let's hold a beauty pageant so

that you can find a new queen.

This is when Esther and Mordecai, two Jewish people entered the scene.

Esther is a Jewish orphan.

Orphan looked after by Uncle Mordecai.

They are both of Jewish descent and they are part of God's

chosen people, albeit displaced.

Stay with me.

Esther decides to hide her Jewish identity enters the beauty pageant and wins.

It's all here.

The king is so obsessed with Esther.

He elevates her to become the new queen of Persia.

The problem, however, is that the Jewish people are in danger.

Coincidence, number one.

Uncle Mordecai just happens to overhear one night at the city at

the King's Gate, two Royal guards plotting to murder the king.

After hearing this, he informs Esther, who then informs the king and Mordecai

gets credit for saving the king's life.

A lucky moment note for the podcast, I've got the inverted

commas using my hands there.

Mordecai just happened to be standing there at the exact moment that the two

guards at the King's Gate decide to share their plans about killing the king.

What the best place to have a secret meeting mom would think?

This moment is recorded in the King's records park that the anti-hero arrives.

His name is Haman.

The king elevates Haman to the highest position in the kingdom and demands

that everyone kneel before Haman.

Uncle Mordecai refuses Haman is filled with rage.

Haman finds out that Uncle Mordecai is Jewish and persuades the king

to enact a decree to destroy.

Every single Jewish person.

What that then means is that Mordecai and Esther are now the only hope for the

Jewish people, and so they have a plan.

Esther will reveal her identity to the king and plead with

him to reverse the decree.

Here's a difficult thing about Persian law.

You can't approach the king without being summoned, and if you do

approach the king without being summoned, that is punishable by death.

So the fate of the Jewish people is here, and Mordecai begins to bargain with

himself and says to Esther, look, even if you stay silent, as we can see here

in Esther four 13 to 16, um, you know, deliverance will come from another place.

And then Mordecai mentions this, which has been used for years.

Who knows, maybe you have become Queen for such a time as this.

And then Esther responds and says, if I perish, I perish.

Which is an incredible line of knowing the value of your identity,

what you are put on earth to do.

Okay, so far.

Okay.

Esther hosts the King and Haman at a banquet and says to the king, I have

a favor to ask the following day.

So about the end of the banquet, Haman leaves the first

banquet drunk Predictably, and sees Mordecai in the street.

And because coincidentally, he sees Mordecai in the street, he's

so furious that he orders that tomorrow Mordecai be murdered.

You can see how he wishes to do that.

I won't reveal that here.

So we get to the night before.

Mordecai is about to be murdered.

Coincidence number 55, the king can't sleep.

Coincidence.

56. He then beckons his guards to read out the Royal Chronicles as bedtime reading.

So he can asleep.

What's the part that is read out?

The part that is read out is the history of the account

of Mordecai saving his life,

something that the king had totally forgotten the next morning.

As Haman enters to get ready to execute Mordecai, the King reverses

circumstances and actually asks Haman to honor Mordecai publicly.

And that day, Esther reveals to the king that she's Jewish.

Haman has plotted to murder her and all of her people.

And as the story goes on, what then happens is that the Jews are then given

an opportunity to defend themselves.

They're victorious, and Mordecai and Esther are able to celebrate

because Mordecai isn't elevated to a position beside the king.

Okay.

Lot to unpack there.

I've whizzed through that.

But there are a couple of learnings for you and me as we just get

a bit of a grip on that story.

When God seems absent, when his people are in exile, when death

or destruction appears, evidence, has God abandoned his people?

Has God forgotten his promises?

Has God forgotten about you?

Has God abandoned you?

My encouragement as we see in this story is that God always is at work,

even in the mess and the questionable moral ambiguity of human history.

He uses the faithfulness of flawed people to accomplish his purposes.

The essence of Esther is that it calls us to trust God's providence

even when we can't see it.

And even when things get really bad, at least to our human eyes, to remember that

God is committed to redeeming his world.

So specific to vocation, Esther's story is an invitation for you

and I to observe God's activity.

And there are signs of God's activity everywhere.

And as you would've seen, um, I've highlighted some of the odd coincidences.

Ines to force us to see God's purpose at work behind the scenes and circumstances

that we could have never dreamt of engineering in our own strength.

So as you sit here, what moments have shaped you?

Maybe it's the death of a loved one.

Maybe it's the oasis of a life-giving friendship.

Maybe it's the trauma of church hurt.

What are the moments right now?

That you can call to mind and what are the moments that you can observe how

God lovingly has redeemed those moments and can make beautiful things out of the

dust of our own feeble human offerings.

I have two more character studies to go.

So we're seeing a theme here.

Um.

I'd like to talk a little bit about Paul, if I may, because this character study

focuses on another aspect of vocation.

So let's recap.

We've talked about the garden creation story about a vocation being for others.

