WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.660 Good morning again. 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:07.080 I need to grow a little. 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:10.820 My name's Chris. 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:14.080 It's just a great... 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:16.859 This is one of the great days in the life of the church. 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:19.640 We've got five people getting baptized later on. 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:21.559 Please just stay around. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:22.480 There's going to be food. 00:00:22.580 --> 00:00:24.219 It's going to be an amazing time together. 00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:27.240 The sun is kind of trying to come out as well. 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:30.959 So I'm hoping the water's not going to be cold. 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:37.799 But it's a great thing because as a church, we are not just about being religious. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.519 We're not just about having a meeting. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.959 We're a community, a broken community, but we're going on a journey together. 00:00:44.959 --> 00:00:50.500 And wherever you are on that journey, you're just welcome to come and be involved 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:55.799 and to share, talk with each other afterwards, share food together, get to know each other, 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:59.179 and enjoy being part of the community today. 00:01:02.020 --> 00:01:05.340 When you're a kid, I don't know if you had a dream. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:08.859 Some of you did. 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:11.240 When I was a kid, I had two dreams. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:12.840 They kind of followed after each other. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:17.500 My first dream was I wanted to play cricket for England. 00:01:18.379 --> 00:01:18.620 Okay? 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:23.600 My second dream, which kind of came afterwards because I realized that wasn't going to happen, 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:27.580 was I wanted to be a professional rock guitarist. 00:01:29.580 --> 00:01:31.040 And that didn't happen either. 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:38.540 And, you know, but I think if I look through what I was wanting and dreaming about when I was young, 00:01:38.740 --> 00:01:42.880 I had this deep longing to do something significant in my life. 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:43.600 Right? 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.000 We all want to do something significant. 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:49.439 And I think most of us are the same. 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:50.039 Right? 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.119 We all want to live a life which counts for something. 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:58.379 I have met people who have said, when I was young, I had no dream. 00:01:58.679 --> 00:01:59.719 I just had homework. 00:02:01.579 --> 00:02:03.159 But that's sad. 00:02:03.219 --> 00:02:03.439 Right? 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:09.620 We want to have a dream of something that our lives want to count for something. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:11.960 None of us want to get to the end of our lives. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:16.319 And as one of my students that I had, a 70-year-old guy once said, he said, 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:18.340 I've wasted my life. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:21.219 And that's really sad. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:22.719 None of us want to say that. 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:30.000 And so we've been looking at a series on faith and work because, frankly, 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.860 most of our lives are spent working. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:37.020 Like, particularly here in Hong Kong, we work the longest hours of any city in the world. 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:37.620 Right? 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:40.580 It doesn't matter whether you're a student, whether you're a professional. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.800 You know, from the age of three, you already need a CV to get into kindergarten. 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:45.300 Right? 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:49.280 So we're all working all the time. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:55.840 And if we don't want to see on our tombstone the words wasted, we've got to work out, 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:59.819 we've got to have a bigger vision for our work, which consumes so much of our life, 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.800 than simply getting money or status. 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:08.879 Because all research shows that, actually, the only work that is meaningful is one which 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:10.939 has a higher purpose behind it. 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:12.740 And that's what we've been talking about. 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:17.420 We've been talking about how our faith combines with our work. 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:22.899 Now, the thing is, whether you're a Christian or not, everybody takes their faith to work. 00:03:23.299 --> 00:03:23.799 Did you know that? 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:29.079 If your faith is money, if your faith is in yourself, if your faith is in your reputation, 00:03:29.399 --> 00:03:31.079 that's what your work will be about. 00:03:31.459 --> 00:03:33.219 Yourself, your money, reputation. 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:40.099 If you're a Christian, your faith is meant to be about the worship of God. 00:03:40.899 --> 00:03:42.939 And that's also what your work is meant to be about. 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:49.579 And the calling that we have, and we've talked over the last couple of weeks, is how the 00:03:49.579 --> 00:03:55.300 worship of God is to be our goal, our motivation, which then leads us into serving other people 00:03:55.300 --> 00:04:01.460 in our work through taking pride in the way we do our work, and also serving, seeing the 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:03.500 people beyond the tasks in our work. 00:04:04.259 --> 00:04:08.659 You know, work is a bit like the MasterChef kitchen, we said, where God gives you the ingredients 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:13.259 and says, okay, now make something beautiful out of that this week. 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:15.680 That's what work is meant to be like. 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:18.219 So work is good. 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:20.579 Work reflects a God who works. 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:26.699 So therefore, Monday morning should be your favorite time of the week. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:27.560 Right? 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:32.120 It is for me because it's my day off. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:38.420 And maybe for some of you because it's like, give me a break from the kids. 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.600 But why is it that there's, why did you laugh? 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:44.620 Why do we laugh? 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:52.240 Because there's a gap between what work is supposed to be and our kind of everyday experience of 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:52.639 it, right? 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:54.240 There is this gap. