Work

All right, so I'm sure your Bible flops open to Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8. If not, turn there with me.

I'd love for you to see for yourself what we're going to be

covering this morning. Martin Luther made a statement

that I discovered recently that has gotten behind all my

defenses, has really messed with my days today.

And this is his statement. He says he only has two dates in

his diary today and that day. Thank you, Martin Luther.

I need 2 dates in his diary today and that day.

In other words, everything he does, the decisions he makes

today, he does it in light of that day.

Now, if you're new to church and you're not familiar with what

we're talking about when we talk about that day, the Bible says

that it's appointed for man to die once and then comes that

day. Then comes judgments, the

moments where you will stand in front of the great white throne

of judgments. I accidentally read through that

again this morning in Revelations chapter 20.

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

It's terrifying. The earth gives up the dead, the

ocean gives up the dead. And we will stand in front of

that judgment seat of God. And he opens up the book of

life, and he calls us to account on the way that we have lived.

But Martin Luther's not talking about that day.

See that day if you're a believer, if you're a Christian,

not if you call yourself a Christian, if you have

surrendered your life to Jesus, if you have accepted his death

on the cross for you and on your behalf, you don't stand in front

of that white throne of judgment.

Jesus stands in front of that white throne of judgment.

If you call yourself a Christian and you go to church and you do

all the right things, but you haven't surrendered your life to

Jesus, you, Sir, will stand in front of that white throne of

judgment. Sucks to be you because you will

face the wrath of God, but that's for another day.

That's not the day that Martin Luther is talking about.

Martin Luther is talking about the day that we as Christians

face and it's the day when we stand in front of the Bama

seats. Bama is a Greek word that refers

to that seats. That's where this is a like a in

a court in front of the judge. Hopefully you've got a great

lawyer like Chad next to you on this side.

It's more like someone who's watching a gym performance and

you know, we give you a nine out of 10 or a 9.3 out of 10.

This this famous seat is a seat of reward.

And the Bible will take a look in one Corinthians 3 in just a

second. The Bible says that Jesus is our

foundation, but then we're called to build on that

foundation. So Jesus is does the work of the

cross, but then we're called to do the walk of the cross and

when we then breathe our loss, we stand in front of the Bama

seats and this is what happens. 1 Corinthians 312 If anyone

builds now and what Jesus has done using gold, silver,

precious stones or wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown

for what it is for the day. We'll bring it to light.

So it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test the

quality of each person's work. What has been built survives.

The builder will receive a reward.

If it is burnt up, the builder will suffer loss.

But yet will be saved. And so Mont Luther says I have

two days dates in my diary today and that day.

And I want to tell you that and I want to start there because I

firmly believe that if you lay a hold of what we cover today, it

will have a direct influence on that day for you.

It is that weighty that important.

So if you're not taking notes, maybe today's a good time to

start. No takers get gold, silver and

precious stone. No, no, no takers would have

stubble, but use it. Don't use it because today I'm

going to be talking about work. Hooray, Monday's coming.

Romans 819. Creation waits An eager

expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own

choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope

that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to

decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the

children of God. We know that the whole creation

has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to

the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves

who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait

eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our

bodies. 11 verse 19 stars. Creation waits an eager

expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

Now when you talk about creation, we have to take a meta

narrative look at this because right at the very beginning on

the first pages of scripture we find our creator God creating

and having created all things. The first thing he does is he

puts Adam in the garden to whack.

I don't know about your opinion on WIC.

It wasn't because of sin that you have to wake up on Monday

and go to work. I don't know if you know that.

It wasn't like Adam and Eve sinned and God stormed in and

said that's it. No more pina coladas for you.

Get off the beach, get out the pool.

Here's a suitcase and a tie. You will pay for your sins.

I know sometimes it feels like it, but actually in the in the

timeline, Tim Keller says in the timeline of creation, the Garden

of Eden wasn't paradise until Adam was put in it to work it.

