Work

Chapters

0:12 Be the hard worker

1:47 Rise Up and Work

2:36 Calling and Purpose

6:08 Work as a Mission

8:51 Work Pleases the Lord

10:17 The Satisfaction of Work

16:29 Creativity in Our Work

21:57 Engaging with God’s Pleasure

Transcript

[0:00]The charge is really this, that as believers, as followers of Christ, we are to model to a watching world to be an example of the kind of work that he has made us for.

[0:12]Be the hard worker

[0:13]Be the hard worker. Be the best worker in your workplace for the glory of God so that the people around you say, man, you have the most horrible job here. Why do you do it with a smile on your face, right? I mean, I love doing my job because I get to be around these people or I get to engage and connect with these people. God has opened up an opportunity. Now, maybe some of you have heard a little bit of my story, but we were in pastoral ministry for about 21 years. And then God said, no, it's time to take a break and see the world through a little bit of a different lens. And God opened up a door. And right now I work as a construction project manager for a company out of Michigan. And I get to, and my boss is a Christ follower, and we have his blessing to be a light in the world to our clients as we get to go out and do projects. And it's fun. We've seen some of our subcontractors that we hire. We've seen individuals come to the Lord. I'm praying for and working with some of the other project managers in our company that aren't believers, that aren't Christians, that need Jesus.

[1:21]And some of you are saying, well, I don't have that kind of freedom. I'm not in that place where I have the freedom to be that kind of a light for Christ. Like it is hard to be here. And I hope that through all of this, you can see God's creative interweavings in you and what he has made you for so that you can see those people, where he has placed you and say, here's how God has freed me to be able to work for his glory.

[1:47]Rise Up and Work

[1:48]We are to rise up and do what He has called us to do. We are workers, right? 2 Timothy 2, delight.

[1:58]To present yourself a proof to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, right? Rightly dividing the word of truth. Or 2 Timothy 4, he talks about being serious and enduring hardship and doing the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry, he says in 2 Timothy 4. You are made in the image of God to work. And so we do it for his honor and for his glory. I think there's a sense of, in which we don't even, we're not doing this just because, Because we are created for it, we're doing it because we are called. Like, what has God called us to?

[2:36]Calling and Purpose

[2:33]And first, I'll just breeze over this a little bit for the sake of time. But we've got in 1 Corinthians 7. Let's go over there. 1 Corinthians 7. Of course, the book of 1 Corinthians, really a main premise of all of this is that we all belong to the Lord.

[2:49]We all belong to the Lord. And really, as Paul walks through this book, all the issues that Paul brings up throughout this text are a reminder of the Lord's authority. And Paul is trying to motivate the Corinthian believers, Corinthian church, to acknowledge the Lord's ownership of them. And you get to chapter 7. And even throughout all of the book, but in verse 17, he starts talking about the various situations of life, right? So whether married or unmarried, circumcised or uncircumcised, free or slave, Paul is saying that these are distractions to what really, really matters.

[3:34]Jesus is your master. He has directed you and called you to be where you are so that the people around you can be influenced for Christ. So just a couple of verses, chapter 7, verse 17. However, each one of you must live in his own situation as the Lord assigned and called him to, as the Lord God called him to. And then down in verse 20, each person should remain in that life situation in which he was called. These ideas of being assigned or called to this kind of work, you talk about what called is, I know, Romans chapter 8, those he predestined, he called, he justified, he glorified. And it's the same idea, but that word is also used, for instance, in 1 Peter 2. You are a royal priesthood. And he talks about who we are in Christ, called out of darkness and into his glorious light.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

[4:24]And then there's this corporate sense that Paul brings out in Colossians 3, where we are called into one body. Ekklesia is the word, the body or the called out ones is ekklesia, the church, the body. And so what are we called vocationally, even occupationally, to be and to do in this world? Just because you're not full-time vocational ministry doesn't mean God hasn't brought you to where you are to do what you're to do to engage people for Christ. He has exactly done that. He's called you to be where you are and to engage this world for Jesus. And so don't begrudge that. Be free in that and say, this is where God has me. This is where he has called me. There are a thousand reasons why you are good at the things that you do. And you should rejoice where God has placed you because he has gifted you in those things to use those opportunities for his glory in your life as you work for his honor and for his glory. So work hard, be the light in that workplace, Shine for Jesus as you work and put your hand to work and honor Him.