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:59.620 And today we're going to kind of talk, we're going to get real and talk about the frustration 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:00.740 of work. 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:01.439 Okay? 00:05:01.840 --> 00:05:03.240 The frustration of work. 00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:05.100 And if you're like, I love my work. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:06.480 Great. 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:07.160 Listen in. 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:12.160 But at some point, all of our aspirations in work will experience frustration. 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:17.439 I, even in preparing this talk, experienced the frustration of work. 00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:20.879 So let's kind of have a look at it. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.300 Remember we said work is anything that's not leisure. 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:23.960 Okay? 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:25.740 Anything that's not leisure. 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:27.740 So we're going to look in just a couple of parts. 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:29.600 We're going to look at what's wrong with work. 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:30.379 Okay? 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:32.259 And then finding hope for work. 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:33.379 What's wrong with work? 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:36.240 And finding hope for work. 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:36.800 Okay? 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.259 So have a look in your bulletin. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:41.740 There's just a couple of passages there. 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:45.540 We'll kind of, we'll flick through a little bit those two passages. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:47.420 So what's wrong with work? 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:48.379 Genesis 3. 00:05:49.420 --> 00:05:52.439 God makes this incredible, beautiful garden. 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:59.540 And he tells humans to go and create, like to have fun and create culture out of this garden. 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:00.560 Create society. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:05.279 And he said, everything in this garden is on the menu except one tree. 00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:06.220 Okay? 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:07.560 You can eat from anything. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:09.400 But don't eat from that one tree. 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:10.980 Because I want you to listen to my voice. 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:12.460 I want you to trust me. 00:06:13.340 --> 00:06:14.360 Don't eat that one. 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:16.240 Everything else is yours. 00:06:17.820 --> 00:06:22.760 There came another voice which said, God doesn't want your best. 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:24.879 He's lying to you. 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:30.079 You know, you could have a better way, a better life if you do things your way. 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:31.659 Live your way. 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:36.060 And so Adam and Eve listen to that voice. 00:06:36.060 --> 00:06:42.939 They choose to listen to the voice of Satan, eat from the forbidden tree, and it rips apart 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:44.639 their relationship with God. 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:48.819 It rips apart their relationships with each other and their relationships with the creation 00:06:48.819 --> 00:06:49.439 around them. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:56.860 You know, J.R. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings, after writing it, he wrote another 00:06:56.860 --> 00:06:58.319 book which is called The Cimmerillion. 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:01.319 It kind of has some of the background to The Lord of the Rings. 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:02.300 I don't know if anyone's read it. 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:08.600 But he tells of, in this story, he tells of this place called Villanore, which is this 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:09.939 kind of beautiful paradise. 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:16.920 And then Sauron, who if you know, he's the bad guy, okay, Sauron tries to win over all 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:18.279 the elves to himself. 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:19.000 And he says this. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:19.360 He says, 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:22.639 The elves listened to Sauron. 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:28.279 He was still fair in that time, and his motives and those of the elves seemed to go together. 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:30.620 The healing of the desolate lands. 00:07:30.699 --> 00:07:32.019 They all wanted a great life. 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:38.420 Sauron found their weak point in suggesting that helping one another, they could make western 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:42.120 Middle-earth as beautiful as Valinor. 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:45.259 It was really a veiled attack on the gods. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.740 An incitement to try and make a separate, independent paradise. 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:52.160 What he's saying is this. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:55.980 He's saying, what happened in the garden was just like that. 00:07:55.980 --> 00:08:04.540 Sin is basically trying to set up a rival kingdom to God and saying, hey, we as humans, 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:10.020 we can rely on ourselves to make the perfect world for ourselves, and we don't need God 00:08:10.020 --> 00:08:10.939 to help us with that. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:11.980 Thank you very much. 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:16.160 You see, we want a kind of little vision of heaven on earth. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.740 And that's kind of what sin, the Bible calls sin, is. 00:08:19.840 --> 00:08:23.780 We set ourselves up as God, and God can kind of be on the side. 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:26.360 How do we do this? 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:29.520 Well, I mean, there's an atheist writer called Alan de Botton. 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:33.379 He wrote a book, a very interesting book, called Religion for Atheists. 00:08:33.980 --> 00:08:35.040 And in it, he says this. 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:35.340 He says, 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:41.620 It's the secular whose longing for perfection has grown so intense as to lead them to imagine 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:47.680 that paradise might be realized on this earth after just a few more years of financial growth 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:48.780 and medical research. 00:08:49.259 --> 00:08:54.259 We sincerely trust that the combined powers of the IMF, the medical research establishment, 00:08:54.660 --> 00:08:59.300 Silicon Valley, and democratic politics could together cure all the problems of mankind. 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:03.040 We want to make kind of heaven on earth. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.199 And though we might not just kind of have those big visions, 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:11.439 we all have our own little world that we want to have, don't we? 