Series: James – Let’s do it!
Thesis of Book: The message of the book is “Let’s do it – live the faith – put it into action! The half-brother of Jesus is speaking to the scattered Jewish Christians across the nations – they were scattered right after Stephen was killed. James tells these Christians and us today “You have to do more than just talk about your faith - you have to put your faith to work for the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.” In other words, what you do with your faith matters in the here and now and in eternity so put it into action! Faith with no deeds is dead!
Key verse of book: James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Summary of lessons from Chapter 1- We put faith into action when:
…We persevere through the trials and grief of life and in the midst of it get His inner joy and peace.
…We control the pressure moments of life with faith and not anger and in the process find freedom in the Spirit.
…We listen and do to be what God has called us to be and do.
Summary of lessons from Chapter 2 – We put faith into action when:
…We choose to fight against favoritism, prejudice mindsets and discrimination.
…We love, accept and forgive others.
Summary of lesson from Chapter 3 - We put faith into action when:
…We understand that our tongues wield supernatural power and if we do not keep them tamed-bridled and under control they will lead our lives right into a firestorm.
…We listen to God on how to deal with things in life correctly.
…We receive God’s wisdom from above and then put it into action by not being polluted by the world.
…We discern today which wisdom has taken root in our lives. The truth is we are adhering to one or the other.
…We allow wisdom from above to direct our life.
Summary of lessons from James 4 and part of chapter 5 – We put faith into action when:
…We stop the arguments, the fights, the division, the judgments and the self-centered mindsets!
…We submit to God in humility and embrace His wonderful ways.
…We ask God for help.
…We stop, drop and pray.
…We pray smart pivotal prayers.
Sermon: Right attitudes about work!
Thesis: We put faith in action when we approach life with a right attitude about God’s will, life and work. The truth be told our work matters to God and how we do it matters to God. The other truth I see in our texts today is where we live matters to God too and all this seems rooted in our attitude with God.
Scripture Texts:
James 4:13-17:
Boasting About Tomorrow
13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
James 5:1-12:
Warning to Rich Oppressors
1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.
2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
5You have lived on earth in luxury and self–indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Patience in Suffering
7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
9Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.
Introduction:
Putting faith in action is living with a right attitude about life and situations in life. We need to see that our faith is not just a Sunday morning worship event, or an event which is just associated with prayer or Bible reading, but our faith is to be put in action in our work place each day too. Faith and work are relevant issues and relate to one another.
Video Illustration: Chuck Colson faith and work.
Many people do not see their work – yes, I am talking about your job as a calling from God – just like my calling to be a pastor! Nelson states from his book Work Matters this, “The word vocation simply means “calling”. Properly understood, Christian vocation is centered in a sovereign God who calls us to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and to follow him in power of the Holy Spirit as his disciples…The gospel, properly understood, leads us to a seamless faith.”
In other words, putting our faith in action – being a doer of the Word of God happens 7 days a week 24 hours a day and yes it is to happen and be a part of your work day too.
Nelson adds, “Scripture tells us that the most bedrock answer to the question of why we work is that we were created with work in mind. Being made in God’s image, we have been designed to work, to be fellow workers with God. To be an image bearer is to be a worker. In our work we are to show off God’s excellence, creativity, and glory to the world. We work because we bear the image of One who works. This is why, the Apostle Paul writes to a group of first-century followers of Jesus who have embraced the gospel, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10)… For anyone to refuse to work is a fundamental violation of God’s creation design for humankind…When we grasp what God intended for his image bearers, it is not surprising that throughout the book of Proverbs the wise are praised for their diligence and the foolish are rebuked for their laziness…Because God himself is a worker, and because we are his image-bearers, we were designed to reflect who God is in, through, and by our work. The work we are called to do every day is an important part of our image-bearing nature and stewardship…We have been created to contribute to God’s good world” (Pages 19-25)
Faith is to be put into action by us in every area of our lives including work each day or hour we work.
Faith in action is associated:
• With were we choose to live and work
• In our career choices
• In our business practices
• In our honesty with others which includes paying our debts in the work world
• In doing what is right when we can choose to do it wrong behind closed business doors
We put our faith in action when we do not brag or become prideful about our own career plans.
