Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31; 2:15; Colossians 3:23-24
Theme: How to – Work …
Celebrating Work – and How God created us to work…
INTRO
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
How many of you remember an old Tennessee Ernie Ford song that went like this:
[Verse 1]
Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong
[Chorus]
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
If you don’t remember that one, then perhaps you will remember one of these songs:
+She Works Hard for the Money – Donna Summer
+9 to 5 – Dolly Parton
+A Hard Days Night – The Beatles
And if you like many people you learned one of these two songs as you grew up –
+Whistle While You Work
+Heigh Ho Heigh Ho - It’s Off to Work I Go
Work – Job – Employment - Vocation or Avocation – or both which is the best by far.
Having the ability to do something that brings you great joy while at the same time being able to receive compensation for that ability is what is called an amazing job and career.
This morning let’s see what the Bible says about work in general and in particular:
I. God designed Humans for Work
From our passages this morning we understand that the idea of work predates the Fall of Man. In other words, it is not out of sin or out of some cosmic punishment that we human beings work. We were created to work; to be productive, creative, and imaginative.
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created to work. They were created to enjoy, to protect and to cultivate the Garden of Eden. They were created to ensure that it continued to be a Garden of Paradise. They were created to take care of both the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. All these things were their first God given tasks. But there was even more.
As you read Genesis 1-2 you understand that God gave them not just a Garden of Eden mandate but also a planet wide cultural mandate.
God’s idea was rather simple:
+God gave Adam and Eve a starting point – a place where they could live and a place where they would learn how to be in control of the planet God had given them – Our Good Earth.
+Initially, they would be busy with the Garden of Eden giving all the animals their names and learning how to oversee and take care of all the different plants, trees, animals, birds and fish.
+Then as they produced children those children would create even more families. Those additional families would need a place to live and to build their own homes and lives.
+To accomplish all of this, Adam and Eve and the later generations would have to work at making the Garden of Eden larger and larger until the whole planet look like the Garden of Eden.
+In a nutshell they were given the task of terraforming the whole Earth to look like the Garden of Eden; physically, socially, and spiritually.
It was a rather simple plan.
God had made humans in His image and had given mankind the authority, the ability and the location in which humankind could create their own heaven on earth. It would take work, but it was work that God had given humans the ability to accomplish.
II. God gave humans all kinds of different gifts, skills and talents
The Bible is clear on the fact that God has given all of us various talents, skills, and gifts to do our work.
It’s a part of our God given DNA to work. It’s also in our DNA to do some specialized work.
Think for a moment of all the skills and talents that we have all around us. Think for a moment of some of the people we meet in the Bible that had various skills and talents:
+Noah was a ship builder and a farmer.
+Abraham was a businessman and a shepherd.
+Joshua was a brick layer, then became a soldier and finally he was the governmental leader of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
+Deborah was a ruler and judge of Israel.
+Peter, James and John were fishermen who became apostles and writers.
+Dorcas was a seamstress.
+Lydia was a businesswoman who became an Early Church leader.
+Matthew was at first a tax collector, then an apostle and a writer.
The Bible talks about shepherds, masons, metal workers, carpenters, government employees, priests, farmers, teachers, artists, painters, treasurers and the list goes on and on.
That should not surprise us because as we read in the Bible each of us has been given certain God given talents and gifts. For some people the gift of working with wood comes naturally while for others the gift of working in finance or speaking or teaching comes naturally.
One of the joys of life here on this earth is being able to use your God given talents, skills, and gifts. When we can do that then work is no longer just work, it is an extension of who we are as a person.
Nearly 80% of the people in a recent survey (2022) stated that they are happy in their current job. They were happy doing what they believed that they were designed to be and do.
Only 4% checked the box that said that they were extremely dissatisfied with their job. Their main reason for checking that box was they did not believe that they were working in an area that aligned with their skills and talents.
I think that one of the best things that we can do for the next generation is to provide them with the time and the means to try out different avenues of work. Not everyone is designed to be a teacher or an accountant. There are those who love to work in the mud constructing things. There are others that like cracking open a person’s chest and repairing the damage around their heart.
It all has to do with Our God giving us all kinds of different talents, skills, and abilities.