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:17.199 You know, a way that we think life should be and how we can make a difference. 00:09:17.620 --> 00:09:20.819 You know, if you're young, you may think you can change the world. 00:09:22.139 --> 00:09:25.599 If you're a little more seasoned, you may be a little bit more cynical, okay? 00:09:25.699 --> 00:09:30.120 And you may be just thinking about, okay, I just want to create my world for my kids 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:32.860 and make my life a little bit happier and my family. 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:37.379 Some of us are so lost in the busyness of life that the world that we're trying to create 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:39.679 is like, I just hope I meet that deadline. 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:42.199 I just hope my test results are good. 00:09:42.579 --> 00:09:45.240 I just hope I get to level three in that game. 00:09:45.439 --> 00:09:48.699 And that's our world, the perfect world that we're trying to create. 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:50.919 But there's a problem. 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:52.099 There's a problem. 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:56.340 And you run into it in verse 17 in the passage. 00:09:56.500 --> 00:09:57.080 It says this. 00:09:57.639 --> 00:09:59.659 To Adam, he said, 00:09:59.659 --> 00:10:25.860 What's he saying? 00:10:25.860 --> 00:10:27.019 He's saying, 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:31.340 Work was good, but now the ground is cursed. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:33.500 Work is cursed. 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:34.419 Work is good. 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:35.820 It's not a curse, but it's a curse. 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:36.500 It's painful. 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:37.560 It's hard. 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:38.360 It's difficult. 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:39.539 You know what I mean? 00:10:40.800 --> 00:10:44.399 You know, there are thorns and thistles now in work. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:52.299 What once was perfect gardening, pure joy, now is kind of a mix of pleasure and frustration. 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:58.179 This world can never fully be the paradise that we want it to be. 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:02.120 If you don't believe me, just look in your workplace. 00:11:02.959 --> 00:11:03.079 Right? 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:10.339 When I was growing up, I experienced some of these thorns and thistles. 00:11:12.219 --> 00:11:14.639 Because Romans 8 verse 17 says, 00:11:14.739 --> 00:11:17.739 Creation was subjected to frustration. 00:11:18.019 --> 00:11:20.059 Another translation says futility. 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.059 Work can sometimes feel pointless. 00:11:22.199 --> 00:11:24.879 Because growing up, I used to have a garden. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:26.959 We used to grow vegetables in our garden. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.840 And my job was to weed the garden. 00:11:31.680 --> 00:11:31.879 Okay? 00:11:32.040 --> 00:11:36.200 I know many people in Hong Kong don't have gardens, but I used to weed the garden. 00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:40.680 And there's something beautiful and satisfying about when you've just cleared everything and it's just nothing there left. 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:41.460 It's beautiful. 00:11:41.800 --> 00:11:42.160 Perfect. 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:43.019 No more weeds. 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:43.980 Just vegetables. 00:11:45.259 --> 00:11:46.160 So I'd go back. 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:47.500 The next day, I'd come back. 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:51.160 And there were these little tiny green shoots growing again. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:52.120 Little weeds. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:53.560 And you'd be like, oh. 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:54.780 And then you'd go out. 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:57.839 But the next time, I was like, okay, I'm going to try and get all the deep roots out. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:11:58.699 So I'd go deeper. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:00.199 Try and get all the roots out. 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:01.059 I'd go away. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:02.399 Come back the next day. 00:12:02.699 --> 00:12:03.519 And there was nothing there. 00:12:03.779 --> 00:12:04.879 And I was like, this is great. 00:12:06.079 --> 00:12:06.939 And then it rained. 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:10.639 And I came back the next day. 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:13.519 And triple the number of weeds were there than before. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:21.019 And, you know, if you do that again and again, eventually you come to the point of saying, well, what's the point? 00:12:21.819 --> 00:12:23.639 What's the point of doing it? 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:24.079 Right? 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:26.199 And that's gardening. 00:12:26.779 --> 00:12:30.199 But isn't it the same with your garden, maybe your email inbox? 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:31.779 You know, you clear it on Friday. 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:34.259 Come back again Monday. 00:12:34.939 --> 00:12:36.079 10,000 emails. 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:36.840 Right? 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.620 You know, sometimes work can feel pointless. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:45.399 I read about this amazing mobile app, which has been downloaded over a million times. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:47.399 It's called Don't Get Fired. 00:12:47.780 --> 00:12:48.580 Has anyone played it? 00:12:49.560 --> 00:12:50.060 Okay. 00:12:50.180 --> 00:12:51.220 You can download it afterwards. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:51.519 Okay. 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:54.840 Let me give you a little kind of a little sneak preview. 00:12:54.840 --> 00:13:01.840 Basically, it simulates the struggles of retaining your job in a Korean working environment. 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:02.879 Okay? 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:04.240 Okay? 00:13:04.780 --> 00:13:05.399 Stay with me. 00:13:05.780 --> 00:13:13.080 In the game, what you've got to do, you've got to advance at a snail's pace through completely fruitless internship interviews, 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:21.040 not knowing why you're not getting the result you wanted, until finally you get a job and you start right at the bottom. 00:13:21.420 --> 00:13:21.639 Okay? 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:28.460 And everybody treats you like dirt, and you're doing ridiculous hours for demanding bosses who show you no appreciation at all, 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:32.659 and you have to kind of suck up to them just to get more work from them. 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:38.600 And you don't really know what the work's about anyway, and who's benefiting. 00:13:38.819 --> 00:13:45.139 And then afterwards, they give you projects which you've almost completed, and then they scrap them because they changed their mind. 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:51.019 And then they blame you when your colleagues are not working enough, and you're not working enough. 00:13:51.019 --> 00:13:55.960 But if you find that you're working too much, your health score goes down to zero. 00:13:56.519 --> 00:13:56.639 Okay? 00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:02.000 And then after battling through all of that, you get fired for working too hard. 