MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
I think Labor Day is a kind of strange holiday. And it's difficult for a preacher to know what to preach on Labor Day Sunday. It's not one of the major holidays. Relatives don't come. There is no turkey to eat or presents to unwrap.
While we call it "Labor Day," we try to do as little labor as possible & most working people have the day off. I don’t recall anyone wishing me a "Happy Labor Day" or sending me a Labor Day card.
We don’t give corsages, decorate the house, or give Labor Day gifts. Even the florists & greeting card manufacturers haven’t found a way to capitalize on it. Of course, it’s a boon to resorts & tourist areas & a bad weekend for some church congregations because so many want to travel.
Yes, Labor Day is different to different people. To the factory or office worker, it may be a day off. But for mothers who have both Dad & the kids to deal with, it can be a difficult day.
For policemen, who must deal with extra heavy traffic & alcohol abuse, it’s a tough day. To farmers & ranchers, it’s just another day to feed the cattle & work in the field.
I suppose one reason we have a Labor Day is because we seem to need a holiday every few months or so. It is the end of summer. School is starting. Vacations are over & it's time to put your nose to the grindstone, & your shoulder to the wheel once again.
As a preacher, I could just ignore it, but after all, our work occupies much of our thinking & dominates many of our conversations. Work dictates where we will live & often determines many of our friendships. And our work often influences our relationship with others.
Indeed, the work we do is a very important part of our life. So I want to look at a couple of Scriptures this morning that deal with work.
The first one is Colossians 3:23-24. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
ILL. By the way, someone has written that there are 4 kinds of bones in the world:
WISH BONES who spend their time wishing someone else would do the work;
JAW BONES who do all the talking, but very little else;
KNUCKLE BONES who knock everything that anyone else is trying to do;
& BACK BONES who shoulder the load & actually do the work.
Now we may smile at that, but I believe that one of the great mistakes of our society is in dividing the world up into categories. Here is the economic world, & one set of values & rules governs the economic world. Over here is the world of religion, & another set of values governs that world.
We come to church on Sunday & we are influenced by the values & commands of God. But when we go to work on Monday we are influenced by the values & rules of man. We are trying to live under two distinct authorities that are often in conflict with one another.
It seems to me that Paul is saying that these worlds do not have to be in conflict, because the work that we do should not be done just for men but rather it ought to be done as if for God.
So as we look at these passages of Scripture this morning, I think we are going to discover three important facts about the work that we do.
I. THE NATURE OF WORK
The first is the nature of work. "What is the nature of work?" The world tells us that work is a struggle to climb up the ladder of success to gain as much of the world's status & power as we can.
But Paul tells us to consider our work as a service to God. Regardless of what we do we are to serve God in the work that we perform.
If we look at work that way, it will dispel the idea of judging people by the kind of work which they do.
The world says that the person who works with his hands is not nearly as important as the person who works with his mind. Therefore it gives greater rewards to executives, supervisors, the people who think things through & tell others what to do. And that often produces a professional snobbishness.
ILL. Snobbishness goes both ways. The first congregation I served in Mo. was made up primarily of farmers & shoe factory workers. They came to church on Sunday with calluses on their hands & grease under their fingernails, & if anyone different came in, they would wonder, "What are they doing here?"
Of course, if you can hit a baseball or throw a football, or if you are an actor or a musician who can put on quite a show, you are worth more than anybody else & you will obviously make more money than anybody else. That is the standard the world goes by.
ILL. Several years ago I came across an imaginary letter addressed to "Jesus, Son of Joseph, Carpenter Shop, Nazareth" from the Jordan Management Consultants in Jerusalem.
Supposedly, Jesus had sent them resumes of the 12 Apostles to evaluate. This management consultant firm had given them a battery of tests & now is writing back to Jesus to tell Him its conclusions.
Looking at this imaginary letter, I want to read some of their findings after testing the 12 men that Jesus has selected.
It said, "In the opinion of our staff most of your candidates are lacking in background, education, & vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking.
"Simon Peter is emotionally unstable & given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James & John the Sons of Zebedee, seem to place personal interest above team loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale."
"In addition, we feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau & that James, the Son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, & Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings."
