Chris McCurley: Good morning. So good to see all of you this morning. We're starting a new sermon series that I hope you will find engaging and helpful. All of life is a rhythm. And depending on the kind of life you live, you have a rhythm to your life. It may not be a godly rhythm, but that's what we're shooting for in this series, to try to shape our lives around the gospel and living in a rhythm that God would be pleased with and that God would approve of. And we start this morning with work. And over the next few weeks, we'll look at work, rest and play, then, you know, Bible study and prayer and fasting and worship and all those kinds of things to try to get a better idea of what this rhythm is that God would want from us as we live out our lives. How many of you remember Mars bars? Remember those? I think we have a slide. You remember their slogan? Do they still make Mars bars? I hadn't checked recently. But if you remember this slogan, The advertisers were really genius in that they knew that all of life was about these three things, work, rest, and play. Now, unfortunately, work overshadows the other two for most people. For most of us, work dominates the rest and the play. We would rather it be the other way around. We'd rather rest or play dominate the life that we're living, but so often that's not the case. In fact, we would settle for probably for an equal split. But again, Work tends to dominate our existence. How many of you love your work or just even kind of like your work? ⁓ Many of you. Some of you don't care for your work. Maybe you're little indifferent about your work. How many of you feel like work and prison are pretty similar? I was reading the other day a sarcastic, funny little ⁓ exercise. I don't remember who the author was, but this is what they said. In prison, you spend the majority of your time in a 10 by 10 cell. At work, you spend the majority of your time in a 10 by 10 cubicle. In prison, you get three free meals a day. At work, you get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it. In prison, you get time off for good behavior. At work, you get more work for good behavior. In prison, the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you. At work, you must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself. In prison, you can watch TV and play games. At work, you could get fired for watching TV and playing games. In prison, they allow your family and friends to visit. At work, you get in trouble if your family and friends visit. In prison, all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required. At work, you pay all of your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners. In prison, you must deal with sadistic wardens. At work, they call them managers. For some, The difference between work and prison may be very slight. Some may feel trapped at their job. Some dread going to work every day. And some regard the words of Mark Twain very highly who once said, work is a necessary evil to be avoided at all costs. Others enjoy their job. Maybe very much. They spend every waking hour at work or striving to get ahead at work. We call these workaholics. ⁓ Anything that you are passionate about is something you're going to find time for or make time for. If it's something you have a passion or ardor or zeal for, you're going to dedicate the majority of your time and attention to it. And many people are that way with their work. That's what a workaholic is. Somebody who has devoted all their time, attention to that field of endeavor. So much so that they are willing to sacrifice their marriage, that perhaps they're willing to sacrifice the raising of their kids. Their spiritual life even suffers some workaholics Work so hard so they can support the other two aspects of their life rest and play They work really hard so that they can rest really hard or they work really hard so that they can afford the toys That they want to have so that when they do have time to play they can enjoy themselves but I Want to think about this this morning? What if we approached our work differently? What if we looked at things from a godly perspective, especially when it comes to our work? What if we viewed work differently? And what if we saw our work as God's work? I want to ask you this question. Do you think that Jesus made some really quality tables and chairs? Do you think Jesus was ever tempted to look at His work and glorify Himself? Do think Jesus ever was... was building tables and chairs and just kind of settled for good enough or mediocrity. You know, we often think of Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one, as we should, but much of Jesus' life was spent as a carpenter. And how did he spend that vocation? How did he look at his work? My guess is he looked at it differently than many of us do in this day and time. Jesus worked, but God worked as well. Psalm 8 and 3 reads, when I consider your heavens the work of your fingers. The moon and the stars, which you have ordained. Psalm 139 tells us that we were intricately woven within our mother's womb, that God worked us out, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 104 verse 24 states, ⁓ Lord, how many are your works? In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions. And of course, the creation account, the Bible, opens by telling us that God worked for six days and on the seventh day, He rested. So Jesus worked, God worked, and we find numerous other passages in Scripture where God's people worked. I you remember the Jews building and rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. God's people were commissioned to work. So based on all of these examples, we can rightly say that work is good, at least in some sense. Now, some have claimed that work is bad and that it's the result of the curse. Look at Genesis chapter 3, starting at verse 17. It says, to Adam, God said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. So, work is a curse. Right? Well, not exactly. If you back up in Genesis to chapter two and verse 15, this is what you read. