Labor Day 2018
September 2, 2018
Colossians 3:23-34
I have a theological dilemma on my hands and frankly I don’t know how to solve it. It all arises from an amazingly popular song. Experts are torn about what the words really, really are. Now, I’m going to play a snippet of the song for you and you need to tell me what the song is saying.
Don’t shout it out, because some may disagree with you. Once you hear the song, you will immediately know what it is. Here we go ~
VIDEO of SEVEN DWARFS
Now, most people believe the dwarfs are singing, “Hi - ho, hi - ho, it’s off to work we go.”
But there are others who say the dwarfs are really singing “Hi - ho, hi - ho, it’s home from work we go.”
The 2nd option actually seems more realistic. Because it looks like they are ending their day from work and are happy to be going home. You see, this is the stuff I do, to get the most accurate sermons for you. I simply don’t know which is which and when I listen closely, I still can’t figure it out.
Anyways . . . that’s my introduction for today’s message. It’s Labor Day weekend. It’s a weekend so many people celebrate. Mostly kids look forward to the day because there is no school. Some offices are closed, but lots of others are working tomorrow just like another day at work . . . and you may be singing “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I go.” Some go to work singing “I OWE, I OWE, I have to go to work.”
You know, when we think about Labor Day, it’s a major holiday, it’s the changing of the seasons in a sense. It kind of marks when summer ends and Fall begins. It’s when we can no longer wear our white colored outfits and the darker clothes come out.
Even though we celebrate Labor Day, nobody got me a Labor Day card.
We don’t decorate the house like we do for other season and holidays
We don’t have a Labor Day tree and we don’t give Labor Day gifts.
Lots of people don’t go to church today because they are enjoying the weekend away.
Yet, Labor Day is an important day for us to be reminded about work. About what work means to us and what it should mean in our relationship with Christ.
The first time we hear the word work in the Bible comes with God doing the work. We’re going to take a progression and end with who we are supposed to be with the work we do.
In Genesis 2:1-3, we read ~
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
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.
3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation. — Genesis 2:1-3
Now, when many of us look at work, we look at it as a necessary evil. But that’s not how work was supposed to be. I believe when God was creating the heavens and the earth, when He was dividing the sky from the land and the waters from the mountains . . . and when God was creating the animals . . . I believe God was having a blast! It was not the drudgery of work that we think of. It was fun, it was exciting, it was passion and action filled. I believe there was holy laughter and excitement between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The original plan was for us to work the land. We see that a few verses later in Genesis 2:15 ~
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. – Genesis 2:15
The word we read in Genesis 2:15 is not the same word for work we saw when God was working. This is actually a softer word for work. Other Bible versions don’t say to work the land, they say phrases like tend to the land or cultivate the land.
You see, the point of working was not to be a pain in our lives. It was not to be a punishment or make us suffer. That’s how it was intended. But then sin entered the world and everything changed, including work.
Now we see what God said to Adam about work in Genesis 3 ~
17 And to Adam, God said . . . cursed is the ground because of you; in PAIN you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, – Genesis 3:17-19
Work no longer seemed so pleasant. No longer was there the thought of cultivating a weedless and thornless garden. Now the garden was filled with thistles and thorns. The word PAIN, this word, only occurs 3 times in the OT.
It occurred when God was describing childbirth for Eve in the previous verse, when God said ~
15 I will surely multiply your PAIN in childbearing – Genesis 3:15
It also occurred in Genesis 5:29, when Noah was born and he was to take away the painful toil of work.
So, it may seem like a long winded approach to a Labor Day message, but we need to know where the laboring, the toil, the hardship of work came in. This is why we struggle with work. It came about through sin and what should have been a joy, became a painful endeavor.
So, with all of that in mind, how are we to respond when we are supposed to work? When I say work, I’m also referring to being a volunteer, I’m also talking about playing in the band, or performing in a play or musical. It’s about our approach to playing sports. In the end, it’s all about how we approach living life on a daily basis!!
In Colossians 3, Paul wrote these words about the things we do ~
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24
I love the way Paul wrote because at times he speaks in specifics, but then he gets pretty broad. Whatever you do, work heartily. Literally, what Paul is telling us is “whatever you do, put all of your heart into it.”
In some ways, it’s that simple, yet that complicated. What is it that you are doing in life? Are you working, retired, in school? Do you volunteer? What do you do?
Can you put your heart into it? That’s what Paul is telling us. Don’t go through the motions. That’s what he tells the church in Ephesus. Paul is really talking to slaves. But what he said applies to all of us as well, that as we are doing our work, we should do it ~
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers,
but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart – Ephesians 5:5-6
Don’t give eye service - - that means you only do work when you’re being watched. How many people do that? Too many people don’t like their jobs, they don’t like school, or even what they’re doing as a volunteer - - so what do we do? We go through the motions. Our heart is not in what we do.
