Word of Salvation - November 2010

 

CHRIST-HONOURING WORK, Peter Smit

(Sermon 12 of a series on Ephesians, Series Title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church

 

Text – Ephesians 6:5-9

 

Industrial relations is a big issue in society today. The Howard government lost the election a few years ago because of their policy on it. People are concerned today about their rights at work. Relationships between employers and employees can be strained. Workers want better conditions and employers want better returns.

 

Today we’re going to think about what God says about Christ-honouring work.

How should a Christian view work and what attitude does God want you to have for your work?

Before we think about how God wants to transform your attitudes to work let’s think about what God has said in Ephesians about the transformation of a believer.

Ephesians 2:3

³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

 

Before knowing Christ our whole focus is self. It’s all about us, our wants, our sinful desires, and our sinful thoughts.

 

But God in his grace and mercy comes to us and makes us alive. He regenerates our hearts. Turns the heart of stone into flesh. The love of God is poured out into our hearts. We understand that he redeemed us with Christ’s blood and that we’re forgiven.

His Spirit unites us to his church and we are built into a spiritual community of faith in Jesus Christ. The result is transformation. Transformed living. You put off old sinful ways and put on new self, created to be like Jesus in true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:24

 

Now rather than being controlled by alcohol we are filled and controlled by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of Christ transforms us from the inside out. So that now where once I was proud and arrogant, I now submit to other Christians and church leaders. Wives willingly submit to their husbands. And Husbands sacrificially love and cherish their wives. Children submit to and obey their parents. And Christian slaves obey their masters.

 

Christ does the work of transformation from the inside out.

That inner transformation impacts every part of your life if you are a Christian.

 

God desires this transformation to flow into your work life.

Paul is speaking here to slaves and masters. Slavery in Paul’s day was an institution. In the Roman Empire there were 60 million slaves. They could be domestic servants, manual labourers, and even educated people, doctors and teachers and administrators.

Aristotle said of them…
“A slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave…”

He did concede that “a slave is a kind of possession with a soul.”

 

Masters could do with them as they wished. As with children he could whip them, confine them and even exercise the death penalty over them. Many slaves were brutally treated, mutilated and killed for the most trivial of reasons. That’s why suicide among slaves was so widespread.

 

Paul gives clear instructions to Christian slaves and Christian masters. The principles here can be applied to you either as an employee or an employer for Christ honouring work.

 

Just before we look at this, notice that Paul doesn’t condemn slavery. He doesn’t attack the institution. Nor does he condone it. He follows God’s way. God works from the inside out. He transforms someone from within. So too Paul was sowing seeds that transformed slavery from within.

 

The whole emphasis of the letter of Ephesians and in fact the gospel, is about inner radical transformation. Letting the love of Christ be seen in our sacrificial service. Once the gospel has gripped us, and gripped others ungodly institutions will crumble, just as it did for slavery.

 

For example, consider the great Evangelical Awakening in the 1700’s in England. The majority of common people were illiterate and lived in sin and squalor. There were few schools. But the whole of society changed as a result of men like George Whitfield and John Wesley preaching the gospel. They preached that men were sinners and needed Christ’s forgiveness. When they preached the message that Jesus Christ was pierced for our transgressions, that by him we are forgiven, people repented and believed. The hearts and minds were changed. They stopped drinking, they desired to read the Bible. They couldn’t read so Christians set up schools, and taught new believers to read. As they read God taught them and they began to look at society and see that conditions needed to change.

 

The good news of Jesus transforms people and then culture. It was his radical conversion to Jesus Christ that led William Wilberforce to look at the question of slavery, and see it as wrong and work his whole life to secure its abolition. It was the gospel that led Lord Shaftesbury to campaign against sending children down as mine workers and secure children’s childhood again.

 

So when it comes to work, don’t criticise your institution, your employer or your staff, but work on your inner attitudes. Allow God to transform your work environment by transforming you.

 

Let’s consider then God’s instructions to workers and employers.

 

1. INSTRUCTION TO CHRISTIAN WORKERS.

In speaking to slaves or employees God key command is obey.

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters

Obedience here means listen to what is being requested and willingly submit to the task.

Now you know you can obey with different types of attitudes: Willingly or grudgingly.

Paul deals with our attitudes.

Negatively he says

a) Don’t obey to win favours.

Obey them not only to win their favour

People serve for a range of motives often selfishly. What can I get out of this?

What favours will come my way if I serve. This is selfish, self centred service.

Don’t serve for selfish gain.

 

b) Don’t obey just when your boss is watching.

⁶ Obey them not only… when their eye is on you,

Some people work just to do the minimum. Just enough to keep themselves out of trouble. You work hard, but only when people are watching you. It looks like you’re a hard worker, but deep down you’re not. Again this is selfish work. Paul condemns it. It’s not God-honouring.

 

Philippians 2:12

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…

 

Obedience is to be with fear and trembling. The trembling here is not fear of men, but rather fear that in some way our work will harm our witness for Christ. That God might be dishonoured and people will reject Jesus because of our poor Christian testimony.

 

Positively Pauls teaches us how to obey.

c) Let your work be full of respect.

obey your earthly masters with respect and fear

He wants you to respect the people you work for. Even if they are hard to respect, respect them for their position over you rather than their character. Honouring their authority honours God.

