Let's read together, starting chapter 3, verse 1.
Therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.
In these, you too once walked when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices,
and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other.
As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,
not by way of eye service as people pleases,
but with the sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done,
and there is no partiality.
Masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly,
knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
Good morning, everyone.
Will you pray with me as we come to God's word?
Father, you have raised Christ to your right hand with heaven and earth under his feet,
and so I pray that you would help us to see how all our work endeavours also should be under his feet.
So please speak to us today.
Encourage and convict us.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, a passage about slavery.
We've kind of got to deal with that awkwardness, don't we?
I'm thinking of Britain in the 1700s, 1800s.
They actually had a slave trade.
Their economy built to a large extent on slavery.
So this Christian country using slavery.
But the problem there wasn't the Christianity.
The problem there was they needed to become more Christian.
And I want to illustrate that with the amazing life of a politician, William Wilberforce.
If you've seen the movie Amazing Grace about his story, I would really recommend it.
His life is an amazing one.
So he was a British minister of parliament in 1780.
He got into parliament.
For about 50 years he served.
And he became a believer in Christ after he was in parliament.
And he spent 40 hard years devoted to abolishing the slave trade.
And then he wanted to make slavery itself, not just the trade, illegal as well.
So apparently in 1787, Wilberforce wrote a letter.
He estimated that the annual export of slaves from the western coast of Africa for all nations
at that time, not just Britain, was 100,000 people per year.
And not all of those would survive the boat trip.
He was disgusted by it.
And this disgust came out of his Christian faith.
He spent 20 years fighting it.
And we've got to appreciate that he got severe opposition.
People feared that it would destroy the economy.
England didn't want France and Portugal to become stronger if they just stopped doing it.
He got severe opposition to this.
And he suffered medically.
He had many young children at home.
He had six children.
And he had the troubles at home.
He had an embattled life.
But he was known for his joy.
Just a little anecdote.
He was known for playing with his children when he got home.
Embattled but full of joy, this guy.
Victory came in 1807.
So one biographer described it this way.
The House of Representatives rose almost to a man and turned towards Wilberforce in a burst of parliamentary cheers.
Suddenly above the roar of hear, hear and quite out of order, three hurrahs echoed and echoed.
While he sat, head bowed, tears streaming down his face.
So that was when the trade was finally abolished.
1807.
And then he spent the rest of his life trying to make slavery itself illegal in Britain.
And he heard news that it finally happened three days before he died.
So he got that wonderful privilege of hearing that it had been undone.
Quite a fun fact.
He also started the RSPCA.
I thought that was interesting.
So I'll share that.
The seeds or the roots that undermined slavery was what is in the Gospel.
That's what initially inflamed this cause in Wilberforce.
And it's what strengthened him throughout much opposition.
It's what he called the peculiar doctrines of Christianity.
Not saying they're weird, but saying that they're distinct.
They're distinct from any other worldview.
What he meant by that was there's a direct link between how you see the world, the truth, and therefore how we should live.
And slavery just doesn't fit with those truths.
So things like people being made in the image of God.
Your worth isn't based on your utility or anything else.
But each person bears the image of God.
Human depravity.
He wasn't afraid of calling out his nation about how depraved the practice was.
He believed in divine judgment.
The substitutionary work of Christ on the cross.
Justification by faith alone.
And we could go on.
But these are the seeds that broke and undermined slavery then.
And they're the seeds that should be undermining forms of slavery that still exist today.
And they are planted.
These seeds, these deep roots, they're planted right here in this book of Colossians that talks about slavery.
So at this point, we need to distinguish a little bit between that slavery that Wilberforce fought to undo and ancient slavery back in the time of Rome.
Again, the Bible isn't endorsing slavery.
The seeds are right here to undo it.
But back then, slavery, it was more like a long-term employment.
It wasn't as barbaric, although it could be severe punishments.
I don't want to paint too rosy a picture here.
But a slave in the house of a governor, for instance, could have way more security and way more honour in society than a free, ordinary person.
So we've got to just make that nuance when we think of slavery here.
The other reason I raise Wilberforce as the introduction to this sermon on the workplace,
so I'm just going to make a leap here in terms of master slaves and to kind of those in authority and those who are employees.
But Wilberforce is interesting because when he became a Christian, he was not sure whether he should stay in politics.