See, this is our mandate to take what God has created and to work

it to his glory. And so we're going to take a

look at that. There's so much that we can

cover when it comes to work. So I'm just going to pick up on

three things that I really feel that I need to lean on this

morning as a pastor. For those who have to wake up on

Monday and go to work, I want to look at three things.

I want to look at your work through the lens of worry,

worship and wonder. Worry, worship and wonder.

Why worry? Well, I was taking a look at

Romans 8 and this wasn't my idea, but you remember Tyrion

Williams was talking about the highest of heights when it comes

to Romans chapter 8. Romans as a book is like the

Romans 8 · chapter mention

entire Bible in one letter. And Romans chapter 8 is a

Romans 8 · chapter mention

condensed version, a distilled version of everything that we

have in Christ. It's the the highest of hearts

when it comes to your salvation, when it comes to rescuing you

from the great throne of judgement.

You know, we've got this. There is now no condemnation as

it starts and there's no separation as it ends.

And in between it's adoption and salvation and restoration and

redemption and groaning. I'm like Paul, this, this, this,

like, you know, glass half full going emo was me.

And so I did a little bit of digging because it doesn't just

say groaning. It says groaning as in the pains

of childbirth right up to the present time.

That's right up to the future time, but right up to the

present time. So there's a, there's a now and

a not yet to this groaning. And I dug a little deeper.

And it talks about in the Greek, the image is like an anxious

longing, a persistent pushing, an intense waiting in suspense

for something. And I'm like, what are you

waiting for? And then it looks at verse 19,

Creation waits, an eager expectation for the children of

God to be revealed. And if you join all the dots,

it's like creation is groaning. And it's saying, child of God,

reveal yourself, show yourself, child of God, take up your

responsibility, behave like one, claim what's yours, Walk into

the chaos of work and do what the Spirit of God is that

hovered over the deep and bring clarity.

Walk into the brokenness of your environments and heal and rescue

and restore into the chaos and the corruption of South African

politics and bring integrity and light and dark places.

You're beautiful saying Wackers Wack.

It's groaning and instead of finding workers, it's finding

children of God who also groaning.

Instead of finding workers, it's finding whiners.

Instead of finding workers, finding those who worry.

You're so good, Steven. Not so good, Annie, because I

don't know if you know this, but worry is unique to mankind.

Houses for a quote. Nothing else.

Nothing. Nothing else, including the

planets and the bug that died on your windscreen this morning.

Nothing else is consumed by worry except you.

Nothing else is consumed by worry except the ones God has

revealed himself to. The ones God said I will

resource. The ones God said I will rescue

you. We are all the ones worrying.

And I was thinking, you know, looking at my notes, there's so

much I can draw out of ChatGPT when it comes to the medical

implications of worry. But you can chat that for

yourself. I just wanted to pick up on one

thing. I found a study that says worry

is killing your body and brain. And sort of like the tagline is

worry is simply a faster way to die.

Worry is a faster way to die. You know what happened when Adam

and Eve sinned? Death entered.

Apparently worry can shorten your life by 10 to 15 years.

But I'm not going to go into the medical issues.

I'm going to go into one statement.

I believe worry is practical atheism.

Not so good at any worry is practical atheism as a Christian

worry ends up in wood, hay and straw.

See the Bible says do not worry not full stop.

Comma says do not worry about anything but in everything with

Thanksgiving, bring your prayers and petitions to God.

Amen. The doctor that looked after my

daughter when she was had kidney failure, she never referred to

him as God. She always spoke of him as the

Almighty. I love it.

Don't worry about anything because over here it's the

Almighty. Martin Luther said I'm so busy

today, I cannot spend only one hour with God.

I must spend 2. Isaiah 62, talking to the

Watchmen and the workers that says, you who call on the Lord,

listen to this. Give him no rest.

When last did you do that with your business, the department,

with your employee? You go for God and you gave him

no rest. Or you're a practical atheist

drowning in worry. Isaiah 64.

Four since the creation of the world, Creation.

Remember, we're talking about creation.

