23 – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
24 – since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Well, the summer of 2000 is pretty much over. In just a few more weeks the leaves on the trees will begin to change color and fall to the ground. Temperatures will soon begin to turn toward the cool end of the scale. And, on this first Sunday of the fall season, all across our nation I can sense an almost audible sigh of depression. Part of this sigh comes from the mouths of our children because they know that within 48 hours they’ll be back behind their desks wrestling with homework and tests and papers and projects. Soon they’ll be enjoying those wonderful mystery meat entre’s in their school cafeterias each day at lunch. And, whereas the start of school brings parents some measure of cheer, they are also somewhat despondent, because vacations are over. It’s back to the hectic pace of life with no extended break to look forward to for another entire year.
Tomorrow is the last holiday until Thanksgiving and most of us will try to squeeze a final few precious hours of pleasure from it but hanging over us all is the knowledge that the summer of 2000 has indeed gone for good. NOW all we have to look forward to is the brief weekend respite from each week’s labors, before once more we spend every Monday morning, mourning Monday. At this depressing time of year, most of us can identify with the bumper sticker I’ve seen so often in this area that says, I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to work.
Now, am I on track here? Have you ever felt that way about your job? I mean do you ever find yourself taking four or five coffee breaks BEFORE lunch? Do you keep a large calendar on your desk at the office and use a big red marker each day to cross off the days until your next vacation? Do you count the weeks until flu season, knowing this will provide a great excuse to miss work? Do you practice your cough and stuffy nose so that when you call in sick you’ll sound convincing to your boss? Have you ever offered your doctor a cash rebate if he would write you a note excusing you from work? Well, if you feel this way you’re not alone because surveys indicate that 7 out of 10 Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs and dread going to work. They think they only REALLY begin to live on weekends or on summer vacations or at that precise moment when their shift ends each day.
I worked for Reynolds Metals company while I was in college and I learned to avoid the traffic lights outside of the plant at the shift change because, in the rush to leave work no one obeyed the signals! They treated any RED light as they exited the plant as if it were GREEN. Work-labor-is something that many people perceive of as a punishment…a necessary evil that they must endure in order to put food on the table. To them it’s a drudgery. This reminds me of the TV commercial lately that shows parents attending their son’s college graduation and they ask him what his life plans are now that he has his education behind him. He says, he’s done a lot of thinking and has decided to skip work and go straight to retirement. Many of us would do that if we could!
This attitude toward work is unfortunate since over the course of a lifetime most people spend about 150,000 hours working. That amounts to 40%-60% of your waking hours. And that percentage has grown over the years. In 1973 the average American spent 40 hours a week at work. In 1987 that amount increased to an average of 46 hours a week. Today, if you’re a professional you work an average of 52 hours a week and if you’re a small business owner or operator you work an average of 57 hours a week. If you work in management for BELL ATLANTIC and your employees go on strike…you may work 96 hours a week or more!
The fact is you and I will spend more time WORKING, COMMUTING to and from work, and THINKING about work than anything else we do in life. We’ll spend a greater number of hours AT WORK than we will with our family, or with friends, or in leisure, or in spiritual activities.
Whether we like it or not, work dominates our lives.
Well, since work is such a BIG part of our existence, how can we learn to enjoy it? I mean, must we waste so much of our lives in misery? What can we do to turn our work from drudgery to fulfillment? How can we become like those people we know who actually enjoy their work…you know, those individuals who can’t wait to get up in the morning-even if that morning is Monday? Well, I think the key is changing the way we look at our jobs. And we can begin to make this change of mind set by understanding three things about work.
1. First of all, we must realize that work is one of God’s special CREATIONS.
He created work to bless us. Many people embrace the erroneous belief that work was God’s penalty for man’s disobeying His one rule in the Garden of Eden. And whereas it is true that SIN did lead to consequences that TAINTED our work, we mustn’t forget that God introduced the concept of human labor BEFORE the fall. When Adam and Eve were still innocent of sin, God gave them JOBS to do. Adam was to name the animals and both he and Eve were to tend the Garden and prepare food.
Now, why would a loving God put His children to work as soon as He created them? Well, He did this simply because He knew that human labor was a blessing. He knew that work would provide them with challenges, excitement, adventure and fulfillment that nothing else would. And God still knows that creatures CREATED in His image benefit from devoting their time to meaningful, CREATIVE tasks. Ecclesiastes 5:18 refers to this principle when it says,
…it is GOOD and proper for a man to eat and drink and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him-for this is his lot.
