PENTECOST 13/LABOR DAY
September 2-4, 2017
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Colossians 3:22-4:1
“YOU
GOTTA KNOW…”
1.
When to work.
2.
When to rest.
Colossians 3:22-4:1 (NIV 1984) “Slaves, obey your earthly masters
in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their
favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since
you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is
the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be
repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. 1Masters, provide
your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a
Master in heaven.”
This
weekend our nation pauses to observe Labor Day. For over 100 years Labor Day
has been a national holiday designed to recognize the contributions of the
American worker to prosperity of our nation. When I was a boy I always wondered
why on Labor Day nobody worked. Seemed odd at the time but now I get it.
Workers also need rest. Our nation’s observance then is an opportunity for us
believers to recognize that both work and rest come as blessings from God. Even
if you are not a country music fan you probably have heard the Kenny Rogers
song about cards, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”
Whether your favorite is sheepshead or euchre or bridge or poker you know that
knowing when to do what is very important. And the same is true for God’s gift
of work and rest. Let’s look at God’s word today asking the Holy Spirit to help
know when to work and know when to rest.
Paul
wrote these words to the Christian church in Colosse. “Slaves.” Oop. Stop right
there. We are going to have get past this slave issue so we can hear what God
says. It shocks many Americans to find out that in the Bible God never
prohibited slavery. What He does do is regulate it with the law of love. That’s
what’s going on here. Since we live in a country that thankfully does not have
slavery it’s best if we think about this word of God as it applies to workers
and bosses, employees and employers. I’ll read it that way.
“Workers, obey your earthly bosses
in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their
favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since
you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is
the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be
repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. Bossess, provide your workers
with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a BOSS in heaven.”
The
first thing for us to take from this, brothers and sisters, is that work is a
blessing from God. Do you remember at the Creation of the world when everything
was perfect how God gave Adam and Eve work to do in tending the Garden of Eden?
That’s because it was a blessing! Having something useful to do the benefits
others is a blessing. You know in Confirmation Class I tell the kids that if we
lived in the Garden of Eden one of the most fun things to do would be homework.
Can you imagine the conversations? “Why don’t you take a break from the
studying and play a video game? Aww, Mom. I’m doing math facts. Can I play
later. Please!” You think that’s funny but it’s true. Work, doing something
useful that benefits others, scrubbing toilets, doing laundry, keeping citizens
safe and healthy, keeping numbers and bank accounts straight, fixing broken
cars, painting houses, homework, teaching all of it is a blessing. To be useful
in God’s creation honors Him. That’s why you get satisfaction in a job well
done. It’s your conscience saying, “Good job. God is pleased!” It’s also a
blessing because God hides behind our jobs to provide for our needs and to let
some of us retire so we can do work without getting paid.
But
work doesn’t always feel like a blessing, does it? You know why. Sin ruined it.
One of the consequences of sin is that blessing of work has thorns and weeds
even when you aren’t in the garden. Lousy bosses. Workplace politics. Not
enough pay. Injuries. Failure. Frustration. All traced back to sin. Worse. We
tend to look at the gift of work as a curse, not a blessing. That’s what Paul
was addressing to the Colossians. Work is a blessing. But to be a blessing work
has to be tied back to the one who came up with work, God. God wanted the
Garden of Eden tended. God wants clean houses. God wants garbage collected. God
wants the sick cared for. God wants godly citizens protected. God wants honest
banking and accounting. God wants his gift of electricity used safely. It goes
on and on. So Christian you gotta know when to work and who your boss is. You
clean the house for the Lord, not the kids. You do your best at your job not to
get a promotion or to keep from getting fired but to honor God who gave you
that job as a way of providing for you. Your earthly boss may be a jerk but the
Lord isn’t. He’s your real boss and He deserves your best. And if you happen to
be a boss remember as you carry that work out that the Boss is watching how you
treat others and will show no favoritism. You gotta know when to work. When you
are at a task or a job whether for pay or volunteer we do our best for the
Lord.
But
all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. That 17th century
proverb almost has it right. What God actually blessed us with is rest. In the
perfect world before sin God gave a day of rest. How much more important to get
rest in a world messed up by sin. God designed our bodies to be blessed by
rest. Sleep, good sleep is the way God reboots our brains. He uses rest to
rebuild parts of our bodies that get damaged or strained at work. You gotta
know when to work and you gotta know when to rest. Here is where Americans fall
down. We are known as the most sleep deprived nation on earth. Many don’t take
vacations and when they do they take their work with them on vacation. Parents
can let their own and their kids schedules get so packed with the extras there
is little or no time for rest. But God wants us blessed with rest. The concept
of a Labor day where workers don’t labor but rest is actually a good one. In
the Bible God commanded His Old Testament people to give rest to their workers,
to their animals, even to their field and grapevines. All were to be given a
chance to rest regularly. Are you getting your rest? Is there something you can
cut out of your schedule? You gotta know when to rest.
Now
the word of God we’ve been looking at has really just dealt with physical work
and physical rest. But it tied our attitudes towards work and rest to our
relationship with the Lord. And it is in our relationship with the Lord that we
also need to know when to work and when to rest. When Jesus gave the invitation
to the weary and burdened to come for rest He was not talking about an
afternoon nap or one day a week to sleep in. He was talking about spiritual
rest, rest for the souls of people who had been taught they had to do works of
righteousness to be loved by God. The religious leaders and teachers of the law
made it clear to the people in Jesus’ day that they needed to do more and be
better. Those that cared worked very hard at living righteous lives. And
failed. Just like we fail. Perfection is not attainable. When it comes to your status
with God, your place as a member in His family, you gotta know when to work.
Not at all. There is nothing you have to do or can do to be right with God. You
gotta know when to rest and where to rest. In the loving arms of Jesus. He
worked for you. He lived perfectly. He signed your name on the time card. You
get the credit. You gotta know where to rest your sins. On the cross. There
Jesus paid for them in full. None of this making sure I get to church before
the job interview or when mom is sick. Rest. You can’t make God love you
anymore than He already does. He is your loving Father. Trust his decisions for
you and your loved ones. Then the works that you do will flow from love because
you know the real work is done.
You
gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, Kenny crooned. And every card
player who hears that knows they will still make bad plays, they won’t always
get it right. You gotta know when to work and when to rest in your relationship
with God and every Christian knows, we’ll mess that up to. Thankfully it does
not matter. Because of Jesus we we’ve already won. Amen.
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