We put our faith in action when we incorporate the will of God into our work day.
We put faith in action when we seek the wisdom of the Lord in what we should do and not do at work.
We put faith in action when we do what God has told us to do right when we are told to do wrong.
We put faith in action when we listen to the call of God in our lives.
We put faith in action when we don’t take advantage of others at work, in ministry or in life.
We put faith in action when we seek to bless others and not hoard things for ourselves like many do in the business world today.
We put faith in action when we pay our debts, our vendors and employees.
We put faith in action when we have patience and wait on the Lord even at work.
We put faith in action when we trust that Jesus is coming again.
We put faith in action when we don’t give up serving the Lord Jesus at church and at work.
We put faith in action when we suffer and don’t quit because of hardship or trials of work.
We put in action when we don’t take oaths to God and then break them.
All of this is found in our passages from James today – as you could imagine preaching on all of these topics could take month’s so I am picking out the big 3 for today:
I. Putting faith into action means having a right godly attitude about where I work, where I live and how I perform my work!
a. In our passage of Scripture we are warned about making our own plans without consulting with God about them this spills over into were we live and work.
i. From what I read it matters to God where you live!
ii. From what I read it matters to God where you work!
iii. From what I read your career path matters to God!
1. We are given divine perspective in this Biblical narrative about life – “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
a. Can I rephrase this for you?
i. Don’t waste your time its short! Don’t squander your time it’s all you get! Let this life set you eternal destiny! Choose a path of work that He has called you to. Use your time wisely especially at work.
ii. From my research you will spend 1/3 of your life at work!
2. Time and how you spend your life even at work matters to God --- TIME is His gift to you.
a. Timing is essential when dealing with people. You don't ask for a raise when business is not going well or when things are tense around the office. You don't try to correct someone who feels threatened by you. You don't ask for a favor when someone is under a lot of stress or angry.
b. Timing is important in cooking. The juicy hamburger on the grill is raw meat if cooked for too little time and a clump of charcoal if it is cooked too long.
c. Timing is important in medicine. If you catch a problem early you will be able to treat it more effectively. You timing is important in taking medication. If you take your medicine as directed it will be helpful. If you skip doses it loses it's effectiveness. If you take extra doses it can be deadly.
d. Timing is important in finance. When you invest in a particular stock and when you sell the particular stock will make the difference between whether you make money or lose it. Knowing when to borrow and when not to borrow is the key to financial independence.
e. Timing is important in your spiritual life as well. Jesus was very conscious of timing. He lived His life with an acute awareness of God's timing for His life. The gospel of John records these words of Jesus,
i. John 2:4 "My time has not yet come"
ii. John 7:6 "The right time for me has not yet come"
iii. John 7:30; 8:20 "His time had not yet come"
f. Peter tells us that the second coming of the Christ is a matter of timing. God has not sent Christ back to earth yet because "he wants everyone to come to repentance". God is waiting until everyone who will come to Christ, does… (http://www.unionchurch.com/archive/052001.html.)
g. Timing is everything and everything must happen in its proper God time – or God moment.
i. Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
ii. Solomon in this chapter rolls into the realization that timing is everything and that life is filled with eternal moments of time (EMT’S). These time moments must be dealt with wisely and correctly because your eternal destiny is linked to them. In a sense Solomon says to those reading his journal “You have to know what time it is!” “If you don’t know what time it is you will blow it and waste that eternal moment - EMT!”
iii. He adds a phrase in this chapter that leaps out at me, “God has made everything beautiful in its time and in these moments eternity is placed within the heart.”
b. Work – your work - my work it all matters to God!
i. Years ago the buzz phrase in Christendom was to live and work for an Audience of One.