Could he be a Christian and stay in politics?
He was really troubled by that and he was wondering, should he be devoted to something else, maybe going to church ministry?
And he went to John Newton, the guy who wrote Amazing Grace, for advice.
Now, that advice could have changed the direction of his life and praise God that Newton said, no, stay in politics.
You can serve the Lord Christ in politics.
So he's an interesting case in that he saw himself as a servant of Christ where he was planted in his position in politics.
So how about you?
Can you see yourself as a servant of Christ in the work you have to do?
How does knowing Christ transform your work?
When I talk about work today, I am going to be speaking in terms of employment.
But the principles, I think, can apply to unpaid volunteering and any social justice causes you're involved in.
I think in parenting, I think in caring for elderly parents and other care roles.
So the principles will apply, but as I talk today, I'll be mainly talking about employment.
So how can you be a Christian in your work?
I think we can come up with a few answers.
Taking evangelism opportunities with colleagues and clients.
Providing money for the family, because we're called to care for our families.
To earn money to give to the church and ministry here and abroad.
To earn money to give to those in need.
Balancing work commitments to free you up so that you can serve in church activities.
Now, I think these are the common answers I hear and I think of straight away.
And they're good and they're proper.
I don't want to dismiss those answers.
But I think there's a huge hole missing if that's all we say about how to be a Christian in work.
But as you write and send an email, as you write up that report, as you meet with that client, as you change the bedpan for that patient,
how does knowing Christ affect those day in, day out tasks?
Or do you leave Christ in the car as you walk into the office?
Or walk into the room at the end of the house, everyone working from home now.
But do we know how Christ fits in that?
Considering how much of our time and energies we spend in work,
I think that's a big hole if we can't see how Christ is Lord there as well.
We might think, just don't do anything unethical.
But surely it's more than that.
And it is more than that.
And this passage tells us.
Being full in Christ has a lot more to say than just don't do anything unethical.
Tim Keller in his really good book.
Today I can't cover the topic of work from a biblical point of view.
Tim Keller's book, Every Good Endeavour, I would really recommend it.
But he asked an interesting question in it.
He asked this question.
At the end of your life, will you wish that you had plunged more of your time, passion and skills
into work environments and work products that helped people to give and receive more love?
It's an interesting question.
Will you wish I gave more to work because you're a Christian?
It's an interesting question to consider.
I think if we don't see how fullness in Christ should overflow into our work,
then we're going to be in danger of trying to fill our souls with work.
Trying to use work to do something it just can't do.
Keller has the term, the work behind the work.
So work is hard.
The tasks are hard.
Living in this broken world is hard.
But the work behind the work is trying to fill up your sense of value as a person,
your sense of security, your sense of meaning.
If you're trying to use work to do that, that makes work really, really unbearably hard.
A Chinese-American comedian, Jimmy O. Yang, told his dad his desire to become an actor.
And his dad's response, he says, was this.
If you follow your dreams, you become homeless.
Everyone does what he hates to get money to then do what he loves.
He said it a lot funnier than I can say it.
But don't follow your dreams.
You become homeless.
No one does that.
Just use work, get money, and then fill up yourself with what you love.
Without Christ, we can undervalue work, seeing no meaning in it apart from that paycheck
to then fill our lives with family and security and leisure and whatnot.
And haven't we seen it lately?
COVID has exposed that, where we were pouring so much into work,
and now people are like, I want more work-life balance, actually.
It's swung.
People want to work from home and all those things.
The great resignation.
So many people resigned because they want more fulfilment.
They're just using work to fill up on things that they actually love.
Or more recently, there's the trend of quiet quitting.
People don't care about their work.
They want the paycheck, so they won't quit, but they just give a half...
I can't say that word.
They give a half effort.
Sorry.
They give...
They don't give...
Their heart isn't in it.
They quietly quit.
We still are full of rich...
Getting quick...
Rich...
I can't even get my words right today.
The schemes are out there.
The lottery is still alive and well.
So we can undervalue work, but we can also overvalue work.
Pinning much of our identity on it.
That this is who I am.
This will fill my sense of worth as a person.
You can do it in ministry.
My value as a person is because I'm a pastor.
That is wrong.
And you need to remind me of that.
My value of a person is in Christ.
We can use work as if it gives us our security in this broken world.