Since the creation of the world, no eye has seen, no ear has

heard. A God like you who works for

those who worry? No, for those who wait.

Who works for those on this side, not worrying about

anything, but in everything, waiting on God, giving him no

rest, demanding. So that's a heavy word, that he

is faithful to his reputation as the God who likes to be

whispered about as being Pele. Remember what Pele means.

That's which requires God as its explanation.

And he's saying, come. Creation is saying please, for

heaven's sake, come, give God no rest.

Come and discover. The God is described as Pele who

will look after over your chaos and your situation and your

department and your hemorrhaging business.

And you lay it at his feet, you put it in his hands, and who

knows? There's an answer to pray.

You stand back and you that which requires God as its

explanation. So that's work as worry.

On the other side is work as worship.

We're going to do a little bit of an exercise here.

Can I ask everyone here to stand?

Everybody here to stand? Can I ask everyone here to

stand? Everyone here up in the leases

as well? No, no, not everyone up at the

top as well. Everybody stand and that 45°,

you guys can stand as well. OK, we just got these.

Now look around you guys as well.

Oh my gosh, yeah, you can leave early and you won't stand up in

my illustration. Come on.

So they did a study and if this was extrapolated over 3 CR,

everyone who's standing hates their job.

Before you sit, babes, would you be standing or sitting?

OK, these this this half you can all sit.

I don't know the ox in the queue, but I don't have a

camera. But you can stand Clint 50% if

they have to extrapolate that of us as 3 CR, 50% will be standing

saying I do the least possible, the minimal amount of work to

keep my job. And you guys in that section and

on the floor can sit. And my friends that refuse to

stand. You can be the bad guys today.

25% are ashamed at the work they produce.

But the Bible speaks about work as worship.

Thank you. You can sit down.

The Bible talks about work as worship, as sons of the most

high and daughters of the most high, those who have access to

God. If we were standing in any of

those categories, then work is not worship.

There's a very broad semantic range.

Thank you for everybody who stood a very broad semantic

range when it comes to that word worship.

And by that semantic range is, you know, if I say, oh shucks,

it's 10:00, I need to bounce. You know, you're not thinking I

need to pop my way out of here. You there's, there's a different

element to the word bounce, right?

So that's, that's a semantic range.

It's used differently. So worship when you find it

throughout Scripture, the the Hebrew word or the Greek word

Abad, when it's translated into English is often translated

differently. Sometimes it's work, but other

times it's prayer and worship. Other times it's meaning and

purpose and fulfillment or service and sacrifice.

That's what the Bible says work was given to us to be.

Imagine work as pray and worship.

I challenged a room full of executives saying have you ever

driven home and before you drive through and into your garage

just go on Lord, I bring today as an evening sacrifice,

worship, pray. Oh, were you the ones standing?

87% I hate my job. 50% say I'd rather do bare minimum quiet

quitting or 25 actually. I'm ashamed of the measure that

I'm producing or meaning and purpose.

I heard, and I haven't been able to verify it, but I heard that

apparently Alexander the Great's having conquered the then known

world at the age of 30, went into a downward spiral of

depression. He would mope in his tent.

They would find him weeping because like, what must I do

now? Apparently he LED armies for 10

years and never lost a battle. 30 now what?

Like meaningless? Meaningless.

Everything is meaningless. Conquered the known world, the

30, Dead at 32. Scripture says work is supposed

to be fulfilling and giving meaning and value and glory and

honor, supposed to be service and sacrifice.

What's his name? John.

Papa says God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied

in Him. God is most glorified in you.

You want to add meaning to your work.

God will be most glorified when you are most satisfied in Him.

So where do you fall when it comes to worry this side or on

the Pele side, that which requires God as its explanation?

Where do you fall when it comes to work as worship on this side?

87 percent, 50 percent, 25% on this side.

Whereas an evening sacrifices day by day.

You recognize the privilege of partnering with your heavenly

Father. You see, you might say, well, I

don't really think it matters to quote John Tyson.

