Work
0 Amens
Welcome- Tina
Call to worship Song- Dan
Kids Story-
Song- Dan
Today we start a series of weeks in which we'll be focusing each of our discussions on a different word. Some I came up with, some were suggested by you on the forum... we'll do this until Easter, after which we'll start moving through the book of 1st Corinthians.
To start this morning, if you'd look on the back of the announcement sheets- there are a couple of questions I'd love if you'd take a minute or two to answer... I'll give you some time...
So, today we talk about work. And I know some of you are thinking that you think enough about work and the last thing you want to think about on the weekend, at church, is work…
Quick poll- how many of you love what you are doing right now? Whether it's a job, or school, or staying at home with kids- whatever the work of your life is right now- how many of you would say you LOVE it? Okay- How many of you would say you HATE it? How many have more of a love/hate relationship with your work?
Okay- but let’s be clear. No matter how much you hate your job, it could always be worse, right? I mean, at least none of you are… this guy. Or…
(pictures)
Why do we work? What do you think? I mean, there are probably some obvious reasons and some not so obvious ones... what do you think they are?
As we start this morning, we want to be careful from the beginning. We talk about work from a very privileged place- there are literally billions of people on this planet who don’t have what we have, and that’s the luxury of being able to complain. Many people on this planet will take any work they can get, no matter how awful or dehumanizing, just to feed their families. So let’s remember that. But also, let’s remember- work isn’t just what you get paid for- My wife often reminds me that the work of caring for our home and children is just as hard and just as stressful and the hours longer than many, many jobs…
I want to suggest a couple of things today as to why we work, and how the way that we think about why we work and think about the work we do can make a huge difference for us.
First, we work because it's a fundamental part of who we are as humans.
Now, those of you who view work as a necessary evil might not want to hear this, but we don’t work just because we have to… we work, because it’s part of the character of God and so, for humans created in His image, it becomes a part of who we are as well-
Look at the very first verse in the Bible- I’m sure some of you got to memorize this in Sunday School… VS Gen 1:1
This is the very first thing we see God doing in the Scriptures. It’s the first picture we ever get of God. The question is, How did God view was He was doing here? Was this a hobby? A little side venture? Look at Gen 2:2. It says this-
VSGEN 2:2
God worked. From the beginning God has worked and His work didn’t end with creation. He’s been at work ever since in redeeming us and that creation from the brokenness that we introduced. And I want to suggest, as people made in the image of God, we work because it’s a part of who we are. We work because it’s what we were made to do from the beginning…Look at
VS Gen 2:15-17
Now, we go into some of the reasons why this tree was there and what the purpose of this command was in our On-Ramp Theology Pub, so rather than try to deal with here, I’ll just give that plug- But notice- from the beginning, we had work to do. And our work was to care for and maintain God’s creation.
So, if we're made to work why do so many of us hate our jobs?? Not surprisingly, the answer to that is found in Genesis too ☺
VS Gen 3:17-19
A couple things to note- first- God does not curse Adam and Eve. He says the ground is cursed. The result of sin is that everything gets harder.
We're made to work... I feel amazingly good when I can go home feeling like "I got a lot of things done today”- when I feel productive. And I feel that way because it taps into a primary purpose for my existence. But some days- it seems like everything is fighting me. That everything I put my hand to frustrates me. It takes longer, it comes out crappier, it costs me more in time and energy than it feels like it should… it’s just hard.
Why do we have such love/hate relationships with our work? Right here.
Work itself is not a curse. It's not. The fact that it’s so hard, takes so much out of you, yields so little for your effort and never seems to be done- that's a part of the curse. Work itself is good. Work feeds us, both metaphorically and literally. But the environment in which we work, whether it’s at home with kids or out in the job market- that environment is broken and on this side of Jesus putting everything back together again- it will never satisfy like it should.
Homer (that’s the Greek Poet Homer, not Homer Simpson) said: “The gods hated humans so much, they invented work as punishment.”
