Colossians 3:22-25: Why Work?

Why Bother Working? Colossians 3:22-25

Introduction

If I asked you which company had the most offices in the United States, what would you say?  Walgreens has 6,300. McDonalds has about 13,000. Starbucks has about 12,000. But KOG Enterprises has over 320,000 branches in the United States alone, with thousands being opened each year using a proven franchise model. Started by a Father and Son team in Asia, KOG falls squarely in the service sector, focusing on lifestyle modification and community development. Privately held, the finances for the latest calendar year are not available, but anecdotal evidence suggests KOG runs on low margins, high associate satisfaction and excellent long-term benefits. KOG’s mission statement is clear and unequivocal: world domination. What is KOG’s strategy? With intensive training, the local offices send associates to intern in other local businesses, in positions ranging from janitors, secretaries, nurses, students, engineers and CEOs, to infiltrate and eventually get them to sell out to KOG. Their CEO summarized their mission statement as follows: “Go and make associates world-wide, integrate them into the KOG family and train them like I trained you.”

One day, every knee will bow and every tongue agree that Jesus is the hand-picked boss of the Kingdom Of God, to the glory of his Father. Amen.

We don’t normally think of the kingdom of God like this, like a business.  In our minds, they are two separate categories.  We say, “There is my spiritual life stuff, the private stuff, like family and church and Bible studies and quiet times. Then there is my real life stuff, like work and business and commute.” We put them in different groups. But God doesn’t. He wants to take over your business, your office and your campus. But hostile takeovers aren’t his style.

That’s why Jesus talks so much about owners and bosses and managers and workers. In fact, the word “Lord” in the Bible didn’t usually refer to God. In fact, it usually meant something closer “boss” or “master” or, in some cases, “owner”. In the world of the Bible, it was as much a business term as it was a spiritual term.

And, as the kingdom of God (KOG) continued to grow, in different towns and cities, the relationship between a person’s spiritual life—the way they behaved at church--and the way that they behaved at work had to be dealt with. For example, look at this passage from Colossians 3:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 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. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. – Colossians 3:22-25

Before we go any further, we need to talk about that first word: slave. Was Paul a supporter of slavery? No. In fact, Paul’s ideas were the very ideas that broke down the basis for slavery, saying that “In Christ, there is neither slave nor free” (Gal. 3:28). In the book of Philemon (1:1, 7, 16), he calls both the slave owner and the slave “brothers” saying that both owe the same debt to God. And, generally, people who are working today are not slaves. We may feel like wage slaves, but in Paul’s day slaves were equivalent to property. In the Roman Empire, 20% to 30% of the population was slaves. And they could be bought, sold, killed, just like furniture or chickens. Farmers, miners, household workers, tutors, gladiators, professors, accountants—they filled nearly every possible job sector niche. And it is important to understand that in this passage, as in others in the Bible, Paul is not writing to them concerning their attitude about slavery, but concerning their attitude about work. In many cases, their conditions were worse than ours and therefore, any guidance given to them about their work would be the minimum that God would expect from us, whose conditions are comparatively much better.

In fact, many of the complaints about bosses were similar to what we would say today:

1. Their boss would treat them badly.
2. Their bosses didn’t recognize their hard work.
3. Their bosses were stingy toward them, even when they were making big bucks.

And what was the reaction of the workers?

1. Complaining.
2. Kissing-up
3. Stealing.
4. Slacking off.

So, what do you do when your life is beginning to look like source material for Dilbert?

Here are four things to remember:

1. God Is Your Boss.
2. God’s Business Is Life Changing
3. God Does Performance Reviews
4. Your Job Is As Important As Every Other Job

God Is Your Boss

How many of you have seen The Office?

At the fictional company of Dunder-Mifflin, the office is dysfunctional, the employees are demotivated, inter-office squabbling, jockeying for position and titles, awkward moments. Why? The reason, is Michael, the boss. He's awful. He's incompetent. He's indecisive. He makes promises he can't keep. He hides in his office when things are going poorly. He calls women, "sir," he demeans his employees, and he buys himself a mug that says "World's Best Boss." It's hard to watch the show without wanting to strangle him, or to run out of the room screaming! The Office is the way it is because of the boss.[1]

In fact there is a whole movie, Horrible Bosses, talking about how people want to kill their managers.

But God has a different perspective:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men – vs. 23a

God is the one who hires you and fires you and transfers you to another position. Not your boss.

