Good morning.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Chris.
I'm on the pastoral staff here, and it's after the typhoon.
It's good to see all of you in one piece this morning.
We're going through a series, a six-part series, looking at faith and work together.
We're going to be looking at some different stories through the Bible.
And just kind of getting a picture of how the Bible talks about our work.
Last week, we started off talking about our work as worshipped.
And I told the story, the very famous parable of the three bricklayers.
If you remember, we talked about a guy walking along, and he sees somebody laying bricks,
and he asks him the question, what are you doing?
And the guy says, I'm laying bricks.
He comes to the next person, walking along, sees him doing the same thing, building a wall there.
And he asks him, what are you doing?
He says to him, I'm building a church building.
He walks along to the next person, sees another guy building a brick wall, laying bricks, asks him, what are you doing?
The guy says to him, I'm building the house of God to the glory of God.
And we said last time that those three kind of different images show us three different ways of looking at work.
One looks at work like a job.
That's the first one, just a task you've got to do.
The second person looks at job as like a career.
You know, there's something I've got to achieve, something I've got to get to.
The third person sees their work as a calling, their work as something of a higher purpose, something which is about worship to God.
And we said that secular research is showing us increasingly that if you want to find meaning in work,
you've got to have something bigger than yourself, higher than yourself, more satisfying than yourself to make your work meaningful.
And we very briefly talked about how God is a God who works.
And we are made in his image to reflect him.
And if we want to live truly human lives, we work, but we work in such a way that it's about him, not about us.
There was a former Dutch prime minister who was called Abraham Kuyper.
This is for Henrika here.
And she said, sorry, he said, not she, he.
He said, there's not one square inch in the whole domain of human existence in which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine.
Not one thing in the whole of human existence that God does not cry, mine, over.
And yet the question is whether that is true of our work or whether we're a bit more like, you know, the seagulls in Finding Nemo who are like, mine, mine, mine.
Are we like that?
My fulfillment, my security, my finances, my money, and that's how we view our work.
It's mine.
And so we kind of separate our lives into like a nice little bento box, you know, God over here, my work over here.
And the gospel is going to come into us and say, if you want to know what it leads to live as a Christian and what is the majority of your life, you've got to get the Bible's view of work.
So, and just remember, we said work is anything you do that is not leisure.
So if you're a homemaker, if you're a student, if you're a volunteer, all of that is work, okay?
So today we just want to, I want to develop the idea a little bit more, kind of put in some more flesh in looking at the story of Joseph and looking at the idea of work as a calling and work as service to God, okay?
And so what we're going to do, we're going to skim through the story of Joseph.
We've just seen a couple of passages there.
I'm basically going to skim, it's 13 chapters, the story, so I'm going to kind of give you a skim overview and then I want to pull out some threads from it, which tell us something about what calling and service means for us in our work, okay?
So that's kind of where we're going to go.
Let me go through the story.
So you can have some of your bulletin open.
I'm going to give you some more that's not there.
But basically, Joseph is a very talented, arrogant teenage brat, okay?
He's the kind, you know, I've already started a mobile app company at the age of 10.
You know, he's that kind of guy.
He's like 17 years old.
He's the most loved son of his father.
He's a visionary in the literal sense of the word because he's having dreams about himself being the greatest in his family and all the rest of his family bowing down and worshiping him, basically.
He's the one who's the most successful person.
So he's got ambition, this guy.
And, you know, even if you have a kind of dream like that, it's not very sensitive to go and tell your family that that's exactly what's going to happen.
But this guy, his ambition is all about his status, his respect.
He doesn't care what other people think because when he's great, they're just going to have to acknowledge it.
But what happens later in the story is not exactly the career path that I think he would have chosen.
Out of anger, his brothers throw him into a pit, then sell him to foreign traders.
And basically, he gets trafficked to be a domestic helper to the head of the secret service in Egypt.
He's a rich, this guy's a rich man who's got slaves.
This master is called Potiphar.
So here is Joseph in a foreign country.
He's in a different culture with a different religion and people looking down on him like a migrant worker.
And he's trapped.
But instead of getting depressed, and maybe he did for a little while, but the story doesn't say that.
He doesn't say, okay, this is not where my passion is.
I'm a leader.
I'm supposed to be fulfilled in my job.
