Introduction
Since moving into our townhome, Karen and I have undertaken many different projects. We have redone our kitchen, getting new countertops and stripping the stain from the cabinets to paint them. We have transformed our mud pit under the deck by putting in a patio by hand. We have, of course, done plenty of painting and repainting. There have also been some drywall and framing projects, door installation, floor tiling, and deck staining along the way. It has been fun to roll up our sleeves and experience the never-ending joy of home ownership.
There is one project, however, that took us a bit by surprise. It all started when we discovered that a painted beam that spans our living room is actually made of wood. One of us — probably Karen — got the bright idea that we should strip the paint off the beam and stain it to give that homey wooden look. So one day off I went to my favorite orange-themed home improvement store and got all of the supplies needed. We had a long drop cloth, some gel for stripping off the paint finish, a brush to put it on, and scrapers to take it off. With a project this simple, I was sure to be celebrating my hard work by dinner time. Well several dinner times have come and gone since that day, and I have yet to celebrate anything beam-related.
We found that the several layers of paint were so tough to get off that it took several applications of the gel to eat it away. The angle we had to scrape from was difficult, too. To make matters worse, the plastic scrapers — a must so as not to damage the wood — regularly got their edges eaten away by the gel, rendering them useless. We have left a very unattractive, half scraped beam in our living room for several months now. Recently, however, Karen’s mother came down to help Karen with some of our home projects, and she made the mistake of offering to help with whatever needed to be done. We gave her the beam. It was at first a little validating to hear her mention how difficult the project was; then I felt a little guilty that we asked her to do it. After a while, however, Karen’s mom came up with the idea to try something different. She found some steel wool pads under our sink that she used instead of a plastic scraper with an eroded edge. With frequent rinsing in a bowl of water, she found that a once difficult task became quite easy! The project isn’t quite finished yet, but with this new technique we found that an hour’s worth of work can accomplish twice as much as four hours used to. We had the right supplies at our disposal the entire timewe just weren’t using them.
Sometimes in this life we have the right supplies to make it through successfully, but we tend not to utilize them, either. When we try to do the job without the right tools it can make us want to give up. I have spoken with a fair number of people in recent months who are in dire straits because they forget the promise of God’s power in their lives. Some are simply discouraged; others have faced too many challenges that have worn them down. These sorts of things can keep us from being the “Me’s” that God intended each one of us to be.
In John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be, we find the challenge to not only work to the best of our ability to bring glory to God, but also the challenge to deal with the hardship that comes our way, trusting God and even asking for more!
Today we complete our series on this book, started by our pastor, Mark Adam, who is away this week. In the book of Romans we find a passage that is a great lens to reveal the Scriptural truth behind John Ortberg’s excellent book. Turn, please, in your copies of Scripture to Romans chapter five, where we will read the first five verses.
The church at Rome to whom Paul wrote needed the reminder — just like we do — of the resources that God provides to those who belong to Christ. Even amid their own trials they learned from Paul what will be so helpful to us — that God equips you for true success in all situations. Let’s read Romans 5:1-5:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
You have access to God’s grace, so live it out in your work
In becoming the me I want to be, we learn from Ortberg the value of working in a God-honoring way. And Paul helps us see this truth, too. You have access to God’s grace, so live it out in your work. Paul had just finished telling these believers that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, they had been declared righteous. Their sin had been completely wiped away! As wonderful as that sounds, he wasn’t finished there. They also had access into God’s grace. That grace is God’s favor, poured out on those who are His; and that favor gives us sure footing to stand in whatever situation God places us.
