Remember your first job?
Perhaps you babysat- mowed lawns-
delivered papers- worked at McDonalds- - bagged groceries- helped with chores at home. Remember the feeling of
receiving your first paycheck?
My dad began work when he was 14
at his uncles' lumber yard after school. He ended up being employed there until
he was 70 years old.. He lived out his calling of being a lumber man. He could
grade lumber, sell lumber, and advise
people in their building projects.
His calling as a lumber man was affected
by his faith. His guidelines were loving the Lord our God, following Jesus, and serving others. He tried
to do that wherever he was- in the lumber yard, at home, in our community, at
church.
You may think that pastors, missionaries, church staff have
a calling with a big “C” and everyone
else has a calling with a little “c”. Not true!
Or that some work must be more
important than other work. Each of us
have an important calling and it is lived out wherever we are. We may get paid, we may volunteer, we may do
our work at home- God's work happens everywhere.
Dave and his wife own a company
that produces gift items. Here are his thoughts:
“We no longer have a sense that
there are more significant or “spiritual vocations”... (In our business) we try
to create a place where every decision matters, where the way we negotiate
contracts matter,where the beauty of the buildings we build matters...how we
treat our partner factories, our UPS drivers, the artisans we work with, and
the team that cleans our facility every night matters; it's a reflection of our
beliefs and view of work...we determine daily , through our thoughts and
words and actions, whether we choose to
honor God through our work. And what a joy it is to sense his pleasure when we
do.” Dave CEO (from Work Matters, p.32)
I am very grateful for how my life
is sustained by the work of others. Through the ministry of mechanics, and road
construction workers, I can get where I need to go. I enjoy the fruits of the labor of farmers, and of the factory workers. Office
workers, cooks, police officers, firemen, trash collectors, computer techs,
medical staff, the list is endless : all become
part of God's plan to care for this earth and its people. All have high callings.
We were created to use our gifts
and talents in work. When we do the best that we can do, it can be an action of
love that glorifies God and blesses others.
We don't have to leave work in order to serve
God.
We can be part of God's creative
work when we also create, fix, cleanup, envision, invent.
As neighbors, we depend upon each other to do
good work. We depend upon the builder to construct a safe building, the surgeon
to perform a surgery for our benefit.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
encouraged others with these words: “If it falls to your lot to be a street
sweeper, sweep the streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare
wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the
host of Heaven and earth will have to pause and say ”Here lived a great street
sweeper who swept his job well.”
Why do we work? Obviously to pay the bills, to support our
families, to give back what we have received,
and excitingly, to partner with God.
Whom do we work for? Paul helps us understand that dimension. He writes:
“Whatever you do, work at it with
all your heart as working for the Lord and not for men”.
Our accomplishments have importance – but greater importance in God's
eyes seems to be how we did our work.
William Barclay, the British
pastor and theologian wrote : “.. We do not work for pay or for ambition or to
satisfy an earthly master; we work so that we can take every task and offer it
to Christ. All work is done for God so that ... men/ women have the things they
need for life and living. The boss must remember ... “This is God's business.
He has put me in charge of it. I am responsible to him.”
As we gather here,we worship and
honor God in this hour. The work that we do the other days of the week can also
be worship as we reflect God's image and greatness through our daily actions.
These are great thoughts about
work, but then comes Monday morning!
Reality is that work can be
stressful, demanding, boring, and a struggle.
It is not all that we wish it
could be.
We
can feel unappreciated, underpaid, underemployed ,pressured at our work,
even harassed.
Computers crash, deadlines pile
up, and people can be difficult.
But what if we looked at our work
with the hope that God is able to do
some remarkable things even in the midst of workplace challenges?
Young man could not find a job in
his field and was working as a temp. He begged in his prayers for a steady job.
In the meantime,he spent time loading trucks, sorting cans. Then he found a job putting calendars in bags
of cat food! It was loud at the plant, and he quickly grew tired of the
routine. Bag after bag of cat food on the assembly line! He was bored and
discouraged. One day he decided that he could pray as he worked. He prayed for
the pet owners, and all the cats (stray ones and cats that had families) who
would eat the food. He prayed for the others guys on the line filling the bags,
and the ones loading the trucks. His days at work grew into days of
intercession.
His tasks continued to be monotonous
but he felt that he was doing something worthwhile.
He said “Life is never without an
undesirable, difficult chore to be done. Whenever that happens, I pray, and I
realize that all work is really God's work.”
I hope that you also pray about your work: your decisions,
conflicts, possibilities, and about doing your best.
Our attitude is crucial. Whether
we are washing dishes, changing the oil in the car, studying for an exam, or
leading a board meeting, we are doing our daily work and it is significant to
God. Your work has a bearing on God's kingdom. As we serve others, God works
with us and will empower us to be part of his plan that could change this
world.
In the mid- 1990's there came out
a film entitled Mr. Holland's Opus .It becomes the study of a man's
entire work life . As a young musician, Mr. Holland wanted to compose and direct world class music in
prominent concert halls. But first, he began a career in teaching public school
music and that lasted for 30 years. At the end of his career, he lost his
position through budget cuts, and so he was going to retire. He was downhearted
about how his life had turned out and what he actually had accomplished.
Had his life made a difference? On
his last day at school, his many former students gathered to give a
surprise concert and play the original composition that he had worked
on (behind the scenes) for so many
years. That concert was their loving
tribute for his years of being faithful
to his high calling.
Yes, it's a movie and few of us
will have an auditorium of people
thanking us for our constant work.
We will not have affirmation of
that magnitude.
And yet, our work has always been
noticed and has been cherished in God's eyes.
In the last month I read an obituary of a
person in the local paper.
Included were these words:
“Wherever she lived and worked, she served others.”
I hope that this will be said
about me, and I think that you would want it said of you also.
Daily, through our work , we live and care as Jesus would. We accept the
importance of what we do each day.
On this Labor Day weekend, thank you for your sweat, your tireless work,
your commitment. Thank you for your persistence. Thank you for adding to this
world, and easing the burdens of others. Thank you for using your gifts. Thank
you for accepting your high calling!!
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