090517 More Than A Job 01 Work Is Worship

Sermon 1 of 3 in a series "More Than a Job" presented at Palm Desert Church of Christ on May 17, 2009 by Dale Wells

5. The Office just ended its fifth
season
•Glimpse into the cubicles of Dunder-Mifflin
paper company in Scranton, PA
•Mockumentary – part sitcom, part exposé
•At times the characters look into the
camera & share their thoughts & feelings
about their job or their co-workers

6. The Office explores & exposes
today’s corporate environment
•Office politics, downsizing, inefficiency,
sexual harassment, lame team-building
exercises, office romances & turf wars
•Not an easy show to watch
•Awkward, infuriating & inappropriate
•Tells how people feel about their work
•Don’t have to work in an office to
recognize the characters

7. We know what it’s like to …
•Have an incompetent, demeaning boss
•Jockey for position
•Face impossible deadlines
•Sit through boring meetings
•Deal with difficult people
•Be bored or stressed out by our work
•Wonder what we’re doing there

8. For many people work is absurd
•Requires them to spend hours every day
in a place they don’t want to be
•With people they don’t really like
•Doing a job they really don’t enjoy
•For a paycheck that is never really enough
•No one in The Office wants to be there,
but they keep showing up, day after day

9. Tim McGuire, Pres. of American
Society of Newspaper Editors
•“Work is brutal. Work
is a four-letter word …
The problem for most
people is that their
work transforms them
into something bad,
something bitter, and
broken.”
•Is your work turning
you into someone you
don’t want to be?

10. Others take a more fatalistic view &
say that work is simply necessary
•A consequence of
Adam & Eve’s sin
•If you enjoy work & it
pays well, great!
•Don’t expect it to be
enjoyable/rewarding
•View as old as
Aristotle (4th Century
BC) “All jobs absorb &
degrade the mind.”

11. Chances are we have all had
feelings like this about our work
•Even the best job can
get old after a while &
feel absurd or brutal
•Even we who enjoy it
dream about walking
away – winning the
lottery & retiring early
•Talk to any retiree –
they still have a full
calendar & to-do list

12. Imagine …
•Feeling good about your job every day
•Going to work with expectancy, not dread
•Ending the day satisfied & not just weary
•Imagine your work:
–Making you better, not bitter
–Deepening your faith instead of undermining it
–Making a real difference in the world
–Having an eternal impact on people’s lives
•Work done well is good!

13. Colossians 3:22-4:1 NIV
•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. (23) Whatever you do, work at it
with all your heart, as working for the Lord,
not for men, (24) since you know that you
will receive an inheritance from the Lord
as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are
serving.

14. Colossians 3:22-4:1 NIV
•(25) Anyone who does wrong will be
repaid for his wrong, and there is no
favoritism. (4:1) Masters, provide your
slaves with what is right and fair, because
you know that you also have a Master in
heaven.

16. First observation
•Paul is not condoning slavery
•Bible principles led to abolition of slavery
•He recognizes slavery as a reality
•1/3 of the Roman Empire were slaves
•Many early Christians were slaves
•It wasn’t just the wealthy that had slaves
•Even middle class had household
servants
•Some in Colossian church likely masters

17. Second observation
•Slaves in ancient world enjoyed better
working & living conditions than slaves in
modern world, but it was not an easy life
•Slaves
–Were subject to will & whim of their owners
–Had limited opportunity for advancement
–Were regarded as property rather than people
•Didn’t enjoy the comfortable working
environments that most of us enjoy today

18. Google Office Complex in New
York City
•Fully-equipped game
room – ping pong,
billiards, air hockey &
video games
•Free food all day,
including a sushi bar
•Workers encouraged
to take breaks,
socialize & invite their
friends over to play

19. There was nothing like that for
slaves in the ancient world
•Had reason to hate jobs, resent bosses,
feel demeaned, overworked & underpaid
•But Paul doesn’t say:
–“Just do your job and stay out of trouble”
–“Do everything you can to subvert the system”
–“Do minimum & save energy for church work”
•He says: “Be the best slaves you can be”

20. We’re not slaves, but there are
principles to apply to our work
•Not everyone has a boss, but all have
people to whom we are accountable
–Supervisors or foremen
–Customers or clients
–Teachers or administrators
–Attorneys, litigants, jurors & court staff
–Even family members
•Examine Paul’s words phrase-by-phrase

21. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters
in everything …”
•Not: “Obey your masters when they’re
being fair and reasonable”
•But: “Obey your masters in everything”
•Not expecting us to compromise our faith
or to break the law
•But to respect & cooperate with the people
we work with, no matter what they’re like
or what they ask of us

22. “and do it, not only when their eye
is on you and to win their favor …”
•Regardless
whether we are
being watched
•Regardless
whether we will get
credit
•The way Christians
are to work all the
time, even when
no one is watching

23. “but with sincerity of heart …”
•Our respect and cooperation aren’t simply
to be superficial, but genuine
•There’s more to work than just doing the
job we’re paid to do
•We’re to do it with a positive attitude &
industrious spirit

24. “and reverence for the Lord”
•I thought we were talking
about work, not church
•Why is Paul dragging
God into the picture?
•I thought we were talking
about earthly masters
•How do you run a copy
machine or design
software or drive a
carpool “with reverence
for the Lord?”