How do we live out God’s grace in our work? Ortberg tells us first to Let God flow in your work. He quotes Dorothy Sayers, saying, “Work is not, primarily, a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. It is, or it should be, the full expression of the worker’s faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God.”[1] Whether your work is in a corporate office or at home or at a volunteer organization, do you find that you have a job or a calling? God has given you a unique set of skills and has placed you in a specific setting. You are where you are for a reason, and you get to use your God-given skills there. Ortberg writes, “Amazingly enough, research shows that the best moments of our lives don’t come from leisure or pleasureThey come when we are totally immersed in a significant task that is challenging, yet matches up well to our highest abilities. In these moments, a person is so caught up in an activity that time somehow seems to be altered; their attention is fully focused, but without having to work at itThey have a sense of engagement or oneness with what they are doing.”[2]
We live out God’s grace in our work not only when we let God flow in our work, but also when we let our work honor God. Everything that we do should be viewed as worship for God. You might be thinking, “But Kevin, you’re a pastor. Of course everything you do can honor God, but my job isn’t all faith and churchy stuff.” The truth is that it doesn’t matter what your job is. It could be cleaning floors, ordering supplies, managing company finances, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids, or whatever. The goal is to do all of these things with a heart of worship for God. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people” (NIV). Anything you do should be done for God. Plus, I wouldn’t exactly describe my work as all faith and church. I still cringe at my junk mail. It is sometimes a challenge completing a van usage request form for the glory of God. My day has interruptions, and there are plenty of times when I work for long hours but still wonder what I actually accomplished. The answer: everything I did for the glory of God — even the lowliest of tasks — was worthwhile, and the same is true for you.
John Ortberg shares of journalist William Zinsser, whose first job was writing obituaries for the Buffalo News. It was not exactly a glamorous start for a man who would one day become a successful author. And that is about how Zinsser felt — that he was stuck at a dead-end part of journalism. When would he get to go out and do the real stories? He felt ready to do the investigative reporting instead of being cornered in the useless obits. He said so much to his editor, asking, “When am I going to get some decent story assignments?” His editor growled in response, “Listen, kid! Nothing you write will ever get read as carefully as what you are writing right now. You misspell a word, you mess up a date, and a family will be hurt. But you do justice to somebody’s grandmother, to somebody’s mom, you make a life sing, and they will be grateful forever. They will put your words in laminate.” Zinsser was stunned, and he quickly changed his tune. From that point he pledged to go the extra mile, making calls and ensuring the accuracy of every detail. It was a realization that changed his writing career.
Whatever work you do is work that you can do to God’s glory, allowing Him to flow through you. What does that look like? I believe that Christians who embrace this principle will be the hardest workers in their fields consistently. They will care more about the job they are doing, because it is not just reviewed by their supervisor, it is offered to God Himself. I believe that they will have more satisfaction in their work than anyone else, even if no one at their job — or home — notices or appreciates it, because their heavenly Father is saying, “Well done!” This is true whether yours is a high level executive job or a burger flipper, whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a student. Everything you touch, every task you handle, can be done for God. This is the impact of our privileged standing in God’s grace.
You have the hope of God’s glory, so look beyond adversity
There is more that we learn from our passage. Paul writes that we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” You have the hope of God’s glory, so look beyond adversity. Every time that you have an encounter with God — the moments when you experience Him in our excellent worship, the times when you are encouraged by what is shared from a Bible lesson, the verses that make you mentally step back and say, “Wow!” when you look at God, the times when you look around at all the wonderful things and people in your life and realize how good God is — every encounter like this is just a poor shadow of what is to come! These just remind us of the hope, the promise that we will experience God’s glory in heaven one day! That’s why Paul writes a few chapters later in 8:25, “if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (NKJV); and why the psalmist says in Psalm 118:6, “The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (NIV). We have the hope of God’s glory, so we look beyond adversity. We do not like to go through adversity, but Ortberg reminds us, “God isn’t at work producing the circumstances you want. God is at work in bad circumstances producing the you he wants.” He also says, “What happens to someone who loses everything but God, then finds out that God is enough?”[3]
A story is told of a college student who was always wearing crutches. He was known for his friendliness and positive outlook and even won various scholastic honors. A fellow student once asked him about what caused his disability. “Infantile paralysis,” he responded. The friend then asked, “With a misfortune like that, how can you face the world so confidently?” “Oh,” he replied, smiling, “the disease never touched my heart.”[4]