Get enough money and you'll be safe.
No.
Get enough position in society and you'll be safe.
Or we can use it to fill our lives with meaning.
So we can undervalue work.
We can overvalue work.
And I think when we try to overvalue work,
trying to fill our buckets with work,
I think that makes success absolutely necessary.
Failure is devastating.
Weakness is shameful.
Because we have to have success to feel like a full person.
And if we think like that,
that can make immorality seem reasonable.
Maybe even the only option.
Like taking credit for other people's work.
Fudging the numbers just a little bit.
Exaggerating time frames so that you win the bid.
Being harsh on workers when things don't go to plan.
It can also lead to an imbalance of priorities,
of work and rest and family and church.
Perhaps we feel like we're struggling at home.
And so we overinvest in work because we can control that.
We can feel more fulfilled there when we should be pushing into the struggle at home.
And I think it can also lead to a distorted way of decision making.
Even in our work, we can evaluate the importance of tasks not based off the needs of people.
Because we're limited creatures.
We can't give all our energies to every single task.
Do we base the things we prioritise on the needs of people or what will fulfil me?
Don't we gravitate towards the tasks that just fulfil us when we overvalue work?
So we can't undervalue work.
We can't overvalue work.
And what we need is, therefore, to know the fullness of Christ.
And so how can we not become full but express fullness while working?
By setting our minds on things above, verses 1 and 4.
Similar to like we saw in the family structures last week.
Work is redeemed and restored to God's original design as his image bearers.
You can express fullness in Christ in whatever situation you're in right now.
Whether you're under authority or in authority or a mixture,
this is Christ's sovereignly chosen context for you to know fullness in him and express it.
This is where the rubber hits the road.
Whether we realise how full we are in Christ.
So in verses 1 to 4,
we're commanded to set our minds on things above.
If success in work validates who I want to be,
my sense of wellbeing will be a rollercoaster
or we'll just see work as a means to another end.
We'll be tempted to use people for our own sake.
But if I set my mind on things above,
we remember that I am chosen by God.
I am holy and loved.
That never changes, no matter what's going on in work.
My status is not greater because I have position and authority over others,
nor is my status diminished because I am an employee or apprentice or a student.
Because I have the highest status in the universe.
In the cosmos, I am in Christ, at God's right hand.
You cannot get higher.
I am a servant of the king of the universe.
I am a child with the greatest inheritance.
And I am not alone in my struggle.
His powerful grace is at work in me and through me.
His grace covers my sin and shame.
He helps me in my weakness and temptation.
So I have freedom not to be paralysed by weakness,
but to engage in the struggle for his glory.
My purpose in life is much bigger than my own story
to create a successful, comfortable, self-affirming kingdom.
My purpose is to be part of Christ's cosmic story
of reconciling all things to himself.
I am called to represent his grace where I am,
that the work I do redeems this little patch of his world.
I'm engaged in his cosmic plan of redeeming everything to himself.
My bucket is full to the point of overflowing,
and therefore, as verse 17 says,
whatever you do, in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I am to be conscious of Christ's authority and his grace all the time.
I am to be representing that wherever I am.
I like how, again, I'll quote Keller here.
I'm leaning heavily on his book, but Keller puts it this way.
You are adopted into God's family,
so you already have your affirmation.
You are justified in God's sight, so you have nothing to prove.
You have been saved through a dying sacrifice,
so you are free to be a living one.
You are loved ceaselessly,
so you can work tirelessly in response
to a quiet and inner fullness.
It's out of fullness in Christ that work is redeemed.
So let's get into God's word.
How does this fullness in Christ overflow into the workplace?
Let's consider those under authority, the employee.
We're called to see past what you can see with your eyes
and see who you're really working for.
As you fill in that time sheet,
as you work from home,
as you're coming to the end of the day
and you just want to finish,
so you want to just cover over your mistakes
and just leave them as it is.
As you represent your company on a business trip,
as you make a sales pitch,
promising timeframes and things,
whose eyes are you working for?
Whose opinion of you is most important?
Are you conscious that you are doing all things for Christ,
that you are representing Christ as his servant?
This mindset lifts all work to a heavenly calling.
It doesn't diminish it.
It lifts it into the heavens.
Even the most unappreciated, difficult, dirty work,
you can be consciously working for Christ.