No matter what you do, where you do it, who you do it with or for, ultimately, you work for God. When you understand that, then the things you do everyday become acts of worship. Worship from Monday through Saturday has a name, and it isn’t music or sermons or prayer: it is work. Paul uses the language of worship: with all your heart, with reverence for the Lord, to describe our work.

Your job is one way that God infiltrates the world, transforming it by his presence in his people

Don’t be surprised if God says that your job is to make someone like Michael from the Office--the complete idiot or godless person--look good. The Bible is full of examples of amazingly talented people, strong believers in God, under the authority of someone who couldn’t care about God.

Daniel served the king of Babylon who liked to have people worship a statue of himself.  Joseph served the Pharoah of Egypt. One of Jesus’ supporters was the wife of Herod’s house manager. Esther was wife of the most powerful man in the world, but couldn’t even visit him at work. But, in each case, God uses us in 2^nd place.

…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant – Matthew 20:26

And that includes servant to some pretty undeserving people. As far as career advancement goes, this is not the usual path we see in most businesses today. But God clearly says that if you want to climb his KOG corporate ladder, you have to work at making other people look good, by serving them.

This past week, we had an all-hands meeting at which there were a number of performance awards: Above the Call, Innovation, Teamwork, etc. But the highest level of recognition was the CEO’s award. At the end of time we hope to hear the CEO of the universe say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." What get’s our CEO (God’s) attention is a servant attitude?

God’s Business Is Life Changing

(for you and for your boss)

Who you are is more important than what you do. Why? Because dead fish will eventually stink, no matter the perfume.  If who you are stinks, eventually your life will stink. But if you are a beautiful person inside, it will eventually show on the outside.

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:45

Every child knows it is better not to judge a Christmas present by the wrapper.  That’s what we like to do, because we assume that it promises what we want.

So God’s plan is centered on changing who we are inside, because God knows that the eventual result will be a changed whole person. This is not just for people out “there” it is also for us right here:

Pastor Kent Crockett tells a story:

When I first enrolled in seminary, I made an appointment to talk to the dean of men to see if I could get a room in the dormitory. When I walked into his office, the first thing he asked was, "Are you applying for the janitor's job?" "No," I said. "I'm here to see if any rooms are available in the dorm."

"I'm sorry, the dormitory is full. We’ll put you on the waiting list. But if you know anyone who wants a job as janitor, please send him to see me."

I told him that I wasn't interested and thanked him for his time. When I left his office and walked outside, I prayed, Lord, please provide a room for me. God stopped me on the sidewalk and spoke to my heart, "Go take the job."

Take the job? I prayed for a room, not a job. But I knew in my heart I needed to obey. Immediately I did an about-face, walked into the dean's office, and said, "I'll take that janitor’s job." He hired me on the spot.

At first, I had to battle my pride. I thought about how over-qualified I was—I had a college degree and was working on my Master's. I was given a seminary janitor's shirt and a little pushcart stocked with soap, gloves, toilet paper, toilet bowl cleaner, and a brush. Every day I pushed that cart down the hallway, cleaned toilets, scrubbed showers, and emptied trashcans.

It wasn’t long before I discovered that cleaning those bathrooms in the men's dorm was part of my spiritual education. I learned to do those jobs that no one else wanted. As I cleaned those toilets every day, I made a surprising discovery. God spoke to my heart more clearly than I had ever heard Him before. I meditated on Scriptures as I worked, and God gave me insights into his Word. I then realized that cleaning toilets was part of my training for ministry. If I wasn't willing to serve God as a custodian, how could He trust me with other responsibilities?

I spent my entire three years in seminary cleaning toilets and attending classes. I'm convinced that half of what I learned in seminary was in the classrooms and the other half was in the bathrooms. I also learned to respect and thank janitors for the work they perform. God used that job to teach me that in whatever tasks He calls me to do in life, I am actually serving Him. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, pp. 144-145)

So the first person God changes you in your job is you. 

And then, through you, God changes your co-workers and your boss. Look at what the Bible says:

but to show that they [slaves] can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. – Titus 2:10b

The way you work sets up the word of God to succeed in your office. Your life plows the office harvest so that when God speaks, their heart is ready.

God Does Performance Reviews

(for you and your boss!)

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. – vs. 25

…since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. – vs. 23

If you are serving God, you aren't worried about office politics. You aren’t kissing up to your earthly boss, you’re not worried about what other people are saying, you are just doing your job because you want the job to succeed for God's glory.

