September 5, 2004

Faith@work.org

Key Scripture: Ephesians 6:5-9

Supportive Scriptures: 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter 2:18-22; Colossians 3:22-4:1

Background Information:

Since my brother Merritt has been doing a doctoral program on the inter-relationships of faith and work, I asked him to set a background for the message for this week based on those studies. The paragraphs that follow are from him.

“Being faithful as God’s person at work means that as followers of Jesus we continue to unpack what God initiated in creation. That is, much of the world remains to be discovered. We still are working out the details of much of what God packed into our world, which is in one sense a great big workshop, laboratory, office, classroom. To the extent that we partner with him, we are fulfilling the cultural mandate to manage and multiply (Those are business terms.). The Genesis narrative strongly implies that we are to (1) steward the resources of creation and (2) multiply them (Genesis 1:28). To know that one partners with God in fulfilling his creative purposes is what gives the believer purpose and meaning. Non-believers may engage in the same work, but for them it is all a “chasing of the wind” (Proverbs).

“The follower of Jesus takes his/her “toolkit” into that workshop. The toolkit contains not only innate talents and abilities, but special enablings of the Spirit (spiritual gifts). Our goal is to learn to unite our natural talents and abilities (our skill set) with our Spirit gifts in one integrated toolkit so that what we do on Sunday connects seamlessly with what we do on Monday. The Hebrews used the same word for work and worship, “avodah” (David Miller, Avodah Institute). So for the follower of Christ, our work, done to the glory of God, is worship, and our worship is our work. The key concept is an ever-increasing “seamlessness” from the pulpit to the pew to the pavement.

“When we say that faith matters at work (Faith Matters @ Work), we do not mean that one must buttonhole the office staff with an aggressive Four Spiritual Laws presentation, although one must be sensitive at work to opportunities for sharing a reason for the hope that lies within. Nor does it mean that we make our office cubicle into a shrine, although we don’t need to keep our workspace spiritually neutral. But we mean that we do things on the job that we know Jesus would do if he were working there instead of us. It also means, that when I’m tempted to take ethical short-cuts, the WWJD mantra isn’t all that bad. To live for Christ on the job means that I will be on time, that I will not back-stab, that I will show respect to my superiors, that I show kindness to the scorned, that I seek to advance others, that I work with diligence, that I do not steal the office paper clips, that I find every opportunity to work for justice, that I seek for ways to transform working conditions, AND, that I see myself as partnering with God in unpacking one little piece of his infinitely majestic, wonderful, mystery-filled creation. He doesn’t do it without me; and I can’t do it without Him.” (Rev. Merritt J. Nielson) THE SERMON

Introduction

It sounds like a poster in an employment agency. All kinds of trades are represented in Scripture.

Jesus was a carpenter like His father Joseph (Mark 6:3)
Paul, Aquila, & Priscilla were tentmakers (Acts 18:1-3)
Luke was a Physician (Colossians 4:14)
Matthew was a I.R.S. agent (Matthew 10:3)
Andrew, John, James, and Peter were professional fishermen (Matthew 4:18)
Moses was a shepherd (Exodus 3:1)
Amos was a farmer (Amos 7:14)
Asaph was a musician (I Chronicles 6:31-39)
Lydia was textile merchant (Acts 16:14)
Dorcas was seamstress (Acts 9:36ff)
Erastus was the city director of public works (Romans 16:23)
Zenus was a lawyer (Titus 3:13)
Bezelel was a construction contractor (Exodus 31:1-5)
Zachariah was a Priest (Luke 1:5)
Cornelius was a career officer in the military (Acts 10:1)

The ordinary lives of ordinary people in ordinary time are very much about work. Scripture makes it clear that God takes our work seriously, expects us to provide for our own needs if at all possible, uses people from all kinds of occupations, and that God Himself works. (Gen. 2:2)

A Christmas song entitled, “When God Almighty” (by Hewlitt and Maynard) celebrates the fact that the Birth of Christ required the bringing together of many trades and occupations – census takers, kings, shepherds, inn-keepers, etc. God uses them all.

The Body

1. The Gospel Defines our Theology of Work.

While this morning we will not try to develop a formal or extensive Theology of Work, we should at least understand that the Bible has much to say about the subject.

Genesis says that the Creation was God at work. And on the Sabbath He rested.
It tells us that “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden
to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15, NIV)

And when the Creative Word became flesh -- He labored as a carpenter.
The first persons angels told of His birth were shepherds.
Jesus told stories about farmers and construction workers.
He used laymen to divide the labor of the early church
He sent out a tentmaker as the world’s greatest missionary.
Proverbs tells us that “all hard work brings a profit.” (Proverbs 14:23, NIV)
Jesus said that workers deserve their wages (Lk 10:7).
Paul tells us that we should find honest work (Eph 4:28),
should work hard and cheerfully as if for God ( (Colossians 3:23),
and that those unwilling to work should not expect to eat. (2 Thess. 3:10)
And the list could go on.