25. “Whatever you do …”
•That’s pretty comprehensive
•Remember, Paul was talking to slaves
•Their masters could ask them to do anything
–Work the fields
–Care for children
–Shovel manure
–Manage money or property
•Apparently there is no work that is not good,
except work that is immoral or illegal

26. “work at it with all your heart …”
•With all your heart?
•That’s the way we’re
to love God – with all
our heart & soul &
mind & strength
•Language of worship
•We’re to serve our
bosses & customers
with the intensity &
devotion with which
we serve God?

27. “as working for the Lord, not for
men”
•There he goes again!
•Paul writes as if God
is the one we’re
working for – our boss
•Ultimately, we work
for God
•Paul makes it plain in
verse 24: “It is the
Lord Christ you are
serving.”

28. It’s true even for those who are
bosses themselves:
•“Masters, provide your slaves with what is
right and fair, because you know that you
also have a Master in heaven”
•No matter what we do for work, no matter
how many people we have over us or
under us, ultimately, we work for God

30. Maybe your work seems boring,
insignificant & ridiculous
•It doesn’t matter
•Scripture is clear: “Whatever you do, work at it
with all your heart, as working for the Lord”
•All work is good when you do it to the best of
your ability, as if you were working for God
himself, because you are
•Your work matters to God
•He’s not only interested in your work, he’s
honored when you do it as service to him

31. Steve Garber, Director of the
Washington Institute
•Told of entrepreneur
opening a restaurant
•Realized he needed
to start thinking
theologically about
making hamburgers
•Came to believe there
is a way to make &
sell hamburgers that
honors God

32. Realization affected everything
about his restaurant
•What kind of beef would he serve?
•Environmental impact of kitchen & trash?
•How would menu affect customers’ health?
•Who could afford to eat in his restaurant?
•What atmosphere for customers & employees?
•How would he steward his profits?
•Came to realize that every aspect of his work
mattered to God & that it is possible to honor
God by making & selling hamburgers

33. We need to learn to think
theologically about our work
•No one in this room who doesn’t work; we all
wake up in the morning with a list of things to do
•Not used to thinking theologically about making
hamburgers, selling widgets, building houses,
crunching numbers or doing laundry
•When you do those things to the best of your
ability, as if doing them for God himself, it’s good
•It’s good for the world, good for you, good for the
gospel, and good for God

35. When you come to realize that you
work for God, it changes everything
•The Office is
dysfunctional
–Employees
de-motivated
–Inter-office
squabbling
–Awkward,
humiliating
moments

36. The reason is Michael, the boss
–Incompetent,
indecisive &
unreliable
–Hides in office
when things go bad
–Calls women “sir” &
demeans staff
–Buys self a
“World’s Best
Boss” mug

37. Have you ever had a bad boss?
•A good boss can make a lousy job satisfying & a
bad boss can make a good job miserable
•When you have a boss you respect, trust &
appreciate, you’ll do just about anything he or
she asks & you’ll do it to the best of your ability
•That’s why you need to realize that no matter
what you do, where you do it, who you do it for
or with, ultimately, you work for God
•When you understand that, your daily work
becomes an act of worship

38. No accident that Paul uses worship
language in regard to our work
•He uses phrases like, “with reverence for the
Lord” & “with all your heart”
•This teaching on daily work & relationships flows
out of a passage on worship:
–Colossians 3:16-17 NIV Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly as you teach and admonish one another
with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
(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.

39. “Whatever you do … do it all in the
name of the Lord Jesus”
•Worship isn’t just what we do on Sunday
–It’s what we do on Monday through Friday
–It’s what we do in offices, factories, studios,
classrooms, courtrooms & our own kitchens
•God is honored when we sing with all our
hearts & when we work with all our hearts
•Whatever your work looks like, you can
turn it into worship, by doing it for God

40. Some of the best worship songs
began as slave songs
•Composed as slaves
lifted voices to God
•Reminded selves &
masters that real Master
is in heaven
•Honored God & turned
plantations into
sanctuaries
•We do the same thing
when we work to the best
of our ability, as if we
work for God himself

42. We use the word “vocation” to
describe our work
•From Latin word for “calling”
•Describes one who feels called to a
particular occupation for which they are
suited – teaching, medicine or parenting
•Wonderful to be able to work at something
that you feel drawn to & equipped for
•David McCullough: “Real success is
finding your lifework in the work that you
love”

43. But it doesn’t always work out that
way, does it?
•In the first episode of
The Office, Pam tells
the camera that when
she was a little girl,
she didn’t dream of
growing up to be a
receptionist
•She’d like to illustrate
children’s books

44. We don’t always get to do the work
we dreamed of doing, do we?
•May work at a job we don’t feel called to &
have a hard time getting excited about
•Professionals come to America unable to
work in their field here & have to settle for
less satisfying work
•Many find themselves underemployed,
working at jobs that don’t utilize their skills
•Maybe for short time; maybe for long haul

45. Here’s the good news:
•If you’re a Christian, your true vocation is
found in Colossians 3:23
•It’s not just ministers who are called
•All are called to honor God by working
hard & well, as if doing it for God himself
•Because we are!

47. You don’t have to be a minister to
turn work into worship
•No matter what you do, where you do it, or
for whom you do it, you work for God
•When you do it well, it’s good
•Imagine how good it’ll feel tomorrow to …
–Wake up knowing you’ll be working for God
–Remember in the middle of the working day
that what you’re doing matters to God
–Say to God at the end of the day, “I did it for
you, Lord, to the best of my ability”