All you need is bad customer service, a bad dentist, a bad

lecturer, bad installation. All you need is to encounter

someone who has quite quit their job to realize what a gift to

the world is. It is when you when someone

works is unto the Lord bad installation.

Am I the only one that can go like yes, and I meant to this

man. We had bad installation once.

Oh my gosh, I'll try cover his shame.

Actually, no one exposes his name.

I've got his photo. No, I'm just kidding.

I did consider it. But you know, when you do a

friend a favor, a Christian friend.

Hey, I felt that pain. Who was that?

Yeah. You know, it's like, hey, but

can you help me with this? Installation gives you a quote

and it's a little bit more, but you know you want to help a

brother out, so you do that and next thing like you're losing

power to your electric fence and your gates don't open anymore.

True story. We had water coming through the

roof because he drove through one of the water mains.

And then months later you discovered that the reason why

your outside fridge isn't keeping that meat cold anymore

is because he cut that off as well.

And you're not just throwing the meat away, you've got to throw

the whole fridge away. And you're thinking like all you

need is bad customer service, a bad dentist, bad lecture.

But installation, all you need is to encounter someone who's

quite quit their job to realize what a gift to the world it is

when someone works as unto the Lord.

You don't think it matters today, It'll matter that day.

Work through the lens of worry. Work through the lens of

worship. How do we get there?

I think what we need to do is we need to put wonder in this

place. Let me explain what I mean.

I don't know if you know the Inklings.

The Inklings were a group of literary students in Oxford

many, many years ago. And what they would do, they'd

get together and they would discuss each other's work and

faith. That was their sort of

statement, to discuss each other's work and faith.

So JRR Tolkien, I don't know if you've heard of him, he wrote

that little booklet Lord of the Rings and CS Lewis, you know,

single handedly changed philosophy and Christian

theology over the past 100 years.

They were some of the Inklings. But there's a book, I think the

book is called The Fellowship. A couple, Philip and Carol

Zelensky, say the Inklings. This is the group of literary

students. People like poems.

The Inklings were a circle of instigators, almost

incendiaries. That's a fire starter meeting to

take a look at this urge one another on in the task of

redirecting the whole currents of contemporary art and life.

When last did you get a whole bunch of teachers together?

So guys, we're going to redirect the whole currents of

contemporary art and life. Doctors, nurses, dentists,

policemen. That was their primary purpose.

And history would record that. By the time the last inkling

passed away on the eve of the 21st century, the group had

altered, in both large and small measures, the course of

literature, Christian theology, and philosophy.

They had fashioned a new narrative of hope amidst the

ruins of war, industrial uncertainty and cultural

disintegration, forging new ways to convey all themes such as sin

and salvation, despair and hope, friendship and loss.

And it's not in the book, but I put it in my notes with a pen.

They did that with a pen, Not an apple pen, just a pen urging one

another on to redirect the whole currents of contemporary art and

life. See, they were simply captivated

by the wonder of a God who's described as Pele.

And they believed them to be true.

And they would bend their industry one person at a time in

a gospel direction. Yeah, we've lost the wonder in

our pursuits of power and prestige and home in Silver

Lakes and the holiday home in Hermanus, because that seems to

be trending in three CR. We've lost the wonder and the

weights of that day. So this Martin Lloyd, Martin

Luther quotes today dates in the diary today and that date that

day and this verse finished me off.

It's Jeremiah 33. Three call to me and I will

answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things.

You do not know the word great and the word unsearchable is the

Hebrew word to the NTH degree of greatness and to the NTH degree

of unsearchable. Call to me and I will answer and

tell you great and unsearchable things.

You do not know, you could not know, you would not know.

And in light of that day, this is a really good promise, which

is why a friend of mine, I've mentioned him before in the

nuclear field and he did just this call to the Lord.

