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Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 and Ephesians 6: 5-9
Audio: Image Bearing Work
Sermon:
The first time I ever thought
about work was when I was four, and my father’s company went on strike.
It lasted almost a year. The only way that my family made it is
because the people in the church helped us. I remember people
making comments like, my dad doesn’t have work, or there’s no work
to be had. I grew up thinking that work was something that people
were supposed to have, but just because you wanted it, and you were
supposed to have it, did not make it so.
The second time that I thought
about work was when I had to fire someone. I had been out of college
for about a year. I was managing a small research lab, and a person
that I had hired was not working out, and I had to fire them.
I lost several nights of sleep over the situation. The person
had a new baby, a new house. I felt terrible, but at the
time I was identifying more with the job than the plight of the person;
and I didn’t want to get dragged into their drama. Even though
I was very involved with my church, it didn’t occur to me to speak
with my pastor about this situation.
Fast forward a few years.
I was managing a team and I had two workers who hated one another.
Both wanted the other fired for various reasons. Both were great
workers, they just could not work together. My boss told me I
needed to do something. Again, lots of sleepless nights.
This was the first time I started to think about workers in the workplace.
Again, it did not occur to me to speak to my pastor, or anyone at my
church about what was happening at work.
Fast forward a few more years.
I was in another workplace situation when the CEO of the company was
caught embezzling. Immediately, the morale of the company changed
from high energy, high performing teamwork to a place of anxiety and
distrust and fear. While I do not condone the acts of the CEO,
I will stand up for my co-workers. Previously we had found joy
in our work and in our relationships. We took pride in the products
we produced and we worked hard to ensure that our products met the needs
of our customers.
We were devastated by the turn
of events. Again, there were periods of sleepless nights.
But this time, I did speak to my pastor about the situation. This time,
I prayed about what was going on. My pastor and I prayed about
the situation, we prayed for the people affected, their families and
friends. We prayed for the company. We prayed for the community.
We prayed that the trust that had been broken could somehow be repaired.
For the first time, I began thinking about where I might find God, not
only in my work, but also in the workplace.
These are just a few situations
that I have experienced in the workplace. Many of my experiences
have been good; some have been not so good. Some experiences at
work have given me great peace and others have given me great anxiety.
Some of the relationships have extended past the workplace and have
helped me deepen my faith. Overall, the workplace has put me in situations
that have resulted in spiritual growth as well as professional growth.
Most of us have experienced
the ups and downs, the grace and even the pain of the workplace, and
I wonder if we think, where God in this place? Where is God in
this situation?
Over the years, situations
have caused me to do a lot of thinking about work; about what it is
to work or not be able to work, and what it means to be a Christian
in the workplace.
I think that within each of
us, there is a desire to contribute and create, to order and to add
value and meaning to what’s around us. We do this through our work.
This means our work is part of what it means to bear God’s image in
this world. Every time we weed a garden, teach a child, sell a product
that will benefit others, or bring order to a set of finances, we are
doing our image-bearing work in this world. Work is not a necessary
evil in our lives. It’s holy and part of our service to the Lord.
God has chosen us to care for and cultivate God’s creation. And we
perform our care for God’s creation through our work.
Still, many of us face the
daily challenges of living out our faith in the workplace. We
struggle with ambition, money, relationships, success, failure and accountability.
We spend a large part of our lives in the workplace, engaged in work
situations and work relationships, so we need to recognize that God
does have something to say about how we can still be Christian whether
we are in the home, in the community, or at work. and be
We think that because Jesus
was not a businessman that scripture has nothing to say about the workplace,
but that is not correct. It’s true, Jesus did not go to an office
every day and deal with managers and employees, income statements and
budgets, deadlines and impossible schedules. But still, we can
be guided by the biblical principles that underlie what it is to work,
and how we are to act in the workplace.
The Bible tells us that work
is part of what it means to be human. It is a way in which we can define
and develop ourselves. Through work, we can develop particular
skills and talents. Through work, we can provide for ourselves and for
others. Work can be an outlet for our creativity, for our passion
and emotions. Work helps us feel good about ourselves, not only
about our hearts, but our hands, not only about what we think and feel,
but what we do and can make.
In one of his letters, the
apostle Paul says to the church at Thessalonica, "We always give
thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly
remembering before our God your work of faith and labor of love and
steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 1:2-3).
I think that this is a pretty
amazing sentence. Paul matches faith, hope, and love—key words
of the Christian gospel—with work, labor, and endurance. Paul talks
about the work of faith. He makes it clear that faith is hard
work. And we know about work. This is what we spend most
of our lives and most of our time doing. And this is good, because
God calls us to lives of work, that is, holy work.
We may work for a company,
but Christians are called to see ourselves as employees who actually
work for another employer. We have been bought with a price. Sure,
we make it a priority to serve the company where we are working temporarily;
but ultimately, we serve in the name of the one who bought us. The apostle
Paul tells us, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you
were working for the Lord rather than for people”
Once we realize that our true
employer is the one who owns everything, the great creator, then our
work in any setting demonstrates where our true priorities lie. But
of course, that raises a bigger issue: Does our work reflect our priorities?
Do we intentionally seek to demonstrate the difference that Christ makes
in our lives through our work?
Many of us, we try to live
out a split-existence: We work for a company from Monday through Friday
during business hours. And we worship, or serve God on Sundays. But
this is not bearing the image of God. God calls us to serve every
day, in every segment of society, including our workplaces. We
are to be in "awe" of God. Instead, we tend to
be fearful of those who have the power of the payroll.
In our work, we need to be
mindful that regardless of what company name is on our paychecks, first
and foremost, we are serving the Lord. We know that our ultimate
"payment" our true salary for our work is our Lord's pleasure
when we can be told, ("Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Matt. 25:21). Work is the soil where faith is cultivated.
No matter how long we work
someplace, or for that matter how long we live, we belong to Christ
and we are working for the Kingdom of God. May God's Kingdom come and
God’s will be done, in us … at work.
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Queen Anne 