Well, this guy doesn't have much of a choice.
Okay, in chapter 39, what he does, he just basically gets on faithfully doing his job well.
He does his job well, and it tells us Joseph was such a good employee that he gets promotion to the chief household manager.
And, you know, he uses his skills, and God's grace is with him, and the master's business just flourishes.
And just as Joseph thinks, oh, my career is beginning to take off again, Potiphar, the master's wife, kind of takes a bit of a liking to him.
Joseph's a bit of a looker.
And so Potiphar's wife tries to kind of get in bed with him, and he resists.
He says, listen, I can't do that.
I love my employer.
I love God.
How can I do this thing against God?
The wife kind of keeps coming back and keeps coming back.
He resists.
Eventually, the wife says, basically, falsely accuses him of sexual harassment.
So, from the point of getting up, moving up the ladder, suddenly Potiphar hears about this.
Joseph's right back down in prison.
And he's in prison for about 10 years, okay?
10 years.
And he's been doing his work really well.
He's been trying to honor God in everything, and look where it's got him.
Right back down in the bottom.
Life is unfair.
Think of the opportunity cost, okay?
He's like prime time in his life to really be developing, and he's back in prison.
And while he's kind of languishing in prison, it's really interesting, because if I was there,
I'd be incredibly depressed.
I'd be kind of, oh, I can't believe what's going on.
Joseph gets on and sees in prison there's some things he can do.
So, he's actually, he gets on serving everybody else, and eventually he gets promoted to overseeing
the other prisoners, which, I mean, I guess that's a promotion.
And it says the Lord was with him in the pain.
Then we come on to a little bit of the story which we had in the bulletin.
Chapter 40.
Two government ministers, okay?
The cupbearer and the baker.
Now, I know they're not kind of government positions now, but they were then.
And they get arrested and thrown in prison, okay?
Government corruption is nothing new, okay?
They get arrested.
They get thrown in this prison, and Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of looking after them,
okay?
Now, what does Joseph do?
He's this high-flying, ambitious Jewish boy who's languishing now in prison, right in the
prime of his life.
He just gets on and serves them.
He gets on and serves them.
Even though they're on the opposite team, they represent the very people who are oppressing
him.
And one day, he's bringing breakfast to these guys.
You know, it's mundane, ordinary work.
And, you know, I'd be thinking, these guys are the enemy camp.
Why should I treat them nicely?
Why should I give them anything special?
Why should I serve them?
That's what I'd be thinking.
But Joseph comes in, and he doesn't do that.
He goes in, and he sees that the cupbearer and the baker there, they've got a few issues
going on.
They seem troubled.
So he takes the time to ask them, hey, guys, what's going on?
And what they sell him is that they've just had a dream.
They've had a dream.
And in this dream, they don't know what's going on.
And they're worried about this dream.
And it's very interesting because Joseph could have been just so wrapped up in the stuff that
he's doing, like I'm getting wrapped up in the stuff that I do, and feeling sorry for
himself about the unfairness of the situation, that he doesn't notice them.
But he notices them.
He asks them what's going on.
He listens to them.
And then he says, hey, listen, I belong to God, and God's a guy who kind of helps me with
dreams.
So let me interpret your dream for you.
And what he does, he's there at the right time, and he gives hope to the cupbearer, basically
saying, you're going to get out of prison.
And he tells the other guy, the baker, that judgment is coming on you.
Now, Joseph, as I think I would in that situation, he basically says, cupbearer, when you get
out, listen, I've helped you.
You kind of remember me down here and help me get out as well.
Okay?
Fair deal, right?
Fair deal.
Do you know what happens?
Cupbearer gets out of prison, becomes restored to the government again, forgets all about Joseph.
Completely.
For two years.
I mean, just imagine that.
You've tried to help this guy out.
I mean, that would have been getting to me by now.
I don't know about you.
But I've been looking out for others.
I've been trying to serve God.
But they're only looking out for themselves.
And the moment I've given them help, then they're out of there.
No gratitude.
No thanks.
I'd be thinking, where's God?
God, forgotten, alone, abandoned, trapped.
I don't know if you've ever felt like that.
I don't know if you've ever felt like that in a workplace.
But that's, I think, how Joseph must have felt.
Two years go by.
Story's still going.