Recently I met a man, Cid, who works on a cruise ship. In that closed environment, the relationships between the different parts of the crew are very important because of the closed environment. And he told me that there are two things that break up unity faster than anything else: putting down your co-workers and kissing up to the boss. 

Your Job Is As Important As Every Other Job

It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Colossians 3:24

What do you call someone who serves? A servant. According to this verse, what do you call someone who flips burgers? What do you call the CEO of a company? What do you call a mom at home? What do you call a work-at home engineer? A servant.

Where ever you are, whatever your job, whoever your boss and no matter how much is your salary, you are a servant. And, if you are a servant of Christ Jesus while you are doing that, you are doing what God wants just as much as a pastor or a missionary. And if God doesn’t want you there, he’ll fire you and move you to do something else.  If he keeps you where you are, it means he has ministry for you to do there. Ministry that your pastor cannot do. Ministry that a missionary cannot do. Ministry that only you can do.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle…  – Romans 1:1

Notice Paul is a servant, just like you and me and then he is called to be an apostle. I am Tim, a servant, and I am called to be a computer programmer, to create beautiful code, like God creates beautiful things, to make him famous in my office, and bring people closer to him. In Exodus, there are two men listed where it says the Spirit of God gave them the talents that they used first, for their job and then, for the building of the tabernacle.

This is an area where I am still growing. But I know what I should be growing towards.

Conclusion

Maybe you have treated your job like a necessary evil.  But it isn’t: it is the place of necessary ministry. Jesus, when asked he why he was with all of the unbelievers, he told them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) God has placed you, his servant, right in the middle of the place where he wants to expand the kingdom of God.

Here are 4 things you can do to bring God into your work place.

1. Pray. Not just prayers of salvation. Think about your brother, or your sister, or your nieces and nephews. How would you  pray for them? How would you pray for their job? Their family? Because everyone there is a potential brother and sister to you, through Christ. I remember distinctly when I was working in San Jose that one of my co-workers, Jan, found out she had breast cancer and she was told to round up a group of supporters during her time of need, especially since she was older and lived alone: she asked me to pray for her.
2. Involve. Find a way to be involved. If you care about someone, you are involved in their life, and they are part of theirs. Two of my co-workers, one from Japan and one from Taiwan, needed to work with me, but we don’t have an office here, so they worked with me in my house. It so happened that one of them was here when it was Helen’s birthday and I surprised her with a limousine ride. He came along to dinner with us in the limo. Last time I was at another office, my friend invited me to hear his daughter’s piano recital. I was delighted that he would invite me so close to his family. Sometimes we are so busy that we think: do I have time or energy to do that? Let me challenge you: there is room for at least 1 more.
3. Invite. A natural extension of being involved is to invite them to visit your home, and your church. We hope that FCC is a place where, when a visitor comes in, they feel welcome by the people and challenged by God to take the next step.  Maybe its for a special event, like our Christmas service next week. When people asked you “what did you do this weekend?” do you reply with “Oh, nothing!” Really? Is that what church is to you: nothing.
4. Share. The Bible says to be always ready to give the reason for the hope that is within you. Friends, your schools, your groups of friends, your offices, are full of people who need that hope; who are drowning without that hope of rescue. Jesus died to rescue them, we can share that hope.

 

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[1] Bryan Wilkerson, The Job, Sermon

John 13:36 - 14:6: Going Home

[This sermon was first preached at the memorial service for Les Henry on 10 December 2011]
Going Home

John 13:36 – 14:6

Introduction

Psalm 139 ends with a plea by the writer, “Search me, God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Anxious thoughts. When confronting the graduating class of Stanford University in 2005, Steve Jobs zeroed in on the discomfort we feel about the subject of death:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.[1]

Death brings about inevitable change over which no person has control. That lack of control brings anxious thoughts. We wonder if we should have lived life better. We second-guess our many choices in life. We wonder if there is anything after death and, if so, what it looks like. I mean, after I die, am I going to wake up in IKEA? I read an article recently in the Wall Street Journal where some people are just a bit too comfortable in the “home-like” environments inside the super store. One woman was sitting in an expensive recliner, watching a movie on her phone while child jumped on the bed and another man curled up under the covers. On Wednesdays, free coffee day, up to 500 senior citizens gather together to look for friendship and even romance.[2]

Good friends, comfortable place, someone else cleaning the toilets and free coffee. But really, IKEA knows something: we instinctively long for home: a place where we belong, a place of beauty, a place where we are accepted, a place of rest from our weary life. That longing for home is something that was built into us by God. But no IKEA can fulfill what only God can give.
That restlessness is a sign that you are spiritually alive; a sort of holy discontent; a yearning for something or someplace or someone that cannot be satisfied in the here and now. Even very spriritual people feel this. The Bible, after listing some of the greatest examples of faith ever, says: 

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. – Hebrews 11:13 

We were designed for heaven. So how do we get there?

