Video Transition: Live your life with purpose!
Series: Your Work Matters to God!
Sermon: Faith at Work
Thesis: We were created to work and it is part of God’s plan of creation, work is a place God uses us as Christians to influence our fallen world. Work is a place where we make a difference for the Kingdom of Heaven. We are created to contribute to our society for the good. Work can even be a place where we worship The Lord.
Scripture Verse:
Colossians 3:22-24: 22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Proverbs 16:3: Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Introduction:
Yes, WORK is a four-letter word, but it is not a bad thing or word, instead it is to be used by us as a way to communicate to others that God cares and wants to be involved in their lives. It is to be used by us as a way to contribute to the good of society and reveal the light of Jesus to people living in the dark.
Work according to the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that work comes with the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a gift from God and also a curse of the fall, but work even with its painful moments and disillusionment can become a place to worship God. Yes, we can worship God at work!
The distortion of work today is because of the fall as Vernon shared last week. But it is not Gods desire that we have suffer at work. The Lord can give you the right attitude if you ask Him and He is able to enable you to look at your place of work as an active place of exercising your faith and maturing in your faith.
I see 3 major distortions about work today are:
1. Sacred work vs secular work
2. Workaholism vs Slothfulness/laziness
3. A Negative attitude at work vs a positive attitude at work
Both extremes bring negative results to our life and faith. I must admit working in society always brought challenges and rewards for me but I did enjoy it. I have worked in the construction field, and as a teacher in public school.
We are going to explore the world of work, see the Lord is with us at work and learn how to put our faith into action at work
1. The battle of the mind between what’s is sacred work verses what is secular work.
a. In the 4th Century Augustine taught about the contemplative life and the active life. He defined the two this way, “The contemplative life was given to sacred things and deemed a higher calling, while the active life was given to secular things and regarded as a lower calling. This kind of teaching and thinking took root in the church world and distorted the view of work.
i. Nelson states, “Many followers of Jesus live their entire lives in the workplace under the soul suffocating distortion that their work is not as important and God honoring as the work of a pastor or missionary” (page 45).
1. The misconception is that one has a higher calling than the other.
2. Which I can personally tell you is not true or even Biblical.
ii. Share the story of how you incorporated your faith as a carpenter and as a teacher.
1. Your witness each day reading the Bible and you daily attitude.
2. Your connection with others at school and the permission given to share your faith and beliefs with them personally.
a. The importance of your daily witness is crucial because it opens the door for you to share the truth of Jesus with others.
b. I find it interesting how we buy into this mindset so quickly in Christian circles and churches today.
i. But as I think and ponder the life of Jesus, he spent 30 years of his life not doing full time ministry per-se but is known as spending that time working as a carpenter and even growing up in a carpenter’s home and being apprenticed by Joseph as a carpenter.
1. Mark 6:1-6: A Prophet Without Honor
a. 1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
2. Dallas Willard: “If he were to come today as he did then, he would carry out his mission through most any decent and useful occupation. He could be a clerk or accountant in a hardware store, a computer repairman, a banker, an editor, doctor, waiter, teacher, farmhand, lab technician, or construction worker. He could run a house cleaning service or repair automobiles. In other words, if he were to come today, he could very well do what you do. He could very well live in your apartment or house, hold down your job, have your education and life prospects, and live within your family surroundings and time. None of this would be the least hindrance to the eternal kind of life that was his by nature and becomes available to us through him.” (page 88-89)
a. Jesus only spent 3 years in active full-time ministry which concluded with his death on a cross.
3. Question: Did Jesus waste the rest of his life doing work that did not matter? Building tables and chairs or farm equipment?
a. Nelson, “Think about it for a moment. The very One who was the master craftsman of the universe spent a great deal of time during his thirty- three years on earth crafting things with his hands. Jesus’ humble service in the workplace was the training ground for that glorious display of servant hood in an upper room in Jerusalem. Working with his hand’s day in and day out in a carpentry shop was not below Jesus. Jesus did not see his carpentry work as mundane or meaningless, for it was the work his Father had called him to do. I have a good hunch that Jesus was a top-notch carpenter and did top-notch work” (page 90).
b. This time frame of Jesus life speaks to us about the importance of our day to day vocational work.
c. Your work is not an obstacle to your spiritual growth but a venue God will use to grow your faith in Him and impact society.
TS – We see the extreme view in the Christian world of sacred vs secular work and discover God is involved in all of our work– He wants us to worship Him at church and at work. The other extreme we see in relation to our work is the mindset workaholism and its opposite laziness.