Because the Hadron collada requires 27 kilometers of of

magnetic magnetic inserts, incredibly long engineering

words here to get a particle to accelerate to a certain point

that when it hits a certain substance that can get the

certain result, 27 kilometers of engineering genius to get that

done. And he's like, surely it can, we

can do that a little small. And God gave him a 2 step

process. And we, he cannot do this, not

the Hadron Collider thing, but he can create the energy, the

clean energy he needs and, and the unit the size of a small

garage. And he Daisy chains them and

sends them off to mines so that mines can run indefinitely on

this inexhaustible power. Because he said, Lord, I'm

crying to you, would you show me great and unsearchable things

that I do not know? And God did just that.

Well, the friend down in Glenridge, 3 CI was planted out

of Glenridge. This guy down there who God gave

him a dream to be able to pack transport vehicles in a certain

way. And by doing so, they're saving

these logistics companies something like 20% on their fuel

bill. Call to me and I will answer

you. I will tell you great and

unsearchable things you do not know.

Or you can navel gaze and sit and wonder and worry.

I wonder if I'll ever get out of here.

Or you can sit an utter sheer mind blown wonder at the God of

all creation. He says.

I've got some thoughts on that. Friend of mine comes to three CR

doesn't have a standard 6 but he God has shown him how to refine

mind dumps and the technology and the ability that he does.

It's like sometimes twice as much minerals that they're able

to get out of the mine dumps. And he talks not hundreds of

millions, but billions of rands worth of minerals that he's able

to extract from mine dumps and there are 6000 of them in South

Africa. Call to me and I will answer you

and I'll tell you great and unsearchable things you do not

know with your standard 5 or one as a small business owner that

was actually a furniture store that was kind of going under and

the husband and wife were really praying like Lord, you've got to

give us a solution. You know, we want to say Pele

over our business that which requires God as its explanation

and he did just that. The wife was driving home from

work and God said pull over right now.

And so she pulled over to the side of the road and said get

out the car. She climbs out and he says buy

this land. Now the business is floundering.

So they're going like, are you crazy?

One thing led to another, God stepped in, they got

confirmation, they went to the banks, they got the money and

that quotes 40 years later, they were sitting on the richest

metallurgical coal deposit in the Northern hemisphere.

Call to me and I will answer and I'll show you great and

unsearchable things you do not know.

I'm not telling that. So you can be the head, not the

tail. Let's receive it.

Land Cruisers for Jesus. I'm telling you that because you

have access to future glory, non Christians do not.

You have God's spirit living in you, but you are living like an

atheist. What makes your encounter with

hard times at work any different to the guy who hates God?

You should be the most creative being in the world, solutions

driven, value adding, world changing department, rescuing,

because the God who created you and created the universe from

black holes to mega stars says just call to me and I will

answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not

know so that you can bend your industry one person at a time in

a gospel direction. Worry worship, wonder, worry

worship, wonder for Tom's sake. I'm going to I'm going to land

with this. I'm going to talk about that

day. And I want to talk to the older

generation here today, those who are my age and older.

I'm 50 and I want to talk to those who are older and I want

to please hear my heart. I want to be respectful, but I

also want to ask some really big questions.

So the MacArthur study found something, I think the study was

called successful aging, and they published this study where

they were saying, and this is what I want to lean on.

They say that if you had to guess, looking at the decades of

your life, which decade would you say is the number one when

it comes to effectiveness, fruitfulness, importation?

Which decade would you, you say if I look in, you know, zero to

10 to 20s in my 50s would be the decade that they say would is

most likely to produce gold, silver and precious stones.

The answer 60 to 70 and the second decade most likely to

reproduce fruitfulness, effectiveness. 70 to 80.

The 3rd, 50 to 60. Have I got your attention?

So now I'm going to be cheeky. Imagine Rory on her 60th

birthday says, listen, guys, can I just tell you what I have

achieved? I mean, Glen Ridge is pumping, 3

CR is alive. We've got church plants and

everything like it said. I know, I know there was that

moment I mentioned collecting shells, but I was just being

facetious. You know, actually, I've turned

60 now and I'm going to retire and I'm going to go collect

shells, hopefully in one of your Hermanus holiday homes because

he's a pastor. And he's a pastor, Sir.

