We put flags on our cars and drink copious amounts of alcohol
and get arrested as we celebrate who we are as a nation.
And part of the Australian Day celebrations,
the two Aussie larrikins, Roy and HG, were part of the televised...
I think they were at the Opera House or something like that.
And at one point during the celebrations,
Roy suggested that Australia Day should be renamed as Bludger's Day.
And it should, in fact, not be a day of celebration,
but it should be a whole week of just doing nothing, just being a bludger.
And at which point did the crowd, when he said that,
just erupted with cheers and applause.
They were obviously thinking it's a great idea.
And then he suggested at that point that, well, you know,
the fact is no one wants to work.
Certainly no one wants to go back to work tomorrow after a day like today.
And the crowd cheered even more at that point.
They tapped, in that moment, they tapped into something of the Australian psyche.
The most popular Australian song of all time is Friday On My Mind,
which was released in 1966.
It's been popular since 1966 amongst Australians, released by the Easy Beats.
It's a song that catches something of our Australian culture.
On Friday...
Sorry, on Monday, I've got Friday On My Mind.
The day I start work, I'm looking forward to the day when I stop work.
I think about the day when I'm stopping work.
You know, we are known as the land of the long weekend and of strikes and of sickies and false compo claims.
And you look at television and newspapers and billboards,
they sell the stage of life that we call retirement as the ultimate freedom.
That is, in our culture, we aspire to retire.
That's what we aspire to.
It's the ultimate freedom.
You work in order to accumulate so that you don't have to work.
A number of years ago, there was a survey in the United Kingdom
which asks why the Australian show Home and Away was so popular in the UK.
And not surprisingly, it wasn't the acting.
Or the plot.
Three things were mentioned as the top reasons why British people,
millions of British people, tuned into Home and Away every day.
Number one, the sun's always shining.
Popular in England.
Number two, the beach is always inviting.
And number three, no one ever appears to be working.
You could say that the dominant mentality in our culture
is that we work in order to live.
That is, work is a means to an end.
We work in order to holiday.
We work in order to have the money for leisure.
We work in the...
And the series that we're launching into now,
over the next number of weeks,
is about putting some purpose back into what we do
when we're not gathered in this place.
It's about lining what we do Monday to Saturday
with what we're doing here right now on Sunday.
And I think this is so essential for us
because we are now working harder and harder,
faster and faster for what is seemingly more and more meaningless.
And if we could truly believe that what we do
for most of our waking hours
is actually part of God's good and eternal purposes,
I think it would be a tonic more invigorating than a couple of these.
Or a...
No, I agree, Sam.
Or a triple shot espresso.
Or whatever it is that you use for your tonic.
We may even result in this, I think,
waking up on Monday morning
and instead of thinking of Friday,
might actually conclude,
thank God it's Monday,
ready for another week of serving him.
And so my task tonight is to connect
what we do with the rest of our weeks,
what I'm calling through this series,
and you've seen up there on the screen,
your front line with God's purposes.
That is, I want to give us a different view of our working life
to the standard view which is in our culture.
And the rest of this series will be unpacked,
beyond this one,
be unpacked in how we might see God honoured
in the rest of our week outside of this building.
Now, I should first of all explain what I mean by work.
Otherwise, the retired, the unemployed,
the art students, the parents,
the care...
I will rebuke myself later for that comment.
I want you to know that.
The children amongst us,
we'll just switch off for the next few weeks.
The biblical idea of work has its meaning in the word vocation.
One of the major differences
between what you might call a job or a vocation
is that someone calls you into a vocation.
The word vocation simply means calling.
And so I'm thinking of vocation
when I talk about work.
And understood in the correct way,
Christian vocation is centred on the sovereign God
who calls us to embrace the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
and to follow him in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so our first and primary calling is to Christ.
That is, we are called to someone rather than something
or somewhere.
But under our calling to Christ,
we all have secondary callings in life.
