LIKE YOUR LABOR
Col. 3:23-24
INTRO.- ILL.- When John F. Kennedy was campaigning for the presidency in the late 50’s, he visited a coal mine in West Virginia. One coal miner said, “Mr. Kennedy, is it true that you’re the son of one of the wealthiest men in America?” Kennedy said, “yes, it is.”
The man said, “Mr. Kennedy, is it true that you’ve never really wanted for anything in your life?” Kennedy said, “Well, I guess so.”
The man said, “Mr. Kennedy, is it true that you’ve never done a hard day’s work in all of your life?” Kennedy nodded in agreement.
The coal miner then said, “Mr. Kennedy, I want to tell you something, Sir - YOU HAVEN’T MISSED A THING!”
ILL.- A man by the name of Bill Gold said it like this: “I’ve met a few people in my time who were enthusiastic about hard work. And it was just my luck that all of them happened to be men I was working for at the time.”
ILL.- Abraham Lincoln said, “My father taught me to work. He did not teach me to love it.” Sounds like Lincoln wasn’t thrilled about working.
Even though a great many people have that attitude about work there are also a great many who thrive on work.
ILL.- Dr. Charles Mayo of the famous Mayo Clinic once said, “There is no fun like work.”
ILL.- Inventor Thomas Edison said, “I never did a day’s work in my life. IT WAS ALL FUN.”
ILL.- Sir Theodore Martin said, “Work is the true elixir of life. The busiest man is the happiest man.”
How many of you would like to be a nurse? HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE BEEN A NURSE IN 1887?
ILL.- Here are the duties of a nurse in 1887. In addition to caring for 50 patients, each nurse had to follow these regulations.
- Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the patient’s furniture and window sills.
- Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day’s business.
- Light is important to observe the patient’s condition. Therefore, each day fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks. Wash the windows once a week.
- The nurses’ notes are important in aiding the physician’s work. Make your pens carefully; you may whittle nibs to your individual taste.
- Each nurse on duty will report every day at 7 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m., except for the Sabbath, on which day you will be off from 12 noon to 2 p.m. WOW! WHAT HOURS! (and I’ve heard lots of people complain about 8 to 5 jobs!)
- Graduate nurses in good standing with the director of nurses will be given an evening off each for courting purposes or two evenings a week if you go regularly to church.
- Each nurse should lay aside from each payday a goodly sum of her earnings for her benefits during her declining years so that she will not become a burden. For example, if you earn $30 a month, you should set aside $15.
- Any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or frequents dance halls will give the director of nurses good reason to suspect her work, intentions and integrity.
- The nurse who performs her labors and serves her patients and doctors faithfully and without fault for a period of five years will be given an increase in pay by the hospital administration of five cents a day, providing there are not hospital debts that are outstanding.
WOW! Aren’t you glad you weren’t a nurse in 1887?! Talk about work. They worked and worked hard.
PROP.- Since this is Labor Day weekend I want to consider a number of Biblical thoughts on the subject of work.
I. THE COMMAND TO WORK
Exodus 20:9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work.”
ILL.- One time a preacher was preaching about the importance of work. He told the congregation that they should praise God for the opportunity of working for their daily bread.
“But the Lord has seen to it,” he said, “that you don’t have to work every day. Because of Moses you have Saturday off, and thanks to Jesus you have Sunday off. ISN’T THAT WONDERFUL?”
“Sure is,” said a voice from a rear pew. He said, “FIVE MORE JEWISH BOYS LIKE THAT AND WE’D NEVER HAVE TO WORK AGAIN.”
Again God said “Six days you shall labor and do all your work.”
Ugh! Six days we have to work! Most people don’t work six days a week. Most people work five days a week and would like to make it even less. Many people are thrilled to have this three-day weekend off.
Why would God command us to work six days a week? Probably for several reasons. One reason why God wants us to work is because He is a worker!
Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Gen. 2:2 “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing...”
Ps. 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
John 5:17 Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, an working.”
God worked when He created the heavens and the earth, but He didn’t stop there! He has been working throughout all of history! He is still at work even though we may not be aware of some of His work.
He is at work doing “behind the scenes” things as well as out in the open. BUT ONE THING IS CLEAR: GOD IS A WORKER AND HE WANTS US TO WORK!
I know that as a father I have always wanted my kids to do some things like me: Like work, live the Christian life, etc. I never cared that they took up running like I did, or bass fishing, etc., but I sure wanted them to learn to work for a living.