[5:46]Keller said this right at the beginning of his book. He said, our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service of something beyond our own interests. I'll say that again. Our calling, our work can be a calling,

[6:08]Work as a Mission

[6:02]but only if it's reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. So thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person and eventually undermines society. I hope you catch that. There's a lot economically that goes on in how you view your work. It is not meant for you to just have a job, to just make a paycheck, to endure till Friday and be done and then do the same thing all over again the next week because you just need the money to do it or some other motivation, right? That is not why you have the job that you have. It is not. God has brought you there.

[6:48]And you don't want to be in that position where you're just slowly like grinding away to the place where you're like, I do not want to get up and go to work on Monday morning. I hate this. This is miserable, right? And then you're not contributing to your workplace. You're not contributing to society as a whole, as you were called to do. We need you in the workplaces. We need believers everywhere, everywhere in the workplace, working joyfully and honoring the Lord and the things they do. Keller continues, the, current economic era has given fresh impulses and new ways to stigmatize work such as farming and caring for children, jobs that are supposedly not, as the Greeks called it, acknowledged jobs and therefore do not pay very well. But in Genesis, we see God as a gardener. In the New Testament, we see him as a carpenter. There is no task too small a vessel to hold the immense dignity of work given by God. There is no job too small. There is no job too meaningless and too below us in society.

[7:58]You, by human dignity created in the image of God, can do what you do with us, with joy and gladness and strength, because he has energized you to do that. And so he says, caring for and cultivating this material world has worth, even if it means cutting the grass. That also means that secular work has no less dignity and nobility than the sacred work of ministry. So God has not made a mistake. Your job is meaningful. Your job is meaningful, where he has you and where you are, even if it's not a paid job. It is meaningful. You say, all I do is volunteer here, or I'm just caring for kids at home, or your job is meaningful. Absolutely, as it contributes to society and to people, as you love them and

[8:51]Work Pleases the Lord

[8:49]see them develop for the glory of God. So that was the first one, work, because we were created to. But secondly, we work because it pleases the Lord. And I just have one slide on this one. We work because it pleases the Lord. In Colossians 3, let's go over there. Colossians 3. In verse 22, I have it up on the slide and I have it in ESV, which is what most of you guys are using. I'm sorry, I'm using Holman Christian Standard so it might throw some of you off. When I read, when we have family devotions in the morning and I bring a different Bible out, my daughter Nadia will say, that's not the same thing that my Bible says.

[9:25]Anyway, so here we are. bond servants obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, work heartily. Do it with all of your heart as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you, that from the Lord, you will receive an inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Why do you do what you do? Because you're serving the Lord. It pleases the Lord that you would honor him. Ecclesiastes 9 says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Do it with all of your strength. Do it. Go out and do it. Please the Lord in it. 1 Corinthians 15, your labor is not in vain in the Lord when you're doing these things for the gospel and for the sake of Christ and

[10:17]The Satisfaction of Work

[10:14]seeing the people that are around you. So we work because it pleases the Lord. We also work third because it's satisfying. It's satisfying.

[10:21]We work because it's satisfying i love to work do you how many of you love to work yeah i mean i hope you do you say because as followers of christ as christians we we see the value in that and we love productive work we love getting done with something and saying man that is great man look what was just accomplished somebody say thank you for what doing what i just did right no no i I mean, you take pride in the things that you do. It's fun. It's enjoyable to do these things. Everybody wants to be successful and to accomplish things. Even Proverbs 14 says, In all toil there is profit. In all toil there is profit. In everything that we do, there's a benefit to it.

[11:04]Grudem, finally I'll have a quote from our actual text that we're using here, but Grudem cite this. He says, God created human beings in such a way that we gain deep joy and satisfaction from doing meaningful, productive work. And then he quotes economist Arthur Brooks. He summarizes academic research showing that surprisingly, the most satisfying economic activity for human beings is not earning great amounts of money, but rather what he calls, what Arthur Brooks calls earned success. That is having a specific responsibility and then doing good work to fulfill that responsibility earned success means the ability to create value honestly it is the creation of value in our lives or in the lives of other people so without meaningful work, We, we sense significant loss and emptiness.

[12:02]I, I tease, you know, at Spectrum Charter, when I do, one of our clients for our work is Spectrum Charter Communications. And, and, and there's a high, there can be a high turnover of some of the people that we work for there. But sometimes I'll hear of one of them retiring.

