| Your Work Matters |
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I. A Bad Idea You may not realize it; but ideas are important. The way we think effects the way we live. There is an idea, a way of thinking, which has worked its way into our modern minds. It’s a bad idea; a dangerous idea; an idea that is having a negative effect. It’s what I call the two story universe. According to this idea, the universe has two basic stories, like the two stories of a house. The first story is the world, the natural world, the place where we live, the place filled with things you can see and touch and feel. Then there is the next story, the “upper story.” That’s the other world, the supernatural world, the world of spirits, angels and God, the religious world. Some modern men and women believe the upper story exists in reality. Others think it exists only in people’s minds. But almost everyone agrees that these two stories, these two worlds are distinct and separate and they ought to stay that way. One world is the world of science, of cause and effect and cold, hard facts. The other is the world of religion, of feelings and values and beliefs that can’t be proven. One world is the world of work, the physical world of buying and selling. The other is the world of church, of religious rituals and unseen rewards. One result of this two story view of the world is the opinion that creation has no place in public schools. You see creation is about God and miracles and unseen powers. But science, that’s about what we can touch and see and explain in terms of a self-contained physical universe. Now, I don’t want to talk about the creation/evolution controversy in our public schools, maybe another day. But what I do want us to think about is how this two story view of the universe has entered our daily lives, even our theology. II. The Two Story Universe at Work Have any of you ever heard a testimony like this? A missionary comes back on furlough and he tells the story of how God led him and his family into the mission field. It turns out that he was a tool and dye maker during the early years of his adult life. Early on in his career, when his family was young and growing, he had to work really hard to put food on the table and put money away for the kids’ college education. Even though he was a committed Christian, he really struggled to find time to serve in the church. Oh, he could occasionally teach Sunday School, and he was glad to usher; and he even served a term or two on the elder board. But he always had this sense that he wanted to do more for the Lord. One Sunday he heard the preacher say that there were only two things in life that would last for eternity, the Word of God and people. If he really wanted his life to count, he needed to invest it in those two things. That hit home. It began a process that led him back to bible school and eventually onto the mission field. Then this tool and die maker turned missionary, talked about all the ways God was blessing his life and using him to bless others. Then he ended by saying...there may be other people here tonight that need to make the same decision I made, people who want to give their lives, all of their lives to the things that will last forever. Did you hear the 2-story view of the universe in this testimony? To this missionary there was the everyday world of work and family and financial obligations. That was the temporal world; the world that won’t last forever. Then there’s the other world, the world of church and ministry and building the kingdom of God. Seeking and saving the lost. If you really want to make your life count, then you need to live as much of your life as possible in that other world. There’s kingdom work; and there’s worldly work. There’s a sacred calling; and there’s a secular career. There’s first class work, where the results last forever; and there’s second class work, where the fruit of your labor passes away. You know what happens when we think about work in this way? We feel guilty. We have this vague feeling that we should be doing more for God, more than we’re doing, more than we could possibly do. Then, if it continues, we find ourselves living divided lives. Walls grow up between our church world and the rest of our lives, between church and work, church and school, church and the ‘hood. We don’t know how to connect them. They are separate and distinct and usually in competition. In time this two story universe creates a loss of dignity and purpose in our everyday lives. Let’s face it: we spend half our waking hours at work or working at home. A lot of the other time, we spend thinking about work. If those hours are not connected in a meaningful way to the work of God, then those hours lose their meaning. That either produces a loss of enthusiasm for work; or skepticism about the relevance of Christianity. How significant can Christian faith be if it is not relevant to where we spend most of our lives? Sure, I’ll go to church. But only the pastor and his family live their lives there. So, what do we do about this two story view of life? How do we bring our work world and our Christianity together? I’ll tell you how some of us try to do it. We develop a soapbox view of work. We think of our jobs as opportunities for evangelism. The real reason I’m at work, we say to ourselves, is so that I can develop relationships to share my faith. I mean, the pastor sure can’t get in here. Even if he comes, he’s going to be viewed as a professional, a religious professional. But I’m one of them; they just might listen to me. You’re right. They might listen to you and you have access to them in a way that I never will. Sharing our faith is something all of us should do at our places of work and in our communities. But at the risk of being accused of heresy let me say: Life is bigger than evangelism. Your job is valuable as a job, not only as a soapbox for preaching the gospel. May I now offer the outline of a more biblical view of the world than this two story idea? III. The Biblical View Let me start with the most basic of biblical assertions. Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord, he is Lord, not just on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. He is Lord, not just of those little plots of ground on the surface of the earth where men and women have built a church. No. Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. He is Lord of the Church. He is Lord of the community. He is Lord of your family and Lord of every family in your neighborhood. He is Lord of your place of work, and Lord of you while at work. There may be distinctions, separations between the various activities of our lives....it may feel somewhat like walls. But every room is open to the skies...There is no roof! The light of God’s presence shines into every space and because Jesus is Lord of all, your work can have sacred significance. Let me make Four Statements about work, drawn from my understanding of the Word of God. 1. Work is a gift from God and command of God issued at the beginning of human history. Genesis 2:15....The Lord took Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Exodus 20:9: Six days you shall labor and do all your work...for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them. God is a God who works, who creates, who fashions, and who forms, a God who holds the universe together by the word of His power. And when God created men and women he called them to work. He gave them the privilege of doing what He does, creating, fashioning, forming, putting and holding things together, which leads to my next biblical statement... 