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:03.879 And that's the game. 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:05.860 Go and download it afterwards. 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:06.860 Go and download it afterwards. 00:14:06.860 --> 00:14:12.680 And I read one Reddit user who said, I don't have to play this game. 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:14.240 I'm living it. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:26.299 And the article that I read, I mean, his comment was, it's all but impossible to fulfill one's ambitions while staying sane and healthy at the same time. 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:31.860 In this respect, as pre-professional training goes, high school kids could do worse. 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:40.120 In other words, every job has some aspects of it where you feel like, what's the point of this? 00:14:40.560 --> 00:14:42.440 Is this really my life? 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:45.100 Work can sometimes feel pointless. 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:51.139 And even if you do love your job, and I hope you do, Ecclesiastes 2 says, 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:58.199 I hated all the things that I had told for under the sun because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.699 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish. 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:05.199 You may have done a great job in your work. 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:10.379 You may be a great manager putting a bad company to rights. 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:14.019 But then sooner or later you'll move on. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:19.299 And you have no idea if the next guy is going to completely destroy all the work that you've done. 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:20.159 Right? 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:21.719 We have no idea. 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:24.120 Work can feel pointless. 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:26.639 That's one thorn. 00:15:27.199 --> 00:15:28.860 Another thorn that comes in. 00:15:28.939 --> 00:15:31.980 It's okay, if you're feeling depressed now, we're going to get to some hope later. 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:38.639 Another thorn, it's not just pointless sometimes, but it can sometimes feel fruitless. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.039 If you look in the passage again, Romans 8.22 says, 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:55.179 What's it saying? 00:15:55.179 --> 00:16:01.259 It's saying, in creation and in our lives, there are some things we envision doing. 00:16:01.719 --> 00:16:03.459 We want to give birth to. 00:16:03.979 --> 00:16:04.299 Right? 00:16:04.739 --> 00:16:05.979 I don't know what your dream is. 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:07.239 You want to give birth to. 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:12.539 But we never seem to quite fully be able to get it out, to give birth to. 00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:13.500 And we're in pain. 00:16:13.620 --> 00:16:14.779 It causes you to go, oh. 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:23.399 And Pastor Tim Keller illustrates this kind of sense of feeling of like, I'm not being as productive as I want to be. 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:53.379 But we're in pain. 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:54.399 And he's trying to protect this one leaf. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:55.439 Just trying to get it right. 00:16:55.500 --> 00:16:57.539 Every time it's just a little thing he's got to work on. 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:01.439 And it just takes him longer than he expects. 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:06.500 And every time he tries to get on with the painting, something interrupts him all the time. 00:17:06.980 --> 00:17:10.160 Maybe it's a sick neighbor's wife he's got to go take to the hospital. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.359 And he's a kind person, so he tries to help out. 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:16.259 But all the time, just something stops him from getting on with this. 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:22.240 And finally, when he gets to nearing his death, he starts weeping. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:28.140 And he says, as he realizes, I'm never going to finish all I wanted to do. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.200 At his death, the new occupants of his house find the canvas. 00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:40.200 And in the middle of this huge canvas, all there is, is one little leaf that he's done. 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:43.600 That's the sum of his life's work. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.960 And it's hung in an obscure gallery where very few people ever notice it. 00:17:50.779 --> 00:17:55.640 And aren't many of our plans a little bit like that? 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.620 You know, how many, like even as Angeline was saying, how many weeks can you honestly say, 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:02.240 everything I wanted to get done this week I managed to do? 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:02.960 Right? 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:05.720 There are so many interruptions that come in. 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:06.599 Kids get sick. 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:08.319 TV shows distract us. 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:11.279 You know, and we wonder, am I actually getting anywhere? 00:18:13.259 --> 00:18:15.319 You know, people used to talk about midlife crisis. 00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:17.579 You know, now they're talking about quarter life crisis. 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:18.440 Right? 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.620 Because we feel like, am I achieving? 00:18:21.380 --> 00:18:23.079 I even have a pastor friend. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:25.359 He's written about 10 best-selling books. 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:29.039 He's, and he's in his late 40s. 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:30.240 I spoke to him. 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:33.539 He said, you know, sometimes I feel like I just haven't done anything with my life. 00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:36.139 And I'm like, but I haven't even written one book. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.500 But, you know, it doesn't matter how successful you are. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:44.480 You listen to people who are geniuses, and they all say this. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.019 I just can't quite get there. 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:47.099 Yeah. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:54.819 And, and to be honest, it's not just work circumstances. 00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:57.680 The worst thing about work is people. 00:18:58.339 --> 00:18:58.500 Right? 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.180 Wouldn't work be wonderful without the people? 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.139 You know, have you ever tried doing a group project with people? 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:09.139 There's always someone who's a slacker. 00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:11.660 Someone who's a control freak. 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:14.740 Someone who points out everybody else's problems but won't admit their own. 00:19:14.740 --> 00:19:17.339 And someone who gossips behind your back. 00:19:18.339 --> 00:19:20.180 Even thinking the work of parenting. 