Sermon Tone Analysis

*Topical: The Value of Hard Work*

*/June 5, 2011/*

 

* *

Intro~/Communication card:

·         Bookkeeping

·         Cleaning

·         Potluck

 

 

Prayer

 

*Scripture reading: COl 3:22-24*

 

I had a sermon I was working on but realized I need to save it for *Father’s* *day*, so I didn’t have a sermon for Sunday.

I spent the whole day agonizing (and praying) about what to preach.

The next morning it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

It’s *loosely* *inspired* by my reading in Isaiah, but stands as a *vital* *balance* to last week’s sermon.

·         I’ve preached many sermons on *trusting* and *depending* on God, but I’ve never preached a sermon on the *spirituality* of *work*.

The inspiration came as I realized just how *hard* I was *working* as I *trusted* God.

As I talked about last week, we have decided to *cut* my *salary* significantly to make up for a budget deficit.

·         I have been trusting God to provide for me, but working very hard to *find* the *means* he is going to use.

As I said, I am going to be “*bi*-*vocational*,” which means I needed to find a job to help support my family, but at the same time allow me to *save* my *heart* for this church.

I knew almost *instantly* where I wanted to work: *Starbucks*.

I mentioned an *interview* last week; it was at the College Way Starbucks.

Well, on Monday, they called me and offered me the position, so I am now a *pastor*~/*barista*.

 

·         I’m being forced to live out what I talked about: Do what you can, then trust God with what you can’t (cf.

Andrew’s Q).

The *other* *thing* that *inspired* this sermon was how hard I had to work to find the *sermon* *topic* – it may have come in an instant, but it took a lot of work to get to that moment.

*Thorns No More*

 

Here is what inspired me in Isaiah.

It will seem like a *weird* *train* of thought, so stick with me.

This is important because we have some very *strange* *ideas* about work.

*Isaiah 55:12-13 *  12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”

Q   Sounds cool and all, but what does this have to do with work?

 

*Genesis 3:17-19 *  17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

·         In other words, the thorns and briers are a reference to *Adam’s* *curse*.

Q   BTW: Is it a coincidence that when Jesus suffered to bear the curse of sin and remove it from us, he wore a *crown* of *thorns*?

I think what Isaiah 55:13 is saying is the *curse* *being* *lifted*.

It is not lifted; we still *struggle* and *strive* for little, yet through Christ out work takes on greater meaning.

Q   But what does this say about your *job*?

Sure, you may think that your job is God’s *personal* *punishment* for your sins.

But this isn’t that work itself is a curse:

 

*Genesis 2:15 *  15 ¶ The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Q   Is this *before* or *after* the Fall?

Before, work is part of Eden.

The real curse

 

The result of the Fall is */unproductive/* labor: striving and laboring, but getting little in return.

We are striving against *thorns*, against *weeds*, and *blackberry* bushes that make our job frustrating and never ending, and a little prickly.

·         Granted, maybe that does describe your job.

BTW: This is *God’s* *curse* too; he labors hard for us, yet gains so little in return.

(cf.

Song of Vineyard, Isa.

5:1-4).

The reversal of the curse and the promise of this passage is not *freedom* *from* *work*, but the *freedom* of *productive* *work*.

·         In fact, I think Scripture hints that *Heaven* will be a lot of *work*, but good work.

Reflecting God

 

Here is how we need to understand work, a “*theology* of *work*.”

We are made in *God’s* *image*.

Our desire to *make*, *build*, *create*, *raise*, *teach*, and *grow* is from him.

·         Not just work for *pay*.

Work is *laboring* to *accomplish* something.

Q   *What* is your *work*?

What do you labor to accomplish?

It includes your *job*, caring for your *children*, for your *home*, your parents, it is helping your *friends* in *need*.

It may be *counseling* a *neighbor* – it doesn’t have to be *physical*.

In all these things we *reflect* our *Father* in Heaven; because he works, we work.

We are like *children* acting like our father.

·         Here is one of my *favorite* *pictures* of Grace & Sarah, they are trying to be like me.

It’s this whole *cycle*: God teaches us to how to work by laboring beside him, and (if you are a parent) your kids learn to work by laboring beside them.

·         This is one of the many reasons we need to have a good theology of work, because we are *passing* it on to *them*.

So to *sum* this stuff up:

 

·         Hard, productive work is *noble*, *fulfilling*, and *God*-*honoring*.

Three purposes of work

 

Let’s *move* *forward* and look at God’s purpose for work, because it isn’t just earning money.

Let’s look at some *key* *passages*.

·         BTW: Remember what I said last week about being “*Radically* *Normal*”?

These are passages about being normal.

I see at least three purposes:

 

*/1.

/**/For our good./*

Work is God’s means for *providing* for *ourselves*.

This is where the “do what *you* can *do*” comes in.

*2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 *  10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

11 We hear that some among you are idle.

They are not busy; they are busybodies.

12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

Some *early* *Christians* began to take advantage of the whole community thing, quitting their jobs and living off of others.

·         Maybe they were *misapplying* what *Jesus* said about money.

Jesus brought *dignity* to the poor, showing that the poor were *not* *lower* in God’s eyes and were a *vital* *part* of the kingdom.

But he we not saying poverty itself is a *virtue*.

·         But there are *good* and *bad* *reasons* to be poor; *laziness* is a bad reason.

Hard work never hurt anyone (it actually helps)

 

The reality is that *hard* *work* is *good* for us.

I recently read “*Up* *from* *Slavery*,” and one of the most interesting things was the Southern *disdain* of work (which trickled down to the slaves) and Booker T. Washington’s *exultation* of it.

·         Since we are made in *God’s* *image* as one who works, if we *fail* to work however we can, we *fall* *short* of the glory of God.

There are times this *isn’t* *by* *choice*, because not being able to find a job or being *sick*.

I am *not* saying it is *sin*, but it is still *bad* for your soul not to work or serve.

Q   How much worse if you *can* *work* but won’t?

The Real Cost of Welfare

 

Let me be *controversial* here: This is the *real* *cost* of welfare.

I know that is has a *place*, and I am glad that no one starves to death here.

·         Welfare comes at a *price*; it removes the *motivation* to work.

*Prov.