And it's where we live out our primary calling to Christ,
where we live it out with faithfulness and fruitfulness
to the God who's called us.
And even though it's a secondary calling,
it must not be minimized or devalued.
What makes the secondary calling significant
is the God is the one who calls us to it
in a life of service and contribution to him and to society.
And so first and foremost, work, vocation,
is not about economic exchange or financial remuneration
or personal significance or career paths
or the thing that I must do in order to have holidays
and long service leave and everything else.
Work is about God honoring creativity
and contribution to others.
Our work or vocation, our calling, our position in life,
whatever it is, whether we are paid for it
or whether we are not,
is our specific human contribution
to God's ongoing creation
and to the common good of society.
And that's what this series is all about
and how we are to be faithful and fruitful
and God honoring in your vocation,
whether you are retired,
whether you're a student,
whether you're a child,
whether you're unemployed,
whether you're a banker,
whether you're an electrician,
whatever it is that you are,
whatever position you are in life.
What that means is
that there's not a person in this room who doesn't work.
That's what I mean.
And I'll be referring to that work or that vocation
as your front line throughout this series.
It's the place where you spend the majority of your time
outside of this building.
It is where you're in contact with God's world,
society and the people who need Jesus.
That's your front line.
So let's jump into the Bible.
Genesis chapter one.
Just read out to us a moment ago.
Grab a Bible.
It would be fantastic if you had that in front of you.
It's noteworthy,
as Sam has just read out for us,
that the Bible begins talking about work
as soon as it begins talking about anything.
That is how important and basic it is.
Genesis describes God's creation of the world as work.
And then it shows us human beings working in paradise.
It is remarkable that at the end of Genesis one,
God not only works,
but that he finds delight in his work.
Verse 31,
God saw all that he made
and it was very good.
God finds what he has worked for,
what he has done,
as beautiful.
Like all and good, satisfying work,
the worker sees themselves in it.
Genesis two goes on to show
that God works not only to create,
but also to care for his creation.
God creates human beings
and then he works for them as their provider.
He forms the man in verse seven,
plants a garden for him
and he waters it in verses six and eight
and fashions a wife for him,
a helper for him in verses 21 and 22.
And the rest of the Bible tells us
that God continues to work as provider.
He is caring for his world,
watering it and cultivating the ground in Psalm 104.
He gives food to all he has made,
giving help to all who suffer
and caring for the needs of every living thing
in Psalm 145.
Not only does God work, however,
but that he commissions his people,
his workers to carry on his work.
So in Genesis chapter one, verse 28,
he tells human beings to fill the earth
and subdue it to rule over it.
The word subdue there indicates
that though all God had made was good,
there was still a great degree of it
which was undeveloped.
God left creation with a deep,
untapped potential, if you like,
for cultivation, development,
for society that people were to unlock
through their work of exercising rule
over the created order
under God as his image bearers.
And then you see in Genesis chapter two,
verse 15, that he puts Adam and Eve
in the garden to work it and keep it.
And so while God works for us as our provider,
we also work for him doing his work.
He works through us.
So the book of Genesis leaves us
with a striking truth.
Work was part of paradise.
God's good plan and creation
always included human beings
living in a constant cycle of work,
rest, work, rest, work, rest.
It was part of God's perfect design
for human life.
We were made in God's image
and part of his glory and happiness
is that he works.
And the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the perfect image of God,
says this of himself in John 5,
my father is always at his work
to this very day
and I too am working.
So the Lord Jesus did the work
his father assigned him to do
and he calls us as his disciples
and ourselves as image bearers of God
into God's work in his world.
It's startling to think
that God made work part of paradise.
Work wasn't introduced
as part of the brokenness
and curse of sin.
Work is part of the blessedness
of the Garden of Eden.
And so work is much
a basic human need
as food and beauty
and rest and friendship
and prayer and sexuality.
It is not simply medicine.
It is in fact food for the soul.