Yeah, Here's my question. In light of that day and in lot

of successful aging, 2 decades of the most, do you think that

would be a wise thing to do? I heard Andy Stanley, he's

considered the foremost communicator in the church

world. He was telling the story of one

of his professors who is now in his 60s and he's thinking of

retiring. And this professor at this Bible

college is good friends with Andy Stanley.

I don't know if you know the name, but Andy sort of

challenged him because what happened was because this guy's

raised up so many preachers through his his professorship,

whenever these guys are sick or, you know, the snow day, wherever

they're at and they can't get back to the church, he's on

standby. You can phone him like Thursday,

Friday, Saturday, he's there and he'll preach in your state.

This is a wonderful relationship that they've had all these years

since leaving Bible college. And he said that the problem is

when that guy preaches, the whole city descends on their

tiny little church like standing room only people standing there

looking in to hear this guy preach.

He is such a gift. And so and he said to him,

listen, and at your age, why don't you just plant a church?

It will be a mega church like that.

You know, you can go out in flames.

And he said something that's ties in with a study.

He said, you know, if I do that, I could plant 1 mega church.

Sorry for the Chris explanation. A mega church, see.

But if I do this, I could plant 1000 mega churches.

And that is what scripture asks of you in your fifties, 60s and

70s. See the world would say, hey raw

kick back. I mean, look what you've done,

but creation groans. What if what if your finest

years lie ahead of you now? Now what?

You're thinking like, yeah, you must tell those pastors, you

know, because the ministry is important.

Yeah, We fabricate panty liners. Don't think it's the same thing.

They did a study on those of you who want to get out of work and

do something meaningful like ministry.

They did a study on the pastors in South Africa.

Now, the real pastors, not those weird ones that spray doom to

get rid of demons. Like, really?

Yeah. So I've had very little sleep.

I apologize. We're going to have to do lots

of editing. But like real passes they so we

got to watch 60 million S Africans.

They looked at us and our effectiveness.

Did you know we only have access to 1.6 million of those 60

million S Africans, 1.6 million non nominal or non Christian S

Africans, 1.6 million. And talk about influence.

Who We've got 8 hours of influence in each life per year,

8 hours. And you see you are wanting to

get out of your industry and come into ministry where it

really counts. But they did the same study on

you, on those in the sweet spots.

We're talking CEOs, directors, MD's, business owners,

entrepreneurs, people who have sort of reached the spot where

they're able to now important to other laws and they found this.

Whereas as pastors only have access access to 1.6 million and

8 hours of influence, you collectively have access to 22.1

million nominal and non Christian S Africans.

And your influence averages at 1080 hours a year, 1080 hours a

year. And you say I must really get

Johnny to church because somewhere in the midst of those

8 hours maybe, and God is saying, I've placed you there to

turn your business around, your department around lives, around

families and friends. The downstream influence that

you can have single handedly is so disproportionately greater

than ministry. But the enemy would have you

think that you're dabbling in the shallows.

And one day maybe, just maybe. And the enemy would have you

say, well, you've had your time at the crease.

Hand over to the younger generation.

Go collect your shells. But Scripture says there is a

day coming when the children of God will be required to wake up,

lay their hands to the plough and serve their king and worship

and wander in the workplace. And so this morning I've come to

start a conversation, to ask you where you fall.

Do you fall on the worry side? Can I wake you up to the

revelation, the God of heaven and earth in scripture that says

give this God no rest? Maybe fall on the side?

Were you part of that 87% who just hate their jobs?

Could a call on you to reconsider in light of that day?

But on the morning service, where our demographic is way

higher than the evening service, can I ask you to consider what

lies ahead? Maybe, just maybe the next 20

years, Me years of gold, silver and precious stones.

Because you've got a God who says, place it in my hands and I

will show you great and unsearchable things you would

not know. One more sleep and then it's

Monday. And then you've got to put this

into practice. Thank you.