2. Workaholism and its opposite extreme laziness or slothfulness distort our concept of work.
a. One way we make work distorted is workaholism.
i. Nelson states, “Workaholism is rampant in our day and often points to a deeper issue of idolatry in our lives. In this common form of idolatry, our entire lives center around what we do, and our identity becomes centered in it” (page 43).
1. The parable of the rich fool found in Luke 12.
a. Luke 12: The Parable of the Rich Fool
i. 13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
ii. Twenty Questions: How Do I Know If I'm A Workaholic?
1. Do you get more excited about your work than about family or anything else?
2. Are there times when you can charge through your work and other times when you can't?
3. Do you take work with you to bed? On weekends? On vacation?
4. Is work the activity you like to do best and talk about most?
5. Do you work more than 40 hours a week?
6. Do you turn your hobbies into money-making ventures?
7. Do you take complete responsibility for the outcome of your work efforts?
8. Have your family or friends given up expecting you on time?
9. Do you take on extra work because you are concerned that it won't otherwise get done?
10. Do you underestimate how long a project will take and then rush to complete it?
11. Do you believe that it is okay to work long hours if you love what you are doing?
12. Do you get impatient with people who have other priorities besides work?
13. Are you afraid that if you don't work hard you will lose your job or be a failure?
14. Is the future a constant worry for you even when things are going very well?
15. Do you do things energetically and competitively including play?
16. Do you get irritated when people ask you to stop doing your work in order to do something else?
17. Have your long hours hurt your family or other relationships?
18. Do you think about your work while driving, falling asleep or when others are talking?
19. Do you work or read during meals?
20. Do you believe that more money will solve the other problems in your life?
a. If you answer "yes" to three or more of these questions you may be a workaholic. Relax. You are not alone.
b. The truth is we do need to look at our jobs seriously, so we need to evaluate what our motivation is at work and for work. Who are we working for and what eternal value does our job really have? We need to ask if we work for God, for a paycheck, for self-gratification or even for others.
i. How would you answer these questions – especially the big one “Who do you work for?”
ii. Share the story from Amery about your bumper sticker, “My boss is a Jewish Carpenter” and the mans response to my bumper sticker.
iii. In Ecclesiastes- Solomon does a survey of his work force in Israel to see the condition and morale of his workers and here is what he observed:
1. Ecc. 2:17-23: 17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. 24A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
2. “They are miserable – they are tormented and oppressed! They hate their jobs and their bosses!”
a. Do you think if Solomon walked around the different work places in Chicago today, he would find a different view of the work force?
b. How about you and your place of work?
c. Have you ever felt oppressed at work?”
d. Have you ever felt trapped with no way out?
e. Have you suffered from abusive employers and or fellow employees?
f. Do you feel that you work for yourself or for God?
3. Solomon said, “I think the dead are happier than those who are alive and in slavery to their jobs.”
a. I would agree with part of this observation because the ones in heaven are happier but the one’s in Hell are not!
4. Solomon said, “I think the unborn are happier than the ones who are laboring and toiling for no eternal reward.”
a. I can’t say if I know the condition of people before they are born. But I can say that exposure to evil cause’s scars and much heartache.
iv. So why has work become a place of oppression for so many who believe – answer from my perspective is because people are doing the work for their own personal benefit and not for the glory of God.
1. Their focus is all about being pleased and being happy at work not serving and worshipping God through their work – it’s all selfishly motivated.
2. When we only focus on our wants - we soon discover they are not met – so we become unhappy and critical of the place we are working at! We will talk about this is a moment.
3. Solomon adds this thought Ecc. 3:12-13: 12I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
b. The other extreme belief that is distorting work is the mindset of slothfulness or laziness.
i. The mindset that says I don’t have to work because I value leisure over work.
1. Ecclesiastes 10:18: If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.
a. Does or is your house leaking?
2. 2 Thessalonians 3:5-15: 5May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. 6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” 11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. 14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
ii. This mindset makes excuses why not to work or why not to work hard at their job.
1. This mindset focuses on excuses or the blaming of others as to why they don’t work like they should.
2. They demand and rely on the hard work of others and develop an entitlement mindset.
a. Proverbs 20:4: A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
b. 1 Thess. 4:11-12: 11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
iii. Illustration: Video from Wall –e – describe the scene from Human dystopia
1. There are no benefits to being idle as a Christian. Listen to the consequences of one who is idle and lacks care or concern for others or even for God.
a. Proverbs stated Idleness brings the house of God to the point of falling apart. Because no one wants to do anything to keep it up.