Somehow, we’ve come to see work itself as punishment- something created as a response to sin and the Fall. But the truth is, we worship a God who works. A God who worked in creation, and has continued to work in the world in redeeming us. And we were made to be like Him.
But now- because of the brokenness of this world, instead of working to protect the beauty, order, and goodness of God’s creation we work just to put food on the table, just to exist. Instead of cooperating with God to rule over creation, now creation rules us. It resists us and fights us. And our work is painful and hard and frustrating and exhausting. And because a part of the brokenness in this world is a fundamental brokenness in our relationship with God we now look to things like work to provide what we should be getting from God. We tend to look to work for security, for identity, for meaning and significance. And we end up absolutely miserable because not only was work not designed to supply those things. But it can’t supply those things- at least in any way that’s not ephemeral and fleeting.
So, how should we view our work?
Take a look at Col 3:23-24: This is from the Message translation
There’s a number of amazing thoughts here-
First, because we work out of the image of God, we work FOR God. That is, if you are someone who’s following Jesus, then like Him, in everything we do, God is the one we’re trying to please. We may have to report to a boss or supervisor, but ultimately, it’s God we have to answer to. So, we do our work for the right reasons- to please God, but also in the right way. What’s the right way?
Look at VS 25
God doesn’t think much of poorly done work.
“But Bob, you don’t understand… I work at Starbucks. There’s nothing “spiritual” about my job.” Really?
When I was in college, I spent a good part of my senior year cleaning an elementary school. And I hated that job. Try cleaning around urinals used by little boys who don’t know how to aim…What I never caught was a vision for what God thought of the work I was doing and how I could think of it.
Martin Luther- whom I’ve mentioned numerous times this last Fall- made a lot of important contributions to our thinking- but one of the most important was his idea of the holiness of all work. Luther was a monk- he spent his time in study and contemplation. But eventually, one of the reasons he left that life was because his understanding of Scripture could no longer support the notion that a contemplative life was somehow spiritually superior to a life, say, cleaning floors. His idea was that this divide between “sacred” and “secular” was false- because God is the God of everything and everywhere.
Luther said that this means that God can and does use everything we do to accomplish what He’s trying to do in us- to make us more like Jesus. Whether in our play or our family time, or even in our work. God wants to use and bless and redeem everything we do!
He said that barbers ought to see themselves as bringing beauty to the world, that farmers should see themselves as creating a garden that nourishes the community. That teachers should see themselves as forming character and inquisitiveness in the next generation.
And (I’ll infer) that those who clean schools should see themselves as participating in that work- that giving children a clean environment in which to learn was, though not really a very appreciated job, a pretty important one. I wish I had gotten that then…
See- God loves clean floors. God loves beautifully pulled shots of espresso and nicely foamed cappuccinos and the deep, meaningful conversations that often take place while people drink those drinks. He likes tight, well written computer code, and artful illustrations and well-taught lessons that feed creative minds and God loves skillfully carved woodwork. In fact, God thinks so much of woodworkers, he decided to become one. There is something good in every job- something in which you can glorify God and find meaningful purpose. And if you can't find it- look harder. And if you still can't find it-quit. Don't spend another day complaining about doing something you can't do to the glory of God.
Luther said: “Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it he wants to bestow his blessing on you.”
God wants to use your work, no matter what it may be, to make you into a person of love, of joy, of peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And honestly, because work tends to pull us in the opposite direction of all those things, it’s a pretty good tool to challenge us and to bring to the forefront of our minds those things that need to be changed.
This is a big part of why God hates laziness... Read through the Proverbs some time and take note of all the warnings to “sluggards.”
Laziness says- whatever God wants to do in me through this, I’m not really interested. Whatever God wants to do for the world through my work- I’m not really interested. And so He says- work with all your heart.
But we need to be careful- God may hate laziness, but He also hates workaholism... Because of what it shows.