So, work was not a punishment for the fall. Work WAS and still IS a wonderful blessing. This is why, as Calvin Miller puts it, God has ALWAYS been against unemployment. You may remember from our study of the Ten(der) Commandments that in Exodus 20:9 God’s fourth commandment states that we are to follow His example and WORK six days a week. Like the other nine laws, this one was given for our own good because God knows that when done in the right attitude, work can bring us great pleasure and fulfillment. God designed us to labor. Work fits us. When looked at with the right perspective it brings purpose to our lives and a feeling of great accomplishment. And by the way, work will never end. At the end of the Bible, after the curse of sin is resolved and God’s people stand firmly planted in heaven, astonished at God’s presence, it says there will still be work to be done. As Revelation 22:3 puts it when time ends, we will work in service to God. Can you imagine the creative tasks we will given in eternity?!
So, when we get up every Monday morning, we must understand that work is one of God’s greatest gifts. There’s a special feeling of satisfaction that we can only find in the completion of all meaningful labor whether it’s the salesman who closes the deal and says to himself, I did it!, the janitor who puts away the cleaning equipment and surveys an immaculate facility, the teacher who finishes the last lecture, the farmer who harvests the last row, the accountant who balances the last ledger, the architect who finishes the final drawings, the mother who finally puts the baby down for the night, or the student who completes the final exam. All of these moments are precious slices of reality reserved for people who work. When we engage in labor that taps our God-given abilities, and when we do it to the best of our ability for God’s honor, then we enjoy these blessed moments of accomplishment. Nothing beats this feeling! Vacations are great. I’m all for them. They give us a much-needed balance and sanity to our lives. But their greatest value is that they refresh us so we can resume our work with greater energy, effectiveness, and creativity and know greater accomplishment. Bill Hybels writes,
Human labor was designed by God, assigned to everyone of us and offered as an opportunity to build confidence, develop character, and enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishment. Does that sound like a curse?
William Hickling Prescott was a great American historian. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1796, Prescott was a Harvard man. During the time he was a student at Harvard, a fellow student threw a piece of hard bread, striking Prescott in the eye. He lost use of the eye as a result of that prank and in time his other eye, burdened by its increased work, began to fail. Soon Prescott was almost totally sightless. A dedicated historian, Prescott didn’t let his handicap stop him. Writing with the special aid of an instrument that kept lines straight, he continued to write. In 1838 he published The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic. In 1843 and 1847, he published two of his greatest works: The History of the Conquest of Mexico and The History of the Conquest of Peru.
For years, because of his poor eyesight, he could only write an hour a day. And sometimes those hours were broken down into ten-minute periods. But he courageously plodded on. When he died at Salem in 1859, he left behind sixteen volumes which deal chiefly with Spain, the Americas, and the Protestant Reformation. What would Prescott have been without his work? A blind man wasting his days living in some institution? Prescott’s work WAS his life. It gave him a reason to get out of bed each day. He enjoyed his work because He saw that it was God’s gift to him….not His curse.
In fact it is a curse NOT to be able to work. This summer in War and Coalwood, West Virginia we saw what unemployment does to people. Thanks to the fact that there is no work there, we saw people wandering the streets with a lack of purpose. The vacant stare in their eyes indicated that they were given over to hopelessness. All this has led to widespread drunkenness and the highest pre-marital pregnancy rate in the nation. Being there helped us to understand the truth in Ben Franklin’s saying, Idleness is the devil’s workshop. We saw firsthand the truth of Proverbs 14:23 where it says, All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
So the first thing we have to do is see work not as a punishment but as a reward. We don’t HAVE to go to work-we GET to go to work. Calvin Miller writes,
[God] granted you life, but He also gave you your living. Work is a blessing from God.
And then, a second step to changing the way we look at our jobs is to realize that we can find a greater fulfillment in our daily tasks when we…
2. …work in such a way that we make our labor a constant CHALLENGE.
In other words, we enjoy our jobs most when we strive for excellence! You know, an increasing number of people in our country go to their jobs every day and labor according to this principle: So much work for so much pay. When you boil it down to everyday practice it means something like this: The LEAST that I can work for the MOST pay. The basic idea is, I’m going to do the LEAST that is expected of me, and I’m going to try to get the MOST payment for it.
I don’t want to speak too much against unions today. They certainly have their purposes in our society. But when I worked at Reynolds I saw one instance in which they had gone too far.
For, there was almost an unspoken admonition in the plant AGAINST working hard. The emphasis was on doing your job but ONLY your job. Otherwise you would make it look like the laborer next to you wasn’t needed. Once we had to move a pick-up truck owned by the company so that we could unload a tractor trailer and since the keys were in the vehicle one of my co-workers moved it and we finished our unloading ahead of schedule. Well, he was punished for this action. He was docked for a certain amount of pay because moving that truck was someone else’s job. They inferred that by doing his best he was stealing income from another person. I remember receiving a warning from my union chief because I didn’t always take my breaks. He sternly instructed me to take a break even if I didn’t need one. We were to work…but not too hard. Striving for excellence was simply not part of the game plan. We were only to do the amount of work that it took to get by. In hind sight I see that it is no wonder we never found any pleasure in working in that place for we settled for the mediocre instead of trying to excel.
