The Work Beneath the Work - Susan Buzzard

Okay.

Labor Day.

So, obviously we're going to talk about

work.

Normally, well, the past few times that

I've been up here. Oh, hi. I'm Susan.

Some of you have never met. Um I'm

married to Kevin and he's visiting his

parents and so I'm here. Um

So, if this is your first time, I'm so

sorry.

>> [laughter]

>> Come back next week. He should be in a

good head space. He had a nice vacation.

Um and I'll be back there. You won't

even see me. Um but it's Labor Day, so

we're going to talk about work. How's

the new job going? That is the number

one most asked question that I have

received. I have answered that question

no less than six times so far this

morning.

Um so, if you don't know, I recently

left

23 years of teaching high school health

and physical education

to teach middle grades, fifth, sixth,

seventh, and eighth,

health and physical education

at a school with no gym and no

classroom. So,

it's going. That's how it's going. It's

going. It is going. Um no, really, it's

great.

I love what I'm doing.

I love where I'm doing it. Last week a

fifth-grader came and stood this close

to me

and said, "Coach,

I just threw up all over the bathroom."

So, um it it's going.

Just a couple days ago, a fifth-grader

Fifth grade is new for me. It's real

new. Um a fifth-grader said, "Hey,

Coach,

do you dye your hair?"

And I should have just said, "No."

Um but I didn't. I said, "Why?" And he

said,

"Cuz your face looks young, but your

hair looks really old."

I mean, so thank you,

I guess.

I guess in his brain

I was dying my hair to look old

because my face was young. I don't know.

I'm just taking it as a compliment.

Don't try and convince me otherwise.

Um

So, we're talking about work today.

Uh I grew up in a household where my

parents probably worked too much.

Um but it really instilled a love of

work in me because while they worked a

lot, they always really seemed to be

passionate and love what they were

doing. And so, it's not lost on me that

in a room this size with this many

people,

um

some of you, like me, love your work and

love what you're doing. Some of you just

endure it because you have to.

Some of you are exhausted by work that

never seems finished. Some of you are

grieving work that you can no longer do.

Um and so, we all have these varying

opinions and experiences when it comes

to work. But I want for us to look at

today is not just what work are we

doing,

but how are we doing it?

We I want to look at the work beneath

the work. So, what is happening? Not

just what are you producing, but who are

you becoming as you produce it?

Um

not just what do you accomplish, but who

am I serving as I accomplish it?

The Bible speaks to our work without

pretending that every

workplace is healthy or that every

assignment is exciting or that every

season is fair. Um it warns us that work

can shape our souls. And it sets work

free from carrying a weight that it was

never designed to bear. And so, today I

want us to look at

three truths in our work. And I'm going

to be quick because Megan's in

children's church and I promised her I

would be.

Um so, today I want us to look at three

truths. The first one is that work is

good.

Even ordinary work is good work.

Work doesn't just produce things, it

produces us. And the third point is that

work matters, but it's not your master.

And you know what?

Kevin texts me earlier in the week and

he was like, "Hey, do you have your

points for your sermon?" Which is

usually a joke.

Um but this week I did and I text them

to him and I text them to Johanna so

that they could be up here and I noticed

that that page was blank in the bulletin

and I just want credit for the fact that

I was prepared on Tuesday.

Because normally, thank you. Thank you.

I did notice. I sent it to him and I was

like,

"Look at that. I do have points." And

then they weren't in there. It's just a

blank page like

he thinks that's what my brain is and

sometimes it is, but this time I tried.

All right.

All three of those truths come into

focus as we look at Jesus.

So let's get to that. We're going to

start in Colossians 3:17.

Colossians 3:17

You can turn there. It's up in the

screen because I sent it in earlier in

this week because I was prepared. I did

have her change things this morning to

be fair, but

I tried.

All right.

Colossians 3:17.

Colossians 3:17

"And whatever you do in word or indeed,

do everything in the name of the Lord

Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father

through him."

And whatever you do in word or indeed.

So the first thing I want us to see is

that work is good. Even your ordinary

work.

Your work is good. Ordinary work can

become holy ground when we offer it to

God. Um Paul starts with this big

sweeping term that literally covers

every job in our entire life. Whatever

you do in word or indeed. Whatever

you're doing, whatever you're saying,

do it all for Jesus. And so this that's

this opportunity to sanctify the things

that we're doing, to take that ordinary

task and make it extraordinary

um in the name of Jesus. Do it all in

the name of the Lord. That means under

his authority,

in a way that reflects his character,

and with gratitude to the Father. That's

how we should be doing that ordinary

work that we're doing. A task doesn't

have to be big and dramatic to be

offered to God.