All of this leads us to another great reason God designs us to work:
III. Work helps us to learn how to live with one another and for one another
It doesn’t take long in this life to understand that no one person can do everything.
The same person that can pour a load of concrete and make this amazing walkway doesn’t always know how to take care of your A/C unit or know how to bake you an apple pie.
The same person who has the patience and the skills to teach 3- and 4-year-olds doesn’t always have the same patience when it comes to working with landscaping or painting a room.
The beauty of this life here our earth is how we really do need each other.
For life to really work, to really be victorious we have to realize that we need each other. We need people who can work in landfills and we need those who can work on machinery. We need police officers and first responders. We need cooks and waiters alongside computer programmers and stockbrokers.
Some time back, I remember hiring someone to do some work for me and the LORD gave me a new thought when it came to paying them. I wasn’t just handing them some money. I was enabling them to use their skills to live their lives just as others have given me money to be able to live my life.
Now, I may wish that some skills and talents didn’t require such a hefty price, but I also must remember that God didn’t set the price we pay one another. God just said that we should pay the person worth their hire.
In a perfect world NFL quarterbacks would not get more money than an entire factory makes.
But I digress to another subject totally.
I came across a little saying about work the other day. It went something like this:
1. Don’t brag – first don’t brag about how much you make around those who don’t make as much as you do.
Don’t brag about your skills to the point where you are looking down on others.
Remember, your skills and your talents are God given.
Be thankful for what you make and do your best to live within your means.
2. Don’t nag – Don’t put other people down. Don’t put them down for what they can or cannot do. Don’t demean them or look down on them. Don’t tell them that they are unworthy or that they don’t deserve a good paycheck or life.
3. Don’t lag – Do a day’s work. Do your best at the office, in the factory or in the classroom. As a follower of Christ, we are to do our best every day. We are to resist being lazy and a free loader. We are to resist doing as little as we can hoping no one notices.
Don’t brag, don’t nag and don’t lag.
As we close this morning we are invited to the Carpenter’s Table.
Jesus came to be Immanuel – God With Us.
It’s interesting I think that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit decided that Jesus would take up the occupation of a carpenter/stone mason.
In that day as it is today – the construction business – whether it be on the front end or the one back end is hard work. Laying a foundation, putting up the walls, laying brick or putting in cabinets and doing the finishing work, it is all hard work.
Jesus must have liked it. For over 20 years if you wanted to find Jesus you went to His workshop where he would have his tools ready to fix a door, to work or a roof or to lay some bricks for you.
It is commonly believed that even during his 3 ½ year ministry that there were times that Jesus still used a hammer, laid some bricks, and fixed a broken table or two so that He and his disciples had the money to go out and share the Gospel.
God in flesh was not afraid to sweat. God in flesh was not afraid to get His hands dirty. God in flesh was not afraid to go to bed at night with an aching back and some sore muscles.
The God we serve is like us. He knew what it meant to do a good day’s work. He knew what it meant to look at something while wiping away the sweat and knowing that He had done a good job.
Our Savior, the One who lived and died for us lived a real life. He understood all that we must deal with and if we let Him, He will bring us peace, comfort along with joy and happiness.
Jesus’ last words on the Cross were these – IT IS FINISHED.
It sounds like a person after they have finished a report, finished building a house, painting a room, or fixing a car. It sounds like someone who has finished a transaction or completed a job.
Jesus had – He had given His Life for all of us this morning.
Jesus said that He came to give His Life for us. He came to rescue us and redeem us. He came so that we could enjoy New Birth from above and that we could live the Abundant Life infilled with His Holy Spirit.
This morning, the Carpenter invites you to His Table – a Table that symbolizes not only His Sacrifice but His Victory. The Holy Spirit is present every time we take Holy Communion.
Holy Communion is more than the taking of a small piece of bread and a little cup of juice.
It is our opportunity to tell the LORD – I love you with all my heart, mind and soul.
It is our opportunity to receive His Grace – His Salvation, Mercy and Love.
It is our opportunity to publicly say to others – I am a Christ follower. Come join me.
It is our opportunity to publicly come to the same table, receive the same elements and be one in Holy Spirit with others. It’s a time to be One in the Body of Christ.
This is the Word of God for the People of God
Holy Communion