1. The line of thought went something like this according to Tom Nelson, “If God is aware and cares for every sparrow that falls, then we know that our loving heavenly father watches over us wherever we are and whatever we are doing. Nothing we think, say, or do ever escapes God’s loving, caring, and watchful eye. Living before and Audience of One also means that all we do and say is to be an act of God-honoring worship. Of course, we all fall short many times in keeping this perspective in mind…Doing our work before and Audience of One changes what we do and how we do it. Living with this mind-set helps us connect our faith with our work, for we live before the same Audience on Monday at work as we do on Sunday at Worship.” (Page 28).
ii. I am convinced we need to rethink our attitude toward our work – one job is not more sacred to another.
iii. We have been working our way through the book “The One Jesus Loves” and it’s all about drawing closer to God through intimacy and devotion to Him.
1. This does not just happen on Sundays it happens each day and each hour of our life this includes the realm of work.
a. Many Christians hold a decidedly unbiblical view of work. Some view it as a curse, or at least as part of the curse of living in a fallen world. Others make a false distinction between what they perceive as the sacred—serving God—and the secular—everything else.
i. Others make it into an idol, expecting it to provide them with their identity and purpose in life as well as being a source of joy and fulfillment that only God can provide.
b. In their excellent book Your Work Matters to God, Doug Sherman and William Hendricks expose the wrong ways of thinking about work, and explain how God invests work with intrinsic value and honor.
c. Rick Warren echoes this idea in his blockbuster The Purpose Driven Life when he writes, "Work becomes worship when you dedicate it to God and perform it with an awareness of his presence."
c. We need the right attitude when it comes to our work and career’s so James again warns us, “15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
i. Knowing the good and not doing it? What does he mean?
1. Could it mean not “working?” when we should be working?
2. A secular view of work leaves God out of the system and this is not a biblical teaching.
a. This is particularly unacceptable for Christians, because God calls us to make Him the center of our life. He wants us to have a biblical worldview that weaves Him into every aspect of our lives, including work. He wants to be invited into our work; He wants to be Lord of our work…we know this but we need to do it.
b. I have heard a few business people say when they have done something shady – this is not a church – or it’s business!
ii. Here's a startling thought about work from the Bible: We actually work for God Himself! Look at Ephesians 6:5-8, which Paul writes to slaves but which we can apply to employees:
1. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”
a. Sue Bohlin states, “It's helpful to envision that behind every employer stands the Lord Jesus. He sees everything we do, and He appreciates it and will reward us, regardless of the type of work we do.”
b. God also wants us to see that work is His gift to us. It is not a result of the Fall. God gave Adam and Eve the job of cultivating the garden and exercising dominion over the world before sin entered the world. We were created to work, and for work. Work is God's good gift to us!
c. Listen to what Solomon wrote in Ecc.
i. After looking at the way things are on this earth, here's what I've decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that's about it. That's the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what's given and delighting in the work. It's God's gift!
d. Being happy in our work doesn't depend on the work, it depends on our attitude. To make the most of our job and be happy in our work is a gift God wants to give us!
i. Swindolls’s quote: The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you, we are in charge of our attitudes.
TS- We activate our faith when we seek wisdom from above on where we live, work and even in our choice of career. But my faith is to be put in action in how I work and how I deal with others at work.
II. Putting faith into action means I treat business as if I am working for God so therefore I do it biblically with integrity and with honesty.
a. Do all for the glory of God says Paul in 1 Cor. 10:31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
i. James 5:1-12: is a Warning to rich oppressors (employers) who are taking advantage of their employees or vendors.
1. “1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self–indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.”
a. In a recent survey I found the headline said this “50% Of Your Employees Are Lying, Cheating & Stealing” by Samuel Greengard October 1, 1997 https://www.workforce.com/1997/10/01/50-of-your-employees-are-lying-cheating-stealing/.