So what does this look like?
What motivates this kind of thinking?
Well, first, what it looks like.
It's done from the inside out.
Since the Lord looks at the heart,
it's wholeheartedness.
Because people only see what's on the outside.
So verses 22 and 23.
Bond servants, obey in everything,
those who are your earthly masters,
not by way of eye service, as people pleases,
but with sincerity of heart or wholeness of heart,
fearing the Lord.
Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.
Accountability is a big problem these days with people working from home.
I heard the other day that one US company,
to try and fight this because they've got lots of employees,
the employees sign up to accountability where their camera on their screen
takes a photo of them every 10 minutes.
And they can record whether your keyboard has been used
or mouse has been used every 10 minutes.
If they don't see you at your desk,
you don't get paid for that 10 minutes.
That's a very law way of going about things.
It's a big issue at the moment.
But here's the real solution.
The Lord is always present.
Here's the real accountability.
The Lord has told us to obey those he's placed over us.
I don't think this means we have to be firing on all cylinders,
that Christ is there to go stop slacking off or whatever.
I don't think we're meant to think that way.
This is more about whose eyes we're conscious of,
Christ or people,
because we are so inclined to fearing people.
The Bible has lots to say on that.
If it's people, you're using work to fill your bucket,
either doing the bare minimum to get the money
or wanting to fill up your worth and security
with the opinions of your parents or superiors or colleagues,
comparing yourself to your colleagues.
But if it's the Lord you're serving,
it's going to be marked by integrity in every task,
transparency,
seeing your gifting as from God to serve him,
to be partnering with God in redeeming all the world.
I think this mindset also applies to which tasks we give priority to,
which we give our best efforts to.
For example, we might labour over a presentation
we've got to give to colleagues
because we care about our reputation,
so we spend so long on that task,
but then someone at work who is struggling
and needs some training,
we're not generous.
In the behind the scenes,
no one will notice if you help that person
with that training them up in that task.
Do you see how the fear of people
can push us in the wrong direction?
In over-emphasising.
Or we might rush and do a half-hearted effort for a small job
because a bigger paying client is waiting for us?
When we think of the eyes of people,
it will affect our decision-making.
Now, outcomes and what people see are important.
Like, I want my electrician to not leave an exposed wire
that could cause a fire.
Like, outcomes are important.
It's not just the inside that matters,
but outcomes alone aren't the only measure of faithfulness.
The Lord cares about the intentions and motives of the heart.
I think we need to remember this
because we can't always control the outcomes.
We can feel a sense of failure and shame
that isn't ours to carry.
We need to remember that we live in a broken world
which will affect the outcomes.
Like a medical specialist just can't find
or can't do anything about certain diseases.
That's just the brokenness of this world.
Or it's also broken in that there is too much good to do.
We can't do it all.
And we can feel ashamed that we haven't done enough.
We've only helped this one person
when there's a hundred more who need help.
But again, that's not ours to carry.
Work is broken in the sense that
even our good decisions can lead to unintended
bad consequences down the track.
We live in a fallen world,
so we can't just measure faithfulness on outcomes.
We need it.
God looks at the intentions, the wholeheartedness.
We need to remember we're waiting for the city built by God
where it seems in Scripture there will be work.
And work is just going to be full of joy.
This attitude also frees us, I think,
to receive work as a gift.
Not something we need to succeed at to prove ourselves,
but as a gift to enjoy, as Ecclesiastes talks about.
Instead of working for the eyes of people,
we are to fear the Lord.
To fear the Lord.
That phrase, we always need to define that
because it's not a cowering fear
that Christ is looking for reasons to get us in trouble.
That's not what it's saying.
Fearing the Lord is a response to his greatness.
It's a response to his grace to us.
So, for instance, in Psalm 130, verse 4,
But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared.
It's the forgiveness that motivates the fear.
Or this phrase in our passage,
with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
That same phrase is used by the prophet Samuel
just before he dies.
He urges Israel,
It's grace that motivates consciousness of God,
fearing him.
We don't want to displease the one who has lavished such goodness on us.
We don't want to displease him.
We're not afraid of him.
We just don't want to displease him.
That's what fearing means.
And this is super important
because we will be controlled by the one
we think has the ability to give us life.
If that's people or whether that's the Lord.