You see, workers who only do enough to get by miss out on the joy of accomplishment. They never feel the PRIDE that comes from knowing they made their mark on this world by doing their best. Robert Henri was an American portrait and landscape painter. He specialized in the portraits of children. On one occasion, Henri went to a New York art gallery for a private showing of paintings. As he was admiring a portrait by John Singer Sargent, a well-known artist of that era, Henri heard the man standing next to him say, At last they have given me a place! Not wanting to ignore the proud statement of the stranger, Henri asked the man which of the paintings was his. Pointing at the painting hanging before him, the stranger replied, That one! But John Sargent painted that one, Henri replied. Yes, the stranger proudly answered, I think Sargent did paint the picture. But I made the frame. To enjoy our jobs like this proud carpenter we need to obey Ecclesiastes 9:10 where it says, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
Part of striving for excellence is to make a commitment not just to work for a pay check but to also look for ways in our work to serve people. This is what Paul referred to when he wrote in Philippians 2:4, Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Embracing this challenging work philosophy can be incredibly fulfilling. One of my favorite Grisham novels is Street Lawyer. It’s the story of a high-powerful D.C. law firm that ignores the plight of the homeless, illegally destroying one of the buildings where they find shelter in order to build there for extreme profit. At the end of the novel the hero of the story pressures the head partner of this firm to diverting some of his firm’s resources to helping the homeless. And he does it in such a way that this elderly man-a very wealthy successful lawyer who has become bored with his opulent lifestyle-suddenly becomes excited. He has a new quest…something creative to do with his time. He has a challenge again to turn the tide in society so that it helps the extremely needy. And, what was intended as a punishment for his firm’s illegal activities becomes a blessing. The old lawyer leaves the meeting with a skip in his step. He can hardly wait to get back to WORK again. So, when you get up each morning, ask God to help you work for OTHERS…try to envision the people who benefit from the product you put out each day from 9-5. Accept the challenge of doing your very best to meet their needs.
You know, one of the best ways we meet the needs of our co-workers is by sharing our faith with them and we should note that often it is the quality of our work that gives us the right to do this.
Jamie Winship has written an article in this year’s January issue of DISCIPLESHIP JOURNAL in which he tells of his career as a police officer. Knowing that as a policeman he would often be dealing with people who were faced with extreme crisis, He said that it was his deep desire to share his faith on the job. One of the first fellow workers he talked to about Jesus was his street-hardened sergeant. He said, I was barely able to tell him I was a Christian before he interrupted and asked what kind of police officer I would be. Startled by this question, I said that I didn’t know yet. ‘Neither do I,’ the sergeant replied. ‘When and if you prove yourself to be a good cop, then you can come talk to me about God.’ Winship said that at the end of his second year he was named OFFICER OF THE YEAR and at the ceremony he gave credit to the training he had received from superiors. He also explained that he wore his uniform every day in service to Christ. Following the event, that street-hardened sergeant congratulated him and said he was ready to talk about God.
We have often been ineffective in our attempts to make an eternal impact because we have neglected two vital elements of honoring God in the marketplace: Either we have been careless workers whose shoddy methods an inferior standards offended coworkers or we have been inconsistent Christians whose behavior was shaped more by marketplace mind-set than the mind of Christ. In either case we’ve forfeited our credibility and turned an opportunity into a closed door. In his book, Becoming An Authentic Christian, Bill Hybels writes,
Jesus never commanded us to engage in theological debates with strangers, flaunt four-inch crosses and Jesus stickers, or throw out Christian catch phrases.
But He did tell us to work and live in such a way that when the Holy Spirit orchestrates opportunities to speak about God, we will have earned the right to do so.
Christians must obey the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your GOOD WORK and praise your Father in Heaven.
Now, you may have tried the above tactics. I mean you see work as a special creation of God-a blessing instead of a curse. You do your best day in and day out; you try to work for people instead of profit but still your work seems more like drudgery to you. If this is true then your problem may be that you are not doing the RIGHT work. And this leads us to the third thing we must understand if we are to truly enjoy our jobs day in and day out.
3. We have to discover and pursue our CALLING.
You know there is an erroneous belief out there that God only CALLS people to certain jobs…like being a pastor or a minister of music or a missionary or some life work with a religious pursuit. People who embrace this misconception would say that, as a pastor, I have a calling, whereas everyone else has a job. But this is just not true! God has a special plan for ALL of His children and that plan includes calling some people to be plumbers or engineers or home makers as well as pastors and missionaries.