But Paul is telling us in Colossians and Ephesians, that whatever we do, we put our heart into everything. We give it all we have. We aren’t out to please people, we aren’t out just to geta paycheck and get our earthly reward. Although a paycheck does help pay the bills, but that’s not really the reason you’re working. It shouldn’t be. The reason you’re working it to glorify the Lord in whatever you do.
When you’re in high school and in college, the goal is to find a profession that ultimately please God. If you are pleasing God, you are going to be pleased as well. It may not be easy, it may be difficult, but if you are following Christ, you will be serving Him and you will find more joy than you ever imagined.
Sometimes in school, you have to make mid-course adjustments. What you start out majoring in, is not what you ultimately do. I’m a great example of that. I went to college as a math major, switched to accounting for a day, then to education for a couple of hours, until I finally settled on Finance. But that was all about a career, it was not about serving God.
Finally, when God got ahold of me, I became a Christian, left Judaism, and ultimately here I am. I can’t imagine what it would be like if for the past 25 years I was still an investment auditor. That seems like a lifetime ago. My point is I had to go through major changes in life and take risks I never thought I could, but ultimately, it was about serving Christ, not me and not others in this world. And that’s not always easy, because, sometimes we just want to be people pleasers, but when we do that, we are not glorifying God. We are simply playing it safe and we are not being fulfilled in who we are called to be.
And when Paul says we should work as bond-servants of Christ, that phrase comes from the Greek word for slave. To be a bond-servant of Christ is not meant to be a demeaning phrase. It is to signify believers who willingly live under Christ's authority as His devoted followers.
So, as we go into the workplace, maybe later today or tomorrow or Tuesday . . . or you go back to school, you participate in whatever you participate in, you volunteer in whatever you are volunteering in . . . you do it willingly, because you are seeking to bring honor and glory to Christ.
Ultimately, we have to answer to Christ for all we do. Yes, you have to answer to your boss, or teacher, or coach - - but the final authority for the follower of Christ is Jesus.
If I have pleased Him - - then at the end of the day, I know all is good. I have no worries. This is why Paul talks about work and relationships in many of his letters. And Paul was pretty tough on the topic, too. When he was writing to the church in Thessalonica, he wrote these words, which sound pretty harsh ~
10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.
12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. – 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12
It’s that same image that Paul was giving earlier. Do what you have been called to do. If you won’t do your work, then those people, who are the Christ followers are not to be given handouts. He’s pretty blunt - - - If someone is not willing to work, don’t give them your hard earned food. I think some would call that tough love. But here was the problem, as well - - - these people who weren’t working with their hands, were working with their mouths. You know what I mean. They were disrupting the balance of life in the church.
There were a lot of water cooler conversations going on. Lots of breaks during the work day. Another cup of coffee, another bathroom break, another donut to be eaten. They’re meddling in the life of others. They’re spreading rumors and stories of others.
Literally, that phrase to be a busybody means you’re meddling and going beyond proper boundaries (where you don’t belong); and you’re fixated on what others are doing, instead of doing what you’re supposed to do.
It’s not that we don’t have compassion for someone who is hurting and unable to work, instead, Paul is talking about the person who refuses to work, and instead is meddling in other people’s business.
As we move to the close this morning, the words from Paul are clear from Colossians 3 ~
23 Whatever you do, work with your heart, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 You are serving the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24
If you’re not happy with your work, with what you’re doing as a volunteer, if you’re struggling with serving Christ, then maybe Christ wants you to be doing something different. Or maybe you’re moving through a season of life where you are being tested a little, where you are being pruned, and that’s not always easy. It’s painful, but in the end it leads to new growth in your spirit.
We are serving Christ! Keep that in mind when it’s not as much fun as you would like it to be. Seek to make a difference in the kingdom for Christ. When you’re frustrated can you give that frustration to Christ. When you think someone is getting paid more than you think they should, can you give it to Christ.
Can you give others a reason to see Christ in you? Can you go into the world and make a difference for Christ, even when you’re not overly happy with your situation? Remember, you don’t have to be happy, but can you still show the joy of Christ within you?
In the end, that takes prayer. It takes a life that is firmly balanced by our relationship with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, placed within us by Christ.
I like what Stuart Briscoe, an author and pastor, shared about a conversation he had with a woman. He asked her "What do you do?"
She replied, "I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ, very skillfully disguised as a machine operator."
We are all really servants of Christ