2. George Whitefield said, “There is not a thing on the face of the earth that I abhor so much as idleness or idle people.
a. Proverbs 14:23 “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
i. A person who is idle is also reported by Scripture to be on his way to poverty or even engulfed in poverty.
ii. Many Christian are bankrupt because of their idleness in the Kingdom of God and in their jobs.
iv. Christ’s attribute of perseverance, hard work and endurance should reveal to us how we should work.
1. He did not live with rocks in his pockets so he could throw stones at others.
a. So many idle people blame others for their position in life and in Christ. They are blamers and rock throwers!
b. They were never wrong it was always those others.
c. It’s everyone else’s fault that they are idle.
i. But Jesus never pointed the finger at others. As a matter of fact, he confronted those who were rock throwers severely Matthew 23.
2. He did not let fear dictate his direction in life or in his work.
a. He chose to defeat fear head on by letting love lead, guide and direct His life.
b. Love helped him to overcome his fears. These fears would have left him idle and apathetic if he would have let them.
c. Perfect love casts out fear.
d. Love made him a success.
3. He did not let anger distort his view of the work of the Kingdom.
a. He did not allow the anger to push him into apathy.
b. Thigpen states, “Anger is like a grain of sand that gets into our spiritual eyes, blurring our vision of God, others, ourselves, and our circumstances. At the same time, the object of our anger tends to fill our field of vision and monopolize our attention. The more we allow sources of offense to preoccupy us, the less time and emotional energy we have left over to run the race” (54).
4. Jesus was ambitious and he refused to sit around and do nothing.
a. He got up and walked around-While he walked- He taught, he healed those who needed healing, he feed the multitudes and eventually he gave his life.
b. He could have chosen to stand idly by and do nothing!
c. But instead he chose to become involved in a lost world.
5. Jesus did not allow time to go by without it being used to affect the growth of the kingdom of God.
a. His time was always centered on the Fathers business- the Great Commission.
b. How about you, “What gets the most of you time, energy, attention? Is it worth it? Does it have eternal value?
i. Is time passing you by daily?
ii. Is time passing you by as you sit idle in your lazy boy chair doing nothing.
iii. Don’t you care? If you don’t then you do not now the Father’s love.
iv. Do you have goodwill to your neighbor? Or do you have ill will toward your neighbor?
6. Jesus did not allow his mistreatment to hinder and distort his purpose in life. He determined to press through the difficult things in life and pursue the goal of the Father’s.
a. What past hurts do you need to let go of?
b. We can’t endure to the end if we keep going back and retracing the steps of how we were hurt by others.
c. What ghosts of the past are still haunting you in your idleness?
7. Jesus endured to the end and finished the race. He was never idle but instead he was determined to seek and save the lost.
a. Do you want to finish the race with the same perseverance that Jesus modeled?
b. Or do you want to idly sit back and reap the consequences of idleness?
TS – Work is not evil or bad if we keep it in proper balance in our life. But we need to work and work as for the Lord with the right attitude or mindset.
3. Attitude and work impact us every day both positive and negative.
a. Nelson, “Every day, when you arrive at your workplace, an attitude arrives with you. Our attitudes are like the perfume or cologne we are wearing; we smell the fragrance when we first put it on, but others smell it throughout the day” (page 93).
i. How do you smell?
1. The apostle Paul reminds us that we are to have the fragrance of Jesus – the attitudes we wear and put on each day should smell like Jesus. These smells are associated with the fruits of the Spirit
a. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
i. These character traits should define our attitudes even at work.
1. Galatians 6: 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self–control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
ii. Nelson states, “Martin Luther reminds us that it is not God who needs our good works, but it is our neighbor who needs our good works. A transforming truth must firmly grab onto is that God is very much at work in our work. God is transforming us in our work and transforming the world through our work.” (Page 92).