This is evidence in the creativity of the garden to notice individually

the coincidences and ironic reversals in your own life in Esther and here.

It actually takes a village of people to help support you.

And in achieving your vocation, what you are actually doing is to

support them and set them up to achieve their God ordained purpose.

I hope that makes sense.

Similar to the theme of the garden, it creates self-sustaining

and self-perpetuating life.

So to it is in the story of Paul, where his vocation inspires

others to achieve their vocation.

Um, Paul has quickly grown to be a bit of a, a role model and a hero of mine

as I sort of look at his life, and he's had such a significant change as we

write the book of Philippians because Acts nine 15 confirms that the Lord has

appointed him as the chosen instrument to proclaim the Lord's name, de Gentiles.

Remembering now, post Jesus shadows of Jesus now are able to

preach the gospel to everyone.

And this summons shows a complete change in Paul's identity, a complete

change in Paul's vocation, and a complete change in Paul's character.

Now, given his life has so many examples, I'm just gonna highlight one

minute specific example, which is his relationship with the town of Damascus.

This is where he was on his way when he had an encounter with Jesus.

So before.

He's a highly trained Pharisee who supervised the stoning of Stephen.

As we see in Acts seven 60, he breathes out murderous threats

towards all Christians in Acts nine one, and then in Acts nine, two.

He asks for permission to imprison anyone in Damascus that believes

in Jesus by dragging them 326 kilometers back to Jerusalem.

As you see in Acts nine, two,

then Jesus gives him a mission.

Jesus gives him a vocation.

Jesus gives him a new identity during his visit to Damascus.

He begins to preach at once that Jesus is the son of God.

As seen in Acts nine 20, there is an astonishment and a bewilderment as Paul's

reputation is completely different to what he's presenting as seen in Acts 9 22.

Here's my favorite part.

Paul's preaching immediately after his conversion is so disruptive to

the status quo that there is a plan to kill him, but his loyal followers.

Take him by night and lower him in a basket through an opening in

the wall and allow him to escape.

Uh, for those people who are.

As we all I think, would enjoy the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus,

I really love that the chosen vessel to set the Gentiles free by proclaiming

the good news of Jesus Christ had to be delivered by basket in a similar way that

the chosen vessel to set God's people free in the Exodus was also set free by Baskin.

Just a little poetic moment from the ever creative God of all creation.

When Paul arrives in Jerusalem, fresh from his escape, skepticism, abounds.

This is a guy who has been breathing out murderous threats,

but it's not Paul that testifies.

It's Barnabas.

Barnabas speaks on Paul's behalf.

Barnabas is an ally for Paul, and Barnabas is the one that opens

relationships and doors so that Paul can move about freely in Jerusalem.

So I'm hoping you're beginning to see a few things here because 25 to 30

years later, Paul writes from prison.

No doubt with the experience of many years of following his God-given vocation.

Colossians 3 23, whatever it is that you do, work at it with all your heart.

The emphasis is mine as working for the Lord, not for human men.

Since you know you'll receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

I'll talk about what the inheritance actually means in the context of the

verse, and in Ephesians two, four to 10, towards the end we see that we

are God's handiwork, creating Christ Jesus to do good works, which God

prepared in advance for us to do.

So once you actually think about the life that Paul has lived and the 180

degree turn that has happened, these verses begin to breathe new life

into what it means to actually fully and meaningfully engage in work.

The concept of inheritance is something actually quite important

here, where it's not actually a financial inheritance, right?

The word inheritance used when, um, Moses was setting the Israelites

free, or God the father through Moses was helping set the Israelites free.

Was that the inheritance, was a gift, a way of living, a new way of encountering,

um, through the Promised Land, right?

That there would be a way to work and own the land so that you could be free.

So it's different.

It's not just money in your bank account.

I just wanna make that very clear, because again, if we're not careful,

our Western goggles can actually distort the intention of what an

inheritance means in this verse.

It's a way of living.

It's embracing a new, generous spirit to see work as a gift.

So what do we learn from Paul?

A shadow of Jesus.

There are some themes that can be identified.

We see a human, just a human called by God turn from his ways and stay so

on mission that his legacy of setting up the gateway of the story of Christ

through Europe remains to this day.

Not only this, but through Paul's vocation, what we also observe is

that he was able to inspire and activate others to realize theirs.

That's really important to me.

Um, so using Philippians as an example, there are minor but significant characters

such as Lydia Epaphroditus, who are able to support Paul by using their vocation.

And calling.

And what is happening is that there is a wave of momentum of other people

finding their gifting and calling and place in the great grand tapestry that

God waves to restore humanity to his own.

Um, in management speak.

It is a masterclass in delegation.

We also observed the necessity for Paul to have advocates, to have friends, to have

a group of people that he can rely on.

Acts 9 29.