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. So work is not necessarily a four-letter word. Now, I think we could rightly say that work intensified after the curse. It got harder and more laborious after the curse. But before the curse, Work was a necessity. It wasn't bad. In fact, it was good because we were created to work. It's not that work is a curse, although you might feel like it at times. It's that work intensified after the fall of man. And we could say that work got harder because of sin. Like everything else that God created in the beginning, work was good. It wasn't a bad thing. But like most things that God created that were good, man can pervert them, twist them, contort them to where they're not so good. And that happened with the fall. I know many of you have jobs that you're not crazy about. Many of you have jobs that you love, that you find very rewarding and fulfilling. And we can work hard at our job to make certain that we are doing everything that is required of us so that we can earn a good living, so that we can climb the corporate ladder and earn that paycheck. We become the standard bearer for our field. But we have to remember that being a huge success in this life by building an empire of dirt is not what it's all about because someday we'll stand before our Lord and we will give an account of everything that we were and everything that we did. when He surveys our work, how will it be received? What will He think of what we have done? And is it bigger? Does it matter more than what we're doing right now? These are the questions that I want us to think about this morning. You know, Genesis chapter 11, we have a very interesting episode. So God's people are down to Noah and his descendants. And after the flood, they are given the same commission that Adam and Eve were given, which is to go out, be fruitful and multiply, scatter over all the earth. But Noah's descendants had a different plan. They decided that they were going to stick together and they come to a plane in Shinar and they decide they're going to build a tower. this huge massive tower that reaches high up into heaven. And so they have this idea of building a tower so that generations to come will laud them and praise them and think that they were great. They're building a tower, but they're really building a legacy. This massive structure is going to far outlive them and everybody's going to be so proud of these tower builders. But in all their proud exertion, they never once stopped to consider that maybe all this tower building business was a bad idea. Notice what it says in Genesis 11 and 2. It says, come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And then in verse three and following, it says that they used brick for stone and they used tar for mortar. And they said, come let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven. And notice the reason for this grandiose endeavor. And let us make for ourselves a name. By building something great, they were going to make a name for themselves. They were the tower builders. And future generations would certainly be impressed with their efforts. But they never considered that the one that they should be trying to impress wasn't impressed at all. In fact, God did not sign off on this endeavor. While they were going to build this magnificent tower into heaven, God in heaven was not abused. And these people became self-absorbed, they became self-centered, they became self-sufficient, and united in a proud attempt to grab destiny into their own hands and to seize the reins of history through man-centered efforts. There was no limit to their unrestrained rebellion. And realizing that the only thing they could do in greatness was sin, God had to intervene. And so he does what they refuse to do, he scatters them. so that they cannot be united in this godless effort. Their building plans are thwarted all because they were trying to make a great name on their own. And if you keep reading in Genesis, you go from 11 to 12 and you find the contradiction to the logic of Babel, you find Abraham and you find this dichotomy, which we see over and over again in scripture, contrast after contrast. And Abraham is contrasted to the tower builders. Because Abraham wasn't trying to make a great name for himself. He wanted to let God make his name great. There's a big difference, right? By the way, do you remember the names of any of those people who built that tower or tried to build that tower? No. Yeah, for good reason. Right? The logic of Babel says, I am what I do. I'm to build a great name for myself. The logic of Babel says, I am in control here. I'm in charge. I'm the boss and I'm the