Get a Work

Series: Life. Money. Hope.

* Disclaimer- I don't thoroughly edit my manuscripts. They are written with my intent to preach. There will be many typos and grammatical errors.

Today i want to repent and wrap up this series on Life. Money. Hope. We started with the big picture of how we get a grip on our finances. By now you should be able to teach this to me:

Get a grip: Work- Give- Repay- Invest- Spend
Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Work
Proverbs 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Give
Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Repay
Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave of the lender.

Invest
Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children.

Spend
Proverbs 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

Today we go back to the start, and we end with what me say is most important- our earning, our making a living, our work.

Who here has ever had a crappy job? Come on, this one should be a common denominator in all of our lives. It would be a blast to compare stories of your worst jobs and to see who could win. That can be your topic of conversation during the picnic today. I’m going to confess something to you today as we get started- from an early age I was a master at getting out of work I didn’t like, and I have to say there were a lot of things I didn’t like to do. When I was visiting with my family recently my mom pulled out some old diaries. In reading them she noticed a theme, and she began to read through several passages...

On an on the entries went. I wish I was making that up, but I was a lazy sluggard of a kid! What shocked my parents was that they said they never caught on! Somehow I just always schemed my way out of work. But eventually, i had to experience to rights of passage of horrible jobs. I remember my first job working in a retail store. I didn’t even work the front desk- I was a stock boy for a summer. I went into that job full of youthful enthusiasm and joy. I was young, strong, eager to make some money and have a great summer. Before September arrived I was a broken, lifeless shell. They had sucked the joy and meaning from my existence. OK, it wasn’t that bad, but it was pretty bad. It was the all-to-frequent work environment where the manager was kind of a jerk, and so that jerkiness just trickled down through the system, getting worse and worse until it got to the lowest guy in the food chain.

After my first year of study I got a summer job working in a foundry. Some of you have no idea what that even is. Few people today will ever have that job. I grew up in a little steel town and lucked a job at one of the last running foundries. In many ways it was awesome, it was like experiencing a piece of history that we all knew wouldn’t last much longer. In most other ways, it was hot, dirty, dangerous work. At that point in my life I had a pony tail halfway down my back and all the guys, I mean every one of them, called me Fabio all Summer long. I mean, it was kinda of a compliment, I suppose, Fabio being a sex symbol of the 90’s. I really don’t think any of them ever learned my real name.

Everyone should have the joy of a lousy job at some point in their life. You know, that whole, “it builds character thing.” Why does everything that build character have to be so hard? But the truth is that God made you to work! Work should a source of joy, of delight, of purpose, of fulfillment, of profit in our lives. Simply put, one of the most important goals of your life should be to discover the work you were made to do!

So today I want to talk with you about your work. I want to talk with you, mom or dad who’s full-time work it is to care for your kid or kids, work that isn’t valued or esteemed by the culture, yet is so invaluable that the very fabric of our society would fall apart without you.

I want to talk to you who has recently lost their job for whatever reason- you’ve lost your job, your livelihood, and along with it, a huge sense of your worth and value and purpose and self-esteem. You have no idea what the future holds, made you are afraid of what the future holds, and trusting God right now is the biggest stretch of your life.

I want to talk with the person who hates their job. It is miserable, it seems like it is killing you, but you keep plugging along, because you know it’s better to work that not work, you know that you’d simply do what every it takes to provide for yourself and your family. But you sure hope that God has something better in store for your future.

I want to talk with you, kid, you have no idea what you want to do with your life and work. You just haven’t had enough time, enough experience, enough people speaking into your life to help you figure out what it is you are wired to do. You are hopeful to find a career you love that will make a difference in the world. But you also have fear- fear of going down the wrong path, of not discovering what it is you love.

I want to talk with you who feel like you have discovered your calling in work. You feel like you an in the flow with God, you like or even love what you are doing. Maybe you work is your calling- you are doing something that provides your income and is your ministry. Maybe it’s teaching, or health care,or counseling, or a business, or construction or manufacturing or agriculture or community service. Or maybe you are doing something that provides and income and allows you to pursue your calling and ministry in other areas. You see how God has put things together to use you in a variety of areas and ways to do his work.