According to the Bible,
we don't merely need the money
from work to survive,
we need the work itself
to survive and thrive.
Rather than working to live,
we live to work.
That is,
I have four weeks annual leave
in order to be refreshed
to work the rest of the year.
That's the purpose of my leave.
I don't work in order
to accumulate annual leave.
I get annual leave
in order to work.
That's a complete flip
of the culture in which we exist.
But that's a biblical view.
So rather than working to live,
we live to work.
And I think the Apostle Paul
makes that point
in 2 Thessalonians 3,
verse 10,
where he says,
if anyone is not willing to work,
let him not eat.
Now, Paul doesn't rebuke
those there that cannot work
for any reason,
but he does say
an unwillingness to work
is no trivial matter.
For anyone to refuse to work
is a fundamental violation
of God's design for humanity.
But the Bible also keeps us
from falling into the opposite mistake,
and that is making work
the only important human activity
or the badge of honour.
So when we say,
you know,
I work long hours
and I work all the time
and I haven't had a day off
for weeks or something like that,
that's sin.
That's making an idol of your work.
That's not part of God's good design.
You see, work is not all there is to life.
You will not have a meaningful life
without work,
but you cannot say
that your work
is the meaning of your life.
If you make any work
the purpose of your life,
including church work and ministry,
you create an idol
that rivals God.
So first of all,
it's a real tonic to know
that it's not just
your service in the church
that matters to God.
That's the first thing.
Your vocation,
your position in life
matters to God.
And as I mentioned before,
I get that from 1 Corinthians 7,
where God assigns people
their position in life.
Your front line
is where God has put you
to fulfil his purpose
for his world.
It's a further tonic
to know that God
is in fact still at work
in his world himself.
So in Colossians chapter 1,
which Sam read out to us,
Paul is allowing
the Colossian church
to in on his prayer life.
And his prayers
are prayers of thanksgiving
as he reflects on the fact
that the gospel
is bearing fruit
all over the world.
It is transforming situations
in verse 6.
And so when Paul moves
to pray for the Colossians,
what does he think
their greatest need is?
And bear this in mind
as we enter into a week
of prayer here at St. Paul's
in terms of how to shape
your prayer life in this week.
What are your prayer priorities?
What does he think
the Colossians need
more than anything else?
What shapes his prayer for them?
It is that they be filled
with the knowledge
of God's will.
In verse 9,
so that they will live lives
that are worthy of the Lord
and that they will bear fruit
in every good work.
Growing in the knowledge of God
and strengthened to keep going
in their lives of faith.
That's what he desires
for the Colossian church.
He then moves in to talk about
the significance of what Christ
has done
and then he just puts on display
from verse 14
at just a litany
of amazing truths
about Jesus Christ
that are probably the most
concentrated descriptions
of the glories of Jesus
in all of the New Testament.
Have a look at it there.
There's 15 of them
in a few verses.
Verse 14,
in him we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
Verse 15,
he is the image
of the invisible God.
Verse 15 again,
he is the firstborn
of all creation.
That is,
he's the specially honoured
firstborn son,
the inheritor
of the estate
of all.
That is,
he's the inheritor
of all creation.
Verse 16,
by him all things
were created
in heaven and earth,
visible and invisible
where thrones
or dominions
or rulers
or authorities.
Verse 16,
again,
all things
were created
through him.
Verse 16,
again,
all things
were created
for him.
Verse 17,
he is before
all things.
Verse 17,
again,
in him all things
hold together.
Verse 18,
he's the head
of the body,
the church.
Verse 18,
again,
he's the beginning.
Verse 18,
again,
he is the firstborn
from the dead.
Verse 18,
again,
he is the preeminence
in everything.
Verse 19,
in him all the fullness
of God
is pleased to dwell.
Verse 20,
he reconciles
all things himself,
whether on earth
or in heaven.
Verse 20,
again,
he makes peace
by the blood
of his cross.