i. The evidence is everywhere. A 1994 Gallup Poll found that among members of the general public, only the government ranks lower than corporations in perceived trustworthiness. A 1996 New Orleans-based Tulane University study, about the effects of personal values and corporate codes of conduct on fraudulent financial reporting, found that two of every five controllers and nearly half of all top executives were willing to commit fraud in role-playing exercises. In fact, 87 percent made at least one fraudulent decision in the course of simulated work situations. 60% of workers feel a substantial amount of pressure on the job. Glance inside the corporation and things are just as disturbing. An April 1997 study by the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters & Chartered Financial Consultants and the Ethics Officers Association, based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, found that 56 percent of all workers feel some pressure to act unethically or illegally. The study, titled “Sources and Consequences of Workplace Pressures: Increasing the Risk of Unethical and Illegal Business Practices,” revealed that a head-turning 48 percent of workers admitted they had engaged in one or more unethical and/or illegal actions during the last year. Among the most common transgressions: cutting corners on quality, covering up incidents, abusing or lying about sick days, deceiving customers, lying to a supervisor or underling, and taking credit for a colleague’s ideas. And the problem seems to be getting worse. The same study found that more than 60 percent of workers feel more pressure than five years ago and 40 percent feel greater pressure than only a year ago. Exacerbating the problem is an unclear definition of ethics, especially as companies go global. A gift in one country might be viewed as a bribe in another, for example, just as taking credit for a colleague’s idea might be considered business as usual at one company but shunned at another. “Ethics is a broad and often murky area,” says Laura Pincus Hartman, director of the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University in Chicago. Adds Carl Skooglund, vice president of ethics at Dallas-based Texas Instruments Corp. (TI): “The workplace is full of ethical confusion, dilemmas and issues.”
b. Luke 12:15 Jesus said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
b. Quotes and thoughts by Got Questions on this sin called greed: - https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-greed.html:
i. Greed is a strong and selfish desire to have more of something, most often money or power. There are many warnings in the Bible about giving in to greed and longing for riches. Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal… You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:19, 24b).
1. Did Jesus pursue the acquisition of money? No. On the contrary, He became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9) and had “no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Neither did Jesus pursue power. Rather, He instructed, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43–45).
ii. Greed and a desire for riches are traps that bring ruin and destruction. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and Christians are warned, “Do not put your trust in wealth” (see 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17-18).
1. Covetousness, or having an excessive or greedy desire for more, is idolatry. Ephesians 5:5 says, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The principle to remember is contained in Hebrews 13:5: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
iii. It is the love of money, and not money itself, that is the problem. The love of money is a sin because it gets in the way of worshipping God.
1. Jesus said it was very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (see Matthew 19:16-22). By instructing him to give up his money, Jesus pointed out the young man’s main problem: greed or a love of money. The man could not follow Christ because he was following money. His love of this world interfered with his love for God.
iv. Greed refuses to be satisfied. More often than not, the more we get, the more we want. Material possessions will not protect us—in this life or eternally.
1. Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13–21 illustrates this point well. Again, money or wealth is not a problem. The problem is our attitude toward it. When we place our confidence in wealth or are consumed by an insatiable desire for more, we are failing to give God the glory and worship He deserves. We are to serve God, not waste our time trying to become rich (Proverbs 23:4). Our heart’s desire should be to store up riches in heaven and not worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. “But seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (see Matthew 6:25-34).
TS- We put our faith in action even at work when we are honest and operate with integrity. This means we don’t steal from others or take advantage of others for personal gain. But we also put our faith in action when we endure the hardships of life and work and do it as an act of worship to God.
III. Putting faith in action means I endure hardship at work and life for the glory and purposes of God.
a. The story of Job:
i. Jay Smith states this about our book: “The book of Job is Narrative History. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that Job himself wrote it. It is possible that Job is the oldest of any book of the Bible written approximately 2100-1800 B.C. Key personalities of this book include Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu the Buzite. In Job, we see a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God. Its purpose is to illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering.”