I want to talk with you who maybe doubts this whole thing. You are still wondering if there really is a plan and a purpose and a calling on your life. You wonder if what you do matters at all or could matter at all. You would love for your life to be such an integrated whole that all areas flow together into a sense of God’s plan, including, and especially in what we’re talking about today, your work.

I want to talk with all of you about this, because all of us will be in several of these areas at different times in our lives. Let me first dispel what is the most unbiblical understandings of work.

Some people think that the point of life, like me as a kid, is to get out of work. I meet with a new financial advisor the past two weeks. This series served as a spring board for me to completely review my financial portfolio- where am I at, where do I want to go, how an I going to get there. This actually provided me an amazing opportunity to talk to someone about my life goals and values, and to gain much wisdom from this man. One of the big things we talked about was my value of giving, my value of being on a a budget to keep spending in control, but for me, to also have the freedom to enjoy my spending. And of course, and what really becomes a financial advisers primary job, we talked about investing.

It is very interesting to me how the goal of many for investing is to get out of work. In fact, he gave me a mug. Here it is- freedom 55. The goal of work is to get out of work by 55. Or earlier- to put in your 30 years and be then “enjoy” the second half of your life.
Now this will be the case for some. Some will have a job that is so lucrative that they can think about leaving one area of work at the age of 55, and moving on to other things. For most of us, this will not be the reality, and should not be the goal.

The goal should be to discover the work that God has called you to do, and to find meaning in that work. Instead of living for the second half of your life, how about making living something you do right now. In Genesis 1 God creates the man and the woman, they fall in love, God tells them to make babies. And, when they are not making babies, what are they to do? Work! They were designed to work and put into a world where work needed to be done. This is called the cultural mandate- that it part of God plan and design that we would be His workers in the world, cultivating the creation.

I want you to think about two questions:

1. If you could DO anything with your life, what would you do? No concern with money right now, this is not about a job. What would you DO with your life? What would you like to do with your 40 plus hours a week, your 9-5, 5 or 6 days a week?
2. Second, and more importantly, What does God want to do through you?

If the two match up, perfect. Thank God. Celebrate. If they don’t, you have something to really pray about and work through. If you can’t answer either question, you have some serious soul searching and ground work to do. If you are in your teen years, that’s fine. Some of us will discover what we want to do and what we know God wants us to do with our lives from a very early age. Most will have to embark on a journey. Get ready to enjoy the ride. If you are just into your working years, you may have found it- great. More likely, you are now, with your first work experience, learning some awesome things about yourself that you’ve never seen before. If you are middle aged, ore beyond, I hope, I pray, you are in a position where you are doing something out of a profound sense of calling. Or you are now very actively working yourself towards the fulfillment of that sense of calling.

This is what the bible says about our work. Ephesians 2:8-10 a favorite passage of many... 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The foundation of getting our calling for work in place is first getting our salvation secure. The passage reminds us of the core truth and foundation of our faith- we are saved by grace. God graciously, lovingly, mercifully comes to us with the gift of life and salvation. We can not save ourselves. We are not the authors of our lives, nor are we the authors of our salvation. God has come to us in Jesus Christ; Jesus gives us the free gift of salvation. We don;t earn it. We don;t buy it. We are “good enough” for it. Maybe you hate that- you want it to be a transaction- “OK God, i’ll go to church every Sunday, you save my soul. I’ll read the bible every day, OK, every other day, and you save me. I’ll give a few bucks to charity, you save me.” Should you want to worship God, yeah. Should you want to read his word? Yeah. Should you want to give generously? You bet. Should you want to live a good, moral, virtuous life characterized by the things of god like love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness faithfulness gentleness self control? Yes, we should want to do all these things and more out of a GRATEFUL RESPONSE to the GIFT of our life and salvation in Jesus.