Minirth and Meier the psychologists have this definition of a workaholic:
“… the selfishness of the (workaholic) is much more subtle. While he is out in society saving humanity at a work pace of eighty to a hundred hours a week, he is selfishly ignoring his wife and children. He is burying his emotions and working like a computerized robot. He helps mankind partially out of love and compassion, but mostly as an unconscious compensation for his insecurity, and as a means of fulfilling both his strong need for society’s approval and his driving urge to be perfect. He is self-critical and deep within himself feels inferior. He feels like a nobody, and spends the bulk of his life working at a frantic pace to prove to himself that he is really not (as he suspects deep within) a nobody. In his own eyes, and in the eyes of society, he is the epitome of human dedication. … He becomes angry when his wife and children place demands on him. He can’t understand how they could have the nerve to call such an unselfish, dedicated servant a selfish husband and father. … In reality, his wife and children are correct, and they are suffering severely because of his subtle selfishness.”
See- too often, even when we think we’re working for the right reasons, we’re really working for the wrong ones. We work, not to participate in what God is doing in the world, and in us, but to try to replace it- to try to be our own savior and justify ourselves. God hates workaholism because it shows that really- our savior is something other than Jesus.
For those of you who lean more towards the ”love it” side of the equation: Love your work but don't be defined by it.
In other words, it's good to feel at the end of the day “I did my work well” or “I really accomplished some important things today." That's great.
Thinking "I was really important today because of what I accomplished"... not so good. And while you may never explicitly think those words to yourself, it's all too easy to let that attitude creep in slowly...
So- how do we avoid being lazy, but also avoid workaholism? How do we have a holistic life where faith, family, work, play... all intersect?
We need to compartmentalize- we just need to compartmentalize rightly- not sacred and secular- not christian and not Christian... But something else.
Let me ask you guys a question: When does your day start?
The answer to living life in balance- and this is something I’ve been trying to work on recently, is starting your day at the right time, with the right thing…
We looked at Genesis 1 earlier- look at it again:
VS Gen 1:1-3
There was evening and morning,...
Now, since most of you are not Hebrews, I can almost guarantee that something here sounds backwards... What is it??
Sunset begins the day in Hebrew mind. Why?
In Hebrew language and mind whatever is first is most important.
In the Old Testament, there’s the whole concept of “first fruits”- anyone know what that means? Yes- that we give to God the first of the harvest. Why? Why can’t we say “God- I’m going to give You yours, I’m just going to give it on the back end?” Because in the mind whatever is first is most important. The first born, the first fruits… And a Hebrew day begins with what is most important .
Listen people: From 6am to 6pm is the time for work. From 6pm to 6am is the time for relationships and for then for rest- for sitting around the table with family and friends, for eating good food and drinking good wine, for taking walks and having talks, for reading to your kids and making love to your spouse. And that is the most important time of the day because those are the most important things of the day. Because you were made to work, but you were made for relationship.
If you think of work as the first season of the day, that is what will crowd out and supplant everything else. It will tend to become most important.
But if your day really begins with relationship, if that is what is first in your heart and mind, you will scramble to finish your work so you can get home and be with the ones you love.
Interestingly enough, I think this is one thing a lot more single people get than married people. Most single people don't live to work- they work to live- the good stuff is what happens after work, out with friends. Somehow when we get married, we tend to lose that. We begin to take these people, these relationships for granted and start to find our challenges, our satisfaction in work.
You were to work, but you were made FOR relationships.
And the only way we keep it all in balance is to understand why we work, what it should be doing in our lives- and the place it should have in our lives- second place.
This year, can you view your work, whatever you find yourself doing, as a place where God is working out character and holiness and growth in you? Or maybe, a better way to put it: Since you probably have to work, can you ask God to use it- to use it to shape you, to mold you. Can you ask him to make it less important to you or more important to you, depending…
Take a minute and revisit those questions on the back of the announcement sheets…
Songs- Dan
Wrap up: Bob
Blessing:
Read MoreCall to worship Song- Dan
Kids Story-
Song- Dan
Today we start a series of weeks in which we'll be focusing each of our discussions on a different word. Some I came up with, some were suggested by you on the forum... we'll do this until Easter, after which we'll start moving through the book of 1st Corinthians.
