Life Simplified
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, . . .
October 16, 2011
INTRODUCTION
Sing with me
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's. . .
Did you now that the actual lyrics are
Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho It's home from work we go (Whistle)
Many people mistakenly believe the song is about going to work when it is actually a song about going home from work after a very satisfying day of labor.
In the same way that many have misunderstood the lyrics of a famous Disney song, so do people misunderstand what the word of God says about work, our ethic of work and our ethics at work.
A proverbs driven life--the simple life requires practicing a faithful work ethic.
I am deeply indebted to A Proverbs Driven Life (Kindle Location 804). Shepherd Press. Kindle Edition.
I. The Backdrop
A. Context: From the beginning work was not a bad thing.
Solomon's understanding when he wrote proverbs.
The biblical work ethic was established in the creation account (Genesis 1:27--28) and that man is charged to "work" the garden (Genesis 2:15).
This is not a curse, work is a part of our purpose even before Adam and Eve sinned.
The curse has made our work harder. There are now thorns and thistles and we work the ground by the sweat of our brow (Genesis 3:18--19). But work itself is not part of the curse, rather it is a calling and blessing from God.
B. The Problem: Work is now seen as the unavoidable inconvenience.
A 2003 study found that 23 million American workers are "actively disengaged" from their work.8
There are even websites that make a mockery of employment, with names like Ishouldbeworking.com and Boredatwork.com.
C. The Extremes: A Good work ethic avoids the extreme of the sluggard and the workaholic
We are all tempted toward two extremes in our attitude towards our work.
At one extreme we can be burdened, resentful, whining, shirking, unappreciative, and lazy. -- a sluggard. The sluggard sees work as nothing more than a necessary inconvenience en route to the true goal of life--not working!
At the other extreme we can worship our work, finding the very core of our identity in "what we do." -- an idolater--specifically, in today's language, a workaholic.
II. Consider the Ant
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:6--11
A. The ant displays an innate and natural desire to work industriously.
B. The ant does not need to be persuaded, browbeaten, or forced to work.
"has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."
C. The ant does not need some form of accountability to make it work faithfully.
D. The ant does not need coaching, pep talks, motivational speakers, or a book chapter on the biblical work ethic.
E. The ant works industriously simply because that is what he was created to do.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,"
Colossians 3:22--23,
III. Consider the Sluggard
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:6--11
A. Sluggard makes laziness a Habit
Cf 26:14
Proverbs 26:13-16
13 A sluggard says, "There's a lion in the road,
a fierce lion roaming the streets!"
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer discreetly.
B. The Sluggard Lies and Makes excuses
C. The Sluggard fails to take initiative
D. Avoids basic responsibility
E. Considers himself right
Making excuses, doing the bare minimum, failing to complete tasks, and rejecting the counsel of others--this is the composite picture of the sluggard, one of the fools of the book of Proverbs.
IV. Consider the Workaholic
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:9--11
A. The workaholic dismisses rest and recreation as significant.
B. The workaholic fails to honor God
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves. Psalm 127:1--2
C. Misses out on Divine Joy: Imitating the God Who Works
A 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. Ecclesiastes 2:24
We serve a God who works. He worked in creation, and from that first instant of created time he has guided and directed each molecule and moment, "sustaining all things by his powerful word" (Hebrews 1:3). Truly, "he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17).
V. Consider the Jesus
Mark 6:3
3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
Jesus the Carpenter taught a parable about the kingdom
Matt 25:14-30
14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19 "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. . .
24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 "'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. . . . 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
NIV
Look at the similarities between the servant with one talent and the sluggard in Proverbs
* The Sluggard Lies and Makes excuses
* The Sluggard fails to take initiative
* Avoids basic responsibility
* Considers himself right
Those who fulfilled their trust well are rewarded.
VI. Consider the New Testament
The New Testament is written from the understanding that responsible work is rewarded and a lack of responsibility condemned.
Ephesians 4:28
28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-18
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor 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. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."
APPLICATION
Begin living the Proverbs-driven life when it comes to your work. Each day seek out those moments when your work strikes that perfect divine note, when your labor resonates with the song of creation, when your labors imitate the character of the God who made you.
Pray with me. Jesus, glorify yourself in how I work, glorify yourself in how I care for my home, glorify yourself in how I fulfill my calling you place on my life. Teach me the lessons of the Ant. Guard me from both being a sluggard and a workaholic.
Repentance Needed?
Realignment Needed?
Recommitment Needed?