We're getting somewhere.
Two years go by.
The king of Egypt, Pharaoh, has a dream.
No one can interpret him.
The cupbearer finally remembers after two years.
There's a guy who can interpret dreams.
Pharaoh calls Joseph.
Joseph interprets his dream and says,
there's going to be a famine here soon.
You need to have a great project manager
who's going to be able to sort this job.
Pharaoh looks at the guy, realizes,
Joseph, man, he's a smart young kid.
He's got ideas.
So he hires him.
He hires him to be prime minister of Egypt.
Now, just think about that kind of career progression.
Okay?
That's a little up and down, right?
And the crazy thing is,
there wasn't even a vacancy.
Joseph couldn't even have applied for the job,
even if he'd wanted to.
Both as a migrant worker,
but also no one knew that this famine was coming.
But God, all the time,
throughout the whole of this up and down cycle,
had something bigger that was going on,
a bigger call on his life.
Because, you see,
once Joseph got to that title of prime minister,
you see, before, when he was a young kid,
he thought, I'm going to rule,
and it's going to be all about me.
When finally God takes him through to that place at the end,
where he is actually second in command,
everyone is bowing the knee to him,
it's no longer about the title.
It's no longer about the fame.
It's no longer about the respect.
It's about serving a people who are facing starvation.
And so what he does,
he uses the management skills that he's learned all the way through,
and he uses it to create kind of a warehouse system,
which practically and tangibly
puts food on people's tables.
You see, his work has become about loving and serving real people,
even if they're foreigners,
people who have oppressed him.
And he sees all the time,
you go to chapter 45,
right at the end,
his brothers come back to him,
they're expecting him to be taking revenge on him.
But what he says to them,
and it's quite incredible,
he says basically to them,
in chapter 45 on your bulletin,
he says,
hey guys,
don't be distressed or angry with yourselves
because you sold me here.
You know, this isn't a bitter guy.
For God sent me before you to preserve life.
Verse 7, he says,
God sent me before you to preserve you.
Verse 8, he says,
it was not you who sent me,
but God.
He has made me a father to Pharaoh.
God was calling me.
God was sending me.
Now that's very interesting.
Because he's begun to see that
the opportunities that he's been given
are to be used,
and the talents he's been given
are to be used both to serve and worship God
and to love other people.
Total change from right at the beginning.
So what do we get from this story?
I mean, it's a fascinating story,
and I do encourage you to go back
and actually read the whole story.
It's amazing how it works out.
Because this story is a story
about calling and about work as service.
You see,
in the Bible,
God sends many people.
God sends Moses to Pharaoh.
God sends prophets to Israel.
God sends the apostles out to the world.
But here,
God sends Joseph
to work in a secular organization,
a government.
But for Joseph to work out
and get to that point,
it takes him 13 years.
13 years of not knowing,
really,
where he was going at all.
So,
what does this tell us about calling?
The very interesting thing is
a lot of modern researchers
are now telling us,
we need to find our calling.
You need to find your vocation in life.
But the way you've got to do it
is find your passion.
Okay?
Find your passion.
And do your passion.
Follow your dream.
Be true to yourself.
If you can't find a fulfilling job
and you love chocolate,
go and open a chocolate shop.
Okay?
Do a startup.
Do something
which is going to kind of
follow your dream.
And you know,
that's fine.
There's some great things about that.
But the problem is
many of us haven't lived enough life
to know what our passion is.
I finished university.
I had no idea
what I wanted to do in life.
And I find most graduates
that I meet don't.
Right?
And I found many people
who've opened the chocolate shop
soon discover
they can't pay the bills
because chocolate only gets so far.
And so they come with life
kind of gets in the way
of your passion
and your dreams sometimes.
And so there's another way
we resort to making decisions
about work.
And what we do
is we choose the job
which makes us the most money,
gives us the most status
and the most security.
And you know,
maybe,
I don't know about you,
but many of us
are just doing the jobs
that we're doing
because our parents
pushed us that direction.
Or maybe,
if you're a domestic helper,
just the needs
of the situation
just to get money
have kind of pushed you
into a certain place
and you don't have a passion
for where you are.
But you just kind of
followed along
with the expectations
and you kind of ended up
where you are today.
