Day to Day Stewardship
Ecclesiastes 3:9-12
October 28, 2018
Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that explains the reason you’re frustrated on the way to work in the morning? It’s because of this ~
I'm in no hurry, I'm on my way to work.
You could buy that bumper sticker for $2.49 on the Internet.
Have you ever felt that way?
Now, we do have some days when we’re really not feeling it. We didn’t sleep well, we’re hungry, we don’t feel well, we had an argument with a family member . . . it could be a myriad of reasons. It happens.
But when it’s happening all of the time, that’s a sign something is broken and needs to be changed. Maybe it’s your attitude. Maybe it’s your job! Maybe it’s whatever is causing you to be dissatisfied. Too many people are just not happy with their jobs. It doesn’t matter the profession. They want to quit or go to a different company or win the lottery.
When that happens our performance suffers. Someone once asked a man, "How long does it take you to get to work in the morning?"
He said, "Usually I get to work about a half-hour after I clock in."
When you think about it, about 1/3 of our adult lives is spent working. That means 33% of your time, not including the commuting is spent on the job. If you don’t like it, then you’ve got troubles.
Well, we’ve been look at what it means to be a good steward with our lives. To manage our lives well. We’ve looked at a number of topics and issues. We have 3 more to cover. Today, we’re looking at what it means to be a good employee or a good student or a good volunteer in an organization.
Former Dallas Cowboy coach Tom Landry knew how to get the most out of his players; he once said ~
When people aren't happy doing what they do, they don't do it as well as when they are happy.
Think about that. When you’re not happy with what you’re doing, then the odds of doing it well - - most likely decreases. When you’re happy, you’re going to work harder because you’re more passionate about it.
He also added this about leadership, which is just as true ~
Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted.
Isn’t that true, as well. Sometimes, someone needs to push us to do what we don’t want to do, so we can accomplish what we’ve always wanted to achieve.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, in chapter 3, we read these words from Solomon ~
9 What gain has the worker from his toil?
10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man's heart,
yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil — this is God's gift to man. – Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
Note what Solomon is telling us. Especially in verse 12, Solomon tells us “there is nothing better for us than to be joyful and to do good as long as we live.”
That’s a great prescription for us as we consider what it means to be good at managing our lives when it comes to work, school or volunteering. Really, it’s a great thought for anything we’re doing.
Sometimes it’s really difficult to be joyful, or just to be feeling good about what you’re doing when you’re not happy with what you’re doing.
Yet, Solomon’s telling us we should feel joy and do good as long as we live. Isn’t that what we really want in life? Isn’t that what we all want in anything we’re doing? We want joy or happiness. We want to do good, we want to be a success. We want to make a difference in this world.
In the end, Solomon wrote ~ when we do this, we should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all that we do . . . and this is a gift from God. The gift of being, the gift of doing. It’s a gift from God to you and I. And it’s not a punishment.
So, how do we get there? How do we feel that our work, our school, our volunteering is worthwhile? I mean, I can’t remember waking up and going to school and thinking ‘this is so cool, I get to go to school and do homework!’
That’s not who I was. If I were to be honest, it’s probably not who I am today, either.
Well, 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
You see, I really believe a big part of the problem for most people is that they feel like they are working for their boss or for their teacher or for their coach, or for some other person. And while that’s true on one level, ultimately, if you’re a Christ follower, you are working for God.
In everything we do, we’re to bring glory and honor to Christ. It’s not about our boss. I remember years ago, my mother in law gave me a bumper sticker saying ~
My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter
That’s my ultimate boss! In everything I do, I am to work to bring honor and glory to Christ. You see, we find ways to skimp on what we do. Remember, if we’re not happy, we’re usually not going to give our best effort.
Yet, in everything we do, we are called to have integrity, to have high morals and ethics. That has to come from our relationship to Christ. The world may allow unethical or immoral behavior and tactics, but as a Christ follower, that can’t be the case.
If we’re working, then we need to be the best at what we do. We need to go about it daily. It should be a daily prayer. We aren’t motivated by a pay raise, we are motivated to serve Christ, who came to serve us. He came to die for us. So, in all that we do, our service is an act of worship.
Can you look at all you do as an act of worship? Maybe that sounds really strange as you go to work or school, or volunteer. Maybe you’re not doing any of the above, and you’re at home and you’re wondering what’s this guy talking about?
Can you live your life, so that everything you do is worship? When we have a business meeting, that is worship. When we have a Bible Study or Sunday School, or youth and children’s groups, those are acts of worship.
When you’re at work, doing a mundane project, you have the opportunity to worship your Lord. When you’re at school about to take a tough final, you can be worshipful and honor God. You could’ve honored God with your study habits! I sound like a parent, don’t I? When you volunteer, are you performing your service in a joyful worshipful manner? Or is it drudgery and an act of sheer obedience, not an act of servanthood?
You see, in all we do it can be worship. It’s a matter of what we are willing to put into it. Remember what Tom Landry said. His job was to get people to do what they don’t want to do, so they can achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve.
What are you willing to put into whatever you do? Are you willing to be the best husband or wife? The best child, the best sibling, friend, employee, student, volunteer. How do you go about it?
You and only you have the opportunity to give your best to God. You can complain on the job and let everyone know you are not happy. You can bring others down. Or you can be a positive force in whatever you’re doing. It’s your choice. Only you control you. You control your attitude, you control your response, you control everything about you.
Paul tells us in everything we do, bring glory to God, honor Him, work for Him. It really is a matter of integrity. It’s about being responsible for what you say you’re going to do. Doesn’t it drive you crazy, it does me . . . when someone doesn’t do what they say they’ll do, then when they’re held accountable - - they blame someone else. Take ownership, take pride in what God has given you.
I was talking with someone last week, and we were talking about spiritual gifts and this person told me, ‘well, I don’t have any spiritual gifts.’ They’ve been a Christian for about 40 years. Really?!?! You don’t have any! WOW! That’s how we put ourselves down, then we say, there’s nothing in the church for me to do.
Oh, you want something to do, I can give you some stuff to do. Just come and talk to me, I’ll find out your spiritual gifts, then we’ll get you plugged in. Every follower of Jesus Christ has spiritual gifts. Don’t believe in the lies satan throws out there. We all are gifted by the Spirit of God to do good works because of our faith.
The problem comes when we give up on ourselves. God doesn’t give up on you! He believes in you . . . after all He died for you! Why would God die for you, if He’s just going to throw you out and not equip you to serve Him? That would be foolish and ludicrous on God’s part
As Paul told us, whatever you do, work heartily. In essence, put all of your heart into it.” Strangely, it’s that simple. What is it that you are doing in life? Working, retired, in school? Do you volunteer? What do you do?
Will you put your heart into all you do? That’s what Paul is telling us. Don’t go through the motions.
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 isn’t in what we do.
But Paul is telling us that whatever we do, put your heart into everything. We give it all we have.
Sometimes we just want to be people pleasers, but when we do that, we’re not glorifying God. Sometimes, we just want to play it safe too. We don’t want to take that risk, so we end up not being fulfilled in who we are called to be.
So, as we go into the workplace, maybe later today or tomorrow . . . 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’re 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 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.
On October 26, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. said this ~
“And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it.
Don’t just set out to do a good job.
Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn’t do it any better.
“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures,
sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like an opera singer.
Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry.
Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say:
Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.
If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley.
Be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail.
If you can’t be a sun, be a star.
For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”
Is that not the call of every Christ follower?! Bring glory to God as you serve the risen Christ!! Would you pray with me?