It's an astounding
list of the glories
of Christ.
And frankly,
you know,
what I should have done
is,
time permitting,
just read each one
and just sat there
and savored it
for a moment.
You see,
in order to live lives
that are worthy
of your calling
and to labor
to be fruitful
in fulfilling
God's purposes
in this world,
you need to have
confidence
in the God,
what he is,
in God,
what he's done,
in what he is doing
and what he will do
into the future.
And that's what
those verses do for you.
You need to have
a big vision
that the whole
of creation
matters to God.
if we are to live
whole lives
for the glory
of God,
we need to see
that God's mission
is about
all things
being reconciled,
all things
being reconciled,
all things
being transformed
and not just
some things.
Jesus created
all things
in the beginning,
he holds all things
together as a rule
of the universe
and God will reconcile
all things
through Christ
at the end of time.
And my friend,
let me just pause
for a moment.
If your heart
wavers,
you know,
you leave this building
and you're out there
on a Monday morning
at your front line,
whatever it is
that you're doing,
you know,
raising children
or being a banker
or whatever it is
that you're doing,
if your heart
ever wavers
or it grows cold
as a disciple
of the Lord Jesus
out there
in that world,
then come back
to these verses.
Memorize
this list
of the glories
of Christ
and ask God
to give you
affections
that correspond
to the measure
of the greatness
of Christ.
Paul teaches us here
that Jesus Christ
created all that is.
They were created
through him.
He was with
and in God
and was God
and as God
created all things
through him
and all things
were created
for him.
All that came
into existence
came for Christ.
That is,
everything exists
to display
the greatness
of Christ
to his created order.
Nothing,
let me just emphasize
that,
nothing
in the universe
exists
for its own sake.
Everything
from the bottom
of the oceans
to the top
of the highest mountains,
from the smallest
particle
to the largest star,
from the most
boring school subject
to the most
fascinating science experiment,
from the ugliest
cockroach
to the most
beautiful human being,
from the most
glorious saint
to the most
wicked
genocidal dictator,
everything that exists
exists
to make
the greatness
of Christ
more fully known
to his world
and that includes
you
and the work
that you will do
tomorrow morning.
Is that a tonic
to get you out of bed
a little bit better
than a coffee?
I'm not saying
abandon the coffee,
I mean I'm not going
to do that
tomorrow morning,
but a shot
in the arm,
there's a lot
of undoing here
because over the years
our primary
and second
callings in life
have been
unhelpfully separated
and a hierarchy
have been put
in place
and I was
disciplined,
sorry,
I was discipled
in this kind
of teaching.
That is,
I was discipled
in the teaching
the most important
thing that you can
do with your life
is to live
for Christ
and therefore
if that's true
the most important
thing that you can
do with your life
is to go
into full-time
ministry
and if you're
not in full-time
ministry
and not every
Christian is,
and you are
a Christian
then your vocation
should be to
support full-time
ministry.
Get a job
and give money
to the church
and when you're
not working
at that
sign up to a
roster on church
time and give
your time to the
church.
The most
influential thinker
in Western
Christianity
in the 300s,
that's a long
time ago,
was Augustine
of Hippo.
He distinguished
between the two
main aspects
of life.
He called it
the active
life and the
contemplative
life.
The active
life was all
the ways that
people serve
one another.
So for him
it was farming
and crafting
and trading
and raising
families and
stuff like that.
The contemplative
life was the
Godward life,
the Godward
focused life in
prayer and
worship and
spiritual disciplines
and stuff like
that.
Now while for
him both aspects
were good,
he suggested
that the
contemplative
life was
the most
spiritual and
God-pleasing
in life.
Now the
separation of
the physical
and spiritual
aspects of
life were
further distorted
in the 11th
century when
clergy were
mandated to
celibacy and
therefore separated
from ordinary
active life of
family and
business.
They were put
away in
monasteries,
put brown
robes on them
and walked
around and
hummed and
stuff.
