Sermon (September 2) By Pastor Cheryl Foulk - "Work: Faith Lived Out"

 

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!!