So the key here is the start of verse 24,
knowing.
This consciousness is knowing something
that will help us fear the Lord and not people.
So if we consider what earthly masters can offer us,
higher status in a promotion,
financial bonus,
owning shares in the company,
security of employment,
their approval,
perhaps public approval,
maybe more leisure,
more holidays.
They can offer us that.
Is that life?
Slaves back then,
the lodging,
the food,
the honour,
the kind treatment.
That's what a master here can give us.
Now compare that to what the Lord gives us.
Verse 24,
knowing that from the Lord
you will receive the inheritance
as your reward.
You will be part of the new heavens and earth.
Promotion
or belonging in God's forever kingdom?
Who do you think will give you life?
Because you'll serve the one
you think can give you life.
Now this inheritance,
we've already heard it in chapter 1,
verse 12,
we give thanks to the Father
who has qualified you.
So it's not our work
that means we qualify for work
for the new heavens and earth.
It's that the Father has qualified us.
It's knowing that
he's the one who gives us life
and so we fear him.
And notice the two,
the word inheritance.
So slaves had no right
to the inheritance.
But the Colossian slaves
were to be motivated
as sons and daughters of the king.
They have an inheritance.
They need to remember who they are.
The earthly incentive
can hold no sway
when you remember
all that we have
been given in Christ.
If you miss out now,
you're still rich.
How can you be
incentivised
to not live for Christ?
And on the flip side,
we fear the Lord
and not people
because he is the one
who punishes wrongdoing.
We shouldn't be threatened
by people
into disobeying Christ.
Now,
I'm not 100% sure
what this means.
It could be a few things
and it could be
all these things.
It could be remembering
that in this life,
it's Christ
who will dish out
the consequences
if we do wrong.
So it could be in this life
he dishes out
the consequences.
It could mean
that we will feel shame
on the final day
when we give an account
for our life.
If we're just investing
all this time
in business
in unethical ways
and for our selfish gain,
that's all going to be
burned away.
We will be saved
but that's going to be
burned away.
So maybe the punishment
there is that.
Maybe it's about
the masters.
Yes, you're being treated
unjustly at times
but remember
who is the avenger
of wrongdoing.
It's not you.
It's the Lord's prerogative
to avenge
the wrongdoer.
So you don't need
to cower
under your earthly master
because you know
they will face Christ
one day.
It could be all these things.
I'm not quite sure.
I think another implication
of these verses
is that if you're using work
to fill up your sense
of worth and security,
you can never rest.
You can't rest
because you'll lose yourself.
Even when you're
with your loved ones,
your mind is on
the job
or you feel guilty
for having that day off.
That's a sign
that you are trying
to fill your bucket
with something
other than Christ
because Christ
commands rest.
He's a just
and good
master.
He commands rest
for you
and he commands rest
for those under you.
And it's a way
of acknowledging
that I'm a creature.
I'm limited.
I don't make the world
go round.
Christ does.
So fearing the Lord,
not man,
will produce
two good fruits.
On the one hand,
it will give us
courage,
courage to live
for Christ
because he's the one
who gives us
the great reward.
You will follow him
even if it means
injustice and pain
because you know
that he's the one
who will hold
those doing the injustice
to account.
So we can't be
incentivized
to not live for Christ.
We can't be threatened
to not live for Christ
if we're fearing
the Lord,
not worrying
about the eyes
of people.
Okay,
so let's transition
then to those
in authority.
What if you're
in some level
of authority
at work?
What does fullness
look like?
You are to treat
those under you
as your master
treats you
with justice,
fairness,
not favoritism.
This doesn't mean
treating others
as equals
in authority.
I think in Australia
we try and flatten
all authority.
This isn't saying
that.
But it's treating
people
with justice
as image bearers,
as valuable
in the eyes
of God.
Be as Christ
to those
under your authority.
So do you
use your employees
like machines,
what you can
wring out
of them?
Do you use them
for their
output?
Only caring
what they can do
for you.
Because that kind
of mindset
will lead
to harsh
treatment,
not paying
wages on time,
creating a
culture
where everyone
feels ashamed
to use
their rightful
benefits
of days
off and things
like that.
Creating a
culture of
fear of failure.
I remember
one CEO
saying
in his
business
he would
not punish
people for
failing.