Now the
key development
in understanding
work happened
ironically in
the 6th century
by a guy
named Gregory
the Great.
Like I've
said this
morning, I
don't know
why he was
great but
we'll just
call him
Greg.
Greg was
a monk who
valued the
contemplative
life above
the active
life but
whose world
was totally
rocked when
the Pope
called him
to Rome
to head up
administrative
duties and
he's like
all of a
sudden he's
got to
work.
And his
whole world
was rocked
and his
personal
journey helped
him to see
that the
active life
of service
to others
was not
an unwelcomed
or a
spiritually
damaging
distraction
from the
contemplative
life.
So he
connected
every aspect
of life
into a
unified
whole,
the
contemplative
life
equipping
us for
active life
service
of others
and the
active
life
grounding
us in
acts of
love to
our
neighbours
which kept
us from
floating
off into
spiritual
pride and
you know
irrelevancy.
He connected
work and
particularly
service of
others and
use of
gifts and
position in
life with
spiritual
maturity.
Primary
and secondary
calling are
intimately
connected.
And so
the impact
of Greg's
work was
that in
the Middle
Ages
Pope
Benedict
made
manual
labour
the duty
of every
monk in
a monastery.
So they
blamed Greg
and they
made mead
whatever else
they did
scotch and
stuff.
Now
let's be
frank here
old habits
die hard.
we are
in danger
and I've
been there
let me tell
you of
propagating
this
historical
secular
sacred
divide.
And part
of what
we're doing
in this
series is
trying to
break that
down a
little bit
for us.
It is
easy to
class,
let's be
frank about
this,
it is
easy to
class what
we are
doing now
in corporate
worship
as worship
but it's
much more
difficult for
us to
think about
what we're
going to
do tomorrow
as worship.
And if
you agree
with that
statement,
yes it
is more
difficult,
then it's
quite possible
that you
have the
secular
sacred
divide.
You've
been
operating
from that
position.
It's
easy to
see this
as spiritual
and what
you're going
to do
tomorrow
as
unspiritual
something
that you
must do
in order
to live.
You see
without a
real sense
of calling
our motivation
to get
out of bed
tomorrow
morning and
go to
work will
be little
more than
I owe,
so off to
work I
go.
You see
faith in the
Lord Jesus
helps us to
see the
dignity of
work.
Work has
dignity
because it
is something
that God
does and
it's something
that he
calls us
to in his
place as
his
representatives.
The plants
and the
animals were
simply called
to reproduce.
But people
are explicitly
given a job
in Genesis
2.
They are
called to
subdue and
have dominion
or to
rule over
the created
order for
control,
order,
beauty,
creation of
beauty,
other things
like that.
So not
only does
work have
dignity but
all kinds
of work
have dignity.
unity.
This is
where the
great
reformer
Martin
Luther and
John Calvin
was the
same,
very helpful
at this
point.
For instance,
Luther noticed
there's a bunch
of places in
the Bible
where God
says that he
will feed
all of his
living creatures
and Luther
sees that as
a promise
that God
himself will
fulfill.
God does
that.
But he
says how
does he do
that?
How does
God fulfill
his promises?
He says he
feeds you
and I'm
going to
paraphrase him
and modernize
him a little
bit.
He feeds
you through
the farmers
who grow
the wheat,
the truck
driver who
delivers it
to the
silo,
the trader
who sells
it to the
baker,
the baker
who makes
the bread,
the supermarket
who sells
it to you
and he
says the
people who
do the
simplest of
work are
the fingers
of God
to bless
you.
When I
go to the
restaurant,
the waitress
who brings
me my
food,
the chef
who's
prepared in
the back,
the delivery
diver,
the wholesalers,
the workers
in the
food processing
factory,
the family
and everyone
else in
the economic
food chain
are used
by God
to give
me this
day my
daily bread.
It's God
at work
using people
in their
vocation
to serve
me and
others.