one that's going to build a great legacy for myself. You know when we when we live to work, then all of our life revolves around our work. And work becomes an idol. And we're willing to sacrifice just about anything to worship this idol. I am what I do becomes our mantra. Somebody asked what do you do? Why my teacher? I'm a I'm a coach. I'm an associate. I'm a businessman or businesswoman. But you're not. That's what you do. That's not who you are. When we work to live, we're merely doing the job to get the things that we want. We're using our work to support a lifestyle or an identity. And this is typical of those who are working for the weekend or working for retirement or working for the next vacation. When you work to live, then work becomes an avenue to get more stuff. But both working to live and living to work are rooted in false identities. and they breed things like self-promotion and self-importance. In other words, I become the centerpiece. I mean, that's what happened to those workers in Shinar. They were in the center of all of it. I mean, listen to what they said. I'm going to build, we're going to build a great name for ourselves. We're going to build this wonderful legacy. We're going to build this magnificent tower reaching high into heaven. And it's all about we or I. It's all about what I'm going to do and the legacy that I'm going to build and what I'm going to leave behind. The logic of Babel is built on self. Rebellious man undertook a united, godless endeavor to establish himself as world-renowned, and God had to intervene because God wasn't involved in their work. And that was the biggest problem. They didn't include God in their planning. There was a purpose to what they were doing, and it wasn't a godly purpose, and therefore their work was in vain. And I think it's time for us to take a lesson from the logic of Babel. and apply it to our lives today. How can we make our work more God-centered and God-approved? I want you to notice what Paul writes in Colossians 3, 22 through 24. Buzz read it a moment ago, let's read it again. Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, Do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." And I realize that these words are in the context of the slave master relationship, but I still think there are some valuable principles here that transcend time. And I think the main thing that we can glean from this passage is the phrase, whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than. from men. Hartley there in the Greek is from the root, cardia, which is we get cardiology and our words for the heart. But heart or cardia in the original language stood for the seat of a person's emotions and affections. It was also their moral center. It can represent mental and moral activity. It can be vigor and zeal and willingness. And in Colossians 3.23, Hartley is combined with SOUCASE. And SOUCAE or SOUCASE is preceded by the word ECH. And so it's ECH SOUCASE which means out of the soul. So in other words, we could read this, let your work come from the heart and the soul. In other words, don't just do your bare minimum. Do your best. Work for the real master because he's your boss. Make him proud as you work hard. And it makes you ask the question, why does our work matter to God? Why does our work matter to God? Does He appreciate clean floors? Is He so OCD that He can't stand it when you leave a streak on the windows that you're washing? Is He so proud of you when you measure once and cut that board perfectly? Is that what we're talking about here? Is that what this is about? And I don't think so. I don't think that's the perspective that God looks at our work. I think Paul's words here are an extension. of what he's already been talking about. Imagine that. You take chapter 3 in context of the whole letter. And if you back up in chapters 1 and 2, you see what Paul is getting at when we come to chapter 3. I think what Paul is talking about over and over in this book is who God is, what Jesus has done, and who we are now in Christ. Notice who Jesus is. Let's read verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church, and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross through him, say, whether things on earth or things in heaven." So who is Jesus? Well, Colossians 1, 15 through 20 just describes him perfectly for us. Then what has Jesus done? Well, verses 13 and 14 of Colossians 1 reads like this, For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness, of sins. And then who are we now because of this? Because of who Jesus is and what he has done. Well, we are saints. That's Colossians 1 and verse 23. We are qualified to share in the inheritance. That's Colossians 1 and 12. We are reconciled as well as holy and blameless and beyond reproach. That's Colossians 1 and 22. We are alive and forgiven. Chapter 2 and verse 13. We are being renewed in the image of our Creator, Colossians 3 and 10. And we have been given a new identity and a new purpose. That's Colossians 2 and 6, as well as chapter 3 and verse 1 and chapter 3 and verse 17. So who is Jesus? What has He done? And who are we now because of this? And how should that affect our work? Our work matters to God, and because of this, God should matter to our work as well. What if our work pointed to who we believe God is, what He has done, and who we are because of that? Why