With the correct understanding of our salvation in place (Gift), God goes on to say in a very direct way what he does want us to do with the gift- good works. or to break it down- Three things I want you to embrace:
Uou are a masterpiece!
Made for good works- God has a job for you!
Which are already in place for you!

You are God’s workmanship. Any artists in the house? Anyone who like to make stuff? Everyone who likes to make stuff knows the amazing sense of ownership, accomplishment, and love that we have for the stuff we make. The music we write, the clay we mold, the wood we shape, the gardens we cultivate- there is something about the stuff we make, that reflects us and for which we have a special purpose. The story is told of Michelangelo when he was preparing to carve David, perhaps the most famous statue in all the world. For more than 100 years a monstrous mountain of marble lay in the courtyard of the Florence monastery. Numerous other artists has mangled and marred the stone in feeble attempts to tame the beast. Then, in 1505 the young Michelangelo laid on the monster and was captivated. For hours and days he sat staring at the beast, and when finally asked when he was going to get to work, he said he already was. He was actively envisioning the masterpiece that would emerge from the now shapeless form. For three years he worked, day and night he worked. Then the world gazed on in wonder as David finally broke free and into life. It is said that some remarked- “the only thing that it lacks is speech itself.”

Many of us fee like a shapeless chunk of stone. But all of us are God’s workmanship. and out of all of us is emerging a thing of beauty, a masterpiece being shaped by the master artist. he is working us into what it is we will be. Now here’s the thing- he can already see it. He can picture it in his minds eye. But the world might not see it yet, we might not even see it yet. For some of us the work will emerge quickly. For others, it will be a long process with a lot of chipping away. But all of us are God’s workmanship.

Let me tell you something about being God’s workmanship. Our God is a very creative being. Our God is able to come up with some pretty amazing stuff. I’ve stood on the top of mountains and swam inside the coral reefs of the sea and I’ve seen a lot of things in between that make my jaw drop in complete and utter awe at the majesty, the beauty, the magnitude and might of our God. But nothing, nothing at all, nothing else in the world compares to the workmanship in each and every one of you. You are not just God’s workmanship, you are his masterpiece, his image bearers, created before eh foundations of the world with each and every one of your days prepared in advance for you, with each and every one of your characteristics set in place for you.

And how many of us have looked in the mirror, and looked at our lives, and wondered to our selves, why am I not like other people? Why don’t I fit in with the crowd? Why am I so weird? And let me tell you, I’ve hung out and paid visits with a lot of you, and you are a weird bunch of people. You draw pictures of me while I preach that are better than most people could ever dream of doing. You do things like Roller Derby. You do things like NOT live together before your married because you think it’s best the best way for you to start your relationship and honor God. You do things like give money to a church that meets in a theatre. You do things like ask me who’s in need, then make anonymous gifts to those families. You do things like taking in needy children that nobody else wants or loves. You do things like wake up before the sunrise and pray for me, and our church, and our city. You do things like going to other countries to help people learn to help themselves. You do things like practice music for hours so another person can experience a few minutes of praise and beauty. You do things like turn down lucrative carriers to care for your kids.

You, you are weird people. You are strangers and aliens in the world the bible says. You are in the world, but not of the world. You are in the world because you have a role to play, a job to do, a work for God’s kingdom. But you are not of the world- you are now investing in the kingdom of God. You trajectory is now toward eternity. Your perspective is different. Your perception is different. Your place is different. Your lives look different and feel different and they are different because you are different. You are weird, and you are wonderful. And the sooner you can learn that, the better off you are going to be, and the better God is going to be able to use you.