[12:16]And I'm like, oh, when are you, what are you going to do for a job after this? and and you know some of the concept is uh you just retire and then you're done and then you're going to go off and fish the rest of your life and sit on the beach and down south and you know and just not work but but i what i've observed over the years is it about a week later they're finding another job because we're not made to just sit and do nothing like you find value in work and you want to work and do something and so what are you doing and as you think about and this maybe hits to the end of all of this but as you think about retirement like i don't i don't see the concept in scripture because we weren't made to just sit and retire to do nothing we we were made to work and so how are you going to use those days of your life for the glory of god even if it's voluntarily working or doing something to contribute to society to the church to to wherever you are for the glory of god and for the sake of the gospel you can continue to do work because it's satisfying because you love doing what god made you to do that's what you were here for and so uh when you find yourself in that place without work maybe somebody who's lost a job it's a really defeating and devastating place to be to not have work or a disability comes in and tears that away for somebody in the opportunity that they have to do what they've always done and now they're like, I don't know what to do now.

[13:43]To be in that place is really hard for people. And maybe you've been there and you feel that or you are there and you're saying in that time of significant loss i just want purpose i want to i want to have meaning i want to i want to live uh and do something right uh because we feel that because we know that there's satisfaction in it and not only that but there is there is great joy in work and i think i want to do this as they talk about joy and work there's a number of passages here on the on the um board and there's six of them. So if I could get six volunteers, I'm going to give you a number and then you read that verse off of there. So can I have six volunteers? Okay. One, two, three, four. I need two more. Five and six. All right. If you cut your number, you can see it on the board. And so you know which one you are. So number one is just some plethora of verses about the joy that comes out of work. So Deuteronomy 16, 15, nice and loud so everybody can hear.

[14:45]All together joyful. My version said abundant joy, right? I mean, the work of your hands, you're going to be joyful in your work. Okay, number two. Think about the abundant storehouses that are available for us. And then he says, I'll bless the work of your hands and all of those resources that are available for us to take joy in and working. Psalm 90, verse 17. He repeats it. So God's blessing, God's favor, Naomi is that word. His favor and blessing and grace on us. establish the work of your hands. And he says, again, establish the work of your hands. Like, this is great. I get to do work. Ecclesiastes 2, 24 to 25.

Psalms 90:17

[15:28]I mean, Solomon's trying, he's experimenting with all these things, but he gets to the end of all this and he's just like, there's nothing better. I think the next verse says it as well. Ecclesiastes 5, 18 through 20. Isn't that a great text? I love that one. It is a gift of God to be able to do the things that you do and the gladness of your heart to just rejoice and into joy and to labor in the things that He has called you to do. Cling to that one. Hebrews 13, 17.

[15:57]Don't you love it when the people that are leading you are just the most discouraging, awful, frowny, horrible people in your life, right? Nobody wants to follow somebody like that. You want to follow a joyful leader. And so this is a commission to those that are leaders over you. Watch over your soul and they should do it with joy. Because in this example of how we ought to all live and the work that goes into that, we lead and we lead those around us and those that we influence with joy. There's a lot of satisfaction and joy in work.

[16:29]Creativity in Our Work

[16:30]There's also, we also work because, and there's creativity, that next subject area is the creativity in our work. And we've already set a pattern. We've already established that and seen how this all has laid out and the commission for us to carry on work. And the idea has already been set that we are made in the image of God as creative beings. I just loved this quote from Paul Tripp's book on a quest for more.

[16:56]And he's talking about how we're made, what has been, how God made us in his image as glory seekers. And I think tied to that as those that are seeking glory is this reality that we are made in his image for doing something more, something bigger, something creative, something that you're just looking for those. It's like the chainsaw artist who sits and looks at this big stump on the ground, and he's like, I see an eagle in there. And you're like, what?

[17:29]And then, you know, an hour later, you're like, there's this massive eagle flying out of this log. And you're like, how did he see that in that blog? You know, where does this come from? You just look at that thing and you're like, there's a creative abilities within you to see things. And you're like, I'm not like that chainsaw artist. I know, I know. We're not, some of us aren't quite geared that way. And I'll talk about that in a second. But this is, this is fun. This is what Paul Tripp says in a quest for more.