The Death of Good Intentions (13:36-38)

Well, that is the subject of one of the most spectacular failures recorded in the whole Bible. Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends, took a spiritual nose dive at one of the most critical points in Jesus’ life. Why? Why did that happen? Because he thought that his good intentions were enough to get him a spot in heaven, next to Jesus. 

During the final week of Jesus’ life, Jesus began dishing out hints that Jerusalem wasn’t going to be the party that they imagined it would be—that Jesus’ enemies were already orchestrating the events that would lead to his death. We pick up the story at the end of the book of John, chapter 13, where it says:  

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! - John 13:36-38

Peter was determined to stay close to Jesus, no matter what. Peter was determined to go where Jesus went, no matter what. But Jesus promised failure. This was the death of good intentions. Peter wanted to be close to God. Peter wanted to go with Jesus. And I believe he really meant it, at that moment, that he was willing to die for Jesus. But when push came to shove, he didn’t. When questioned by a few servants, he didn’t admit he even knew Jesus or even that he came from the same part of the country. No matter how good his intentions, his will power was not enough.

When it comes to being close to God, or going to heaven, our will power is not enough. Real life contradicts our good intentions. The very things we say we believe—even the standards that we set up for ourselves about how we will live our lives, not even taking into account what God thinks—we can’t do it consistently. Just like Peter.

That means we will fail. That’s why, in the very next verse, in the face of the failure of Peter, Jesus brings these words of comfort, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Why? Because the plan of God can encompass even our failures.

The Architect of Your Future (14:1-4)

Les knows the answer to a question. What is past death? What is on the other side? We don’t know. Perhaps there is nothing. Perhaps our consciousness just fades away into the darkness. Just like Jesus’ original audience, we view with skepticism anyone who claims advanced knowledge of the post-mortem. But one claimed to have personal knowledge of the place beyond death.

Jesus has the audacity to claim that he knows the answer and, even more than that, he architected the solution. He said:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. – John 14:1-3

There is a heaven. Heaven is home. Jesus draws upon the language of a first century marriage where a young man, after becoming engaged to his beloved, would set off back home where he would build the home for the future couple. But these homes were not stand-alone little bungalows. Rather it was common practice that the groom would extend the house of his father to accomodate the future married couple. And when that was complete and everything was ready, he would return to claim his bride and take her home to be with him.

That is what Jesus promises. In spite of our failures. In spite even of our betrayals. Jesus can overcome even our failures and our lies and bring us past death into eternal life.

The Way (14:5-6)

I fly a lot, often red-eye flights; often several hours. Generally I try to sleep on those flights as much as I can. Now, I have a friend who is a pilot for major airline. I travel a lot and often asked him where he was flying. One time, he asked my wife, “Why does he keep asking where I am flying? Does he want a tour of the cockpit or something?” When my wife told me this, I said, “No, I just like to know who is flying the plane.” If I’m going to sleep, I want to know that when I wake up, I’ll be in the right place. And since I can’t actually control where I’m going, I’d like to know that the pilot is someone I can trust.

Continuing his conversation with Peter and his other friends, Jesus said:

“You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:4-6

Not only does Jesus set himself up as the architect of his followers’ future, he also describes himself as the pathway, the road to get there. In other places, he describes himself as the gate, or the narrow road. But here he is the way or the path. And he clearly states that he is the only path.

You might call me narrow minded. But look carefully at whether these are my words or Jesus' own.

Because some of us mistake the way to heaven as some sort of method; a ritual; a 12 step program for the eschatologically-challenged. We want it to be a method or a program so that we can control our own destiny. But that avoids the clear point that Jesus is making to his friends. The pathway is not a plan or a procedure, but it is a person. You don’t go to heaven by passing the test, but by trusting the right person.

Let me give you another example:

The other night I was at the dinner table with some work friends. Come to find out they are all golfers. So they started swapping stories, talking about caddies and courses and clubs. I am not a golfer. The best I can say, when they ask, is that my brother is a golfer and that I can fall asleep watching golf on television.