work hard at your job? Just so you can draw a paycheck? Or so that you can get a promotion? So you can build for retirement? Those are all good reasons. But what if you looked at your work as a ministry? What if you worked hard so that you could make money to give away to those who are in need? What if you worked hard to be salt and light to those around you? Why work hard at school? to get a degree, right? So that you can get out and get that good job. All good reasons. But what if you looked at a profession and getting a degree to go into that profession as a way to have a ministry? To affect the lives of others. What if I looked at my job as a ministry rather than a moneymaker? Well, I work hard at parenting. So I raise good kids, right? raise good kids that are well adjusted and they go out and make a difference in the world. But what if we thought about raising our kids to be future leaders in the church? Bible class teachers, deacons, elders, what if we raised our kids to think about ministry? It never fails that anytime you talk to little boys and girls about what they want to be when they grow up, very rarely will you ever hear any of them say, want to be a minister. And I don't think that's the parents fault or anything. Don't get me wrong. It's just it's not on the radar, right? What if we put it on the radar? What if we said this is this is an option? But regardless of ministry, think about raising our kids to make a difference in the world, whatever their chosen endeavor. Why work hard at church? Hopefully not so you can get recognition. Why work hard at church? Because I have to? Because I'm told to? Why not work hard at church because you see it as an extension of Jesus? In the world around you even. It's a lifestyle. And not merely something that I'm obligated to do. Because when I understand that I'm working for the Lord, I can use my job and my skills to further His kingdom and not mine. I can look for ways to bless others with my work because I know that I've been infinitely blessed as well. I can be a better co-worker. I can be more gracious. I can be more patient and more forgiving. I can have a busy day but not have a busy heart. I can rest assured that my job doesn't own me, that I'm owned by Christ and that He is my real boss. Because here's the deal, you are not what you do. And we need to stop identifying ourselves with our work. You are not what you do. Your identity is all wrapped up. It's all tied up. It's all tangled up in Jesus. Who you are at your core is a disciple, a child of God stamped in the image of God. You work as for the Lord, Paul says, and your work is an avenue by which you can illuminate Christ who he is, what he has done, and who you are because of that. and therefore Christians should be the best employees. What does that mean? Well, we show up on time. We don't settle for mediocrity. We treat our co-workers as Christ would treat others. We treat our boss with respect. We're honest. We're compassionate. We're forgiving. We're humble. We're selfless. And we work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Someone stated like this. They said, if you're an accountant, You crunch those numbers as if you're doing Jesus' tax returns. If you're a car salesman, you act as if you're selling a car to Jesus. If you're a construction manager, you act as if it's Jesus' house you're building. If you're a teacher, then one of your students is Jesus. If you're a sanitation worker, you pick up every last piece of garbage because you know you're cleaning these streets for Jesus. They're His streets. If you're a waiter, you're not working for tips. You're going the extra mile because Jesus is your customer. Because God is your boss. And may we never forget that. You may have a great boss. You may have a terrible boss. You may have a boss that you're really kind of indifferent towards. No matter who your boss is, God ultimately is your boss. You work for Him. So rethink your work and allow it to reshape your life. Think in terms of gospel-shaped work. You can spend your life constructing a tower of wealth and possessions and and building a name for yourself, but in the end, it's all going to be left behind. Your empire of dirt stays here, but what lasts, the legacy that continues on, is your work for the Lord. What you did for Him, the lives that you changed, is God impressed with your work. It's not about how big a tower we can build on earth. It's about trusting God to lead us. to provide for us and to make our name great. And the work we do, no matter how difficult, no matter how mundane, no matter how important, no matter how rewarding or insignificant, it should be about making God proud. Just imagine the difference that we could make if all Christians allowed their work to be shaped by the Gospel. You hear me say it all the time, you're not here very long. So don't get so caught up in the rat race that you forget. who you're living for and what this is all about. Don't lose your identity in your work. What if we looked at everything in life, including our work as a ministry? What we could accomplish for the kingdom if we made work about pleasing the divine boss? Think of that. Think of what we could accomplish. Think of the example we could set and think about the difference we could make. You know, as a preacher. I hear a lot of interesting comments. Most of them are