"In the light of our findings we recommend that you continue searching for other candidates with managerial experience & proven capability."
"One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability & resourcefulness. He meets people well. He has a keen business mind & has contacts in high places. He is greatly motivated, ambitious, & responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your Chief Financial Officer & Administrative Ass't."
(Adapted, 2015)
I am afraid that is just the way the world thinks, because as we look at people we don't look for the same things Jesus looked for, & we miss some things that Jesus sees. Jesus was able to see a potential & capability that we often miss.
What is the nature of work? Paul says that we are to consider our work as a service to God, no matter what we do. Mowing lawns, preaching sermons, working in the field or in the office, whatever we do, we are to do to the glory of God & not just to gain status or power among men.
II. THE PURPOSE OF WORK
Secondly, we ask this question: What is the purpose of work?
Our answer will depend upon how we answered the first question. If you answered the first question by saying, "The nature of work is a struggle to climb the ladder of success." Then your answer to the 2nd question will be, "The purpose of work is to make money & accumulate the things of the world."
But if you answered the first question by saying, "The purpose of work is to serve God." Then the answer to the second question is different as well.
Paul gives us an answer to that question in Ephesians 4:28. He says, "Let him who steals, steal no longer. But rather, let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need."
Do you know what Paul is saying? He is saying, "The purpose behind work is not to accumulate possessions, but the purpose behind our work is to meet needs." Now, that is a little hard to swallow, isn't it?
ILL. A business man might think, "Paul is out of touch with reality because he doesn't realize that we must make a profit. If we don't make a profit we have to lay off employees. If we lay off employees they won't have a paycheck coming in. So it is important for us to make a profit."
No, Paul is not saying, "Don't make a profit." He is not saying that at all. The Bible never discourages making a profit. In fact, the Bible teaches that it is wise to make more money than you spend. That is just good common sense. It is important that we make a profit.
But the Bible discourages hoarding & greed & covetousness & the worship of things. Paul is saying, "The purpose in our working is that we might have money to support ourselves & our families & those who are in need."
I believe that has a very special application for the people of God. We are told to give special attention to one another, & when there is a need among us that need is to be a concern of the other family members. The purpose of going to work is in order that we might have the ability to do that.
III. THE RESULT OF WORK
The last question is this, "What is the result of our work?"
Work is important, & from the moment He made Adam & Eve God gave them work to do, but work in & of itself cannot fully satisfy.
But we think it can, because we identify with what we do. "Who are you?" we ask. The answer is, "Why, I am a lawyer, or, I am a doctor, or I am a preacher, or I am a clerk." We are what our work is, & if we do something worthwhile we feel we are worth something.
ILL. A preacher friend of mine had been preaching ever since he graduated from college. He never wanted to do anything else but preach the gospel. But problems arose & he left the ministry. He has another job now that pays more money, but he went through a tremendous identity crisis because he had always been a preacher.
When someone asked him who he was, he would always answer, "I am a preacher." But now he sees himself as someone else because his job has changed.
That is one of the reasons why many people dread the idea of retirement, saying, "I will never retire." Because it seems that when you retire the world thinks, "You are no longer valuable." The world teaches that you are what you do & what you have accumulated.
It tells wives, "You are what your husband is." It even tries to tell Christians, "You are what you used to be." The Bible teaches that is not true.
There are more important things than our daily work. More important than anything else is our relationship to Christ. If we gain the whole world & lose our soul, what have we gained?
If we lay up treasures that rust & rot away, & have no treasure in heaven, what have we gained?
ILL. I like steeples on church buildings. One of the reasons I like them is because you can see them from afar. You can see them in the midst of trees & roof tops & in the midst of a busy community.
They stand like beacons pointing toward heaven saying, "God is at home. God is taking care of things, & everything can be alright."
I like them because in the midst of everything else, it marks a place where Jesus is proclaimed, reminding people as they make their way to work that there is something even more important & eternal.
God is at home, & He offers a meaning & a purpose to life which we will never be able to find anywhere else.
Will you give your heart to Jesus this morning? If you have a public decision to make, you are invited to come forward as we stand & sing together.
INVITATION