But, no matter how many friends I have who are golfers, no matter how much I watch it on television, until I get out there on the course and play the game, I am not a golfer. The title golfer comes from personal experience. The same is true of Jesus Christ. No matter how many friends I have who follow Jesus, no matter how much I watch them, unless I meet Jesus for myself and have the personal experience, I cannot consider myself a Christ-ian. And that personal relationship with the person is the path past death into eternal life.

Conclusion

In that same speech at Stanford, Steve Jobs, said:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked.

For those of you who know Jesus: What if we lived like we will live forever? What if the things we do now could have eternal significance? Are there things you are wasting your time with, because they are so temporary? Are you the kind of person you want to live forever with? Les was known as a merciful man. Eddy told me that God taught her so much about love by watching the way that Les was caring and merciful to others. One time, they were at the doctor's office and there was a woman there with a terrible cough. Eddye told me she is a germophobe. But this woman had no way to get home so, as was his character, Les offered her a ride home and Eddye endured the germ-laden woman all the way to her home. But in watching Les, she learned about the love of Jesus, who was willing to reach out to the sick, the hurting and the dying and love them.

Or, maybe you have never taken Jesus seriously. Ok. Let me tell you: take death seriously. And if you take death seriously, you need to consider whether there is something past death, some sort of life. Maybe there is nothing after death. But will you bet your eternity on that? Maybe Jesus died for nothing, went on a futile trip to the cross for your sins. But will you take the risk? What if you’re wrong? Or maybe he went through death, paid for what you did wrong, so that he could bring you through death to the other side. That is the audacious claim of Jesus. I believe he is listening now, if you want to tell him. Tell him you have a tough time believing. Tell him you’ve done stuff that would get you kicked out of heaven. Tell him that you want to live forever. Ask him to show himself to you in such a powerful, undeniable way, that your life will be changed. Ask him to carry you past death into eternal life. That is the courageous prayer; that is the kind of prayer that God answers.

A story is told of a professor, professor Carlisle who was extremely absent-minded, always forgetting the details of life. So when the time came for his family to move to a new house, his long-suffering wife began to prepare him early. “Now honey, in three weeks, we’re going to move. And when we move, you won’t take bus A, you’ll take bus B.” Then again the next week: “Honey, in two weeks, we’re going to our new house. And when you get done from work, you won’t get on bus A, you’ll get on bus B.” Finally the big day arrived, “Honey, today is the day. Don’t get on bus A. Get on bus B.” But, of course, being unreliable in these matters, professor Carlisle finished work and promptly caught bus A. Upon reaching his old neighborhood, though, he realized his mistake, got on bus A going the other way, and caught bus B. After he got off the bus, he realized to his dismay that he didn’t know which place was his. Wandering up and down the streets, it was getting dark when he saw a little girl. “Little girl, do you know the way to the Carlisle house.” The little girl grabbed his hand and said, “Come on, daddy, I’ll take you home.”

Death is not the end. It is a change of residence. But we will never make it home by ourselves, we need someone to save us from our own lostness and guide us. Jesus is that someone.

[1] Steve Jobs, Commencement Address, Stanford University, 2005 as cited on http://www.christianpost.com/news/remarkable-thoughts-on-death-from-steve-jobs-57468 (retrieved 4 December 2011)

[2] In China, IKEA Is a Swede Place for Senior Romance, Relaxation: Free Coffee, Empty Beds Set Intimate Tone; Retailer Struggles to Police the Unruly, Laurie Burkitt, Wall Street Journal A-1,December 1, 2001, retrieved December 3, 2001, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203503204577037991554068290.html

[3] Steve Jobs, Ibid.

The Larger, More Disturbing, More Urgent Jesus

Currently, I am reading "Simply Jesus" by N.T. Wright. I have always been challenged by his writing, both as a scholar and as a pastor. In the introduction to his book, he challenges followers of Jesus like this:

"It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety, the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience, and Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark, tale." (Simply Jesus, p. 5)

Why do we have such small expectations of God in our world and in our life? N.T. continues claims that we have the same issue as those 1st century listeners:

You see, the reason Jesus wasn't the sort of king people wanted in his own day is...that he was the true king, but they had become used to the ordinary, second-rate sort. (p. 5)

 It challenges me to think: Which part of "broken" do I think God isn't interested in transforming? Not my life (only), but the lives around me.  In fact, the whole world longs for freedom from the effects of sin and decay:

creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.  - Romans 8:21

So I wonder what sort of second-rate thinking and expectations I have for the God of the infinite imagination. This week I am wondering how that applies to my thinking about the churches I am actively a part of.