However,

I do like big and dramatic.

Um I was recently a friend of mine was

having a baby shower

for her daughter.

A baby

not her baby daughter, a baby shower for

her daughter who's having a baby. Does

that make sense? I don't know. I didn't

think about that. Um so, she's having a

baby shower for her daughter.

And this

friend of mine is

pretty particular. If you know, you

know. And so,

I was there to help,

but helping her

requires a lot of waiting. It's a lot of

wait and put this thing in this

particular way and this particular

place. And I'm just like I'm a doer. I

like to have work and have big work and

do all the work and sweat while I'm

doing it. Like I just like to do stuff.

That's me.

Um and so, we're at this baby shower and

I knew like I just I know cuz I've

worked with her for 18 years. And I know

that I have to wait for her to tell me

how to do it or I'm going to have to do

it again, which let's be real. I that

happens to me a lot. Um Friday night

into Saturday morning, I built Emery a

new bed.

It's a big loft full-size bed. And um it

didn't have to go into Saturday morning,

but I had to take a lot of things apart

and put them back together again. But I

was working, so you know, that's good.

Um at this baby shower, I'm just waiting

I'm waiting for her to give me

instructions and I'm waiting to know

exactly how I'm supposed to place the

things that I'm placing and fold the

things that I'm folding.

And her husband looked at me and he

said,

"You like a bulldozer, not a shovel,

don't you?"

And honestly,

I have never felt more seen.

I was just like,

"You really get me, don't you?"

Like that is the most accurate

description I have ever heard of me. I

love I I just little little fiddly

stuff. My parents growing up,

my parents had this mentality of you

clean as you go. Probably every normal

person in this room does that. When they

cook dinner,

they clean as they go. And so you mess

something and you clean something and

you mess something and you clean

something. And at the end of the night

after dinner, like it didn't even look

like dinner had been cooked.

No, thank you.

Like after I cook dinner,

I want it to look like Chef TV exploded

in my kitchen.

Like there's something because then I

know I'm a health teacher. I know this

is dopamine, Sandy. Stop looking at me

like that. Um, I see this big big mess

and then I get to clean it all up and

then I feel so good when it's done. But

if you clean as you go, like that's I

don't that's boring work to me. That's

lame to me. It doesn't feel as exciting

to me. Some of you,

bless your hearts,

you do one load of laundry every night.

That's how my mom is.

She does She takes her clothes off and

she puts them in the washing machine.

I am not This is not an exaggeration.

I left the house today and I told Eli,

"Be sure all of your laundry is done

today

because all day tomorrow,

from sunup to sundown, I will be

the pile is this high.

It is this high. And that's just me and

Emery. Everybody else does their own.

It is I

It's almost taller than me.

And tomorrow, I'm going to get it all

done. I'm going to fold it, and it's

going to be this high, and then I'm

going to put it all the way, and it's

It's going to feel good. I like

big work. When I was in high school, hey

y'all.

Um when I

It's weird that they're back there. Do

you feel like they're watching you?

>> [laughter]

[gasps]

>> When I was in high school,

I went on my first mission trip. I went

to Haiti for a week with a local church.

And when I was there, man, like I just

felt like

everything I did mattered. Like every

step I took, every person I spoke to,

like everything felt so big and

important because I was doing it

somewhere foreign, and I was doing it

somewhere different. It just felt so

big. And so, I came home from that trip.

I was a senior in high school, and

everybody's like, "What are you going to

do when you get out?" I was like, "I

just want to be a missionary. I want to

be a missionary. I want to go overseas,

and I want to do this big dramatic work,

and I want everything that I do to

matter."

I won't drag this story out cuz I told

Megan I would be fast. Um but like 3

years later, I was married to Kevin.

And you've met him.

His idea of camping is like staying at a

Holiday Inn Express.

Okay?

So, Haiti was off the table immediately.

I did trick him into going to the

Philippines with me when we were dating,

and I thought God's going to tell him he

needs to be a foreign God did not God

did not do that.

He didn't He didn't He called him to

ministry, but not not the way I wanted.

Rude. But um

Anyways, I just I just thought I would

have this big dramatic work, and then

all of a sudden, I'm married to Kevin,

and Kevin's pursuing youth ministry, and

we go to Wake Forest, and we both

started out in seminary, and then I

decided that theology is dumb, and I

didn't want to do it, and it was a lot

of reading, a lot a lot of reading.

Um and so I quit and I was just working

and I started out teaching preschool.

