Welcome!

 

 

“Theology of Work”

Genesis 3:17

First Baptist Church – Holiday Island

September 5, 2021

 

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

 

INTRODUCTION:

This weekend, we celebrate Labor Day.

         A holiday set aside for recognizing and celebrating

                 the work and contributions of laborers

                          who built this great country,

                                  and fuel our economy.

 

Down through the years,

         it has evolved into a long weekend

                 spent doing things with the family.

 

At the center of the meaning of Labor Day is work.

 

It may seem a little odd

         to talk about “work” in a room filled with retired people.

                 For most of us is it just another day.

 

After all, our work is finished.

         We have reached out “Golden Years”

                 and we can now pursue all those things we couldn’t

                          because we had to work.

 

But . . . are we really finished working?

         I guess that depends on WHO you think you are working for.

 

DEFINITION OF “WORK”:

The most common definition of work is

         work is something you do

                 so you can afford to do what you want to do.

 

We spend most of our adult life engaged in some form of work.

         It is how we afford the necessities of life:

                 food, shelter, clothing.

 

         It is how we afford the luxuries in life:

                 televisions, cars and trucks, vacations.

 

When we meet someone,

         one of the first things we ask is: “What do you do?”

                 Or “What did you do before you retired?

 

I am always challenged when I have to fill out a form

         that asks: Are you employed?

                 Well . . . yes and no.

 

Even our obituaries often list

         what we accomplished through our work;

                 the work we spent our lifetime toiling at.

 

Because “work” not only occupies so much of our time,

         but is at the very center of what we do,

                 we must take great care

                          not to allow our “work” to become our “god.”

 

The writer of Hebrews warned the people:

         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.” Hebrews 13:5

When we enslave ourselves to our work,

         when we put our work ahead of everything else,

                  we are in danger of worshipping work

                          instead of God.

 

So, now that most of us are retired,

         we wake up every morning

                 full of energy and ambition

                          and looking for ways we can serve the Lord today.

 

Right?

 

More likely,

         we wake up in the morning and wonder

                 which doctor’s appointment do I have today.

 

Or we wake up,

         take one look at our to-do list . . .

                 . . . you know, the one you keep adding to

                          but never seem to subtract from . . .

                                  and we wonder how we are going to make it.

 

This morning, we are going to take a close look

         at how God looks at work.

 

The Bible is clear about how God thinks we should balance

         our work schedule and our rest periods.

 

We are to work – creatively work – for six days

         and rest and reflect on the 7^th day.

 

 

 

Without a good balance between rest and work –

         - usually pursuing more toys –

                  - we allow our lives to become unbalanced.

 

We end up overworked;

         stressed out, tired, grumpy,

                 and resenting the whole thing.

 

And I can tell you for certain,

         this is NOT what God intended for us.

 

It is true that we were created to work.

In Genesis 1:26-28 we were called to:

         “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and                               over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,                                and over all the wild animals of the earth, and                            over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

 

Only God can create something out of nothing,

         but God called us to make something out of something.

                 What J.R.R Tolkien called “sub-creators.”

 

We can take wood and build a barn,

         we can take metal and make knives and forks,

                 we can take clay and make pottery.

                          But it all starts with something already created.

 

Let me quickly add,

         work is NOT a result of the Fall . . .

                 . . . it is, however, made harder because of the Fall.

 

God said to Adam in Genesis 3:17: Because of your sin -

         “Cursed is the ground because of you;    through painful toil you     will eat food from it   all the days of your life.”

 

TITHING OUR TIME:

Now that we are retired,

         we have more control over how we budget our time.

                 It may not seem like it, but we do.

 

We have choices how we will use our time –

         - in service to God

         - in service to others

         - napping

         - goofing off

         - fishing

 

What God is calling us to do

         is to balance how we use our time.

 

What if I told you that God expects you to tithe your time?

         That would mean that in a 16 hour day –

                 - you should devote 1½ hours to God.

 

Hold onto that thought.

 

God expected Adam and Eve to turn all of creation

         into a showcase that would reflect the glory,

                 beauty and majesty of God.

 

And then, through their work, to be good stewards of it all.

         To use their resources – both physical and emotional -

                 to create for the glory of God.

 

And through disobedience,

         everything took a hard left turn.

 

Because of the Fall, God ordained work to become hard.

         Since the fall, our work is done with sweat and toil.

What was originally meant to do things which glorify God

         has led us to selfishness, competition and greed.

 

And it opened the door for Satan

         to tempt us away from God and God’s intention for us.

 

Satan tells us we are too tired to spend 1½ hours a day serving God.

         We have more important things to get done.

                

Satan has us believe that’s too much time!

         Time needed to finish our projects.

 

We are like a poor soul running across a bowl of oatmeal –

         - as long as we keep moving we’ll be OK;

                 but if we slow down – we are sunk.

 

And we are left to try to find balance

         between the good of work and the bad of work.

 

Let me give you a working plan to tithe you time.

 

1½ hours a day for 6 days = 9 hours.

 

If you spend  ½ hour each day on your Sunday School lesson,

         that’s 3 hours spent.