He would
get people
in trouble
if they
didn't ask
for help
when they
knew they
needed help.
One
makes people
cower
if they
get anything
wrong.
The other
encourages
people to
ask for
help and
to serve
one another.
I think
another way
we can
be harsh
with those
under
authority
is not
caring about
the whole
person,
the personal
state of
your workers,
not empathising
with them.
Their personal
life could be
really burdensome
and if we
just treat them
according to
the outcomes
of their work,
again,
I don't think
that's justice
and fairness.
We're to
treat as
Christ treats
us.
Or do
your employees
encounter
something just
out of this
world,
like Christ's
character,
compassionate
hearts,
kindness,
humility,
meekness and
patience,
seeking
reconciliation?
That would
stand out
if you're
in authority
with that
kind of
character.
So do
you apply
the same
expectations
and accountability
to believing
and unbelieving
employees because
Christ shows
no partiality?
I think in
Christian organisations
we can
unfairly expect
over and above
the agreed
work
simply because
they're Christian.
Again,
that's not
justice and
fairness.
do you
seek to
take into
account the
whole story
when a
conflict
emerges among
employees or
someone misses
a deadline,
makes an
error?
Do we
factor in
the whole
story?
I think
justice and
fairness can
mean sometimes
those deadlines
and things,
they're arbitrary.
They're not
absolutely
has to be
done.
It's that
bosses have
just set
this date
and your
employees haven't
met it.
Do you
factor in
the whole
story and
recognise that?
Do you
factor in
that your
employees
can't undo
the weeds
in work,
that work
is broken,
they can't
control the
outcomes any
more than
you can?
Do we
factor that
in?
Or to put it
positively,
do your
employees find
a safe
place to
thrive under
your authority?
They find the
character of
Christ a
safe place to
thrive,
treated as a
valued person,
not just a
cog in the
machine.
A Christian
in authority
will see their
worship of
Christ not
only in the
spiritual realm
or spiritual
activities,
they'll see it
in how they
represent God's
character to
those under
their authority
in the
workplace.
So Isaiah
58 says,
is not
this the
kind of
fasting I
have chosen?
To loose
the chains
of injustice,
to untie the
cords of the
yoke, to set
the oppressed
free and break
every yoke?
Is it not to
share your food
with the hungry
and to provide
the poor
wanderer with
shelter?
When you see
the naked,
to clothe them
and not to
turn away from
your own
flesh and
blood,
God cares
about how
you treat
people,
not just
the spiritual
spheres of
our life,
or to put it
differently,
everything's a
spiritual sphere.
We'll come to
that later.
So what will
motivate this
sort of thinking,
that I'm
representing my
master in
heaven, how he
treats me, I
want to treat
those under me?
What motivates
that?
Again is
knowing something,
knowing that
you also have a
master in
heaven.
You need to
think of
yourself as
sharing the
same position
as your
employees, under
the rule of
Christ.
Whether or not
they gladly
acknowledge Christ's
rule, all are
under the rule of
Christ.
Your authority is
derived from the
one with all
authority.
authority, so
use it to
represent him.
This should
produce humility,
I think, as a
co-slave of
Christ.
I think it also
means you have
the opportunity to
show the mercy of
Christ.
I think I've
told this story
before, but this
lady made a
mistake in her
workplace and it
just cost the
business a lot
of money.
Her manager, her
boss above her
went to the
superiors and he
took the blame
for it.
I think you can
do that in a
way that isn't
lying, that he
made the mistake.
He could say,
it was my call,
I signed off on
it, it's my
responsibility.
He took the
blame.
He copped the
flack, not her.
She probably
would have been
fired.
She was just
amazed by this.
Why did that
boss do that?
She went into
his office and
just pestered him,
why did you do
that?
Usually bosses
take the credit
for the good
things.
You just took
the blame.
Why?
Finally, he
got to explain
why, because I'm
a Christian and
Christ took the
blame for me.
What a wonderful
opportunity to
display what your
master in heaven is
like.
When things
don't go well,
that could be a
great opportunity
to show the
character of your
master.
So whether we
are under
authority or in
authority, we
are to be
thinking Christ,
representing him,
overflowing with
him, not trying
to use work to
fill ourselves
up.
So let me
finish with our
usual question.
What's going to
prevent us from
expressing this
fullness in Christ
into the workplace?
