Scripture Introduction
In honor of the “Green Eggs and Ham” which Rebekah made last week, I found the story, Dr. Seuss Goes to Work:
I love my Job, I love the Pay! I love it more and more each day.
I love my Boss; she’s the best! I love her boss and all the rest.
I love my Office and its location -I hate to go, on vacation.
I love my furniture, drab and gray, and the paper piles each day!
I love to work among my Peers - I love their leers, I love their sneers.
I love my Computer and Software; I hug it often but it doesn’t care…
I love my Job - I’ll say it again - I even love these friendly Men -
These men who’ve come to visit today,
In lovely white coats to take me away!!
Work can sit a little uneasy with us; we might call it a burden rather than a blessing, even a “necessary evil.” Some folks work to forget life’s problems (at least for a time); but others might like to escape the problems of work. Our jobs can provide such rewards that they feed an idolatry of acceptance by performance; at other times we simply slog through the grind to get to the weekend.
I find it hard to appreciate the lofty ideal of Martin Luther: “When a maid cooks and cleans and does housework, because God’s command is there, even such a small work must be praised as a service to God far surpassing the holiness and asceticism of all monks and nuns…. Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it he wants to bestow his blessing on you.”
Likewise, the honor which John Milton credited to labor may feel far from our experience:
Man has his daily work of body or mind
appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of Heav’n on all his ways (Paradise Lost, 4.618 ff.)
Milton and Luther both found their ideas in the Bible, beginning in Genesis. Two texts for us this morning: in Genesis 1, Adam’s and Eve’s first job; then Colossians 3: applying the goodness and dignity of labor in the midst of a fallen world.
[Read Genesis 1.28-2.3; Colossians 3.22-24. Pray.]
Introduction
I am enrolled in the culinary program at Cincinnati State, both as a hobby and to prepare for a part-time job I may need to continue pastoring the church. It has been a very interesting experience on many levels, but something happened the last two weeks related to our topic this morning. Because this is a professional chef program, we cook large quantities of fairly complex, “gourmet” recipes and we dirty lots of cookware. The last 30 – 45 minutes of class are for washing pots and pans, cleaning stoves, cook stations, and other areas of the kitchen, and sweeping and cleaning the floors. Two weeks ago 9 students, 4 of us over 40 years old, cleaned for 45 minutes while the four youngest students, all under 25, sat in the gallery and talked about Michael Jackson. This past week they talked about something different, but did not work.
What fascinated me was the stark contrast between the grey hairs washing dishes and the young adults relaxing and resting. I do not think this was related to Max Weber’s theory of The Protestant [Work] Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, because it was not all Calvinists working! It did appear, however, to relate to a generational divide on work. The “twenty-somethings” seemed to enjoy avoiding the very thing which those of us over 40 could not imagine sloughing off.
It reminded me of a time when our kids were really young and we noticed that they neither understood nor valued a Sabbath rest, in part because their week was filled with play. Sunday offered nothing to rest from; they had not yet labored for six days! Next week, Lord willing, we will explore the beginning of rest; but before we can appreciate that, we must understand work.
1. Work Is Honored By God’s Working
The summary verse for creation is Genesis 2.2: “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” Clearly, days 1-6 are full of work; so what work did God do?
Genesis 1.1: God created (produced out of nothing).
Genesis 1.3: God said (spoke into existence).
Genesis 1.4: God saw that it was good (examined and evaluated creation).
Genesis 1.5: God called (naming, an act of personal dominion and responsibility).
Genesis 1.6: God separated (placed boundaries between different parts of creation).
Genesis 1.9: God gathered together (he organized and managed different parts of his creation).
Genesis 1.11: God caused the earth to produce vegetation (he energized the land to be lush and fruitful).
Genesis 1.16: God created the sun and stars to rule (he delegated dominion).
Genesis 1.20-22: God filled the seas and skies with birds and creatures and blessed their reproduction.