In light of these concepts, a Christian approach to work includes at least the following concepts.
It means we respect ALL kinds of work that are not dishonoring to God.
It means we respect the work that others do.
It means we are willing to work, and not just for money but for the fulfillment of it.
It means all work should be done to the glory of God.
It means that we understand the “Dignity of Labor”.
It means that we do our best to supply our own needs.
It means that we work together; the one who sows, or waters, or reaps.
It means that we view our own work as part of our God-given, Spirit-assisted
ministry to the world – done as a means of living out what we believe –
done as an act of worship.

As the writer of Ecclesiastes said:
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
Ecclesiastes 9:10, NIV

2. The Gospel Describes Our Relationships at Work

In today’s text Paul speaks clearly of the employer-employee relationships. While we might be tempted to skip over this passage because it refers to slavery, it can properly be interpreted as God’s expectation for our own work relationships.

First Paul speaks of the responsibilities of employees. Let’s hear what he says substituting modern relationships.
Employees, obey your employers 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 employees 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 employee or employer.”
Ephesians 6:5-8, NIV

Paul describes their responsibilities with words like: obedience, respect & fear, sincerity, hard work (even when unsupervised), enthusiasm, wholeheartedness - -working as if they were serving the Lord Himself. And all the employers would say, “AMEN!”

Then Paul really turns the world upside down. Paul says that employers should treat employees the same way!
And employers, treat your employees in the same way.
Do not threaten them,
since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven,
and there is no favoritism with him.
Ephesians 6:9, NIV.

No threats. Doing what is right and fair (Col.4:1). Being equally accountable before God. In such a world, there would be a radical change in the corruption and antagonism that plague much of the relationships of the ordinary work-a-day world of our society. And that would surely please God!

All of this goes back to the concept of mutual submission that Paul introduces in chapter 4:21. In such a world, demanding our rights is replaced by the principle of fulfilling our responsibilities. In fact, the whole New Testament is flooded with that principle. And it is expressed here in ways that would revolutionize our work relationships as much as it began to transform the institution of slavery in New Testament times. (see Philemon)

Even if nobody else changed at all, do you think that the atmosphere around your work place would be different if you focused on fulfilling your responsibilities rather than demanding your rights? If you are tempted to say that such a relationship is impossible, remember that Paul wrote these words to slaves and masters -- a situation in which this principle would be even more revolutionary than it is in our free society. Even at work, the Christian way of living is not to demand my rights, but to fulfill my responsibilities. (For more on this topic, see Appendix A.)

3. The Gospel Affirms the Equality of Work

But in this text, Paul picks up on another of his recurring themes. This work relationship is based on the fact that we all serve the same Master and he has no favorites. There are two ways that Paul approaches this issue.
First, he declares that God does not tolerate discrimination based on any of our usual patterns of applying it.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 NO Ethnic discrimination
NO Social discrimination
NO Gender discrimination
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. Romans 1:14
NO Intellectual discrimination
Rich and poor have this in common:
The LORD is the Maker of them all. Proverbs 22:2
NO Economic discrimination
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6
NO Religious discrimination
(See words of Jesus, Titus, and 1st John -- re: young and old) NO Age discrimination

In such a world there is no place for the kind of hostile divisions we build between employers and employees – between those who work primarily with their hands or with their minds – between those who are paid much or little – between those who are male or female.

Secondly, Paul makes a similar emphasis when he talks about the body. Every part of the physical body is needed and must function efficiently if the body is to be whole and healthy. In our church work, we are bound by this principle and value every part. We could read much of 1 Corinthians 12, but let us at least pick up the reading at verse 21.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!”
And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honour.
And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
while our presentable parts need no special treatment.
But God has combined the members of the body
and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
so that there should be no division in the body,
but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;
if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:21-27, NIV

That is true of the body of Christ. But that ought to be true at work also. For at work we are also supposed to live out the values of the Kingdom of Christ. And at work, we have the opportunity to impact the secular world with the values and attitudes of the Kingdom of God.

The Conclusion

This is a week we honor all who work with might or mind, in the home or the workplace, for a salary or not. It is a week we all are challenged to to join our work and worship – to do all our work to the glory of God and by the values of His Kingdom.

So, whether your primary tool is a plow, or a hammer,
or an artist’s brush, or your voice,
or your pen or your mind –
whether your work is mostly manual or mostly mental --
Work should be a sacrament
performed with dignity
given to the Lord.

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:2, NIV

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17, NIV

Possible Songs:
SL # 482 I Give All to You
SL # 531 Because I Have Been given Much
SL # 282 We’ll Work ‘Till Jesus Comes
SL # 100 When Morning Gilds the Sky
SL # 720 God of Grace and God of Glory
He Who Began a Good Work in You
My Hands Belong to You Lord (MCB)---------------
An Appropriate Poem
(Christ) cancels the curse of Eden
and brings (us) a blessing instead.
Blessed are they that labor,
for Jesus partakes of their bread,
He puts His hand to their burdens,
He enters their homes at night.
Who does his best shall have as his guest
the Master of life and light.
This is the Gospel of labor,
ring it, ye bells of the kirk!
The Lord of Love comes down from above
to live with the folks who work.
This is the rose that He planted,
here in the thorn-cursed soil:
Heaven is blessed with perfect rest,
but the blessing of earth is toil.
-- Henry van Dyke