I just want to
raise two things
briefly.
What's perhaps
surprising about the
gospel is that
Christ doesn't
dismiss anything
that isn't done in
the church as
somehow less
spiritual.
Everything you
might see is
earthly, like the
plumber unblocking a
drain, or the
disability worker
showering and
clothing that
person who has
soiled themselves.
He lifts all that
up into the
heavens as if you
were doing this in
the heavenly temple
for his sake.
He lifts it all up.
It's all an act of
worship.
You are serving the
Lord Christ.
To only be conscious
of serving Christ in
the so-called sacred
sphere of church
activities is to
misrepresent the
gospel.
Christ is Lord of
the whole cosmos.
Everywhere.
All times.
We need to think
like that.
Not think of this
divide between
secular and sacred.
So let's help each
other.
Not see work as
some kind of
self-salvation, but
let's also urge and
pray and counsel
one another to be
overflowing Christ
where he has us.
He's given us work
to do.
He wants us to
represent him.
So let's not think
sacred, secular, but
all things are under
Christ.
And the second
thing that could keep
us from overflowing
in Christ in our work
is being concerned
with being unequal
in earthly things.
Either trying to
make sure that
everyone is equal
in authority and
wealth and so on,
or trying to
downplay these
differences, or
looking over our
shoulder and
comparing ourselves.
Where do I stand?
Am I above that
person or below?
If we're overly
concerned like that,
that's just not
gospel thinking.
being concerned
with wealth
differences and
education differences,
authority differences,
skills differences.
So what extent are
you rating your
position and worth
in this church
community?
Comparing yourself
to others.
I think it helps
to picture the
Colossians as they
gathered for worship.
Some of them slaves
in the household,
some of them
masters, and
what do we see
when they gather
for worship?
They are shoulder
to shoulder.
They're not two
classes of people,
they are one.
They are all
singing, all
worshipping together.
They are all
submitting to the
same Christ in
his word.
They're all members
of God's
household, not by
birth or social
position, not by
achievement, or by
belonging to God,
by pure grace.
It's a beautiful
picture.
Unequal and yet
they're not even
thinking about
unequal.
They're one in
Christ.
Christ is all
and in all.
So is that how
you see yourself
in this church
community?
We need to be
relating to each
other in that kind
of way because
that kind of
thinking will
propel us into
our working week
because we'll
know our fullness
is in grace and
not try and use
work to build up
achievements and
so on.
So let me finish
by saying, with
our buckets full
in Christ already,
our status is as
high as the
heavens are above
the earth.
Our reward is
richer than any
earthly currency.
We only show
our inner emptiness
if we try and
use achievements
or money or
position to fill
our sense of
worth and
security and
meaning.
That just shows
that you think
you're empty.
But that's not
the case.
We are full in
him.
The highest
position, the
highest reward.
We can rest
from the work
behind the work
of trying to
fill our empty
buckets.
Because Christ
has filled
our sense of
worth.
And then
that means the
proper value
of work is
redeemed.
Not undervaluing it,
not overvaluing it,
but the proper value
is redeemed.
As servants of the
Lord, empowered by
his spirits, we can
bear his image
in all we do.
Serving the
Lord wholeheartedly,
grateful for his
inheritance by
grace.
Passing on the
Lord's just and
caring treatment
of us to
those under
our care.
The fullness
of Christ
ought to spill
over into our
church life,
into our
families, and
into our work.
And there's a
very good reason
for that.
Because in
chapter 1, when
Christ says that
he will reconcile
all things to
himself by making
peace by the
blood of the
cross, he means
all things, including
our work.
We can be full and
show the world a
better way, a full
way, if we are
conscious, knowing
that we're doing all
things for Christ.
Will you pray with
me?
Let's pray.
Amen.
Father, in a
sense, what we've
covered today really
is still only getting
to the theory and how
we should think.
And so I pray that for
each of us, in the work
you've given us to do,
whether paid or unpaid,
that you would be
counselling us in our own
mind as we talk to one
another in what it
specifically will look
like to be overflowing
the character of Christ
and the fullness we
have in you into where
you've placed us.
Help us to trust that
you are sovereign in
where you have us, that
this is where you want
us to know you better
and to display your
character where you
have us.
So please help us think
that way.
To the glory of your
name.
Amen.