Genesis 1.24: God caused the land to sprout animals. Starting with this surprise wording in Genesis 1.24, C. S. Lewis imaginatively describes the morning of day six. As Aslan sings the creatures into existence, the narrator says:
Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot? For that is really the best description of what was happening. In all directions [the land] was swelling into humps. They were of very different sizes some no bigger than mole-hills, some as big as wheel-barrows, two the size of cottages. And the humps moved and swelled until they burst, and the crumbled earth poured out of them, and from each hump there came out an animal. The moles came out just as you might see a mole in England. The dogs came out, barking the moment their heads were free, and struggling as you’ve seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge. The stags were the queerest to watch, for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them, so at first Digory thought they were trees…. But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back, the large wise head, and the four baggy trousered legs of an elephant (The Magician’s Nephew, 134-135).
St. Augustine wrote (in AD 400) that he could not imagine God taking six days to do what would not require an instant. Certainly, he is correct: God did not need time, just as he does not require anything, even creation itself. But God chose personal involvement. Though it sounds disrespectful to Deity, God dirtied his hands making the world.
This reminds us, first, that God is near and intimately involved in our world. He is not busy with other projects, ignorant of what we think, say and do. We can chose to ignore his gaze, but we cannot escape it. Hebrews 4.13 warns: “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Here is a warning about God’s involvement.
Second, we are encouraged by the dignity given our work by God’s working. Yes, some days our jobs are dull or depressing. Work is cursed in the fall, just as is every human relationship and even every act of devotion. But when God chose to work—day-by-day, hour-by-hour—creating, forming, shaping, evaluating, naming, managing – he honors washing dishes, cutting grass, tuning cars, writing software, teaching students, wiping babies. At times the line from tedious toil to divine dignity is hard to see, but God’s work makes the line solid. 1) Warned, 2) Encouraged.
Third, we are challenged to put our best effort into our labors. God does good work. He knows it will be damaged by sin in a few days, that creation will groan under the pain of our rebellion – defaced and defiled. But he does not throw up his hands in frustration; he goes ahead and makes it good. And he continues today. In John 5.17 Jesus explains why he works on the Sabbath day: “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” So when Genesis 2.2 tells us that God “rested,” we know the work of creation is completed; and that begins a new and greater work: sustaining, directing, intervening. We call it the work of providence, and it is God’s good work in a sinful world!
Westminster Confession of Faith 5.1: “God—the great Creator of all things—upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least. He exercises this most wise and holy providence according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchangeable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”
Philippians 2.13: “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Ephesians 1.11: “In Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
God continues a good work in your life; so that you “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you….” “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Philippians 2.12; Ephesians 2.10). God honors work by working. Notice also, that…
2. Our Work Is Honored By God’s Calling
We do not labor simply from God’s pattern; our work is further elevated by God’s direct command that we reign and rule as his regents over all creation: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the [creatures]” (Genesis 1.28). Three implications:
2.1. We Must Work Six Days
God creates in six days and commands our like-duty: “Six day you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath.” Work six, rest one makes us look like God and explains why so many proverbs warn against idleness. (Proverbs 6.6-11; 10.4,26; 12.24; 12.27; 13.4; 14.23; 15.19; 18.9; 19.15,24; 20.4; 20.13; 21.25; 22.13; 23.21; 24.30; 26.13-16.) Obviously, sloth and sluggishness are sins which fallen men, women and children find particularly tempting.
Work is not a curse! Yes, sin affects work, so that we cannot accomplish all we would want and wish by it. One of the major results of the fall on work is the effects of our labor are disproportionate to our efforts. (Eli Manning paid $97 million, though not 400 million times harder or more valuable work). Work can be toilsome and tedious, but it is not therefore to be avoided. Ecclesiastes 9.10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might….” When you put in a full six days of labor, you bear well the mark of God toiling over creation and upholding all things by his providence.
2.2. We Must Enjoy Work
God delights to labor. After all, he chose to make the largest star and the smallest cell, simply because he wanted to. And now he continues to work out all things according to his will, for the pleasure of accomplishing great things.
But you say, “Pastor, work is hard.” Yes it is; my work (of course) is not as hard as yours. Yet every week I face the daunting task of encouraging the weak without giving false assurance to the proud. I must preach sin to hard hearts while at the same time salving the broken. Paul says of the job of the pastor: “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2Corinthians 2.16). I’m not; and I grow too easily discouraged and disappointed.