And so that's often
why we struggle
with the idea of calling
because it doesn't sound
very kind of spiritual.
You know,
I went for a job interview
at Morgan Stanley
and I got the job.
It doesn't sound
like a very spiritual calling.
Right?
But what is this story
telling us?
What is this story
telling us?
I think it's telling us
a few things.
I think firstly,
this story is telling us
if you want to find a calling,
a calling starts
with a caller.
Okay?
It's not rocket science.
Right?
Notice Joseph.
Joseph,
whether he's up or down,
whether he's at the heights
or whether he's
at the low points,
God is the centerpiece
of his life.
Did you get that?
When he's resisting Potiphar,
he says,
Potiphar's wife,
he says,
this is sin against God.
In prison,
he says,
God is with me.
And he experiences love.
When he's meeting
with his brothers,
at the end,
he's like,
God has sent me.
God is just this kind
of continual theme
going all the way through.
The Puritans,
who were kind of Protestants,
English Protestants
about 400 years ago,
used to talk about
a primary calling
and a secondary calling.
Okay?
They took this
from the Bible.
They took the primary calling.
Like in John,
it says,
God calls us,
first of all,
primarily into relationship
with himself.
That is your first calling.
If you're a Christian here,
you are called.
Did you know that?
You are called.
You are called
into relationship with God.
That is the first call.
Okay?
The second call
is he then provides you
with gifts and talents
and opportunities
and resources
to steward
and to use
for his glory.
and that's what you do
with your life
to worship him.
That's the secondary call.
Okay?
First call,
who you are.
Secondary call,
so first to God
and as a Christian,
second to work for him
and they kind of overlap together.
But if you don't make
the first call
your priority,
then you're going to miss
the second call.
Okay?
Now,
that may sound
just very obvious,
but
think about it.
If someone calls you
on the phone,
okay,
what's your first thought?
Is it,
I wonder if this phone call
is going to fulfill me?
Is it,
I wonder if this really
fits my passion
to come and pick up
this phone call
at this moment?
No,
the first question you ask is,
who's calling?
Right?
Who's calling?
And the word,
I don't know if you know
the word vocation
is the Latin word
which means call.
So if you want to find
a vocation in life,
you've got to know
who is calling you.
And the Bible says,
God,
the creator of the universe
in whose image
you are made,
is the one
who calls you
to himself.
It's not about you,
it's not about your fulfillment,
and everything that you do
flows out of this now.
So it's not,
does this job
make me feel valued?
That's the wrong question.
The first question is,
who's calling you?
That's important
because this,
if you think
your first calling
is to primarily
to pursue your passion,
to find a fulfilling job,
to gain influence,
if you think that's first,
then when God puts you
in situations
like with Joseph,
you know,
in prison,
don't seem to be finding
any fulfillment,
you know,
you're with a load of idiots
in your office,
okay,
they don't fit
your personality type,
you're going to get depressed,
complaining,
thinking life is unfair,
hating your boss,
hating your clients,
hating everybody else,
because you thought
the secondary calling
was actually more important
than the primary.
I mean,
why in Hong Kong
do we have to change job
every single year?
Because we wanted to find
fulfillment in it,
right?
Right?
But if,
even if you're down there,
or even if you're made
to be the prime minister,
you know,
you become the boss,
everything's going well,
everything's going successfully,
if you don't make
that primary call
the primary call,
you're not answering
that call to him,
you're going to be
like the cup bearer
who just forgets
about Joseph's service,
you'll forget about God,
and you'll kind of be like,
yeah,
I'll pray occasionally
when I'm in trouble,
but basically work
is all about you.
But if you know
the caller
is your priority,
you're going to be
constantly on the phone
to him.
You're going to be
constantly,
because it's relationship
throughout your day,
checking in
before a meeting,
help,
okay?
You're not going to be
like a teenager
in a boarding school
who only ever calls
their parents
when they run out of money,
right?
But isn't that so often
how we treat God,
particularly in our work days?
I do.
I get so wrapped up
in the busyness
of what I want to do
that I forget
I'm actually
to be relating
to the one
who has called me.
So calling
is a day-to-day relationship,
okay?
It's not just
kind of a big,
you don't just
have a kind of
once-off call
to your parents
and that's it.
It's a day-to-day relationship.
