Life. work

Feeling Overworked?
Do you ever feel overworked, over-regulated, under-leisured, under-benefited? Take heart. This notice was found in the ruins of a London office building. It was dated 1852.
1. This firm has reduced the hours of work, and the clerical staff will now only have to be present between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays.
2. Clothing must be of a sober nature. The clerical staff will not disport themselves in raiment of bright colors, nor will they wear hose unless in good repair.
3. Overshoes and topcoats may not be worn in the office, but neck scarves and headwear may be worn in inclement weather.
4. A stove is provided for the benefit of the clerical staff. Coal and wood must be kept in the locker. It is recommended that each member of the clerical staff bring four pounds of coal each day during the cold weather.
5. No member of the clerical staff may leave the room without permission from the supervisor.
6. No talking is allowed during business hours.
7. The craving for tobacco, wine, or spirits is a human weakness, and as such is forbidden to all members of the clerical staff.
8. Now that the hours of business have been drastically reduced, the partaking of food is allowed between 11:30 and noon, but work will not on any account cease.
9. Members of the clerical staff will provide their own pens. A new sharpener is available on application to the supervisor.
10. The supervisor will nominate a senior clerk to be responsible for the cleanliness of the main office and the private office. All boys and juniors will report to him 40 minutes before prayers and will remain after closing hours for similar work. Brushes, brooms, scrubber, and soap are provided by the owners.
11. The owners recognize the generosity of the new labor laws, but will expect a great rise in output of work to compensate for these near Utopian conditions.
Series review
Last week we began a brand new series in the book of Ecclesiastes. We talked about the unique message of this book of the Old Testament, that if this life is all there is (life ‘under the sun’) then it is ultimately meaningless (‘vanity of vanities’). That is the introduction to the book and also its conclusion.
What Solomon does next, (Solomon is traditionally held to be the writer of the book), is he systematically brings us through the significant and practical arenas of life where we might try to find meaning or value and basically asks the question: “Is there meaning ‘under the sun’ here?” The answer is repeatedly no. He turns over every rock in searching for meaning ‘under the sun’ until he is satisfied that there is no meaning within the bounds of this life so it must be sought beyond this life, in eternity. We will be following right behind him.
Basically put, and we talked about it last week, “If there is no eternity, then life doesn’t make sense. If there is an eternity, then everything has great meaning.”
This week: work
This week we take our first look at one of the places where Solomon goes to find meaning: the workplace. We have a love/hate relationship with work, don’t we? We spend a great deal of our time there, it pays our bills, and for some people work is the place where value, purpose and meaning are sought, as if desperately grasping for some reason to live.
On the other hand, many of us don’t see any connection between spirituality and work. It is kept separate from our ‘spiritual lives.’ I have my spiritual life at church and my work life at the job. “…Never the ‘twain shall meet.”
‘Work’ in the Bible
You might be surprised to know the following:
· Of Jesus' 132 public appearances in the NT, 122 were in the marketplace.
· Of 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a workplace context.
· Of 40 divine interventions recorded in Acts, 39 were in the marketplace.
· Jesus spent his adult life as a carpenter, until age 30 when he went into a preaching ministry in the workplace.
· Jesus called 12 workplace individuals, not clergy, to build his church.
· Work is worship. The Hebrew word avodah is [the] root for the word from which we get the words work and worship. [Avodah (Ah´-voe-dah) is a Hebrew word used in the Bible that has two distinct yet intertwined meanings: worship and work.]
· Work in its different forms is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible, more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise, and singing combined.
· 54 percent of Jesus' reported teaching ministry arose out of issues posed by others in the scope of daily life.
There is something God wants to speak to us about this very practical area today.
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# History of work: Genesis 3:17-19
Let’s take a look at the early history of work.
Genesis 3:17-19 (NKJV) 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
There was actually work before this passage, but this passage marks an important change from work as it was to work as it will be from this time forward. Man had already been tending the garden and had the job of naming all the animals.
As a result of sin, three things entered the garden, changing our concept of work forever.
·
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# Toil. There was work, but not toil. This word indicates sorrow, pain, labor, struggle and hardship. It is the same word used one verse earlier when God says to Eve, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow (toil) and your conception.” And we call it ‘labor’. Toil was not always a part of work or childbirth. It came as a result of sin and the fall.
· Weeds. (Aka: “Thorns and thistles”) These are things that only serve to increase the labor and increase the pain but give nothing of value.
· Sweat. It’s going to be hard. It won’t be easy.