What difficulties are you facing? Is there one trial that you have in your life, or are there several problems that have piled on you that make you feel like you’re drowning in difficulty? Either way, we are called to look beyond adversity to the hope that we have — that we will one day bask in the glory of God! That won’t make your problems disappear, and it doesn’t mean that you won’t have to still deal with them. But hope does put your problems into perspective. You can look beyond adversity. Do you remember the words of the hymn? “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
Ortberg writes, “Nowhere do we see this idea displayed more prominently than in the Bible. God could have let Abraham stay in the comfort of Ur, Moses stay in the splendor of Pharaoh’s courts, and Aaron stay in the safety of the crowd. He could have kept David away from Goliath; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of the fiery furnace; Daniel out of the lion’s den; Elijah away from Jezebel; Nehemiah out of captivity; Jonah out of the whale; John the Baptist away from Herod; Esther from being threatened; Jeremiah from being rejected; and Paul from being shipwrecked. But he didn’t. In fact, God used each of these trials to bring people closer to himself — to produce perseverance, character, and hope.”[5]
You have trials which strengthen you, so “ask God for a mountain”
It is one thing deal with adversity; it is a whole other thing to ask for even bigger challenges. But that is exactly what John Ortberg says we must do, and he takes this idea right from our passage: Verses 3-4 say, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” In those moments when we struggle through hardship, we are being strengthened. The first thing we experience is perseverance. This is the patient enduring when we simply have to go through a trial. We don’t just develop perseverance, the ability to make it through. We develop character. This specific word only occurs 7 times in the New Testament, and in each case it speaks of being tried or proven. That is where we find the God-given ability to look past the painful trial. And that ability itself brings hope in us. So we hope not only for God’s glory but also our trials! James 1:2 puts it this way: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
John Ortberg tells us, “Don’t ask for comfort. Don’t ask for ease. Don’t ask for manageability. Ask to be given a burden for a challenge bigger than yourself — one that can make a difference in the world. One that will require the best you have to give it and then leave some space for God besides. Ask for a task that will keep you learning and growing and uncomfortable and hungry.”[6]
You have access to God’s grace, so live it out in your work. You have the hope of God’s glory, so look beyond adversity. And you have trials which strengthen you, so “ask for a mountain.” That’s the way Ortberg puts it, ask for a mountain. He tells of the account of Caleb, the Israelite who trusted God and at the age of 80 asked for permission to lead an attack on the fearsome people who lived in well-defended hills. He wanted a mountain — one that took everything he had and still left plenty of room for God’s help. His hope was in One on whom he could count. Romans 5:5 says, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Conclusion
A woman named Evelyn Brand felt God’s call on her life to be a missionary to the people of India. It was the year 1909, and there was little reception for a woman who wanted to go into missions. But this would not stop Evelyn. She and her husband Jessie served the poor villagers in India for seven years with no one getting saved. It was a thankless and discouraging ministry. Then one of the tribal leaders became deathly ill. Everyone was scared to go near him, but not Evelyn and Jessie. They cared for him so much, Ortberg tells us, that the man gave his children to this couple before he died. This act caused the people to suddenly be interested in the teachings of the Bible, and Evelyn and Jessie had a fruitful ministry there. What an example of living out God’s grace in your work! What an example of hope in God’s glory looking beyond adversity! Evelyn was 50 years old when her husband Jessie died. She had every right to return home, but she chose to stay in India to serve the people. She asked for a mountain! She became known as “Granny Brand” and served for 20 more years before her mission board called her back home. But she stayed. She travelled from village to village on a pony for 5 more years until she fell and broke her hip. Her son had to tell her what an excellent example she was to him but that it was time to come home. But she stayed. For 18 more years Granny Brand continued travelling to villages on her pony until at 93 years old she could ride no more. Her body was nearly worn out, but men in the villages carried her on a stretcher from town to town so that she could share the love of Jesus with them. This went on for 2 more years before she finally died.[7]
This is what it means to be the Me I want to be. God continually molds and shapes us so that His grace we live in comes out of our work; the hope we have in His glory helps us carry on even through adversity; the character and hope we build as we persevere through trials allows us to ask for more, to ask for a mountain. Are you up to the challenge?
[1] (Ortberg 2010, 220)
[2] (Ortberg 2010, 221)
[3] (Ortberg 2010, 236)
[4] Retrieved from http://www.moreillustrations.com/Illustrations/adversity%203.html.
[5] (Ortberg 2010, 236)
[6] (Ortberg 2010, 247)
[7] (Ortberg 2010) John Ortberg gives us Granny Brand’s story on pp. 249, 253-254.