And then I went into um early

intervention in the infant toddler

program for the state of North Carolina

and I was just kind of floundering like

I wanted this big dramatic work and now

I'm just doing fiddly little stuff. And

one Sunday at church

Kevin was serving as a youth pastor at

Cary Baptist Church in Henderson, North

Carolina.

And one Sunday this man named Wayne

Adcock came up to me and he said, "Can I

just ask you a question?"

Sure.

He said, "Why aren't you a teacher?"

And I said, "Well, Wayne, the truth is

my mom always said you should be a

teacher.

And I don't know, I guess I'm just

rebellious so I always said, 'I'll never

be a teacher.'

And here I am like dug in. Like I'm

holding fast. Like I said I wouldn't so

now I'm not going to."

And he was like, "You have an

appointment tomorrow at 1:00 at the HR

department of Vance County Schools.

You're interviewing and you're going to

be a teacher."

I was like

aye aye captain. So I showed up at the

interview and 23 years later, do you

know what I found?

Life in public schools is exactly like

that mission trip. Everything I do every

day matters. Every lesson I teach it's

not the Bible, but it's the character.

It's the way that you do it. It's

offering it to God and if every day we

take these ordinary tasks and we offer

them to God then they are not ordinary,

they're extraordinary, they are holy,

they are sacred. Every morning in public

schools there's a moment of silence.

Every morning for the past 23 years

during that moment of silence I just

pause and I say "Holy God, help me to do

this in a way that glorifies you. Be

with me and my coworkers, help us to be

a light in the darkness. Let us shine

for you that others might see your

goodness reflected. And that makes my

work holy, even if fifth graders that

smell like barf.

It's holy ground. It's offered to God.

And so,

our ordinary work becomes extraordinary

when we offer it to God. So, when you

think about the things that you're

doing, I've said nothing on this piece

of paper, y'all. I just tried looking. I

really You know,

I have them and I feel like I should get

credit for that. Um everything that

we're doing, every field that you plow,

every baby you deliver, every

vaccination you give, every lesson you

teach, every car you fix, it is all holy

ground when you're doing it in a way

that reflects the character of Jesus and

with gratitude to God for giving you

that opportunity. I think that's the

thing that I want us to see is that work

is good and we do it because it's good.

Now,

I'm not insane. Okay, I get it. You

don't have to

be passionate about loading the

dishwasher. Okay, I came home one night

when Eli was still in high school and

when I say I came home one night, like

most a lot of days I teach all day and

then I coach in the evening and then I

get home at like 8:00 or 9:00 at night.

And one night I came home and like

literally the sink is full of dishes,

which is a big dramatic task and I do

enjoy that. But, the sink is full of

dishes and I was just kind of frustrated

and I looked at Eli and I was like, am I

the only one in this house who knows how

to load the dishwasher?

And he just looked at me and he said,

I really thought you liked loading the

dishwasher.

And if you know my son, you know that he

was sincere. Like he literally was like,

oh, I just I mean, I didn't want to take

your joy by putting the dishes in the

dishwasher, [laughter] so

So, I'm not saying

that loading the dishwasher has to BE

LIKE "HALLELUJAH!

Let me get these forks in the fork

basket." Now, there is some serious

theology about prongs up or prongs down.

I'm not going to divide the church

today. I'll save that for Kevin. But,

loading the dishwasher, it doesn't have

to be something that you're I'm not

saying it has to be the most

enthusiastic thing in the world. Not

every task at every job is always going

to be your favorite. But, the point is

that we offer it to God and we do it in

a way that pleases and serves him.

Um

I was supposed to talk about Mark 6:3.

Mark 6:3

I'll do that now.

In Mark 6:3, Mark gives us this little

Mark 6:3

description of Jesus as the carpenter.

And um in this verse it says, "Isn't

this the carpenter, the son of Mary?"

And see, the people in this time in

Nazareth, they were trying to take

Jesus's ordinary life and dismiss it.

Like, they were trying to take the thing

that Jesus had spent 30 years doing and

just use that as a reason to dismiss

him. Jesus had gone to his hometown and

he was going and he was preaching to his

hometown. And they were dismissing him

because this is this is just the

carpenter. This is Mary's son. This is

like, who is he to be telling us this

stuff?

Um

But, I think that the point of this is

to really show us that like Jesus spent

30-some years living an ordinary life.

Like, Jesus was a carpenter. He knew

sawdust. He knew sore muscles. He knew

customers that didn't necessarily like

your product. Like, Jesus did all of

that and he did it

without sin. And and the thing is like

the people in Nazareth, they were using

Jesus's ordinary life to dismiss him,

right? But, God used Jesus's ordinary

life to sanctify us because if Jesus had

never done that, he wouldn't have been

the spotless lamb that we needed for

redemption. Does that make sense? Like

I was reading that this week and I was

just like

we like when we think about Jesus, we

think about those couple of years of his

active ministry, but all of that means

nothing without the 30 years prior that

he was

just a carpenter.