[17:55]He says, there is something woven inside of us, a desire for something more, a craving to be a part of something bigger, greater, and more profound than our relatively meaningless day-by-day existence. And he goes on to say, admit it, you are a glory junkie. That's why you like the 360 degree between the legs slam dunk or the amazing hand-beaded formal gown or the seven layer triple chocolate mousse cake. It's why you're attracted to the hugeness of the mountain range or the multi-hued splendor of the sunset. You were hardwired by your Creator for glory orientation. It's inescapable. It's in your genes. We'll wait 90-minute line for a ride on the ultimate roller coaster. We will dream for days about the glory of the upcoming Thanksgiving feast, and we'll work like crazy to achieve one glory moment in some area of our lives, and we were simply made for glory but not just the shadow glories of the created world we were made for one glory that is the transcendent glory of God and when you grasp this your life begins to make a difference in the work that you do you are not made to just make a paycheck.

[19:13]You are made to be exhilarated and empowered and energized by the things that you do because you are hardwired for glory, for the glory of God, to live that out and to see the people around you influenced for his glory.

[19:31]There's an excitement in us. There's a desire in us for more, for something better, to see something creative. And you say, I'm not creative. I'm not that kind of a person. And I think that can be true. And I think there might be a couple of things going on when you say, well, I'm not a creative person. One of those things is that's not true. You are a creative person. I think our society and our culture has drafted us and channeled us in a way that maybe media, technologies.

[20:04]Things around us, and all kinds of influences have started to steal our creativity away from us and stolen from us the ability to exercise those creative skills in a way that helps us to contribute to society and to develop things. And so we just get used to other people doing those things for us and think, well, I'll just take the easy road. And if we take the easy road, then we don't exercise the creative abilities that God has gifted us and built within us. And so some of that is just that it's stolen away from us. But the other reality is that God has made some people a lot more creative than me. My daughter, Nina, went to studio art, got a degree in studio art, and she makes pottery things come out and paintings come out and all kinds of fancy creative things in music and arts and things. Some people are just built with that artsy nature, right? I mean, they're just channeled that way because they just see it. We need those people.

[21:04]That's the second thing that's going on here. We are a body and you aren't made that way because somebody else is. And so this is why it interweaves in our culture and why we need all the different giftings and abilities in the jobs and in the marketplaces and in the church for the glory of because we all need each other in this.

[21:26]I'm going to skip over. There's an illustration that he goes into, because there's only two minutes left. You got to be kidding me. Okay. All right. The point is God made us in his image to be creative beings. We are given the liberty. We're given the freedom to use the world's resources to benefit society and to fill the earth and to take great joy in doing that.

[21:57]Engaging with God’s Pleasure

[21:50]And it's profound to just think about how He made us and how He geared us. And I hope I'm going to have to leave the rest of this because maybe this raises a couple of questions. There's a couple of minutes or a comment or a statement, or maybe you're just saying, hey, I feel this way and want to share something. But any thoughts that we have? We have some time. Yeah.

[22:15]Oh, the rest of the quote from, oh, from the, in the joy of work. Yes. I missed over that. So in the film on Chariots of Fire with Eric Little, it's, it's not his, he didn't say these words, but, but Holly put them in there. But I love the statement in the film because he's trying to say, this is why I run. Like, I don't, he's just an incredible runner. I mean, and he gets, he's trying to explain why he, he says, God called me to China, but God made me for something more. He made me fast. And then he said, and when I run, I feel God's pleasure. When I run, I feel God's pleasure. And I just thought, man, that is a powerful statement, even though I don't think Eric Little himself said it, the guy in the film did, but what a powerful statement to just say, when I do the things that I know God has called me to do, I feel his pleasure. I feel God's power moving through me to keep me doing these things and energizing me to do those things. And I hope you feel that way too. That's a great quote to end on. That's great. That's incredible. Unless there's another comment. I saw another hand. Conrad. No. He says, skip it. Okay.

[23:34]Well, God, thank you so much for the work that you give us to do. God, may we leave here and walk out of here doing the work that you've called us to do so that when we do it, we say, we feel your pleasure. We feel your creativity moving through us, made in your image to do what you have called us to do. God, give us strength and energy and compassion for those that are around us, that we would influence them for you, that we wouldn't see our jobs as just meaningful meaningless uh money-making opportunities but that we would be empowered to see the people we would see the people around us and love them and direct them and point them to you for your honor and for your glory lord in jesus name we pray amen.