And the more
you become
sensitive to his voice
in the day-to-day,
the more you'll begin
to understand
and hear his voice
in the bigger decisions
that you have to face.
If you've only ever
tuned into your voice
in the small things
of life,
then it's going
to be really tricky
to try and understand
what is God calling you to
in these bigger decisions
of job choice.
So that's the first thing.
Calling starts
with a caller.
Secondly,
calling requires
day-to-day faithfulness.
I don't know,
if I'm to ask you
right now,
what has God
called you to?
Thinking secondary calling.
What has God
called you to?
Can you answer me?
Because
here is where
we often struggle.
we have both
the,
okay,
he's called me
into a relationship
with himself,
he's called me
to do something,
but sometimes
we're kind of like,
well,
I get a bit fuzzy
in between.
I'm not quite sure
where I am.
And sometimes
I meet so many people
who feel like
I'm missing out
on God's call.
You know,
I'm not doing
what I'm passionate about.
And yes,
if you have a choice,
passion is one
of a number of clues
to steer you
to a calling.
You know,
Joseph,
he seems to be
pretty good at management
all the way through,
okay?
There are interests,
there are gifts,
there are abilities,
they can guide you,
but we've got to be careful
a little bit
that we don't make
the idea of calling
all about me.
Because in most of history,
most people have never
had a choice of jobs.
You know that?
Like,
because poverty meant
that you had to do anything
just to get food
on the table.
Joseph doesn't have
much of a career choice.
Now,
we've got far more
career choice than him.
Sometimes you wish
you didn't have
so many choices
because it makes it easier,
you know,
like a menu.
You've only got 50 choices
on the menu.
It's so much harder
to make a decision,
right?
But in the midst
of slavery,
unfairness,
injustice,
famine,
a kind of restricted choice,
Joseph still finds
a calling in God,
which I find encouraging.
I find that encouraging
because if you feel,
if you feel like
you're trapped
in your work
and you don't feel like,
I don't really get
where the meaning is,
or you're even
in a high-flying job
and you're in
even a great position
but you're like,
I can't sense
where the call
is in this,
then Joseph
has got a lot
of hope for us
because Joseph,
I don't think
when he's in prison
he's like going,
oh,
I feel really called
here.
But what he does,
he gets on
in his day-to-day work
and he gets on
and does faithfully
what he's there
to do.
He uses
the talents
God has given him,
the place
where God has placed him,
the needs
and the opportunities
which are around him
and he gets on
and does it.
He gets on
and serves.
And that's where
you find your calling.
Just not like
a big voice
kind of saying
it's there,
okay?
Now some people
do have that strong,
and that's great
but I find most people
don't.
Most of us,
it's actually
as we look around
the situation we're in
and what God
has given us
and we say,
okay,
let me get on
and be faithful
day-to-day.
I heard this story
of a young lawyer
in New York.
At heart,
she was really passionate,
wanted to be an artist.
But when she got
to choosing her degree,
she decided to do law
because that's where
she could make money,
right?
And art exactly
doesn't kind of
exactly pay well.
so she joins this law firm
and after a while
she just kind of feels
like I'm just missing,
missing my call.
This is not where
I'm passionate about.
And she would go
to her pastor
and say,
pastor,
should I quit?
And just as she got
to the point of quitting,
she got a promotion.
And then this kind of cycle
continued for a number
of years.
She was good at her job
but, you know,
she just wanted to get out.
She gets to the point again
of wanting to quit
and get out of the job
and then she gets
another promotion.
And this kind of cycle
goes on and she's like,
God, why are you doing this?
And finally she gets
offered a position
as a partner in the firm.
She's like,
but I don't even
want to be here.
And finally,
just in talking to
a pastor one day,
she suddenly realized
her passion
as to be an artist
meant that all the
normal temptations
of power,
money,
status that drove
most of the other lawyers
in her law firm,
they weren't temptations
for her at all
because she wanted
to be an artist.
But that meant
she could analyze
and see clearly
issues which others
couldn't because
they were tainted
by their own self-interest.
It meant that she
was actually in a position
to lobby for change
within the company
and working practices,
conditions for junior
staff,
without any kind
of sense of like
her own
self-interest
being at stake.
And she began
to see that
God had placed her
there for such
a reason
and she just
had to be faithful
and God was using it.