To start this morning, if you'd look on the back of the announcement sheets- there are a couple of questions I'd love if you'd take a minute or two to answer... I'll give you some time...
So, today we talk about work. And I know some of you are thinking that you think enough about work and the last thing you want to think about on the weekend, at church, is work…
Quick poll- how many of you love what you are doing right now? Whether it's a job, or school, or staying at home with kids- whatever the work of your life is right now- how many of you would say you LOVE it? Okay- How many of you would say you HATE it? How many have more of a love/hate relationship with your work?
Okay- but let’s be clear. No matter how much you hate your job, it could always be worse, right? I mean, at least none of you are… this guy. Or…
(pictures)
Why do we work? What do you think? I mean, there are probably some obvious reasons and some not so obvious ones... what do you think they are?
As we start this morning, we want to be careful from the beginning. We talk about work from a very privileged place- there are literally billions of people on this planet who don’t have what we have, and that’s the luxury of being able to complain. Many people on this planet will take any work they can get, no matter how awful or dehumanizing, just to feed their families. So let’s remember that. But also, let’s remember- work isn’t just what you get paid for- My wife often reminds me that the work of caring for our home and children is just as hard and just as stressful and the hours longer than many, many jobs…
I want to suggest a couple of things today as to why we work, and how the way that we think about why we work and think about the work we do can make a huge difference for us.
First, we work because it's a fundamental part of who we are as humans.
Now, those of you who view work as a necessary evil might not want to hear this, but we don’t work just because we have to… we work, because it’s part of the character of God and so, for humans created in His image, it becomes a part of who we are as well-
Look at the very first verse in the Bible- I’m sure some of you got to memorize this in Sunday School… VS Gen 1:1
This is the very first thing we see God doing in the Scriptures. It’s the first picture we ever get of God. The question is, How did God view was He was doing here? Was this a hobby? A little side venture? Look at Gen 2:2. It says this-
VSGEN 2:2
God worked. From the beginning God has worked and His work didn’t end with creation. He’s been at work ever since in redeeming us and that creation from the brokenness that we introduced. And I want to suggest, as people made in the image of God, we work because it’s a part of who we are. We work because it’s what we were made to do from the beginning…Look at
VS Gen 2:15-17
Now, we go into some of the reasons why this tree was there and what the purpose of this command was in our On-Ramp Theology Pub, so rather than try to deal with here, I’ll just give that plug- But notice- from the beginning, we had work to do. And our work was to care for and maintain God’s creation.
So, if we're made to work why do so many of us hate our jobs?? Not surprisingly, the answer to that is found in Genesis too ☺
VS Gen 3:17-19
A couple things to note- first- God does not curse Adam and Eve. He says the ground is cursed. The result of sin is that everything gets harder.
We're made to work... I feel amazingly good when I can go home feeling like "I got a lot of things done today”- when I feel productive. And I feel that way because it taps into a primary purpose for my existence. But some days- it seems like everything is fighting me. That everything I put my hand to frustrates me. It takes longer, it comes out crappier, it costs me more in time and energy than it feels like it should… it’s just hard.
Why do we have such love/hate relationships with our work? Right here.
Work itself is not a curse. It's not. The fact that it’s so hard, takes so much out of you, yields so little for your effort and never seems to be done- that's a part of the curse. Work itself is good. Work feeds us, both metaphorically and literally. But the environment in which we work, whether it’s at home with kids or out in the job market- that environment is broken and on this side of Jesus putting everything back together again- it will never satisfy like it should.
Homer (that’s the Greek Poet Homer, not Homer Simpson) said: “The gods hated humans so much, they invented work as punishment.”
