Bible Studies
MORE THAN A JOB
Read Proverbs 6:6-11, 16:1-3, and 1 Corinthians
I saw a t-shirt in an airport last week that said: “Working Out is not Working Out.” The fellow wearing it seemed to embody it, filling that t-shirt to overflowing. I would guess it was an extra-large, maybe double-X. When it comes to working out, whether in a gym, on a field, or at one’s place of work, there is a sense for many that working out is not working out. Work is a necessary part of life, but not always appreciated as a positive aspect of life.
The Scriptures remind us often of the dangers of material riches. Likewise, the Scriptures remind us frequently of the dangers of laziness. Proverbs warns against laziness over half a dozen times. That person lacking good work habits was called a “sluggard” in older translations, but the NRSV chose “lazybones” for Proverbs 6. Listen to the warnings against laziness.
- 13:4: “The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing, while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.”
- 15:19: “The way of the lazy is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.”
- 20:4: “The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.”
- 26:13-16 in “The Message“ sums it all up for us:
“Loafers say, ‘It's dangerous out there! Tigers are prowling the streets!’, and then pull the covers back over their heads. Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed. A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth. Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty.”
It’s not Labor Day weekend, but news from the world of labor flows in every day. Having been away for a week, I went through a week’s worth of local newspapers in one night. Hewlett-Packard announced plans to lay off 14,500 workers. It also announced an overhaul of its retirement system, one that once was among the best ever offered. The benefits once known as the HP way will no longer be the HP way. Executives said that support jobs will be most affected—aren’t they always? There was a national meeting of the AFL-CIO, that labor union conglomerate that represents more workers than any other. Two giant unions, the Teamsters and a massive service employees union, pulled out of the AFL-CIO. Two more unions are expected to pull out soon. Those four unions represent about 4 million workers. My dad was a union carpenter who valued his union participation and the benefits that came to his family. Though I’m not a union member—at least I don’t think of the presbytery as a union—I feel that. A week ago Eastman Kodak announced it is cutting as many as 10,000 more workers. Just eighteen months ago Kodak laid off something like 15,000 workers. My son-in-law works for Kodak. Though his job has not been affected yet, it touches his co-workers. He feels this. So does his wife, my daughter. So do Rachel and I. What a difference there is in reading about a company downsizing, cutting back, or laying off people when you know something that works for that company.
Complain as we Americans tend to do about our jobs, work is a God-ordained aspect of our living. Work is not a curse in the Bible, but an opportunity to serve God and others. There was work in the Garden of Eden before anything went wrong. We are called to do our work, whether for pay or not, as service to the Lord. I believe that work will be a part of our heavenly experience. It will be freed of all that’s wrong with work on earth. Life there will be as God intended with worship, work, and rest in perfect balance and harmony, with God the great worker at the very center of life. Work done as service to God and others brings dignity to all of life. God delights when our work is done well. God is honored when we seek excellence in our work.
No saying about the value of work in Proverbs is more memorable as this one: “Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.” Have you watched ants at work this summer? I believe an ant can carry eight times its own weight. A colony of ants is a working model of cooperation and efficiency.
While I was in Los Angeles Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour de France, an unparalleled feat of athletic achievement. In terms of dominance in a field of sports, Armstrong stands alone today. This is an athlete who recently was fighting cancer. Two traits set Armstrong apart: meticulous planning and rigorous training. He and his team think of everything. For instance, they never use brand new tires. Instead they age the tires in a controlled setting and use them when they are just broken in. They have never had a tire failure in a race. They use the best technology available to enhance Armstrong’s efforts. More important than the technology is how Armstrong disciplines himself. He trains diligently. He presses his body to be its best. No other biker works out longer or more regularly than Armstrong. The result is that his heart is 50% larger than the heart an average person his size should have and far more efficient.
That kind of work ethic is in danger in our land today. Professional athletes lead the way in entitlement thinking and acting. In my favorite sport, baseball, home run hitters often stand at the plate and watch their mighty homeruns instead of hustling around the bases. My dad taught me to hit the ball and run to first base before watching the ball. Athletes, entertainers, and business leaders often act as if they are entitled to everything they want. John Mack recently became the CEO at Morgan Stanley, a major investment firm. He demanded that his salary for his first two years be no less than the average pay package of the CEOs at Morgan Stanley’s four major competitors (that would be in the millions, of course). That wouldn’t be based on his performance, but what his competitors did. Thomas Friedman wrote about this mess, “. . . This struck me as the epitome of what is wrong in American today.” It stand in stark contrast to the wisdom of God’s Word: “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
I am an evangelical Christian. My emphasis is on the Good News of Jesus. I love Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. . . .” Too often evangelicals stop short and forget Ephesians 2:10: “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” We are saved to do good works. Jesus said: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Jesus said, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” Those good works include our daily work. We forget that what we do and how do it are as much our witness to Jesus as anything we say.
One of this congregation’s defining understandings of the faith is caught in those three words that hover over this platform: Soli Deo Gloria. Those Latin words mean “to God alone be the glory.” That is how to live and how to work. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” I know that not every job is pleasant. Some of you are in jobs that wear you down. Some of you are out of work and need a job. Some of you are retired from the formal workforce, but you are not retired from work. Some of you are in school, which is another kind of work. You may think that pastors have a calling, while you are stuck with a job. My work is both a calling and a job—and so is yours. The calling is to be God’s person, doing everything for the glory of God. The job is the occasion, the opportunity, to live our faith. Doing everything for the glory of God is not a policy; it is a lifestyle. A way of living. A way of being. For us, whatever our station in life, work is more than just a job—it is a way to serve God and serve others. Let’s work with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strength—to the glory of God alone.
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