Now it took her
quite a few years
to find that.
Now I'm not saying
that you shouldn't
change jobs.
I have.
But I am saying
that some of us
need to learn
to see where
we're up to
and maybe to see
that God
wants to use you
and there is a bigger
picture with where you are
than necessarily
what we see day to day
and he calls us
to be faithful with it.
Some of you may have
no idea why you're
working where you are
but you don't have
to have the big picture
to realize that God
is doing and painting
a bigger picture
than you can ever realize.
Some of us may actually
have to leave our jobs
because we're holding
on to our jobs
because we're wanting
the financial status
and security
and the gifts
and the passions
and the talents
and the opportunities
and the needs
that you see around you
there are opportunities
for you to move
into those
but you're not doing it
because of fear
because you're trying
to hold on
to those other things.
And so we need wisdom
to ask God
to speak
to get godly counsel
from people around us
to see God
with what you've given me
it's no longer
and Tim Keller says this
when we begin
to see our work
as a way of service
to God
and our neighbor
the question regarding
our choice of work
is no longer
what will make me
the most money
give me the most status
or even the most fulfillment
the question
must now be
how
with my existing
abilities
and opportunities
can I be
of greatest service
to others
knowing what I do
of God's will
and human need
and sometimes
it's just being faithful
where he's placed us
until he opens
another door.
So calling
requires a caller
calling requires
day-to-day faithfulness
and you'll see God
working out a picture.
Third thing
how calling
looks like
day-to-day
okay
what calling
looks like
day-to-day
I think there are
two things
that the gospel
shows us
and this passage
shows us
one is
we take pride
in our work
the second is
we see people
beyond the task
okay
Joseph
is placed
in this position
he becomes
the second
in command
with all these
management skills
and abilities
that he's been given
and he realizes
that this is about
serving people
this is about
loving people
he's carrying out
two of the great
commands of the Bible
love God
love your neighbor
through his work
do you realize actually
you carry out
those commandments
in your work
I don't know if you realize that
you see
how does he do that
he takes pride
in his work
you know
Joseph makes sure
he's got the best
storage distribution
system available
okay
he's not cutting corners
he's not saying
I need to go and pray
and I'll leave
I'll leave the logistics
to somebody else
no he's
he's
he's doing the good job
because he knows
people are going to starve
if he doesn't do it
and often
that kind of setting up
of systems
it's administrative
it's mundane
but he knows
that it was sustaining life
for families
and so he did it well
now some of us may struggle
yeah I don't feel like
I'm feeding starving people
with my trading
or something
but
when I go to the bank
to get money
my first concern
is not
I hope they tell me
about Jesus
when I go there
my first concern
when I go to the bank
is that I get good service
right
and if when I go down
you know
I don't know if you've ever seen this
I sometimes go down to the bank
and I go to get served
and then the people behind it
just chatting to each other
and like
I'm kind of like an interruption
you ever felt that
I don't feel loved
at that moment
right
or you receive a letter
and it's just filled
with all these typos
and I feel like
couldn't you be bothered
couldn't even proofread it
right
you see
is that how much
your work means to you
no
Joseph would say
and the Bible would say
no
take pride in your work
do your work
so well
because actually
that's a way of loving people
right
whatever you're doing
whether it's cleaning
whether it's
number crunching
whatever it is
do it well
it's a way to love God
and love your neighbor
but the other thing is this
to love God
and love our neighbor
through our work
to serve
we go beyond the tasks
and we see people
even
the snobbish
arrogant
self-consumed enemies
like the cup bearer
we see them
made in God's image
and we treat them
like people
you know
Joseph
has had a hard time
from these guys
he's got every right
to think
this is not fair
I'm going to treat them badly
but he doesn't
he goes out of his way
to ask
how are you doing
you know
I heard some
a member of our congregation
went to hospital
and you know
while they were there
doctor came past
came to see them
basically says
hey
you've got this problem
don't know
you might not get
you might be paralyzed
in one part of your body
and
yeah
okay
we hope you'll be
out of hospital soon
and then left
a Christian doctor
came
to them
and sat down
with them
and spent five
ten minutes
with them
just explaining
to them
the process
of what was going
to happen
listened to some
of their inquiries
and things
and just
was there for them
treating them
like a human being
do you know
that member