Somehow, we’ve come to see work itself as punishment- something created as a response to sin and the Fall. But the truth is, we worship a God who works. A God who worked in creation, and has continued to work in the world in redeeming us. And we were made to be like Him.
But now- because of the brokenness of this world, instead of working to protect the beauty, order, and goodness of God’s creation we work just to put food on the table, just to exist. Instead of cooperating with God to rule over creation, now creation rules us. It resists us and fights us. And our work is painful and hard and frustrating and exhausting. And because a part of the brokenness in this world is a fundamental brokenness in our relationship with God we now look to things like work to provide what we should be getting from God. We tend to look to work for security, for identity, for meaning and significance. And we end up absolutely miserable because not only was work not designed to supply those things. But it can’t supply those things- at least in any way that’s not ephemeral and fleeting.
So, how should we view our work?
Take a look at Col 3:23-24: This is from the Message translation
There’s a number of amazing thoughts here-
First, because we work out of the image of God, we work FOR God. That is, if you are someone who’s following Jesus, then like Him, in everything we do, God is the one we’re trying to please. We may have to report to a boss or supervisor, but ultimately, it’s God we have to answer to. So, we do our work for the right reasons- to please God, but also in the right way. What’s the right way?
Look at VS 25
God doesn’t think much of poorly done work.
“But Bob, you don’t understand… I work at Starbucks. There’s nothing “spiritual” about my job.” Really?
When I was in college, I spent a good part of my senior year cleaning an elementary school. And I hated that job. Try cleaning around urinals used by little boys who don’t know how to aim…What I never caught was a vision for what God thought of the work I was doing and how I could think of it.
Martin Luther- whom I’ve mentioned numerous times this last Fall- made a lot of important contributions to our thinking- but one of the most important was his idea of the holiness of all work. Luther was a monk- he spent his time in study and contemplation. But eventually, one of the reasons he left that life was because his understanding of Scripture could no longer support the notion that a contemplative life was somehow spiritually superior to a life, say, cleaning floors. His idea was that this divide between “sacred” and “secular” was false- because God is the God of everything and everywhere.
Luther said that this means that God can and does use everything we do to accomplish what He’s trying to do in us- to make us more like Jesus. Whether in our play or our family time, or even in our work. God wants to use and bless and redeem everything we do!
He said that barbers ought to see themselves as bringing beauty to the world, that farmers should see themselves as creating a garden that nourishes the community. That teachers should see themselves as forming character and inquisitiveness in the next generation.
And (I’ll infer) that those who clean schools should see themselves as participating in that work- that giving children a clean environment in which to learn was, though not really a very appreciated job, a pretty important one. I wish I had gotten that then…
See- God loves clean floors. God loves beautifully pulled shots of espresso and nicely foamed cappuccinos and the deep, meaningful conversations that often take place while people drink those drinks. He likes tight, well written computer code, and artful illustrations and well-taught lessons that feed creative minds and God loves skillfully carved woodwork. In fact, God thinks so much of woodworkers, he decided to become one. There is something good in every job- something in which you can glorify God and find meaningful purpose. And if you can't find it- look harder. And if you still can't find it-quit. Don't spend another day complaining about doing something you can't do to the glory of God.
Luther said: “Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it he wants to bestow his blessing on you.”
God wants to use your work, no matter what it may be, to make you into a person of love, of joy, of peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And honestly, because work tends to pull us in the opposite direction of all those things, it’s a pretty good tool to challenge us and to bring to the forefront of our minds those things that need to be changed.
This is a big part of why God hates laziness... Read through the Proverbs some time and take note of all the warnings to “sluggards.”
Laziness says- whatever God wants to do in me through this, I’m not really interested. Whatever God wants to do for the world through my work- I’m not really interested. And so He says- work with all your heart.
But we need to be careful- God may hate laziness, but He also hates workaholism... Because of what it shows.