00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:23.680 You know, you're trying to help your kids. 00:19:24.059 --> 00:19:25.420 They have an important test. 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:27.500 You know that they need to study. 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:31.400 And so you're trying to help them to study. 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:35.160 But for some reason, they just don't want to study. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:36.779 They resist. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:37.980 They refuse. 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:42.180 And so inside, you're trying to help them. 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:44.120 They're not helping themselves. 00:19:44.980 --> 00:19:46.240 Where do you get to? 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.500 Do you ever get frustrated? 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:53.180 And then in frustration, we often lose our temper. 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:54.279 And we shout. 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:56.059 And then you feel bad about yourself. 00:19:56.099 --> 00:19:58.079 Because that's not the kind of parent you wanted to be. 00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:00.579 And it kind of, the cycle goes on. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.039 Because the thorns are not just other people. 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:05.059 They're also ourselves. 00:20:05.940 --> 00:20:06.259 Right? 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:08.140 They're also ourselves. 00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:12.800 Sometimes we don't even match up to our own expectations of ourselves. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:23.980 And as I think through so many things, like, all of these different things, I don't know how often you've said, I'm just so frustrated. 00:20:24.879 --> 00:20:25.419 Ever said that? 00:20:25.419 --> 00:20:26.119 Have you said that this week? 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:27.339 I've said that this week. 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:29.839 And do you know what that actually means? 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:34.000 Frustrated is just a kind of polite way of saying, I'm angry. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:35.399 Right? 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:37.740 It is. 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:43.880 And Romans is saying to us, you know, we're angry because the world is not the way I want it to be. 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:46.079 It's not the way it should be. 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:48.960 And the passage in Romans is saying, that's right. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.680 It's not the way it should be. 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:51.880 That's why we groan. 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:53.940 And you're not alone in groaning. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.880 You're not alone because the whole of creation groans. 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:04.240 God, the Spirit, even groans because it's not the way it should be. 00:21:05.520 --> 00:21:08.700 Sometimes work can feel pointless, fruitless, frustrating. 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:17.460 Now, if there's no God or no other hope beyond this world, then that anger is completely irrational. 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:18.320 Okay? 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:22.340 It's a bit like shaking your fist at a mountain for getting in the way of blocking the sunset. 00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:23.120 Okay? 00:21:23.600 --> 00:21:26.360 It's like, that's the way the world is. 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:29.159 But we've all got to deal with this. 00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:31.859 And we have, there are so many great things in our work. 00:21:31.959 --> 00:21:35.059 But when these frustrations come, how do we deal with them? 00:21:36.379 --> 00:21:38.599 Some people try to escape. 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:41.339 You know, self-medicating. 00:21:41.479 --> 00:21:45.799 Do you know the rate of alcoholism among NGO workers is huge? 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:46.659 Did you know that? 00:21:47.059 --> 00:21:51.379 Because what they have is they start with this dream of trying to make a difference in the world. 00:21:51.379 --> 00:21:56.199 And then they come up against governments and systems and the people themselves who don't want to help. 00:21:56.359 --> 00:21:57.039 And where do they go? 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:58.019 They turn to alcohol. 00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:02.099 And some of us here know that same thing. 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:06.599 Some of us here are turning to alcohol to help us with that frustration. 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:11.019 Others turn to coffee, chocolate, living for the weekend. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.799 You know, I've got one friend who works simply to go on holiday. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:15.740 Okay? 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:22.019 No sooner has she come back from holiday than she's booking the next holiday because that's why she works. 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:26.859 But if you do that, then you're failing to face reality. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.700 The problems, the thorns are still going to be there. 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:30.480 Right? 00:22:30.879 --> 00:22:31.920 Still going to be there. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:44.960 And what this passage is telling us is God subjects the world to frustration in hope of something. 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:54.680 Because when you're frustrated, when things are not going your way, that's God's megaphone calling to you to take a step back and say, 00:22:54.680 --> 00:23:00.900 you're not God and it's not your world and you can't be the king of your world. 00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:05.660 Because making a perfection out of this world is not going to happen. 00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:09.480 C.S. Lewis once said, 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:29.259 Frustration is that thing telling you don't put your hope in your work to satisfy you. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:34.019 That's like taking an elephant ice skating on a frozen pond. 00:23:34.299 --> 00:23:37.059 It's not going to hold the weight of your expectations. 00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:40.379 So you might have a great job. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:45.899 You might have great colleagues and a great boss, great kids. 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:48.359 And you feel like, oh, that sounds very depressing today. 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:51.879 What does the Bible say? 00:23:51.980 --> 00:23:53.379 The Ecclesiastes 4 says, 00:23:54.259 --> 00:23:55.779 Enjoy what you've got. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:57.519 Enjoy what you've got. 00:23:57.579 --> 00:23:58.379 It's not all bad. 00:23:58.639 --> 00:24:00.339 There is fruit in the garden. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:01.179 There is beauty. 00:24:01.339 --> 00:24:01.740 Enjoy. 00:24:01.859 --> 00:24:03.019 It's a gift of grace. 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:04.059 Okay? 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:06.159 So don't go away thinking, oh, life's terrible. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:07.820 No, there's a gift of grace. 00:24:08.080 --> 00:24:09.540 Take pleasure in your work. 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:14.180 But realize that sooner or later, you're going to experience the thorns. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:15.080 Right? 