1. So, having the right attitude makes all the difference in the kind of witness we are for the Lord.
b. Many need to replace a complaining attitude with a thankful one!
i. Say this with me, “Complaining is an attitude choice that if left unchecked will wither my capacity to experience joy and genuine thankfulness” MacDonald
ii. Case in point Numbers 11:1-3:
1. “Moses made a journal entry one day about the people: “1Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. 3So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the LORD had burned among them.”
a. This journal entry by Moses tells us a lot about the people of Israel – they fell into a habitual complaining mindset and by Numbers 13-14 this attitude of complaining and ungratefulness to God causes them to be banished into the wilderness for 40 years.
i. In Numbers 14:27 it is highlighted again by Moses the problem was the people’s “murmurings” – can I give you some spiritual advice this type of mindset drives God a little crazy and makes Him angry!
b. The result of complaining puts us into the wilderness – Macdonald states “Those who choose murmurings as their lifestyle will spend their lifetime in the wilderness.” I add this “Those who are thankful find the Promised Land while those who complain end up wandering in the wilderness”
i. The truth is they chose their attitude – Macdonald adds, “nobody wants to be told ‘Your attitude problem is in the mirror’-but it is. Until we embrace as fact the idea that we choose our attitudes, we will never be able to choose differently, and life will always be like the wilderness.”
c. In case you look at this story as only the Old Testament way of God dealing with complaining people let me bring you into the NT.
i. I Corinthians 10:1-11: Warnings from Israel’s History: 1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. 6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty–three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
1. Did you hear the warning about our attitudes? This story of the Israelites in Numbers served as a warning to us today to not follow their patterns of thinking – their attitudes – by the way attitudes are patterns of thinking formed over a period of time.
iii. Reality check —- Complaining is a sin even at work! The word sin means “missing the mark” or “failing in regard to God’s holy standard and just demands” (Page 37 MacDonald).
1. The truth about complaining is this – (From book Lord Change My Attitude by James MacDonald).
a. When I complain I hurt myself first and foremost!
i. This response does you harm not good. Our complaining leads to anger, bitterness and yes even depression!
ii. Complaining is not to be rooted in a Christian.
b. When I complain I hurt God also – God is impacted by my complaining because in the complaining I am saying to God – “You are failing at your job – You are blowing it – You are making mistakes!” In the process of complaining about circumstances and insulting God I hurt myself more and more and I can make God angry with my constant complaining! Complaining will separate us from God so I must choose to cultivate an attitude of gratitude!
c. When I complain I hurt and injure the people around me – yes, we will impact people with our toxic attitude of complaining. We will bring them down and cause them not to want to be around us!
i. Quote: “Those who choose complaining as their lifestyle will spend their lifetimes in the wilderness. Complaining is sin that makes life like living in a wilderness.” (page 41).
1. Reality Check: God is listening to what you say!
a. The worst kind of complaining revealed in Numbers 11 is when we are always complaining about adversity! Blaming God for it and not understanding that everyone has been entrusted with a measure of adversity.
2. Reality check: God hates our complaining – Macdonald says but he adds this thought alone side it, “God can both love us extravagantly and hate our sin passionately at the same time. God can embrace us and forgive us eternally but judge us in the moment because of our attitudes that are not pleasing Him. This concept may be a bit confusing to us, but it is perfectly clear to the Lord. He loves us and hates sin. Both are true” (Page 44-45).
a. God wants us to be good positive witnesses at work so complaining needs to be avoided.
c. Action step: We need to replace a complaining attitude with a thankful attitude!
i. The truth is thankfulness is a perfect replacement for complaining – let me share a story from Jesus life about his healing of 10 lepers found in Luke 17:12-19:
1. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
a. Macdonald states, “The point is, no one has an acceptable excuse for ungratefulness. Everyone can make the choice to give thanks and acknowledge the goodness and the grace of God. Sadly, however, only a small fraction of the human population ever personally thanks God for His grace.” (Page 55).
b. This story makes it clear that Jesus knows who is thankful and who is not!
i. But those who express thanks to God for His grace and mercy get even another blessing from him! This leper was healed but his faith took him to a more intimate relationship with Jesus!
c. Truth: An unthankful; or ungrateful attitude with God will always suppress the awareness of God in our life.
ii. Statistics from Mind and Body magazine reveal 20 ways to feel calmer, happier and healthier and the top way is being thankful.
1. See study from page 59-60 in MacDonald’s book!
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
We need to know that God created us to work and to contribute to society.
Work can also be a place where we worship and honor God!
When we understand that work and faith go together - we will see God use us at work to transform others and impact our society for the good.
What do we need to do?
We need to put our faith into action at work!
We need to know that God wants us to work for His glory and to add good to our society.
We need to know that work needs to be kept in balance and not make it an idol or a four letter word.
We need to come to work with good positive attitudes and not bad attitudes so we reveal the presence and love of Jesus to those we work with.