Here is where we began our love/hate relationship with work.
God has redemptive purposes.
There is more to this story than meets the eye. These pronouncements by God were not done out of spite or just to make things difficult for us. Work is part of God’s redemptive plan for us. He has redemptive purposes for your job. There are things happening, things being accomplished, in the unseen realm.
*** Video: “Unseen” ***
Now let’s read from Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes.
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# *** Scripture Reading: ***
Ecclesiastes 2:11-24 (NKJV) 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. 12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all. 15 So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.” 16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool! 17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. 24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
MORE THAN JUST A JOB
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# Four important things we must bring with us into the workplace:
1. Who you are is more than what you do.
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# What’s tragic is the number of people who define themselves – gaining their value and worth – from what they do for a living. For some this becomes an obsession, and it can be very destructive.
· Know your real value to God.
Work will never satisfy your search for value. Knowing your value to God will. Jesus said that even the sparrows have great value to God, and you are far more valuable than many sparrows.
King David is the most revered king in the history of Israel. Yet, he didn’t find his identity or value in being king. He never sought the job, it was appointed to it. When he could have destroyed his chief rival and got the promotion himself, he wouldn’t do it. When his son Absalom tried to take over his throne in Jerusalem, David left the king’s palace reasoning it was God Who made him king and God could make someone else king or bring him back to the palace. He wasn’t defined by his job.
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# (Say together, “Who I am is more than what I do.”)
2. How is more than what.
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# In other words, how I do what I do is more important to God than what I do. He will use the rough edges of your work – whatever you do – to sharpen the how, the decisions that show your character.
· God is developing your character.
There’s a great scene in Luke 3 that I have often thought about. John the Baptist is calling people to repentance and to baptism. He tells them to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” The people that are there ask, “What shall we do?”
Then two specific groups of people are mentioned by occupation: tax collectors and soldiers. These are probably the two most hated professions by the people at that time. The tax collectors were despised because they worked for the enemy, Rome, and they took enough from people to keep a cut for themselves. The soldiers were a Jewish militia that, among other things, provided the force to help the tax collectors collect their taxes. They were very corrupt.
Here’s the interesting thing: When the tax collectors and soldiers came to John and asked, “What shall we do?” he didn’t tell them, “Well, that’s easy. Quit your job.” That is what I would have said. Instead, he told them to do their job with character. “Don’t take more than you’re due.” “Don’t intimidate people with force.” Almost any job can be done to the glory of God.
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# How does God want to develop your character right where you are?
3. For whom is more than what.
If you look back at verses 18 & 19 of our reading today, you see one of the reasons why toil under the sun is such a burden: Because I end up working for someone else. He said he will leave the result of his diligent work to someone else—someone who may not even deserve it.
Do you feel this way? Is your job a drain because you don’t like who you’re working for? Then you need to change employers. Don’t work for people. Work for God instead.
Brother Lawrence
One of the greatest teachers on this has been Brother Lawrence, a monk who wrote the book The Practice of the Presence of God. Here are some quotes:
We ought not to grow tired of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.
The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.
We must do our business faithfully, without trouble or disquiet, recalling our mind to God mildly, and with tranquility, as often as we find it wandering from him.
The most excellent method of going to God is that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing people but purely for the love of God.
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# You are on assignment from the Lord in your workplace. You work for Him. That truth alone, if we really understand it, can revolutionize the way we approach our work.
· Lay up treasures in heaven.
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# Work for Him and not only will your efforts go to Someone who is genuinely worthy, but He also pays well. And He pays in eternal currency.
4. Enjoy your labor.
Girl will be tired when she grows up
A photographer was snapping pictures of first graders at an elementary school, making small talk to put his subjects at ease. "What are you going to be when you grow up?" he asked one little girl. "Tired," she said.
That was one smart little girl, but is that really all we have to look forward to out of our jobs, being tired? Let’s look at the last two verses in today’s reading:
Ecclesiastes 2:23-24 (NKJV) 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. 24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
God wants you to enjoy your work. He made you with particular giftings and talents so that you can get joy out of what you do – whether it is a job that you get paid for or not. Work is hard, and frustrating at times, but should still be a source of joy. The lack of joy may indicate that your perspective needs to be changed. Enjoy what you do by doing what you enjoy.
Conclusion
You cannot, by your performance, gain meaning in life. Only Jesus can give you meaning and significance. Once that has happened, He can transform your everyday work and activity into something of which heaven will take note.