Minirth and Meier the psychologists have this definition of a workaholic:
“… the selfishness of the (workaholic) is much more subtle. While he is out in society saving humanity at a work pace of eighty to a hundred hours a week, he is selfishly ignoring his wife and children. He is burying his emotions and working like a computerized robot. He helps mankind partially out of love and compassion, but mostly as an unconscious compensation for his insecurity, and as a means of fulfilling both his strong need for society’s approval and his driving urge to be perfect. He is self-critical and deep within himself feels inferior. He feels like a nobody, and spends the bulk of his life working at a frantic pace to prove to himself that he is really not (as he suspects deep within) a nobody. In his own eyes, and in the eyes of society, he is the epitome of human dedication. … He becomes angry when his wife and children place demands on him. He can’t understand how they could have the nerve to call such an unselfish, dedicated servant a selfish husband and father. … In reality, his wife and children are correct, and they are suffering severely because of his subtle selfishness.”
See- too often, even when we think we’re working for the right reasons, we’re really working for the wrong ones. We work, not to participate in what God is doing in the world, and in us, but to try to replace it- to try to be our own savior and justify ourselves. God hates workaholism because it shows that really- our savior is something other than Jesus.
For those of you who lean more towards the ”love it” side of the equation: Love your work but don't be defined by it.
In other words, it's good to feel at the end of the day “I did my work well” or “I really accomplished some important things today." That's great.
Thinking "I was really important today because of what I accomplished"... not so good. And while you may never explicitly think those words to yourself, it's all too easy to let that attitude creep in slowly...
So- how do we avoid being lazy, but also avoid workaholism? How do we have a holistic life where faith, family, work, play... all intersect?
We need to compartmentalize- we just need to compartmentalize rightly- not sacred and secular- not christian and not Christian... But something else.
Let me ask you guys a question: When does your day start?
The answer to living life in balance- and this is something I’ve been trying to work on recently, is starting your day at the right time, with the right thing…
We looked at Genesis 1 earlier- look at it again:
VS Gen 1:1-3
There was evening and morning,...
Now, since most of you are not Hebrews, I can almost guarantee that something here sounds backwards... What is it??
Sunset begins the day in Hebrew mind. Why?
In Hebrew language and mind whatever is first is most important.
In the Old Testament, there’s the whole concept of “first fruits”- anyone know what that means? Yes- that we give to God the first of the harvest. Why? Why can’t we say “God- I’m going to give You yours, I’m just going to give it on the back end?” Because in the mind whatever is first is most important. The first born, the first fruits… And a Hebrew day begins with what is most important .
Listen people: From 6am to 6pm is the time for work. From 6pm to 6am is the time for relationships and for then for rest- for sitting around the table with family and friends, for eating good food and drinking good wine, for taking walks and having talks, for reading to your kids and making love to your spouse. And that is the most important time of the day because those are the most important things of the day. Because you were made to work, but you were made for relationship.
If you think of work as the first season of the day, that is what will crowd out and supplant everything else. It will tend to become most important.
But if your day really begins with relationship, if that is what is first in your heart and mind, you will scramble to finish your work so you can get home and be with the ones you love.
Interestingly enough, I think this is one thing a lot more single people get than married people. Most single people don't live to work- they work to live- the good stuff is what happens after work, out with friends. Somehow when we get married, we tend to lose that. We begin to take these people, these relationships for granted and start to find our challenges, our satisfaction in work.
You were to work, but you were made FOR relationships.
And the only way we keep it all in balance is to understand why we work, what it should be doing in our lives- and the place it should have in our lives- second place.
This year, can you view your work, whatever you find yourself doing, as a place where God is working out character and holiness and growth in you? Or maybe, a better way to put it: Since you probably have to work, can you ask God to use it- to use it to shape you, to mold you. Can you ask him to make it less important to you or more important to you, depending…
Take a minute and revisit those questions on the back of the announcement sheets…
Songs- Dan
Wrap up: Bob
Blessing:
Comments:
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