God is our Heavenly Father and He wants us to learn to imitate Him in life because He does everything right! He does good things and work is one of them. WORK IS GOOD FOR US ALL. It’s an indication that we’re becoming just like our Heavenly Father.
God also wants us to work because it is just plain good for us. Work benefits us in many ways. Work is a healthy thing to do. It exercises both the body and the brain.
ILL.- It was said that Preacher John Wesley was a small man, weighing only 120 lbs, but he was a tireless worker. He lived to be 90 years. Samuel Johnson said of him, “He is never at leisure.” At the age of 73 Wesley said that he felt better and stronger than at the age of 23. COULD IT BE THAT WORK HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT? It’s highly possible.
Most people don’t die from hard work or from being overworked. They die from doing nothing.
I think that most of us would agree that we all feel a lot better after we have mowed the yard or worked in the garden or gone for a walk or rode a bike or gone to Curves, etc! PHYSICAL LABOR IS GOOD FOR THE HUMAN BODY! Work is good for the body!
Work also benefits us spiritually. How could that be?
Luke 11:24-26 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there...”
Do you get the picture? Jesus is saying that a clean but empty house is a wide open invitation for evil to set up house. Or I could put it this way: WHEN YOU DO NOTHING YOU ARE GOING TO GET INTO TROUBLE!
Idle hands and idle minds are a devil’s workshop.
ILL.- Some years ago, many hives of bees were brought from a cold climate to the tropical island of Barbados. Right away the bees went to work, gathering honey for the winter which their instinct taught them to expect. The winter didn’t come, however, and the bees became lazy. They stopped working. They stopped gathering honey. Instead, they spent their time flying around and stinging people.
When people don’t work, they sting other people. They get into trouble. They get into all kinds of trouble. WORK KEEPS US OUT OF TROUBLE.
Six days shalt thou labor. Work is good for everyone. So go to work! It’ll make a better man out of you! And it will make a better woman out of you too!
II. THE AMBITION OF WORK
ILL.- A professor George Palmer of Harvard once told about a boy lying in bed very late in the morning when his mother called him on the phone. She said, “Aren’t you ashamed to be lying in bed so late in the morning?” The boy replied, “Yes, mom, I am ashamed, BUT I WOULD RATHER BE ASHAMED THAN GET UP!”
Some people have little or no ambition at all in life.
Prov. 10:4-5 “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.”
ILL.- I’ll never forget preaching a sermon about hard work on Labor Day weekend at one church where I served and one man walked out and said, “I liked that sermon about hard work. I think I’ll go home and do some more work.” AND HE MEANT IT!
It seemed as though he couldn’t get enough of work. It was nothing for him to work every day of the week even though God said, “Six days shall you labor.” He would often go home after church and go to work. Instead of relaxing, taking it easy, watching a ball game, or going to a ball game, HE WOULD GO WORK AT SOMETHING!
Of course, he liked his work. He had been raised on a farm and he lived on a farm. He loved working with his livestock, but that’s not all he did.
He was also a contractor, a builder of houses or homes. He built houses for people. He had built the parsonage that I was living in at that time. And it was a very good house. HE KNEW HIS BUSINESS.
That man was always working at something. If he wasn’t building a house, he was working with his livestock or building a fence, etc. HE WAS AMBITIOUS!
I Thess. 4:11 “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and TO WORK WITH YOUR HANDS...”
ILL.- A businessman said to his wife, “Three days ago I hired a young man to work in the office. He does his work very well and has a very positive attitude. Whenever he finishes a job, he comes to me and says, ‘I’ve done what you’ve asked me to do. What else do you want me to do?’”
He said, “Yesterday, I gave him something to do and later he came to me and said, ‘What’s next?’ He is the only person I’ve ever hired who was willing to do more than I asked of him. THAT YOUNG MAN WILL MAKE HIS MARK IN THE WORLD!”
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How ambitious are you?
- Do you go to work every day?
- Do you work every day even though you are retired?
- Do you do more than is expected of you?
- Do you do the best job you can?
- Do you gladly do what you are asked to do?
- Do you work overtime when asked?
ILL.- Back in June of 1999, Eddie Stankey died at the age of 83. Time Magazine carried his obituary. It seems that in his day, Stankey (nicknamed “the brat”) had been a “pugnacious pennant-winning 2nd basemen for such championship teams as the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Braves and the New York Giants.
The general manager of the Dodgers, Branch Rickey, once commented: “He can’t run, he can’t hit and he can’t throw, but if there’s a way to beat the other team, he’ll find it.”
THAT’S AMBITION AND WE NEED TO GET IT IN REGARD TO LIFE AND WORK!