The basket people are called followers, but in addition to these followers, he

has Barnabas, and Barnabas is the one who speaks on his behalf when he cannot.

Barnabas is the one that encourages him when he cannot be encouraged.

Barnabas is the one that encourages Paul stay on mission, and it's not just there.

There you'll be okay, but what can I do?

To use my connections and my people and my reputation to help open doors so

that you can move freely in Jerusalem.

I hope you can see that really clear impact of what Barnabas's vocation is.

Work has actually made more meaningful because of the grace of

Jesus, and one of the things which I'm learning that I need to be very

careful of is actually separating my weak life from my weekend life.

And I actually think that this definition of work where we actually encompass it

into one big offering is actually an easier and more gracious way of living

in the rhythm, in the way of Jesus.

Because as I bring this to a close, my final study, of course, is Jesus.

John six shows an extremely hurtful time in Jesus' life.

He is just fed the 5,000, and what he then does is he speaks about

eternal life identity only being found in him as a result of this.

As John 6 66 says, from this time, many of his disciples turned

back and no longer followed him.

Just for clarity, this isn't in reference to the 12.

It's in reference to the other disciples that followed him.

It's, it's painful when you're on mission and friends leave you,

it is really, really painful.

Like when there is disagreement.

The difficult thing with the context of this verse is that the disciples

after feeding the 5,000, they wanted Jesus to be a magical genie.

They were after a provider.

They were after.

The gifts,

they weren't after a savior that demands surrender, but in

return gives a new identity.

The gift as we talked of identity, the free gift of being able out of that

identity to work hard at work worth doing, unique bespoke to you and your character,

and your background and your story.

Because you are fearfully and wonderfully made and your life story

continues to be a tapestry that only you have the ability to testify about.

Jesus then asks his inner 12 in John 6 67, do you also wanna leave?

I thought about this.

You know, um, it would be completely natural for someone to be like,

I command you not to leave.

You're my people.

You're my 12.

I need you here.

But interestingly, Jesus knew that his vision and his mission

was higher than these disciples.

Do you also wanna leave?

And so Peter, the inconsistent Peter in John 6 68, Lord, to whom shall we go?

Because you have the words of eternal life.

And so just because the Lord invites you as I suspect he is doing and has

done for years now, invites you to do something doesn't mean it's gonna be easy.

Doesn't mean it's going to be the easiest thing you've ever done.

And you know, I suppose just sort of sharing a little bit, like working hard

at work worth doing in this current climate is actually very, very difficult

and it can be very, very lonely.

I. And my encouragement is to remind each other that we need resources

and these resources, whether that is a reminder that God the Father, also

work the garden to provide for you.

Whether it's an encouragement from someone else or whether it is just the ability as

we're doing now, to meditate on his love and goodness, his consistency and his

ability to deliver sometimes at the last moment, our invitation to eternal life.

Our invitation is secure in the identity as children of God, but it's not just

enjoying life with God into eternity.

And I think that's another misunderstanding which I

need to repent of as well.

What I've realized is as I'm growing in, in this, in this evolving

sort of understanding, is that it includes living a life here.

Whilst we are alive, we're as a royal pre suited believers, our

Jesus inspired footprint on the world through our waking hours, is

actually providing an opportunity for heaven to come down to earth.

What it is doing is it allows others, even for a minute to glimpse and see Jesus.

Even for a minute to see, hopefully some degree of compassion.

But there is a mandate on you and I is that we are then called to

robustly and wholeheartedly engage in being about the father's business,

as it says in in Exodus, you know, how will anyone know that we belong to you?

And similarly now as we are shadows of Jesus Post Resurrection for you

and for me and each other, how will the world know that we belong to

each other if we don't act in a way which is consistent with that truth?

When we pray together,

father, we just take a moment this morning as the, as your word has washed over us.

Just to consider

our relationship with you, to consider your creativity, to consider how you

are always making things new from the wild and the waste to consider how you

are making, continue to make beautiful things out of the dust of our feeble

offerings to consider how coincidentally.

Or not.

Your grace is always present.

You are always working behind the scenes.

Thank you that you have given to us each other because as you have given to us

each other, we are able to then belittle Jesus' to everyone to encourage to call.

To ensure that we all stay on mission together, and I thank you

for the example of your son Jesus.

'cause if it wasn't for his vocation, for his mission, for

his gospel, we wouldn't be here to be able to enjoy the inheritance.

That is a new way of living.

The ability to execute justice, to love others, and to create

an environment where ultimately.

You are glorified.

So this morning, as temples of the Holy Spirit, as bearers of your very presence,

would you begin just to work in us, to encourage us to inspire us than indeed we

are able to work hard at work Worth doing.

Because that's what you have done.

That's what you have called us to do, and out of the gratitude of the gift of

our identity and salvation, may that be something which we engage in together.

Thank you, Lord.