1. From https://biblehub.com/summary/job/1.htm
ii. Job is not a book of answers but rather a revelation of human experience. Job is an everyday man facing circumstances of which he has no control over. They are ordinary life tragedies of human life. Norman Vincent Peale notes:
1. Everyone, at one time or another, suffers a crisis, or even a defeat. “You can’t win them all, “ someone said. What, then, do you do about the challenges you don’t win? What about the harsh defeats that come? Physical defeats, for example, when you have trouble with your health, when your body begins to give up on you. What do you do about pain, sorrow, suffering, and hardship? What happens when you are defeated in some objective, or in some ambition? Or when you see that some fond hope, cherished for years, is not going to be realized? What happens when life seems to flow away from you, rather than toward you; when things get mixed up and become unhappy; when you are having trouble with yourself, and trouble with everything else? What do you do? The greatest measure of a human being isn’t how he handles himself when things are going well, but how he handles himself when things are going badly, when defeat comes. The attitude a person has in defeat is a great issue in life, for it determines whether one is able to overcome difficulties and be victorious again (In God We Trust, Nelson 1994, page 5).
iii. Job gives us insight into not the why, because we all face trials in life. Friend there are no exceptions to this reality. Job was penned for us to convey insight into how to handle the tragedies of life. It also reveals how to help others who are suffering and teaches what not to do as counselors and care workers. The focus of the book is not on the why Job suffers but how Job handles adversity. Norman Vincent Peale adds this thought:
1. What are you going to do with defeat? Are you going to let it defeat you? Or are you going to make it a positive, creative experience from which you can extract much know-how and wisdom and from which you will gain strength to proceed? The individual who has placed at the center of his thinking the wonderful affirmation, “I can do all things through Christ” can recover from any defeat and can handle any situation (7).
iv. The life of Job reveals how he stayed focused on God through the whole ordeal of “The dark night of his soul.”
1. Scripture text: Job 1 describes his dark time:
a. His oxen and donkeys were taken by the Sabean’s and all of his workers are killed.
b. His herds of sheep were destroyed by fire along with the shepherds.
c. His camels were raided by the Chaldeans and carried off and all the servants who tended them were killed.
d. His children were at a party and a tornado (A great wind) came and destroyed the house and they all died when it collapsed in on them.
2. How did Job respond to the horrible news – to the dark night of the soul in his life? Did he curse God! Blame other believers?
a. Job 1:20-22: Tells us! - 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
i. Have you ever charged God with wrong doing?
ii. Have you ever blamed God as being unfair and evil?
iii. How would you have responded in this horrific moment? How would your soul respond?
3. Your response in dark times is a reflection of the health and wholeness of your soul. The true you comes out in the dark times of life! In the pressure moments of life!
a. Later Job’s friends come along thinking they will help him and after hearing his aching soul in Job 3-6 – they decide to speak and correct Job:
i. Eliphaz is the blamer and the shamer of Job. “Job you sinned against God this is why this is happening to you!” Job 5:17: “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
1. Repent you sinner – it’s all your fault!
ii. Bildad is the answer-man see Job 8: “Job your children sinned that is why they died.” “They deserved to be crushed by the fierce wind!” “Job suck it up and do the following program and God will forgive you and restore you.” “This 12 step program will help restore your position with God.” See Job 8:1-6!
iii. Zophar – The redneck and the defender of God Job 11:1-6: He beats Job up more with condemnation and judgment claiming he is defending God.
1. John Ortberg states, “Modern churches with linear models of spiritual growth and large-scale models for devotional life rarely speak of or help people with the dark night. We are uncomfortable with it because we want to do something — because we sell formulas and steps and programs, and the dark night of the soul is not our program. The dark night is for souls that learn to wait.” Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 185). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
2. In Western society we don’t think that we should suffer in this world! We think God should give us a life that is pain free, stress free and filled with stuff!
b. Job stayed true to God even when his friends were beating him up more and creating more suffering for his soul.
i. His own wife said “Curse God and die!” But in Job 38 it says these words, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm.” Job remained faithful to God in the midst of disaster and a dark night of the soul.
ii. God answered Him in this “Dark Time” – God will also answer you in your dark time too! But he came through it with faith and truth: Job 42: 7-12
1. He came through and it says in verse 12 “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.”
a. Why because he persevered and stayed faithful to God!
b. The dark times of the soul come when you are dealing with loss and the grief that accompanies it.
c. Many people are often unprepared for grief and therefore their souls suffer more.
c. The Psalms did not shy away from grief and the darkness of the soul at times.
i. Psalm 6:2-3: “My bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?”
b. We put our faith into action when we see the positive side to pain and suffering.
i. When pain and suffering come’s our way we need to understand that even though it hurts there are benefits.