00:24:15.540 --> 00:24:16.920 You're going to experience the thorns. 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:21.960 If you want to know what your thorns are in life, complete this sentence. 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.920 My work would be great if... 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:27.279 Fill in the blank. 00:24:27.820 --> 00:24:29.500 If that colleague just wasn't there. 00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:32.940 If I finally managed to finish that project. 00:24:33.300 --> 00:24:34.300 If... 00:24:34.300 --> 00:24:35.680 Fill in the blank. 00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:36.860 That's your thorn. 00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:37.859 Fill in the blank. 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:38.859 Fill in the blank. 00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:39.219 So... 00:24:39.219 --> 00:24:41.179 That's really the problem. 00:24:41.259 --> 00:24:42.500 That's what's wrong with work. 00:24:43.259 --> 00:24:44.139 It's fruitless. 00:24:44.219 --> 00:24:45.599 It's pointless sometimes. 00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:49.579 There are thorns which get in the way of us really enjoying it. 00:24:50.259 --> 00:24:55.359 But now, how do we deal with it to find meaning and meaningful work in this? 00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:56.359 You need hope. 00:24:56.899 --> 00:24:57.139 Okay? 00:24:57.419 --> 00:24:58.219 You need hope. 00:24:59.159 --> 00:25:00.139 So here's the second thing. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:03.359 Finding hope for your work. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:09.299 You know, even writing this sermon, many of us will have forgotten it by lunchtime. 00:25:10.219 --> 00:25:12.899 So why would you bother persevering to do it? 00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:16.199 Verse 20 says, 00:25:16.959 --> 00:25:24.259 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its Joan's choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:31.159 in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:35.440 and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 00:25:36.340 --> 00:25:44.820 You see, every thorn you face is an opportunity for you to find hope in God's work, not your work. 00:25:46.040 --> 00:25:51.259 Because there is hope which lies outside of this frustrating world. 00:25:51.259 --> 00:25:56.539 It's a glory where there will be a freedom to work without pain. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:02.900 There will be companies which truly function and don't have employees which take sick leave just at deadline time. 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:06.900 There will be a place with no thorns, no thistles. 00:26:06.900 --> 00:26:13.019 It's a paradise where God dwells supremely in his glory and beauty, 00:26:13.140 --> 00:26:15.240 and he's going to put the world to rights. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:16.799 Work will be satisfying. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:19.559 You will look forward to going to work on Monday morning. 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:27.759 And those deep aspirations, those longings to be significant in our lives, 00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:31.119 God says, I am going to fulfill those. 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:34.179 I will fulfill those. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:41.119 You see, Viktor Frankl, who was a Jewish survivor of concentration camp, 00:26:41.679 --> 00:26:42.099 he said, 00:26:42.099 --> 00:26:44.960 Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:48.679 but only by lack of meaning and purpose. 00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:53.140 You see, when you see that God is working a bigger plan, 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:55.660 like Angeline said, there is an eternal plan. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:01.320 There is something which is so much greater than just the little moments of frustration that we go through. 00:27:02.220 --> 00:27:05.380 That he is bringing you into a paradise, 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.580 and he says he's going to work it all for good. 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:09.840 He's going to turn everything around. 00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:10.980 He's going to redeem it. 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:14.319 When you see that that is not wasted, 00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:15.980 no thorn is wasted, 00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:20.620 then it gives you power to wait patiently and to persevere, 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:23.039 which is what he says in verse 25, 00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:26.319 to hold on to him and his work. 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:31.640 Because you see, in that story that Tolkien told when Niggle dies, 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:35.120 he's put on a train to the heavenly country. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:37.839 And just as he's nearing the station, 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:39.519 out of the corner of his eye, 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:40.939 he sees a tree. 00:27:42.479 --> 00:27:43.039 Finished. 00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:46.379 And he runs out. 00:27:47.159 --> 00:27:48.459 And that's the tree. 00:27:48.939 --> 00:27:50.219 There's his tree. 00:27:51.059 --> 00:27:51.659 Complete. 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:52.859 Full. 00:27:53.699 --> 00:27:55.699 The wind is blowing through it, 00:27:55.719 --> 00:27:57.319 just as he'd imagined it would be. 00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:00.539 But he'd never been able to get there. 00:28:02.419 --> 00:28:04.639 You see, his dream hadn't died. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.859 Because there is a heavenly city 00:28:08.859 --> 00:28:12.500 where NGO workers who want to see healing and justice 00:28:12.500 --> 00:28:14.200 will see healing and justice. 00:28:14.639 --> 00:28:17.700 Where whatever the deepest aspirations and frustrations 00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:19.200 and things you're longing for, 00:28:19.399 --> 00:28:20.379 whether it's your family, 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:21.639 whether it's a project, 00:28:21.980 --> 00:28:23.319 God will work through, 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:26.460 and you will see there will be a birth. 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:29.019 There will be a birth. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:32.240 And God will be the one who does it. 00:28:33.159 --> 00:28:34.460 That's what he's saying. 00:28:35.439 --> 00:28:39.220 There will be a freedom and a glory of the children of God. 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:43.819 Someone once said, 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:46.879 with hope comes inevitable letdown. 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:50.419 Therefore, one will stop being so angry 00:28:50.419 --> 00:28:51.939 when one stops being so hopeful. 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.460 Just assume that life is going to be pretty crap 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:55.700 and you won't be disappointed. 00:28:55.700 --> 00:28:58.580 But the Christian message says, 00:28:58.700 --> 00:28:58.900 no. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:00.880 The Christian message says, 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:02.360 be hopeful. 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:03.840 Not in now. 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:05.740 Put your hope in God 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:07.039 and what he's working out 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:08.460 because his plans are for good. 