said in jest and I appreciate because if we can't tease with one another, then then you know, I think that that could be a problem. I like the fact that we can poke and prod with each other. And so when people say things to me like, well, you're the preacher, you only work one day a week. I don't take offense at that, you know. It's kind of fun, you know, to joke. I had somebody though. asked me one time very seriously. What do you do the rest of the week? I said, what do you mean? It was when you worked Sunday, but I mean, what else is there to do? I'm oh, well, I mean, I could educate you on that. I think they were serious. you most of the joking is is is lighthearted. It's fun. You know, sometimes a member will call me during the week and it's like eight o'clock. This is something quirky would do right. They call me like an eight o'clock. You awake yet? Yeah, we have a good time. I like that. I like that we can joke and that we can have fun. What's interesting though is Tom Rayner was preaching at a particular church where he did a survey. And it was really an experiment. He listed several congregational responsibilities. Now, understand these are church responsibilities, not just the preacher. He listed these congregational responsibilities and he asked the members of that church the minimum amount of time that he should average in each area each week. Dangerous, know. He found that in order to meet the minimum expectations, he had to fulfill the following responsibilities each week. Prayer at the church, 14 hours. Sermon prep, 18 hours. Outreach and evangelism, 10 hours. Counseling, 10 hours. Hospital and home visits, 15 hours, administrative functions, 18 hours, community involvement, five hours, church meetings, five hours, worship services preaching, four hours, and under miscellaneous, 10 hours. For a grand total of 114 hours per week. And how many hours are in a week? Like 116, is that right? Something like that? Rayner pointed out that he would have to work more than 16 hours a day for seven days a week in order to fulfill the minimum expectations of the church. And again, these were congregational responsibilities, not just the preachers. So I say all that to say I want to thank our shepherds for not putting those expectations upon me. I want to thank our members here for not expecting those things from me. But as a preacher, I have learned something that has helped me tremendously over the last 25 years, and it's this. God is my boss. I hear preachers sometimes say, well, you you work for God, you don't work for the elders. Yeah, well, God didn't sign your paycheck, so you might want to rethink that. But yeah, I work for the shepherds. I work for you. But ultimately, I work for God. And here's the thing, when I understand that, when I grasp that, when I apply that to my life and I know that I work for God, then I'm going to be the best employee for my shepherds. I'm going to be the best for you guys. It's only going to help me. And it's only going to help you in our ministry together, in our partnership. And I think that's a good lesson for all of us, that understand that ultimately you work for God, that He is your boss, He is your CEO. And when the boss is happy, everybody wins, right? It's a trickle-down effect. And maybe you face some difficult circumstances in your job. Maybe your job, your workplace is a dark atmosphere. And maybe the boss is placing very unrealistic expectations upon you. Maybe it's long hours, maybe it's high stress, maybe it's a job that is very satisfying and you enjoy your job and you love it. And maybe you're somewhat indifferent. Maybe it's like, ⁓ it's just a job. How's your job, huh? It's a job, you know, it's a paycheck. Whatever your situation, remember who you work for and remember why you work. It's not simply to earn a paycheck or to climb the ladder or to build a nest egg. Our work was designed by God and like anything else in life, our work should be about glorifying God. And so I want to encourage all of us this morning to engage in gospel shaped work. Ultimately, let's let our work be about making a difference because like we've said, we're all born with an expiration date. And we don't know when it's going to come due. And so therefore, we work heartily as we're working for the Lord. Let's pray. Our most kind and gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for another day. Thank you for this opportunity to be here. Thank you for blessing us with opportunities to work in our secular jobs and also for you. God, may we see our work. as a ministry and may we tune our lives to your rhythm and live in a way that is pleasing to you in every aspect. Work, rest, play, whatever it may be. We love you God. Thank you for loving us. And it's in your son's precious name we pray. Amen. So how can we help you this morning? Maybe you need prayer. Maybe you need somebody to talk to beyond just here this morning. Certainly we can we can help with that. This is a family and family loves one another supports one another. We rejoice with those who rejoice. We weep with those who weep. Maybe you're ready to put on Christ in baptism. You want to do that this morning? We say it every week. There's no good reason to leave here without being right with God. So take care of it this morning. Whatever you need to take care of and let us help you. Come as we stand, as we sing.