But beloved of the Lord – we must work by faith, believing God’s promise to bring his dominion through our labors. And on the days when your job feels unbearable, sing to your soul the truth in the hymn, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.” One of the verses says: “I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place; I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face.” Work will not always be enjoyable; the face of God shines on those who, by faith, enjoy God’s calling to serve him where his good will deigns to place you.
2.3. We Must Do Good Work
Colossians 3.22-24: “Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
Another sermon should explain why God does not speak of ending slavery in this text. Today simply observe what Paul says to the slave, “You may have the worst job situation imaginable. The garden you till is not your own. The crops you raise do not nourish the mouths of your own family. The profit is not shared by you in any way. And when you die, you pass on nothing to your children. But know this – behind every earthly master, God rules and rewards those who labor with a trustful eye turned toward heaven. On the day of reckoning, he will reward your work as if you owned the company and profited from every successes.”
We apply this to ourselves by moving from the lesser to the greater. If a slave (with the least important work, the least amount of respect, and the least possibility of enjoyment) must work both heartily and with sincerity, serving the Lord, then how much more can we whose work is so often a blessing in and of itself delight to do our jobs well?
Do we trust God enough to do our best?
3. We May Not Change Our Work, But We Can Change Our Attitude About Work
My mom likes to say, “I take my weather with me.” In other words, rather than complain about our situation or surroundings, our attitude can make us joyful and a joy to be with, regardless of the circumstances. So how do we change our attitudes about work? [Piper’s APTAT, modified to RAPBAT.]
3.1. Read the Biblical Promises
Colossians 3 (for example) promises rewards for our labor. Since faith comes by hearing the Word, read, recite, and remember this gracious promise.
3.2. Admit That You Must Have God’s Work in You To Do This Work
Only the Holy Spirit can give sincerity of heart. We can grit our teeth and do our duty, but God alone masters us heart and soul. We must humbly admit to God that he alone can free us from an ungodly attitude toward work.
3.3. Pray for God’s Help
God’s work of creation has ended, but not his working in your life. Those who would find joy and the blessing of God in work must passionately pursue the presence of God. “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16.24).
3.4. Believe That You Can Do God’s Will Through Christ
You can do your job heartily and for the Lord, with joy and significance. Will you believe? This is not a matter of which job you have. It is not true that the pastor does God’s will because he has a holy profession, while yours is merely a duty to earn money. Martin Luther is absolutely correct: “When a maid cooks and cleans and does housework, because God’s command is there, even such a small work must be praised as a service to God far surpassing the holiness and asceticism of all monks and nuns…. Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it he wants to bestow his blessing on you.” Believe.
3.5. Act In Faith On The Promise
God does not ask us to live a lie, to act differently from what is true. He does not expect us to say, “My work is terrible but God wants me love it anyway.” He asks us to realize that something different is true, and to act on that. God is the boss behind the boss – are you willing to look through your earthly master to the God who placed you in this job for this day, and labor knowing that the reward that matters comes from him? Act like a believer.
3.6. Thank God For Your Job and Your New Attitude
Search out the small step of faith he moved in you this week, and give him praise for his grace. Thankfulness for what he has done, rather than self-confidence for your successes, keeps God in the picture and you in the center of his will. Grace flows downhill, and those that humble themselves by giving all praise and honor to God find that he continues to lift their heart and attitudes to heaven.
4. Conclusion
One of the reasons I grow discouraged in my work is because I want to see quick and significant results. I was reminded this week of the power of small duties down faithfully. Surely one of the greatest epics in English is Lord of the Rings. When J. R. R. Tolkien was writing, he gave up several times. Each time he stopped, however, C. S. Lewis would say, “Tollers, where’s the next chapter? You can’t give up now.” What an insignificant duty – to encourage a friend to labor faithfully in his calling. Yet Tolkien later wrote a letter in which he described the important of Lewis’ service to him: “The unspeakable debt I owe him cannot be fathomed. For long, he was my only audience.”
You cannot know the cosmic significance of the duties which God, in his unfathomable wisdom and love, places before you this very day and every day next week. Rather than judge our work an insignificant drudgery, let us labor with all our might, knowing that God does great work through the works he calls us to do. The good gift of work begins in Genesis.
