Faith and Work: Worshiping Through Our Labor

1. "It's pretty wild to think about it because most of us spend about eight to ten hours a day working slash commuting five days a week and if we sleep seven hours a day that means we spend less than seven to nine hours at home with our families and even less with our children if they sleep before us that means that for the majority of the week we spend more time at work doing work going to work or thinking about work more than anything else in our lives if this wasn't anything else in our lives we would call that idolatry but but as we are navigate this sinful and broken world and the natural result or the consequences of toiling and laboring in this sinful world we obviously don't necessarily consider it idolatry by default but it is the nature of the world we live in right now therefore it shouldn't surprise us then that almost all the research out there says that employment makes a significant contribution to our well-being and it's not just because we're getting paid alright just by the fact that we are employed makes a significant contribution to our well-being physically and emotionally employment oftentimes provides purpose and meaning and on the flip side the pain caused by the experience of unemployment is one of the best documented findings in all research concerning happiness and longevity etc and yet one recent study found that the same pain that we feel from unemployment essentially disappears when a person finds a new job i mean clearly work then is really good for us or it's an idol that we turn to like a drug to get a daily fix in order to feel better about our perhaps meaningless and empty lives or maybe it's a little bit of both or maybe it's neither regardless it's clear that based on scripture based on how we pattern our lives based on our society even based on our the research that's out there work is very powerful and influential to our well-being" [01:00] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "The idols that we worship usually reflect the deepest fears or desires of our hearts. And the idols themselves demand our love, loyalty, and service. So, then that begs the question, why did they make a calf? Why didn't they make an eagle? Why didn't they make a snake? Why didn't they worship a frog? Why a calf? This is actually a very easy question to answer if you study the ancient Near Eastern culture. Calf idols, in that region during that time, represented fertility and strength. So, if you worshiped a statue of a calf, you might call it many different names. In that region, it was Baal, but when you worshiped a calf, you usually wanted wealth, power, and a lot of kids. All things that the Israelites were low on and were fearful of not having, because they were a nomadic people now, living, literally wandering. They were wandering through a desert wilderness. And so, in their precarious situation in the desert wilderness, they worshipped and ultimately desired security and stability." [08:25] (74 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "I want to challenge you all and make us reflect on this how much of this impulse is us pursuing to some degree or another security and comfort or security and stability as an idol a modern version of the golden calf i feel like based on my conversations with many of us that the neighborhoods that we choose to live in because of the comfort stability and security that it offers i i feel like for many of us in our church that we that you all feel a tinge of guilt because from the conversations that i have you all have a a very big heart for the poor for immigrants and refugees but the neighborhood neighborhoods that we choose to live in don't necessarily reflect that And so because of this contradiction, many of us, I feel like I sense a tinge of guilt or responsibility that our living situation isn't ideal and it doesn't reflect our values. It doesn't conform neatly to our values of loving the poor, defending them, being literally their neighbors and sharing the gospel with them." [15:57] (96 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Could it be that not being a good church neighbor is making you miss out on discipleship opportunities to become a better workplace neighbor? Could it be that not being a good church neighbor is making you miss out? Could it be that not being a good church neighbor is making you miss out on discipleship opportunities to becoming a better workplace neighbor? When we neglect missional opportunities through serving with the church because of our pursuit of security and comfort, where we are ultimately turning to for our security and comfort. Let me rephrase that again. When we neglect missional opportunities... When we neglect missional opportunities through serving with the church because of our pursuit of security and comfort, where are we ultimately turning to for our security and comfort? There we go. In other words, have we made a golden calf in our hearts? And as a result, have we missed out on the formation that comes, the spiritual formation that comes from properly worshipping the Lord?" [19:23] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "In any marriage if your spouse found out that you slept with a prostitute on the first night of your honeymoon your marriage would pretty much be over but in an act of radical and outrageous grace god forgives his people for betraying him through worshiping a golden calf and he essentially rehires them and this time he commissions them to build a tabernacle which is a a beautiful uh transportable uh mobile tent or temple and home for god's spirit as he dwelt with his people while they were still traveling to the promised land the tent itself had allusions to the garden of eden offering the community this community of workers a glimpse into god's new creation in the midst of a broken world a glimpse into how god would gather his people and use their skills workplace skills to create a new society a new world it was a huge honor for the israelites it was also a communal effort men and women both it says freely not under compulsion but freely contributed to this work notice their attention to the smallest details they believe that god cared about even the very little things that they were working on that day their work their work was literally worship" [26:05] (100 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "This was my first real -life lesson in how God can redeem workplace skills acquired from either wicked or mundane circumstances and repurpose them for his glory. Friends, you may be asking yourselves, what was the point of me going to school? Whether it was two years or four years, or you went additionally for grad school, and you're having a hard time finding employment, or you're not happy with your current employment. It's not fulfilling. Or maybe you might be asking, why did I waste so many years at that job? I'm not happy. I don't understand what God is trying to do. What God was trying to do all those years, it just feels like a complete waste. Man, I challenge you. I challenge you to pray and ask the Lord to use whatever knowledge or skills that you've acquired over the years for kingdom purposes as your act of worship. Because if God can redeem a drug dealer and his work skills, I promise you, he can redeem your studies and your work skills too." [32:35] (78 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "These two contrasting stories from Exodus, one with the construction of the golden calf and one with the construction of the tabernacle, don't give us all of the answers for how to be faithful in the workplace. But they do invite us to pursue lifelong discipleship in the church first and in the workplace second. Skills and character development in the first can and will translate into the second. At least in the first, we can make mistakes without risking getting fired. We can ask for forgiveness, receive forgiveness, reconcile, and try again when we can. We can't make mistakes. Furthermore, in both the Old and the New Testaments, God's Word reminds us that His chosen family is a kingdom of priests. It's not just Aaron and these construction workers who are building these things that are responsible for doing these holy acts of work. It is all believers now in the New Testament. The Apostle Peter borrows Old Testament language. In 1 Peter 2, verse 5, to describe the church as a holy priesthood. The church is a holy priesthood whose purpose is to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." [39:20] (81 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)