2. By work we express the image of God in us. We have been made in the likeness of God. It’s what makes us who we are, what gives us the ability to think and feel and create. When we work we express those abilities, and we develop them. We cannot become all God wants us to be without work. One of my favorite movies of all time is Chariots of Fire. One of my favorite scenes in that movie is when Eric Liddell, the hero of the movie, is explaining to his sister why he must train for the Olympics rather then go right away to be a missionary in China. What he says is this: God made me fast....When I run I feel his pleasure. When a carpenter uses his skills to fashion the trim work in a house, when a mason builds a wall, or a baker makes a cake, or a writer tells a story; when an architect designs a building, or a secretary accomplishes her tasks, or in a million other forms of work it is possible, it is right to feel God’s pleasure. For God is pleased when we use the gifts He has given to do good, which brings me to my third statement about work... 3. Work is doing good, it is helping...serving...meeting needs. We live in community. We live connected lives. Work is one of the primary ways that we make those connections, we build the communities in which live. When Cindi, the girls and I sit down for dinner, we pray and thank the Lord for the food we eat and the hands that prepared it. But how many hands prepared that food? Well, there was the farmer who grew it and the people who picked and prepared it for the market. There were those who put it on the pallets and loaded it on the trucks and drove it to the storage centers. There were those who worked in the factories that made the trucks and the pallets and the multitude of materials in the buildings all along the way. Then there is the grocery store. In that grocery store, or should I say, chain of stores, there are the people who stock and the people who sell and the people who cut our meat. There are managers and marketers and accountants and baggers and... I think you get my point. Thousands and thousands of people work to put food on my table, to help me and Cindi do the most basic good work there is to do: feed our family. What is true of food is true of all the goods and services in our lives. We say the church is like a body, where every part is doing its small part is necessary to the work of the whole. All of society is like an interconnected body. When that body works, then good is done and God is pleased. It was his idea. Doesn’t that make a difference? Doesn’t it make a difference for you to realize that your work is playing a part, a necessary part, in meeting other people’s needs? One of the most basic reasons, why our lives are so full of good things in America is that the whole system of work is working well and if it were to break down, life would be hard. One trip to Bosnia is all you need to understand that. Now, I’m not naive. I know that work doesn’t always work this way. What people do at work in the world doesn’t always meet people’s needs or reflect the qualities of God built into our being. That may be the way God intended it; but it isn’t the way it always is. Sin has entered the world; and it has affected our work and infected the whole community that is connected in work. But that is why we need Christians at work. Let’s say you are the person who sits in front of a computer all day processing insurance claims. You’re a Christian. As a Christian you realize there is a person, perhaps a family, on the other end of that claim. This claim in front of you may be a cry for help from a single mom with serious needs. The way you process that claim could make all the difference in her life. But that’s the problem isn’t it? You’re being paid to process at a high speed and to find ways to reduce the amount of money being paid out. You’re feeling a constant conflict between your Christian values and the pressures at work. Don’t give up. You’re engaged in a spiritual battle. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where Christianity becomes real. This is why we need people to perform well and rise in the ranks at work. This is why we need moral managers and decision makers. This is why work is so important. So, because Jesus is Lord, your work is sacred, your work is a gift of God, a command of God. Your work is a way to express the image of God in your life. Your work is a way to do good, to do God’s work in the community of this world. Your work is a way to engage in the battle against evil. Finally, your work is your way to give glory to God. Col 3:17: Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. It is possible to do everything you do for the glory of God. Not just possible. But this is what God expects. If you can’t do what you are doing for God and His glory, then you need to find something else to do. But what I am here to say is that you can do it for God. How? You can give glory to God in your work by thanking Him for the ability to do what you do. Just look around at those who can’t. You can give glory to God in your work by dedicating that work to Him. “This is for you, Lord. It may not be where I want to be but it is where you have me. I will do it for you.” You can give glory to God in your work by doing it wholeheartedly and with excellence. Do your work prayerfully, wholeheartedly, and righteously. By righteously, I don’t mean ‘do it religiously.’ I mean, do it right. Do it with integrity and honesty and truth. Cut straight lines. Wash the dishes clean. Don’t do sloppy work. Do it as if God were looking over your shoulder. Because He is. One last story. As a boy I remember visiting a small, ancient catholic church in New Mexico. I don’t now remember where it was precisely, or what it was called but I do remember the staircase. There was a handcrafted spiral staircase that ascended to the second floor; and it was an amazing piece of work obviously crafted in the age of hand tools. It was exquisite. It spiraled gracefully, with beautiful carvings, and no supports that touched the ground. Its beauty was in stark contrast to the very simple adobe church in which was located. A legend was attached to the staircase. According to that legend a man had appeared one day, and in exchange for room and board he had promised to build the staircase. For months and months he worked on it. When he finished, he disappeared. The people in the community believed an angel had come or Jesus himself. But I think it may just have been someone whose work reflected the qualities of Jesus. That staircase has lasted for hundreds of years. But staircases don’t last forever. Neither do churches or missionary organizations or ministry programs. Only one life, twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last but everything can be done for Christ and his glory. Since you and I spend most of our lives at work, working at home or working at some place of business, we might as well see it as our sacred calling. Because that is how God sees it. |