Right? So, our ordinary work is

important to everyday because that's

what's building our testimony. That's

what's shaping who we're becoming. So,

we shouldn't miss that. We often rank

our work by visibility or income or

influence and God asks a different set

of questions. God asks of our work like,

is it honest?

Is it loving? Does it serve a need? Can

it be done in my name? If so, then

that's not ordinary work. That's not

empty work. That's extraordinary work.

Think about your ordinary work this

week. That task that seems meaningless

to you, eighth grade.

For me, um

and then you take that ordinary task and

you just offer it before you begin, God,

like

help me to do this with love and

gratitude and let me reflect your

character in this task that I do and and

then we take that ordinary work and we

give it the the dignity and the

attention that it deserves. Okay, Paul

takes us a little bit deeper though.

And he says, work is not something that

merely passes through our hands. Over

time, work leaves its mark on our

hearts. And your work produces a

product,

but also your work is producing you.

Every task

is making something and every way of

doing that task is making someone.

So, we have to think about the way in

which we do the tasks that we're doing.

So, we're going to flip ahead a little

bit to Colossians 3:23.

Colossians 3:23

A really common really this is like on

all the signs. I think I saw it on a

sign down the hallway.

Colossians 3:23,

Colossians 3:23

whatever you do, I don't I just like

that Paul says whatever a lot.

Makes me feel like my kind of guy.

Um

whatever you do, do it enthusiastically

as if something done for the Lord, not

for men.

Okay, so Paul again that broad sweeping

term he whatever you do in word or

indeed, whatever you do, do it

enthusiastically.

And remember like this is the book of

Colossians, so Paul is speaking

to people who don't necessarily have a

lot of freedom or a lot of choice in

what they're doing. A lot of these

people were enslaved people and and Paul

is saying

whatever you do, serve the Lord first.

Like human approval is not the final

verdict. Human eyes are not the final

audience for the work that we're doing.

So as we begin our work, we have to

think about serving God with our work.

The question changes instead from how

did I finish

to

what kind of person did I become

finishing? Like as a teacher I can tell

you you can give the same kids the same

task and some of them will finish

becoming better as they finish.

And some will finish honestly becoming

worse as they finish. Some um

two people working on the same task, one

can become more patient and one can

become more resentful.

Okay?

Um one can learn courage and the other

can learn avoidance. One practices

integrity when no one is watching and

the other practices cutting corners.

Right? Two people working at the same

task can become very different people by

doing that task. And so we have to ask

ourselves that question, not just what

am I doing, but who am I becoming as I'm

doing it because how we repeatedly

repetition is a really powerful tool,

right? It's a really a lot of us that's

how we learn. Everyone

my age and older,

which is pretty old according to fifth

graders if you look at my hair.

Um,

we learned by repetition, right? When

you had to memorize spelling words,

you learned by repetition. When you had

to learn for me West Virginia, we had to

learn all of the counties, all the

county seats. When you had to learn that

stuff, you learned by repetition. You

memorized it, right? Repetition and we

don't necessarily teach that way

anymore, but repetition is a powerful

teacher. And the way we repeatedly do

something is the person we're becoming.

So, are we becoming people who cut

corners or are we becoming people of of

integrity? Are we becoming people who

finish with grace and pride or we

becoming people who finish with

resentment and contempt? Who are we

becoming as we finish this work that

we're doing?

Um, success can make us

humble or it can make us entitled.

Failure can make us disappointed and

angry or it can make us teachable.

We have to decide who we're becoming as

we're doing the work that we do. We have

to be careful here where it says do it

with all of your heart. That doesn't

mean kill yourself doing it.

Okay? It doesn't mean that you have to

do everything. It doesn't mean that you

should run yourself into the ground

doing the work that you're doing.

Um,

we have to be sure that we also protect

our peace because and that's the other

thing I think that's important about

Jesus's 30 years as a carpenter. I mean,

he didn't start when he was a baby, but

whatever. You get my point. The years

that Jesus was a carpenter that the

really important thing there

is that Jesus knew the importance of

rest, right? And so like tomorrow as we

celebrate Labor Day, we celebrate a day

about work by doing no work.

Um

we have to look at what Jesus taught us

about

resting. We have that invitation to

understand that your work matters,

but it is not your master.