 

If you spend 5 minutes in prayer 3 times a day –

         - at meal time, bedtime, whatever –

                 - that’s another 1½ hours.

 

If you attend Church and Sunday School each week

         that’s an other 3 hours.

 

If you come to Wednesday evening Bible study

         that’s another 1½ hours.

If my math is correct,

         then you have spent 9 hours serving God.

 

That’s where we should begin!

         That’s the bare minimum.

 

God expects more from us.

 

THEOLOGY OF WORK:

Through us, God wants to renew creation.

 

When God redeems us in Christ,

         He doesn’t just change our eternal destiny.

                 He changes our whole outlook on life,

                          our entire basis for living.

 

Redemption becomes the filter through which we see the world.       Redemption becomes the driving force behind what we do.

 

And it is through us,

         that God’s redemption is extended into the world around us.

 

So, redemption in Christ must also transform our view of work.

 

No longer is work a necessary evil; now it is a calling.

         Work has great spiritual significance

                 because it is a chance for God to be glorified.

 

1 Corinthians 10:13

         “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for       the glory of God.”

 

 

 

 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

            ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has      come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from      God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us       the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the   world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against          them. And he has committed to us the message of          reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as        though God were making his appeal through us. We implore    you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become         the righteousness of God.

In fact, we are an important means of expressing that redemption.

            ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were         making his appeal through us. 

 

When God redeems us,

         He not only saves us from sin,

                 but He saves us to the original purpose

                          for which we were created.

 

We are to worship and enjoy God,

         displaying His glory throughout the world

                 as we steward the creation in righteousness and justice.

 

The great universal purpose of God begins here —

         His glory is to be displayed among all nations

                 through His people where they live and work.

 

Therefore, work is not just for our individual satisfaction –

         - a paycheck and personal fulfillment –

                 but contributes to the greater well-being of God’s world.

 

And that is not done just behind a pulpit.

         Nor only done by those who are still active in the workforce.

 

There is God-ordained work for everyone in this room –

         - retired or not – physically able or not.

 

The theology of work reminds us

         that life is an integrated whole;

                 that all of life is sacred:

                          the home, neighborhood, the church

                                  and the workplace.

 

All of these are sacred fields of ministry

         in which we love and serve others.

 

God has called us in this life

         to display the glory of God

                  and the supremacy of Christ.

                          In everything.

                                  Everything.

 

Too often we see work as a means to an end.

         We are putting up with work for what it gets us.

 

Oh, God may be glorified in the end,

         but He is neglected in the means.

 

God may be honored in the results of our work,

         but He is not supreme in our view of work itself.

                 God is not the object of our work –

                          - nor is He glorified by our work.

 

Which brings us to an important question:

          “How should all this change what I do tomorrow?”

 

First of all,

         that is not a question for me to answer.

                 That’s between you and God.

 

So, it begins with prayer.

         And it requires you to listen to what God is saying.

                 That means spending time in prayer

                          and practicing listening.

 

Then, whatever it is God is calling you to do

         do your absolute best.

                 Be the best you can be at whatever you do.

 

Philippians 2:14-15

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.

 

1 Corinthians 10:31

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

 

Colossians 3:17

17 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.

 

PURPOSE OF REST (SABBATH):

The final thing to learn about work

         is that rest is a deeply spiritual thing.

                 And God intends it to be a regular part

                          of the weekly rhythm of our lives.

 

 

Remember that immediately after humanity was created,

         God rested from His work

                 and eventually commanded His people

                           to observe the Sabbath.

 

Both time we read the 10- commandments,

         we are told to “remember the Sabbath.”

 

The first time, Exodus 20:2-17 –

         - we are reminded that God rested on the Sabbath Day.

           

The Sabbath is connected to God’s creation.

         we are instructed to remember God the Creator.

 

The second time, Deuteronomy 5:6-17,

         we are told to use the Sabbath Day to remember

                 that God delivered us out of captivity.

 

CONCLUSION:

How does all of this apply to a room full of retired people?

 

Simply this:

         God created us to be His companions.

                 God created us out of love and wishes for us to love God.

 

When we sinned,

         we shattered that relationship.

                 Again, out of love, God sent His Son to redeem us.

 

Our salvation is in Jesus Christ and nowhere else.

         Not in our work, not in our accomplishments,

                 not in our good deeds, not in our compassion.

 

 

 

Knowing – really knowing – how much we are loved by God,

         our response should be to do everything we can

                 to honor God.

 

We do that by working towards being good stewards

         of all that God has given us.

 

May God bless us as we strive to worship and honor God.

 

 

PRAYER:

         Loving Father, on this weekend, as we celebrate a time of rest from labor, we recognize and confess that we have not always honored You through our work. There are times when our work has been selfish and self-centered. There are times when we resented our work and those we work for and work with. We have hoarded the bounty of our work and squandered it on worldly things.

         We thank you, Lord, for the gift and opportunity of work; may our efforts always be pure of heart, for the good of others and the glory of Your name.

         We thank you for those who serve us in so many ways: in the marketplace, in the factories and offices, on farms, in the home. For those who protect us and stand in harm’s way for us. May their efforts be blessed and rewarded.