came to me
and said
you know
there was such
a difference
between the way
the Christian person
did it
and the way
the other person
did it
one just saw it
as a job
one saw me
as a human being
and you know
whether it's
your secretary
whether it's
the receptionist
whether it's
the cleaners
whether it's
your colleagues
do we see
the people
as human beings
and do we
take the time
to love them
you know
there was a
president
of one marketing
firm
he said
he said this
he said
I owe much
of the health
of my business
to my COO
Jill Evans
he said
he used to go
I used to go
about making
day by day
making decisions
in response
to events
and situations
rarely thinking
about the people
involved
I don't know
do you ever do that
I do that
all the time
but Jill
his colleague
regularly asks us
to look at things
from another perspective
to see people
in their unique
circumstances
she quietly asks
in a response
to some emergency
I wonder what
must be happening
over at their shop
for them to be
responding to us
like that
what chaos
must be causing
them to tyrannize
us
man that's tough
the light goes on
he says
for just a few minutes
and we think about
their boss
or the pressure
they have
after some business
or some business
failure
and it often
softens us
and causes us
to be gentler
as we enter conflict
or some difficult
negotiation
he says this
in helping us
to see ourselves
as servants
of those around us
she has changed
our whole model
of business
can we see people
and I'm not saying
you may be in a situation
where you
are like in prison
and you're trapped
with two people
in your office
or in your workplace
or at your home
or you may be
in a position
where you are
overseeing
many many people
but do you see
the people around you
do you see them
and the thing is
what stops us
seeing them so often
is because we feel
like things are unfair
we're mistreated
there are difficulties
around us
and I know
that's so tough
but Joseph
is different
and you know
the Bible has
an even greater
Joseph
because what's
fascinating
in this story
the parallels
between Joseph
and Jesus
are huge
you see
Jesus Christ
was also
the beloved son
of his father
he was hated
and tyrannized
by his people
he was thrown
into a pit
accused of wrong
though he was
utterly innocent
blamed for mistakes
that he didn't make
and yet he continued
to serve
his accusers
he said
I did not come
to be served
but to serve
and to give my life
as a ransom
for many
and you see
he does that
not just for random
people out there
he says
I do that
for you
I came to serve you
and you know
how I often respond
and I think
how we often respond
we say
thank you Jesus
that's great
just like the cup bearer
and then we go off
and forget about him
and wouldn't that
annoy you
if you were like
if someone did that
to you
but do you know
how Jesus keeps
responding
it says he keeps
serving
he keeps showing
grace
he shows forgiveness
on the cross
he says
father forgive them
and he keeps
reaching out to you
again and again
and he says
I want to be with you
whether you're in the prison
or whether you're out
in the highest place
I want to be there
with you
and the caller
is constantly
calling you
saying
I'm here
will you pick up
his call
because when you see
that grace like that
is shown to you
even though you
treat others
in so many different ways
in a culture
where it's all about me
he's serving you
that actually begins
to change your own heart
so when you begin
to see
the people around you
who do exactly
the same thing
to you
you run back
to him
with grace
you realize
his kindness
and then that
frees you
from making work
all about your own
fulfillment
it frees you
from making it
all about getting
everything for yourself
it frees you
about the frustration
and I know
we have to do it
again and again
and again
because we keep
getting frustrated
but in that call
do you see
he's saying
when you're free
from having to just
wrestle with all
the unfairness
and all the bitterness
and why are they
not doing this
and why are they
not doing it
when you're free
from all of that
you begin to see people
so the call
of this is
look to the caller
in your work
every day
every hour
help
can't do this
God
but then ask him
right now
who has he placed
around you
for you to serve
and for you to love
by doing your work
well
because you know
if you try and love
people and you're not
doing your work well
they're just going to
think you're an idiot
right
but if you're working
well
but actually
you also take the time
to just take an interest
in people
that has so much
power
I used to
I had one
receptionist
I used to
every morning
I'd just take
two minutes
just say hi
after a year
of just saying hi
hi
just finding out
how she's doing
after a year
she started going
back to church
in the moment
you don't always know
what's going on
but if you're faithful
with what he's given you
God will do something
so much greater
than you could have imagined
and there will be meaning
and purpose
in your work
let me pray