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:11.620 That means you can work with your ambitions, 00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:13.819 with whatever you're wanting to do right now, 00:29:13.940 --> 00:29:14.980 with purpose, 00:29:15.140 --> 00:29:16.400 knowing that it's not wasted, 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:18.680 no matter how frustrated you feel at times. 00:29:18.840 --> 00:29:19.980 It is not wasted. 00:29:19.980 --> 00:29:25.220 You will see the fruit one day. 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:28.500 And that gives you strength to persevere. 00:29:28.620 --> 00:29:29.599 It's not pointless. 00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:31.599 It's not fruitless. 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:35.859 I don't know if you're a perfectionist, 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:41.740 but hope frees you from being a perfectionist now. 00:29:42.379 --> 00:29:42.559 You know, 00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:43.559 because what perfectionists, 00:29:44.099 --> 00:29:46.899 they take doing something well to an extreme. 00:29:47.939 --> 00:29:48.259 You see, 00:29:48.339 --> 00:29:49.419 we look for the perfect job. 00:29:49.679 --> 00:29:50.799 We look for the perfect strategy, 00:29:50.939 --> 00:29:52.759 the perfect technique to make your family right. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:54.199 Perfectionism 00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:54.840 perfectionism 00:29:54.840 --> 00:29:56.720 is about trying to control your world 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.420 to make it like a little heaven on earth. 00:30:00.080 --> 00:30:00.519 Do you know that? 00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:03.340 That's what perfectionism is. 00:30:03.580 --> 00:30:04.259 And what you're doing, 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:05.400 you've crossed the line 00:30:05.400 --> 00:30:06.319 from doing work well 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:07.259 to trying to be God. 00:30:08.360 --> 00:30:08.580 Okay? 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:09.799 Now, 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:10.400 trying to be God 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:12.039 is a pretty stressful job description. 00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:14.319 And if you're a perfectionist, 00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:15.720 you'll know that your stress levels 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:17.220 get high at certain moments. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:17.680 Right? 00:30:19.620 --> 00:30:20.019 Because 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:23.019 much of my frustration 00:30:23.019 --> 00:30:24.080 with other people 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:27.599 comes from the fact 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:28.480 that they're not living up 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:29.799 to my expectations 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:31.179 of how the world should be. 00:30:32.619 --> 00:30:33.019 Right? 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:36.199 But I'm not God 00:30:36.199 --> 00:30:38.039 and it's not my world 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:40.419 and He's going to fix the world. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:42.220 It's not for me to fix the world. 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:44.720 So I can leave that job to Him 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:45.960 and get on and work well. 00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:49.519 Some of us here remember, 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:52.720 you need to remember this hope 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:54.900 because you feel like 00:30:54.900 --> 00:30:56.500 the monotony of work. 00:30:56.500 --> 00:30:58.140 You feel lost in your work. 00:30:58.360 --> 00:30:59.279 You feel frustrated 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:00.559 where you are in your career. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:04.200 Some of you need to remember 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:05.740 there is a tree that is coming. 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:09.200 Some of you love your work too much. 00:31:09.860 --> 00:31:12.240 You put your hope all in your work. 00:31:13.360 --> 00:31:15.380 And it's not just you who feel the form. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:16.880 Your family and other people 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:17.779 feel the forms, 00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:19.180 the choices that you're making. 00:31:19.180 --> 00:31:22.460 You know, I can be so concentrated 00:31:22.460 --> 00:31:23.340 on my work 00:31:23.340 --> 00:31:25.140 that I make other people 00:31:25.140 --> 00:31:26.320 feel like they're an interruption. 00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:27.820 Right? 00:31:28.340 --> 00:31:29.740 Even those closest to me. 00:31:29.820 --> 00:31:31.000 And you know, when it gets like that, 00:31:31.240 --> 00:31:32.539 people, you know, 00:31:32.600 --> 00:31:33.539 begin to lash out, 00:31:33.620 --> 00:31:34.480 begin to say things 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:34.940 that I shouldn't 00:31:34.940 --> 00:31:36.120 because they're frustrating me. 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:37.039 You're stopping me 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:38.180 from doing my work. 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.460 And I've stopped seeing people. 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:43.740 That's a lot of what 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:45.799 workplace demands and abuse is about, 00:31:45.880 --> 00:31:46.779 trying to use people 00:31:46.779 --> 00:31:48.200 to make your world work 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:49.420 the way you want it to. 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:50.240 Right? 00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:53.500 And we've stopped loving people. 00:31:54.399 --> 00:31:55.819 And we've become a thorn. 00:31:56.539 --> 00:31:57.399 And your frustration, 00:31:57.740 --> 00:31:58.759 I don't know what your frustration 00:31:58.759 --> 00:31:59.680 has been this week, 00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:01.859 but your frustration and anger, 00:32:01.980 --> 00:32:03.019 if you've had that this week, 00:32:03.099 --> 00:32:03.859 that's probably because 00:32:03.859 --> 00:32:04.700 you're trying to be God. 00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:06.639 You know, 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:07.879 and we don't do a good job of it. 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:11.480 So where do we go? 00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:14.299 When frustration, anger, 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:15.220 that's the sign. 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:17.279 You've gone from doing your job well 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:18.980 to looking to be God. 00:32:19.099 --> 00:32:20.480 The world is frustrating. 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:22.339 It's a call in the frustration 00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:23.480 to turn to Him. 00:32:23.740 --> 00:32:25.299 But when I turn and lash out 00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:27.119 and I get angry with other people, 00:32:27.220 --> 00:32:27.940 that's the sign. 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:29.680 I've gone too far. 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:31.379 Work hard. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:33.539 Don't place your hope in your work 00:32:33.539 --> 00:32:34.639 because there are thorns. 00:32:40.639 --> 00:32:41.639 So what do we do? 00:32:42.159 --> 00:32:43.159 We need to surrender. 