Today let's begin a series of lessons on a much needed subject: Work!
An employer called in all his workers together for a meeting and said, "We have just purchased a bunch of robots. And these robots will free you from some of the menial things you have been doing in the past, tightening screws, & so on."
Many of the employees looked worried, so he quickly added, "Now don’t worry about your jobs. Nobody is going to lose a job as a result of these robots. Instead we will get more work done and you’ll all keep your jobs."
"Actually," he said, "this will even work to your advantage. Through the work of these robots you will probably not even have to work a full 40-hour week, & you can take a day off now & then with no reduction in pay."
He went on, "As we get this system perfected even more, you can have two days off. You’ll only have to work 3 days a week. In fact, our ultimate goal is that you will only have to come to work one day a week, on Wednesdays. That will be it, & you’ll still get your full salary."
One of the employees in the back row raised his hand. He had a question. "Sir, does that mean we will have to come in every Wednesday?" (From sermon central: “The Joy of Work Completed,” by MELVIN NEWLAND)
How do you view work?
The Bible begins with God's work of creation. Genesis 1-2 tells us how God worked six days creating the heavens and the earth, vegetation, fish and fowl, animals and man. Then on the seventh day, God ceased work and rested. Each working day, God would create and observe and enjoy his accomplishment saying, “It is good.” At the end of the work week, God saw all He had made and said, “It is very good!” Then, on the seventh day, God took a day of rest, and blessed that day making it holy.
In creation God set up the rhythm of labor and rest, with six days of work and one day of rest. This rhythm expresses more than just a sensible pattern for us to follow, it sets up a holy pattern. A pattern designed by God Himself to bless us and guide us as creatures made in His image.
Who created time? Who set the standard for measuring time? Where did the seven day week come from? What does God want us to do with the time He has given us? These are questions we need to ask and answer with the scriptures.
A couple of weeks ago at our Thursday morning men's meeting here we talked about the subject of work and what the Bible says about it. Bob Mayes usually leads the meeting with a devotional guide. This guide that looks at a scripture and an application is especially focused for men. That topic really hit home. We men particularly, look at our jobs as a part of our identity. When guys talk to each other we tend to ask, what do you do? Or, what line of work are you in? This question is more than just a question about how a man spends his time. This is a question of what a man is. The question for kids once was, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Not what do you want to do, but what do you want to be. For us as men, especially, our work defines us. I am a preacher, I am a farmer, I am a lawyer, I am a … fill in the blank. A young lady might say, “I want to be a wife and mother,” but most men would not say, “I want to grow up to be a daddy.” There's a reason for that, and it is in our nature.
In Genesis chapter two the Bible describes how God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. The first thing God does with the man is put Him in the garden of Eden and give him a job. Before Adam got a wife, he got a job. That's a good order. Work was never part of the curse. God worked before the curse and so did Adam and Eve. Working is something we are designed for. It is a blessing and an expression of our divine identity with God. Sin came and caused work to be complicated by hardship and frustration, but work is still good, as all of the Bible will testify. Jesus said in John 5:17 “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” God is a worker! We were made in His image and after His likeness so that we are divinely designed to work and enjoy the fruits of our labors. But since the curse there is also problem...
Listen to Ecclesiastes 2:4-11.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
What is Solomon's problem with work?
Listen to what he says in answer to that question: verses 17-23 of the same chapter.
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
Now, let me just lift a few sentences out of this book to show you that Solomon saw the good in work: 2:24, 3:12, 22;5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7-10. Yet, if you just read a few sentences around each of those you will also see his frustration.
Solomon seems to see work as good, but he is frustrated because he has to die and pass on what he has worked for to others.
I think of Sam Walton and Walmart. Do you know his story? Samuel Moore Walton, born March 29, 1918 from early on he was always a hard worker.
While attending eighth grade in Shelbina, MO, Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state's history.
Growing up during the Great Depression, Walton had numerous chores to help make financial ends meet for his family as was common at the time. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers. Afterwards, he would deliver Columbia Daily Tribune newspapers on a paper route. In addition, he also sold magazine subscriptions. Upon graduating from David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, MO, he was voted "Most Versatile Boy".
After high school, Walton decided to attend college, hoping to find a better way to help support his family. He attended the University of Missouri as an ROTC cadet. During this time, he worked various odd jobs, including waiting tables in exchange for meals. Upon graduation he worked at JC Penny's and later, Dupont.
In 1942 he was inducted into the military service where he eventually reached the rank of Captain.
In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton took over management of his first variety store at the age of 26. With the help of a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law, plus $5,000 he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The store was a franchise of the Butler Brothers chain.
It was here that Walton pioneered many concepts that would prove to be crucial to his success. After working to establish several variety stores and learning how to manage and lead them, in 1962 he opened the first true Walmart and started the Walmart chain.
He launched a determined effort to market American-made products. Included in the effort was a willingness to find American manufacturers who could supply merchandise for the entire Wal-Mart chain at a price low enough to meet the foreign competition.
Forbes ranked Sam Walton as the richest man in the United States from 1982 to 1988.
Walton was honored for all his pioneering efforts in retail in March 1992, when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush.
He died on a Sunday, April 5, 1992. He was 74 years old.
I don't know about you, but there is something both good and yet frustrating about this story. Do you understand what I'm saying?
As I think about what Solomon says and look at Sam Walton. One question comes up that echoes with emptiness. Is this all there is?
Think about all the struggles and hard work that went into building the Walmart empire. But if that's all Sam Walton accomplished, what good is it? Jesus words come to mind to me, “What good is it, if a man gains the whole world and loses his own soul.”
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not the judge of Sam Walton. I don't know his faith or his condition before God, but I know this, if Sam Walton wasn't saved, all his labors and work don't mean a thing to him right now. On the other hand, if Sam Walton was saved, he must have been working for the glory of God all along the way of his successful business ventures because that's what saved people do.
Col 3:23 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.
John 4:34, 6:27.
Ultimately the real meaning of work is to serve God. So what are you working for?