1. When I touch something hot with my hand I snap back because of the pain. In essence pain helps me from hurting myself more.
a. So we can conclude that in some instances pain helps us from hurting ourselves worse.
b. Philip Yancey in his book When Life Hurts states this about the benefit of pain cells: I confess that I once viewed pain as God’s one great goofs in an otherwise impressive world. Why would He mess up such a world by including pain in it? Without injury and suffering, we would find it so much easier to respect and trust him. Why didn’t he create all the beautiful things in the world, but leave out pain? I discovered the answer to this question in an unusual place. To my amazement I found that a world without pain actually exists-within the walls of a leprosy hospital. People with leprosy, today called Hansen’s disease, do not feel physical pain. But as it turns out, that is the peculiar tragedy of their condition. As the disease spreads, nerve endings that carry pain signals fall silent. Virtually all the physical deformity comes about because the leprosy victim cannot feel pain (14,15).
i. Yancey tells us that leprosy patients have lost their toes because their shoes where to tight. Others have gone blind because they lose the ability to blink when something sprays in their face. Others have gotten sores and open wounds on their hands because of gripping a mop to tightly (15,16).
ii. I have heard of others who cut themselves with knives and never knew it. They cut off a finger and don’t realize it. Why because they don’t feel pain.
iii. Pain believe it or not does serve us in a positive way. It helps us from injuring ourselves worse than we are. It helps us to be cautious. It alerts us to things we should not be doing.
1. If it hurts to cut myself with a razor then I have a thought, “Don’t do that it hurts!”
2. Yancey adds a few more benefits of pain:
a. Without pain warning’s, most sports would be far to risky.
b. Without pain, our lives would be in constant mortal danger. We would have no warnings of a ruptured appendix, heart attack, or brain tumor.
c. Yes, believe it or not we need pain!
i. I recall a time when I was at Bible Camp and we where sitting on the beach enjoying the day. One of the campers ran into the water and dove in. I saw him stand up looking confused and hurt. He walked out of the water and sat down on the beach. I went up to him asking if he was okay. He said he had hurt his neck and thought he injured his collar bone because he was in pain. I had him lie down on his back. I then sent for the nurse. When she arrived at the beach she asked, “Where does it hurt?” He described where. She asked him to rotate his neck and he cried out in pain as he tried to move it. His Dad then showed up and asked where did it hurt. He told him. He asked him to rotate his neck, He said it hurt to do that. We decided to take him to the hospital. He walked gingerly to my car and we slowly and gently drove to the hospital. I was waiting in the hall when the doctor came out and shocked me with his findings. The young man had a broken neck! I said, “What!” The doctor informed me that it was miracle that the teen was not paralyzed. One jar this way or that could have caused the damage to which would have paralyzed the young man. In essence the pain in his neck saved him from doing anything that would have damaged it worse than it already was.
1. Sometimes pain is a pain the neck. But it will always prevent us from injuring ourselves worse if we respond to it appropriately.
2. Pain does have beneficial results at times we may not understand it at the moment but later on someone could tell us how our pain prevented a worse injury.
ii. Pain also helps to produce character in our lives.
1. James 1:2-4: 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
2. Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose
3. Romans 5:1-5: 1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
Answer: We must have the right attitude to put our faith into action and this attitude also needs to carry along with us into our workplace.
Why do we need to know this?
Answer: Faith in action impacts our attitude and our work place and as image bearers we will shine the light of Jesus through us to our co-workers when we do things right.
What do we need to do?
Answer: We need to put faith into action in the work place which means knowing the will of God for were we live, where we work and what career path we should be on. Faith in action knows that my workplace is God’s way for us to shine and reach our community so we do this by being honest, loving, caring and hard workers. We do this by looking at our jobs as a calling from God and doing it for His glory.
Why do we need to do this?
Answer: If we put our faith in action and take our faith in the work place we will contribute to Society and shine the light of Jesus into a dark place which will help set people free. We need to know that pain will come at work and in life but we are to endure it and look at as a time to grow more mature in our faith.
