“How To Bring Sunday And Monday Together”
Senior Pastor Rich Nathan asked us yesterday “How many of you wake up on Monday morning and say ‘Thank God it’s Monday !’ ‘I can’t wait to get to work’ ” ? Only those few who are ‘professional ice cream testers’ or ‘ video game testers’ LOL ! Rich stated that most of us who are Christians wake up, put on a pot of coffee, do our devotions, pray, get ready for work and ‘leave Jesus at the door – see you when I get home tonight Jesus’. He state that for those of us who do take Jesus to work that we are in the minority.
The history behind this ‘separation’ started hundred’s of years ago where God or religion was separated from all other aspects of life – the two were never intertwined. There were those who lived the ‘perfect way of life’ such as priests, nuns, and monks, and those who lived the ‘permitted way of life’ such as farmers, laborers, tradesman, and the common man.
According to Rich, the first part of the solution is to ‘Recover the Biblical Message Behind Work’ which contains three aspects of work:
Old Testament – God is a worker. John 5:17 ‘Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." ‘ and Exodus 34:21 ‘Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
Jewish – “Work was life” We are made to be workers and must improve the world around us.
New Testament – Proverbs 22:29 ‘Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men. ‘ and Paul’s warning against not working from 2 Thessalonians 3:10 ‘For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Rich was careful to point out that this does not apply to those of us who are truly seeking employment but cannot find a job.
The second part of the solution is to ‘Recover An Understanding of Vocation’ . The real meaning for the word ‘vocation’, Rich stated, is ‘God’s work through our human work’. The implications of work, according to Rich, are two fold:
Work is a way to respond to God’s call – ‘Am I an instrument of God at work’ ?
Work is a way to love and serve our neighbor
The Hebrew word for work is ‘avod’ and that comes from the word ‘avodah’ which translates to worship – pretty neat huh ?
A personal reflection on this outstanding message:
My parents were the best examples of work and how they enjoyed their jobs (a art teacher & a nurse) for the most part day in and day out. They did not leave Jesus at the door when they left for work – it was evidenced by both of their positive attitude about work, willingness to help others, and I do believe at times they had fun. And having them for examples I have carried Jesus into my jobs – getting a simple thing right at work I would say to myself ‘ Praise The Lord’ or ‘Thank you Jesus’. People knew more from my actions than from the scriptures on my desk that I was a follower of Jesus Christ. At times I faced persecution in one form or another because of my faith– it was during those times that I knew I was truly drawing close to God.
My prayer is that my children have seen this and will do so when they are working – and I can say that I have already seen that in both Will and Victoria. And that others can see that and do so as well.
God is moving in my efforts to secure employment and I eagerly awaiting my new ‘vocation’
So when you go to work don’t leave Jesus at the curb – he didn’t leave you at the cross !
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