00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:44.960 The Bible calls us, 00:32:45.060 --> 00:32:46.279 whether you're a Christian or not, 00:32:46.340 --> 00:32:48.220 to surrender your hopes 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:49.380 in your work to Him 00:32:49.380 --> 00:32:50.500 and allow Him 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:51.960 to take your dreams and ambitions 00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:53.840 and you just get on and work 00:32:53.840 --> 00:32:55.440 to His praise and glory. 00:32:56.920 --> 00:32:58.480 Verse 32 says this, 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:00.720 If God is for us, 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:02.460 who can be against us? 00:33:02.900 --> 00:33:05.340 He who did not spare His own Son 00:33:05.340 --> 00:33:06.960 but gave Him up for us all, 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:08.180 how will He, 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:09.440 not along with Him, 00:33:09.800 --> 00:33:13.140 graciously give us all things? 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:14.540 You see, 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.540 the reason why you can say, 00:33:16.620 --> 00:33:16.800 God, 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:18.580 I can leave it to you 00:33:18.580 --> 00:33:19.900 to fix the world 00:33:19.900 --> 00:33:22.360 is because God has seen 00:33:22.360 --> 00:33:23.620 the thorns and the thistles 00:33:23.620 --> 00:33:24.420 in your life. 00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:26.960 He knows the frustrations 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:27.940 that you go through. 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:28.960 You know, 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:29.460 there are things 00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:31.140 which stand against us, 00:33:32.120 --> 00:33:33.000 things of accusing us 00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:34.060 not of doing a good job, 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:35.660 not being where we should be. 00:33:35.660 --> 00:33:37.680 whatever the thorns are for you. 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:42.000 I, 00:33:42.620 --> 00:33:45.320 just a few weeks ago, 00:33:46.100 --> 00:33:47.740 there were a couple of instances 00:33:47.740 --> 00:33:50.160 where I was feeling frustrated 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:51.580 and overwhelmed 00:33:51.580 --> 00:33:52.860 with a particular task 00:33:52.860 --> 00:33:53.620 that I had to do. 00:33:54.040 --> 00:33:56.040 And I felt only I could do it. 00:33:56.620 --> 00:33:57.680 Only I could do it. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:01.740 And then a friend came along 00:34:01.740 --> 00:34:02.580 and said to me, 00:34:03.060 --> 00:34:03.460 hey Chris, 00:34:03.500 --> 00:34:03.920 it's okay. 00:34:04.860 --> 00:34:05.700 I'll hand you that. 00:34:06.180 --> 00:34:06.980 I'll deal with that. 00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:08.159 You leave it to me. 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:11.559 Do you know what that was like? 00:34:11.680 --> 00:34:12.340 It was like, 00:34:12.820 --> 00:34:14.440 light came into my world. 00:34:15.200 --> 00:34:16.059 It's like freedom. 00:34:16.059 --> 00:34:16.779 Oh, 00:34:17.059 --> 00:34:18.460 you mean I don't have to do it? 00:34:20.539 --> 00:34:21.320 The Bible says, 00:34:21.420 --> 00:34:22.099 if you're a Christian, 00:34:22.219 --> 00:34:23.139 if you're not a Christian, 00:34:23.940 --> 00:34:25.219 you've got to let go 00:34:25.219 --> 00:34:26.860 of trying to fix the world 00:34:26.860 --> 00:34:29.139 because God has already come down 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:30.719 and he's worked for us. 00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:32.460 He's done that task 00:34:32.460 --> 00:34:34.259 of being able to fix the world 00:34:34.259 --> 00:34:35.279 that we could never do. 00:34:35.380 --> 00:34:36.139 On the cross, 00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:38.019 he's the only one who said, 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:39.019 it is finished. 00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:41.360 He's finished his work. 00:34:41.779 --> 00:34:42.500 He's done it. 00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:43.639 On the cross, 00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:45.440 Jesus had thorns 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:47.360 put into his head 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:48.300 in a crown. 00:34:48.780 --> 00:34:50.139 The thorns that you and I 00:34:50.139 --> 00:34:52.480 face on a daily basis. 00:34:52.740 --> 00:34:53.460 He took them. 00:34:54.619 --> 00:34:56.280 And he offers a great exchange. 00:34:56.579 --> 00:34:57.099 He says, 00:34:57.639 --> 00:34:58.860 give me your frustrations. 00:34:59.659 --> 00:35:01.039 Give me your thorns. 00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:02.760 Give me whatever 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:04.360 is getting you down 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:05.260 right at this moment. 00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:06.260 Give it to me. 00:35:08.380 --> 00:35:09.480 Your selfishness, 00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:10.139 your anger, 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:11.059 whatever it is, 00:35:11.139 --> 00:35:12.579 and I can provide rest 00:35:12.579 --> 00:35:13.980 for your soul 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:15.539 in the midst 00:35:15.539 --> 00:35:16.840 of the difficulties 00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:19.800 because you don't have 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:20.760 to fix the world 00:35:20.760 --> 00:35:22.780 because that's my job. 00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:24.320 I'll do it for you. 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:27.780 You see, 00:35:28.900 --> 00:35:30.960 there's true rest 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:32.699 if you come to Christ 00:35:32.699 --> 00:35:34.760 and he's saying to you, 00:35:35.300 --> 00:35:36.320 will you come? 00:35:36.860 --> 00:35:38.119 Will you come? 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:39.539 Will you come? 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:40.440 Rest from trying 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:41.400 to fix your world. 00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:42.320 Rest from trying 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:43.780 to create everything perfectly. 00:35:44.220 --> 00:35:45.260 Rest from the stress 00:35:45.260 --> 00:35:45.780 of trying to be 00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:46.900 God of your universe. 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:49.200 Surrender to me. 00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:50.920 You can trust me 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:52.340 because if I have overcome 00:35:52.340 --> 00:35:53.360 the greatest thorn, 00:35:53.640 --> 00:35:55.059 which is death itself, 00:35:55.940 --> 00:35:58.180 if I can do that, 00:35:58.340 --> 00:35:58.840 don't you think 00:35:58.840 --> 00:35:59.380 I'm big enough 00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:00.340 to handle the thorns 00:36:00.340 --> 00:36:01.200 in your own life? 00:36:02.180 --> 00:36:02.880 Come to me 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:03.940 and find rest 00:36:03.940 --> 00:36:05.080 for your soul. 00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:06.140 No matter 00:36:06.140 --> 00:36:08.019 what the frustrations 00:36:08.019 --> 00:36:08.980 in your work are, 00:36:09.100 --> 00:36:09.760 there is hope 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:10.540 that he's going 00:36:10.540 --> 00:36:11.700 to make it all new. 00:36:12.040 --> 00:36:12.980 He's going to use it. 00:36:13.240 --> 00:36:14.180 But right now, 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:16.160 he is here for you. 00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:17.100 He knows you. 00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:18.220 He hears you. 00:36:18.780 --> 00:36:19.420 Come to him. 00:36:19.900 --> 00:36:20.440 Let's pray. 00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:20.480 Let's pray.