God is
loving me
through the
work of
other people.
All work
is God's
way of
caring for
his creation.
This is
important for
us to come
to terms
with.
There is
no,
no biblical
foundation
to elevate
the work
of doctors
over the
work of
plumbers.
None
whatsoever.
In fact,
the foundation
in that
is pagan
Greek
philosophy
where the
thinkers
were regarded
in higher
order
than the
doers.
Greek
philosophy
is not
biblical.
As I
mentioned,
1 Corinthians
7,
God calls
people to
different
positions and
roles in
life and
whatever the
position is,
it's
dignifying because
God is
the one
who does
the calling
and assigning.
And so
be careful
of participating
in the sneering
attitude our
culture has
towards people
who do
simple jobs.
Whenever
Luther talked
about vocation,
he deliberately
used the
simple and
the mundane
in order to
elevate the
significance of
it.
He referred to
the father
washing
nappies,
the maid
sweeping the
floor,
the brewer
making good
beer.
By doing
our appointed
work in
society,
we become
the means
or the
agents of
grace through
which God
serves others.
So
traditionally,
we have
used the
language of
Christian work
to refer
exclusively to
what I'm
doing now,
what I do
in my work,
ministry and
missionary work
and parachurch
callings.
this distorted
understanding
exposes an
inadequate grasp
of the
biblical
understanding
of vocation
and if
you're a
Christian,
you are
about to
embark on
a week of
Christian work
in the same
way that I'm
about to
embark on a
week of
Christian work
when you
leave this
building.
What will
that look
like for
you?
depending on
your theological
position and
your vocation,
you might
say the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
work with
a grateful,
joyful,
gospel-changed
heart through
all the ups
and downs.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
do whatever
gives you
the greatest
joy and
passion.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
make as
much money
as you
can so
you can
be as
generous
as you
can.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
further
social
justice
in the
world.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
be
personally
honest,
to evangelize
my colleagues
and set up
Bible studies.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
do
skillful,
excellent
work.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
create
beauty.
Or the
way to
serve God
at work
is to
work from
a Christian
motivation
to glorify
God,
seeking to
engage and
influence the
culture to
that end.
It will
depend on
your theological
position,
depend on
the work
you do.
But I
would say
that Christian
work is
generally
speaking a
mixture of
all of
those things.
Not every
vocation is
going to do
all of those
things.
I do
struggle to
see how
accountants
create beauty,
frankly.
If you're a
Christian
airline pilot,
it doesn't
mean that
you use
the
plane's
intercom
to share
the gospel
with your
passengers from
point A to
point B.
At the
very least,
it means
land the
plane and
do it
well,
smoothly.
Doing your
work well
honors God.
For
mums,
you know,
Billy Graham's
wife had a
plaque above
her kitchen
sink which
read,
divine services
conducted here
three times a
day.
She understood
her vocation
and that it
honored God.
It was
worship.
Lining your
kid's school
uniform,
changing a
nappy that
overfloweth,
or, you
know,
mowing your
lawn are not
simply jobs
when done
for God.
God is
working through
you to create
order and care
for his
creation and
creatures,
to redeem,
to advance
his purposes.
Is this not
what the
Bible teaches
us in
Colossians
chapter 3?
Have this
verse ringing
in your mind
tomorrow morning,
maybe go home
and print it
out and stick
it in your
pocket, put
it in your
lunchbox or
something like
that, whatever
it is that
you do.
Whatever you
do, work
at it with
all of your
heart as
working for
the Lord,
not for
men.
Since you
know that
you receive
an inheritance
from the
Lord as
a reward,
it is the
Lord Christ
that you
are serving.
Let's pray.
Gracious
Father, may
your favour
be upon us
and give us
hope and
purpose and
meaning and
joy in our
weekly work.
Pour out
your favour
on us and
establish the
work of our
hands for
honour and
glory of
your name
and the
joy of
all people.
Amen.