Have you ever had a boss you didn't like? According to Forbes magazine over 2 million Americans quit their job every month because they don't like their job. Of those 2 million 31% didn't like their boss. For those who hate to do the math that is about 620,000 people a month who quit because they don't like the boss. And to make matters worse, in July 2013 only 120,000 new jobs were created.
I'm not the best Mathematician, but, let's see, if 2 million people quit their job in a month because they don't like it, or they don't like the boss and the economy only adds 162,000 new jobs in that same month, I can start to see why we might have so many unemployed people.
We're discussing the truth that God is sovereign. The closest thing to sovereignty that we deal with daily is our boss. When you're at work your boss is sovereign in that environment. The boss tells you what to do because in your workplace your boss has been given authority to do so. The boss gives you orders. You obey the boss because you want a check on payday. It's a bonus in your workplace if you like your boss, if you are appreciated and respected, and it's a real bummer if you're not.
Jesus said that, "all authority has been given to Him on heaven and earth." (Matthew 28:18) This is His claim of absolute sovereignty. This means that He is the boss of everything. This statement has implications for us that we need to consider. Some of us may not like these implications. Even some of us who claim to be Christians and have been for a long time. Jesus Christ is boss. Some of us need to know what that means for our every day life. If you're going to be a follower of Jesus you need to know what it means that He is sovereign, that He is the boss of everything.
God is sovereign. He's the boss of everything. For just a second let's take a look at what kind of boss He is, and this won't take but just a minute. How many of you have a boss or had a boss that if you messed up, or made a mistake would always cover for you. No matter how many times you screwed up at work your boss would take the blame for it. Anyone have a boss like that? No? I didn't think so. God is that boss. You sin, you mess up. (Romans 3:23) You needed someone to cover for you, and your boss said, I'll take the blame for you. (Romans 5:8) Then not only did He take your blame, He made you blameless. (Colossians 1:22) When the owner of the business comes by for a visit all He sees is perfection even though you know you're a screw up. That's how awesome your Boss Jesus is.
How can you not love a Boss like that?
You need to know this one truth. This is the most important command from the boss. You ready? "Love God and love others." (Mathew 22:36-40) If Jesus is your boss this is the most important command you have to follow. Jesus says this command sums up all the other stuff in the Bible. The apostle Paul wrote, "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1
One of Jesus' best friends wrote, "those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did." 1 John 2:4-6
You might be thinking that this all sounds easy enough. I mean "love God and love others" just rolls off the tongue. It kind of makes a snazzy promo. "The Weymouth Church of Christ where we love God and love others." There are a lot folks looking for genuine love and acceptance; can they find what they're looking for in our community of faith?
For the next few minutes I want to discuss two implications of what it means to make Jesus your Boss based on the Scriptures we just read.
1. If Jesus is your boss you obey God because you love Him
There are times I don't want to obey God. I don't want to live like Jesus. I want to do my own thing my own way. One of my personality quirks is that when I get involved in a project I don't like to be interrupted. I don't know how many times I've been deep in thought researching or writing a sermon and the phone rings. I wish I could tell you that every time the phone rings I consider it a privilege to talk to the person on the other line. I wish I could tell you that every time I answer the phone I'm hoping and praying it's someone who wants to talk to me about Jesus. I have to check my attitude sometimes. I don't always feel like loving people. Sometimes I feel I'm too busy.
Because we're talking about me, I'll be this bold and blunt. This is evil. Anytime I'm too busy to love someone for Jesus I'm doing an evil thing, even if it's writing a sermon. If Jesus is my boss I'll obey Him because I love Him. The boss tells me to love others. I don't have the authority to love Him or others on my terms. I can only live my life on His terms, because I've made Him my Boss.
2. If we love God we will love like He does
In a word. Unconditionally. Jesus says to love your enemies. (Matthew 5:43-44) He says that we should invite folks over for dinner that nobody else will. (Luke 14:12-13) The Boss says, "love others, especially people who are different than you." I know this is a tough thing. This is not easy to do. But, Jesus is our boss and He he gave us His directive. We don't have the option of loving people the way we want to.
There are people in your life that you find difficult to love. Sometimes they're folks in your own family. It's difficult to love someone who has hurt you by something they said or did. Abuse is rampant in our society. On average every 6 days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. Over 40,000 arrests occur each year in Canada as a result of domestic violence. That's 12% of all violent crime in the country. Because most domestic violence goes unreported the real number is much higher than 40,000 perpetrators.
When Jesus tells us to love and pray for our enemies, is he suggesting we pray for the abusers? Should we pray for terrorists? Jesus says so. If He's our boss then yes, we pray for those who abuse. We pray for those who terrorize. We pray for those who have hurt us.
I know this isn't an easy sell. Jesus didn't mean it to be. He said that most people would walk away from Him once they understood His teaching. (John 6:53-66) For those who have suffered abuse there is more to this than what I can say in the few moments that I have. The 24 hour crisis line for women is 1-800-266-4087. For those of you who are past the crisis and are just wondering Spiritually how to obey Jesus to love and forgive others, even those who have hurt you, Focus on the Family has some suggestions.
We all have people in our life we struggle to love. Do you have any estranged family members you haven't talked to in years because of a conflict? What about a neighbor that gets on your nerves. Maybe it's someone who bullied you. Or an ex convict living in the community. Or a co-worker who annoys you. Even worse how about when we refuse to love those who are in the family of Christ? Mark Atteberry wrote a book, "The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do" And the number one dumbest thing we do according to him is to "sling mud on the Bride of Christ."
In other words when we complain and criticize the church or others who belong to the church of Jesus its like someone picking up some mud and throwing it on a newly married bride. I'm pretty sure if any of us ever witnessed such a degrading act we would be very upset. But we don't get that ticked off when someone does the same thing to God's people. In his book Atteberry writes, "There are people in every congregation who judge the church solely on the basis of the way it caters to their whims. And do they holler when it doesn't! Complaints and criticisms fly, and, once again, Christ's bride is splattered with mud."
John writes, "I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness." 1 John 2:7-9
Jesus is the boss. He gave us his command. We can't dictate how we're going to love people. Jesus didn't put conditions on love. He made it clear we are to love people. Even those who are our enemies. Those who have hurt us. Those we are afraid of. People we are uncomfortable with. People we don't hang out with. Our boss gave us a command.
I hope and pray you are willing to make Jesus your boss. That you want to be loved in the same way that He calls you to love other people. Does that sound good to you? Then make Jesus your boss.