Okay? Your work matters and it is making

you who you are,

but your work is not your ultimate

master. Let's look at Colossians 3:24.

Colossians 3:24

23 goes into that. It's not a period at

the end of 23. I think that's important.

So, it says, "I'll start with 23." Makes

it make sense. "Whatever you do, do it

enthusiastically as something done for

the Lord and not for men, knowing that

you will receive the reward of an

inheritance from the Lord. You serve

the Lord Christ."

Okay?

So, here here's the thing is that your

work matters, but it is not your master.

Your work can be an offering and your

work is important,

but you serve the Lord, not a paycheck.

And and I think that we have to look at

that. You You serve Christ, not a title,

not a client, not the approval of men,

not even the picture of of who you're

trying so desperately to become. You

serve the Lord Christ. We don't um

we don't bow down to our jobs. And I'll

tell you um

your work can be a terrible master. You

can make it your master and I as I was

working on this this week, um I wrote a

lot and I edited a lot and I think it

was more therapeutic for me to write the

things that I was writing than it really

needed to be said, but I'll tell you

after um leaving a school system after

18 years and a boxes full of teacher of

the year plaques and coach of the year

plaques and health teacher of state

health teacher of the year plaques and

all of those things. I I

when I walked away and went somewhere

else, that school system did not say,

"Well done, my good and faithful

servant."

I spent more waking hours there. I

thousands of children through my doors,

and they posted the job, and they filled

a position. Right? And so, your work

matters, but your work is not your

master. It's not the bottom line. It's

not the end-all, be-all. And we have to

keep that in mind, and this verse

reminds us. It says,

"Knowing that you will receive an

inheritance."

An inheritance is not a paycheck.

An inheritance is family money. That's

That's something given from family, and

so Paul is taking this time to remind

these people, a lot of which are

enslaved people, that they are a part of

a family. That they have an inheritance,

and so there are times that we are

tempted to make our work about the

paycheck, or we're tempted to make our

work about the people that we're

impressing, or the the audience that we

have. And the work has to be about the

inheritance. It has to be about the

family, and the real master that we

serve, which is Jesus. That's why we

have an inheritance, because Jesus

already did that work for us. Your work

can't save you.

You can spend all day, every day,

working yourself to death. But at the

end of the the day,

your work is not your master. Jesus is

your master, and Jesus

took time to rest. I think that that's

important, because your work will Your

work will always have one more thing for

you to do. There's always one more paper

to grade. There's always one more field

to plow. There's always one more I don't

know. I just look around the room, and

I'm trying to think of what everybody's

jobs are. There's always one more job to

job, you guys. Um

there's always something out there with

your work. But Jesus doesn't look at you

as a finished product. We are

progressively becoming more like him,

that progressive sanctification. That's

the work beneath the work. And the

ability to look at our work and say,

"Hey, I love my work and my work is

important, but I won't let it rule my

life." is a really, really freeing thing

to look at your work and say,

"This is my job, but it is not my

inheritance. It is not my family." And

to be able to do that, we can actually

then begin to build that work beneath

the work and becoming more like Christ

in everything that we're doing. Another

page that I said nothing on, not even

the highlighted parts. My bad.

So, anyways, here we are. Let's wrap it

up. Sorry, Megan. The work beneath the

work. First, work is good. Even your

ordinary work.

Jesus dignifies that. Jesus says your

ordinary work is important.

Your work is not about what you're

producing, it's about what it's

producing in you. What's happening every

day when you work? Are you becoming more

diligent? Are you becoming

uh stronger? Are you becoming more

passionate? Are you showing integrity?

Who are you becoming as you do that

work? And then finally,

work matters, but it is not your master.

And so, as we go in to this next week,

there was one thing on this page I do

think I wanted to say. Hang on. Go back.

No, it might have been a lot of pages

ago. I give up.

Um but as we go into this week, we have

to think about who we're becoming as

we're doing the work that we're doing.

Okay? And And do your work with passion.

We have this invitation to think

differently about Monday. Okay? Instead

of Like a lot of people Not tomorrow

because a lot of you have the day off,

me too.

Um a lot of times we go into Monday

dreading Monday.

Right? But if we're focused on the work

beneath the work, then we follow Jesus

into Monday. Okay? We don't leave Jesus

here on Sunday. This isn't the only

place that Jesus is. Jesus wants to be

where we are. Jesus wants to to be there

when we're doing all of those ordinary

tasks because he wants us to become more

like him. And so, instead of dreading

Monday, we should follow Jesus into

Monday into the place where our actual

life happens and and use that to be more

like him instead of simply simply

focusing on the work. Let's look at the

work that's happening beneath the work

every single day.