I think much of the cause of the battle that has gone on in most denominations, including our own, over who is ordain-able can be traced to this misunderstanding. You see, the word ordained means commissioned or called….set apart for a special purpose. And all Christians are commissioned-called by God, regardless of their gender. All believers are set apart for special full-time ministry. Some serve God behind the pulpit and some on the other side of it, but all serve God. All follow His call to a mission field. Mine is here at RBC but yours might be in a law office in Rockville or in a government building in D.C. or in a home in Flower Hill.`Wherever God calls you, you will find your flock…people whom you have the full time responsibility of serving and ministering to as you share the good news of the gospel with them.
II Corinthians 5:18 clearly teaches this important principle when it says that God, …was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them and He has committed to [all of] us the message of reconciliation. We are [all] therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.
You see, in the home, in the marketplace, in the schools, in government-everywhere-God needs and calls people who will share His love and, in so doing, work to change the world. You are part of that plan…God has called you to a specific work. In fact He has custom-designed you to do it. As Ephesians 2:10 says, …we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. God has made each of us in a unique way with different talents and personalities and desires that all weave together towards fulfilling a sense of calling when we are in the right kind of vocation. Virginia Ely writes, Every [person] who is born into this world represents a fresh thought of God and has a work that is born within them.
So, as Isaiah 55:2 says, Why labor on what does not satisfy? Find your God-given calling and fulfill it for only then will your labor bring the satisfaction you long for! God’s call is always the best thing you can do with your life. As someone once wisely said, If God called you to be a garbage collector it would be a step down to be the President of the United States.
If you don’t enjoy your labor, it could be that you are not where God intended…you are not working according to your design. Do you remember the film Chariots of Fire? Remember that scene where Eric Little was being challenged by his sister Jenny? Jenny thought maybe he was wrong to be running in the Olympics instead of heading for the mission field. And Eric looked down at his sister and said in essence, Sis, God made me for a purpose. When I run I feel God’s pleasure. When we work according to God’s calling we not only enable ourselves to share His love with our fellow workers. We feel God’s pleasure. We experience a special joy because our job fits us. Tony Camplo tells of a friend who attended grad school with him and went on to teach at Trenton State University. But this man, who held a PH.D in English gave up his teaching job only 3 weeks after he began it. Campolo talked to him and asked him why he had quit. He said, Tony, I just can’t teach. Every time I walked into that class and gave a lecture, I died a little. Tony said, Well, what are you doing now? And his friend said, I’m a mailman-a Ph. D. mailman. There aren’t too many of us! Campolo said, Well, if you’re going to be a mailman, be the BEST mailman. And his friend replied, I’m a lousy mailman. Everybody else gets the mail delivered by one o’clock. I never get back until about 5:30PM.
Campolo asked him to explain his tardiness and he said, I visit. You wouldn’t believe how many people on my route never got visited until I became the mailman. But I’ve got this problem. I can’t sleep at nights. Camplo asked, Why? And He said, Who can sleep after drinking 20 cups of coffee?! You see, this man was more than a mailman. He was God’s minister…going door to door at each home giving much more than just the mail. He visited solitary widows, counseled troubled teens, joked with lonely old men. Camplo reports that he is the only mailman that he knows of that on his birthday, the people on his route get together, hire out a gym, and throw a party for him. They love him because he’s a mailman who expresses the love of Jesus everywhere he goes. In his own way-according to God’s custom design-he is changing this world, changing the lives of people, touching them where they are, making a difference. When we fulfill our calling….work will be a joy! So find your calling for, as Calvin Miller says, The man who is ‘job-centered’ has more anxieties about his work than the man who is ‘God-centered.’
So, take steps in the direction that will get you in a position that lines you up with who God made you to be. And remember, we have human bosses but as Christians, following our call, we answer to a higher authority. We work for God Himself. As our text for this morning says, whatever our line of work we must, …work at it with all our heart as working for the Lord, not for men. (Colossians 3:23 )
To summarize, if we want to turn the drudgery of work in to fulfillment we need to understand that work is a special CREATION of God and not a curse. We need to work in such a way that each day we seek new CHALLENGES at work and we need to find and fulfill our unique CALLING from God.
I think that, on this LABOR DAY SUNDAY, it would be very appropriate for each of us to rededicate our 9-5, Monday-Friday, labors to God….to commit to live for Him wherever we work. You know Henry Blackaby says that whenever we see someone in need we should see it as an invitation to join God in His work. Today some of us may need to respond to that invitation and commit to be God’s ministers on the job doing all we can to meet the needs of the fellow workers or customers that we encounter each day. Some of you may feel led to join this church and help us fulfill our unique work assignment from God…to become a co-laborer with us in this community.
Others of you may not know God personally…and today you feel led to ask Him to be Your Master and Lord. I promise that making this commitment will bring you a level of joy and fulfillment you have never known before-not just in your work hours but every moment of your life. For, you were not only designed for a specific work…you were made to exist in personal relationship with God. We invite you to make any of these decisions public by walking the aisle and sharing them with me as we stand now and sing.