III. THE BEST OF WORK
ILL.- Mike and Will were chatting about their teenagers one day. “What’s your boy going to do for a living?” asked Will. “I’m going to encourage him to be a lawyer,” said Mike. “He is always putting his nose into other people’s business, so he might as well get paid for it.”
What’s the best job in the world? The best of work? Being a lawyer? A doctor? A preacher?
ILL. - BEST PAYING JOBS IN AMERICA
Average Annual Earnings
1. Dentists $110,160
2. Physicians $102,020
3. Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers $91,750
4. Podiatrists $79,530
5. Lawyers $78,170
6. Engineering, Natural Science, and Computer and Information Systems Managers $75,320
7. Petroleum Engineers $74,260
8. Physicists and Astronomers $73,240
9. Nuclear Engineers $71,310
10. Optometrists $68,480
These jobs may be the best-paying jobs in America, but what are the best jobs? The best job can be anything if you want it to be.
ILL.- Mark Twain is reported to have said, “Work is not a concrete thing; it is a mental attitude. Nothing is either work or play, but thinking makes it so.”
ILL.- Someone said, “You use the same muscles to play golf as you do the mow the lawn. You use the same brain power to play a game as you do to conduct business. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE MENTAL ATTITUDE.”
Apparently, the key to enjoying our work more is in our thinking. If we think of our work as being work, it will be work. It will be tiring and draining. But if we think of our work as play, it will become more like play; much more enjoyable, much more beneficial to us and others.
And if we think of our work as being the best job in the world, it may well be! It’s all in the mind!
ILL.- Consider Gary Edwards’ profession of truck driving, for example. He may well have the best job in the world. The best work in the world. Gary drives anywhere from 4,000 miles to 6,000 miles a week traveling to Westfield, MASS.
Look at the pluses:
- He is his own boss, except when Brenda goes with him. AND THAT’S EVERY WEEK!
- On his 4,000 mile trips he leaves on Monday afternoon and after the two trips out and back he is home by early Friday morning. That means he’s off work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And Monday morning. What a job? A three-day weekend every weekend!
- Gary also gets to eat at the best restaurants on the road.
Everybody knows that truckers know where the best eating places are! Just look for the trucks and there you will find good food!
- Gary’s truck also rides better than a Cadillac or a Lincoln. It’s a Volvo! And it has things in it that a Caddy doesn’t have: 2 beds, a dining room, a frig and freezer, microwave, 19” TV (dish TV), and a potty. (and a shower and a hair dryer) Just kidding!
- Gary can also dress anyway he wants at his job. Casual or otherwise. And the casual, the better.
- Gary also gets to spend more time in prayer while doing his work than any person I know. WHAT A PLUS FOR A CHRISTIAN WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE!
For Gary, his job is great! It may well be the best job in the world!
WHAT’S YOUR IDEAL JOB? Great hours? Great pay? Easy work? Home every night? Every weekend off?
GUESS WHAT? Some of you already have the best job in the world and you don’t even know it!
I Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
THERE IT IS! The best job in the world is serving the Lord in any form! Teaching, preaching, youth worker, ladies grouper, elder, deacon, trustee, sound technician, song leader, praise teamer, pianist, organist, singer, usher, server, waiter-on-table person, church-cleaner-upper, communion preparer, coffee maker, and several others.
Yours is a job that is never done in vain! It always pays the best dividends! It carries eternal value! It does good when nothing else does any good! It accomplishes something when nothing else does!
Your job in serving the Lord, whatever it is, should be done with great zest and zeal. You are serving the Lord! You are honoring the Lord! You are glorifying the Lord!
Rom. 12:11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
This is how we should do everything in life and especially in serving the Lord. We should do it with great fervor!
Paul said, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.” Give it your best shot! Get hopped up and hyped up! Get on your horse and go for it! You are involved in the best work in the world! And if you’re not, you need to get involved in some form!
CONCLUSION-----------------------------------------
ILL.- J. C. Penney. Most of you have shopped at one of his stores at some or another. J. C. Penney died in 1971 at the age of 95 and left a 1,660 store empire that he built without compromising the principles he had received from three generations of Baptist-preacher ancestors.
J. C. Penney didn’t drink or smoke and for many years, demanded the same from his employees. Penney said, “I believe in adherence to the Golden Rule, faith in God and the country.”
He also said, “I would rather be a known as a Christian than a merchant.” Three cheers for J. C. Penney!
Apparently, Penney thought that being a Christian was the most important thing in life. AND HE WAS RIGHT!
Col. 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.”