 

d) Let your work be sincere

and with sincerity of heart

Our attitude to work should reflect our attitude to Jesus. Completely sincere, free from hypocrisy, not self seeking but open, genuine, and generous.

Willing to go the extra mile. Ready to stay late from time to time if needed.

Taking seriously even the mundane tasks before you.

 

e) Let your service be wholehearted.

doing the will of God from your heart… ⁷ Serve wholeheartedly,

We often reserve our wholehearted service to things we are really passionate about. Passion about football causes people to attend games and scream their lungs out in support. Passion for food makes people spend hours preparing and cooking.

 

God says take this wholehearted attitude to work with you. Give yourself to the task ahead of you. Whether you’re at school, or uni, or in a call centre, or office department, God calls you to work from your heart. Study hard, learn well, give your best to every conversation, every task. Let Jesus be your example of wholehearted service. He came not to be served but to serve and give himself a ransom for our sins. (Matt 20:26–28). Even God’s own Son came in the form of a slave (Phil 2:7) and learned obedience through what he suffered (Heb 5:8). His example as a suffering servant made the abuse endured by Christian slaves both tolerable and purposeful (1 Pet 2:18–25).

 

So if Jesus became a slave or servant for us, so we should take that attitude of service to our workplace. Be surrendered to serve.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 ¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…

 

How do you maintain this attitude week in week out? You keep looking to the Lord.

Verse 6 says see yourself as a “slave of Christ”.

 

Remember that behind your boss or manager is a great leader, the Lord. You are serving him in your workplace. You are his disciple. You are his witness.

 

Faithful service will be rewarded.

⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

 

I spoke to a Christian lady in the Westpac bank at Gateways’ who’d migrated from Sth Africa. She started in a low paid position beneath what she was capable of doing. And the boss said there’s no room for promotion as she didn’t have the right Australian experience. She said in the interview that it didn’t matter because God was the one who promotes. She gave herself wholeheartedly to her job. And within a couple of months the boss came and said, but we don’t normally do this because you need to go through certain steps but we want to promote you. She was given a highly unusual promotion. Why because the Lord rewards faithful, wholehearted service. He will reward whatever good you do.

 

So workers: give your best for Jesus sake.

Now Paul addresses masters…

2. INSTRUCTIONS TO CHRISTIAN BOSSES.

⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him.

 

Remember in Paul’s day slaves were tools. They weren’t regarded as people but possessions. Paul teaches Masters to treat their slaves with integrity, respect and love.

Paul instructs masters to treat them with the same dignity respect and concern that the slaves treat them.

a) Treat your workers with dignity and respect.

treat your slaves in the same way.

That is revolutionary. That is radical. But that’s the transformation that flows from knowing Jesus love. Just as Christ loved us unconditionally and served us unconditionally, so husbands are to love and serve their wives. In the same way that parents must love and nurture their children so masters are to care for and respect their servants.

 

Paul’s saying: masters what I’ve said to slaves applies to you too.

God calls you to be full of respect, sincere and wholehearted in your care for servants.

 

How could he say that? How could he fly in the face of the cultural norms? Because of Jesus and what he’s done. The blood of Jesus brought about a great equality. His shed blood proved that we’re all equally sinners. We were dead in our sins and need his saving work on the cross applied to our lives so we can be forgiven. It doesn’t matter if you’re a slave, a master, a governor or Caesar himself. Before God you need to be saved. And when your receive Jesus as Lord and master of your life then you’re one of his church family. And in the family we’re all equal before God.

Galatians 3:26-28 (GNT)

It is through faith that all of you are God’s children in union with Christ Jesus… ²⁸ So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus

 

It is so easy for people in leadership or management to seek to coerce their employees by pressuring or threatening or putting them down. Paul says

b) Avoid belittling or threatening your workers.

Do not threaten them,

Bosses are not to display a rough or inconsiderate attitude to their staff. Never keep reminding them that you’re the boss and they are the servants. Never to be harsh or unkind or abusive or belittling to your workers. Never take advantage of your worker or crush those serving you.

 

The reason for not doing this Paul states is

since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven and there is no favouritism with him.

 

c) Remember employers are accountable to God.

We all serve under the highest authority. God himself. God will judge us all for what we have done in our lives. 1 Corinthians 3 reminds us that we will be stand before God as judge one day.

But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

 

On judgment day God will reveal the quality of our Christian service and work. If we believe and trust in Jesus we will be saved. But if we have been unkind to people, uncaring, inconsiderate, if we have thought only of ourselves and not taken any consideration of employees or wives or husbands or family – if we’ve lived only for our own wants, we will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames.

Our reward in heaven will be small.

 

God doesn’t show favouritism. It doesn’t matter what your position is. If you’re a boss, a manager of 10, 100 or 1000. Your position doesn’t matter, what matters is how you steward that position. How you treat people; that you demonstrate Christlike compassion, concern and consideration for those who serve your business or company.

 

The roles of employer and employee may be different but the core issue is the same.

God calls you to love and serve.

Mutual submission in service is the key. Eph 5:21 puts it best.

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 

When Christ is honoured like this in the workplace then his blessing will be there.

So church:

 

Work hard for your bosses and bosses serve your workers, if you do you will both reap great reward from the Lord.

It is the Lord God you are all serving.

 

Amen