Young folks, right now, let me tell you, you are weird, and that’s just the way God wants you to be. You are weird and you are trying to find that balance between fitting in a finding your unique self. So you are testing it our in safe,fun little ways- I’ll try these clothes, or this music, or these sports, and this stuff. Sometime testing out those things can be lots of fun. Sometimes they can lead down dangerous roads. But young people can I just ask you, embrace what makes you truly unique, not clothes that anyone else can buy or a image that anyone else could fashion or music that anyone else can listen to or anything simply superficial like that- embrace Jesus Christ and embrace that you are God workmanship, you are one of God’s masterpieces, and he made you uniquely you- you likes and dislikes, your skills and your lacks of skills, your size, shape, color and everything about you just the way he wanted you to be. Can you embrace that and accept that you are a stranger and alien in the world and that the world should look upon you as a bit weird and that’s just the way god planned it. Can you have faith that God has you marked as a masterpiece!

You are a masterpiece created uniquely by God and for God and the best thing that you could possible do is to embrace the work that you are so that you can do the work that God has called you to do! Embrace what God has worked in you, so you can do the work he has planned for you!

God has a job for you to do. God has a great work for you to do in the world.
A work of art that only you can craft.
There is a song that only you can sing.
A discovery that only you can make.
A business that only you can run.
There is life that only you can bring into the world.
A life that is broken that only you can touch.
Someone who is looking for God, and you are the one who will tell them about Jesus!

This is perhaps the most exciting truth about our God and faith, and yet the hardest to believe. To believe that not only are you God’s workmanship, but that he has then a work prepared for you to do. YOU are that important. YOU are that vital. YOU are that essential in God’s economy, in God’s kingdom, in God’s plan.

How AMAZING that God has a plan for your life. He has created the blueprint for your work already! And yet the intensity of that revelation is almost too much for some people. They think so little of themselves- Who am I that God should notice. Who am I that I should make a difference. Who am I that there is work that only I can do.

We want to fade into the shadows, but God wants to bring us into the light. Maybe not the spot light, not a pedestal for the world to see, but into the light of his will and work in the world. Into the light of his presence and the knowledge that you are about his work prepared in advance for you.

I want to tell you a story about a family that does an amazing work. It’s not so much their work-work. It’s not how they make a living, though it helps pay the bills. But it’s there work. Right now they are fostering a little boy with special needs. A little boy who nobody else wanted, whose own parents were not able to care for him. The parents have now said that they want to put the boy up for adoption, and child services has asked this family to adopt. Now they are praying about this decision. What will it mean to not just care for this boy, but to adopt him? What does it look like for couple to adopt a child some 50 years younger than they are? What does this mean for the rest of their family? Does this mean that they would deny another couple the privilege, that they word they used, the privilege of adopting this precious child?

Folks, that’s what doing the work of God looks like. It makes you weird. It makes you different. It makes you set apart. It makes you a masterpiece in God’s kingdom. It’s not always clear-cut. It’s more often messy. It messes up your routine. It messes up you comfort zone. It messes up the pre-packaged plans you had for your life. it will mess you up and mess you over, but you won’t want it any other way.

We are God’s workmanship, made for works, works prepared in advance for us to do. That is the promise of God that we must embrace in faith to see it begin to play out in our lives. To wake up each day and say God, what it the work you have prepared for today. What it the big picture of work you’ve created for me? What is maybe that work today that you want me to do? The each day we can be about God’s BIG work, and about the little works. I can be about my big picture of work as the pastor of this church, and God can use me for the works of any given day that I am called to do.

Today, I want you to embrace this reality and begin this journey of fulfilling the works prepared in advance for you. Let me propose to you what might be the three greatest days of your life:

The day you were born- may you celebrate the gift of life given to you.

Second, the day you were born again- may you celebrate the gift of a relationship with God that is so profound, so life changing, that can only be described, like Jesus does, as saying you are born again, born spiritual by the Holy Spirit coming into your life, making Jesus real to you, drawing you into a relationship with God. Maybe you know, or will know, the moment it happens, maybe it slowly dawn on you.

Third, the day you come to understand why you were born again. The day or that season when you gain that revelation, that insight, that deeper sense of calling that makes sense of your life- who you are, why you are the way you are, what you are called to do, the works prepared in advance for you.

But folks, each of those days are only the first step into a great adventure of faith. They are not just a one shot deal. Especially the last one. That is the one we grow into the rest of our days not just on earth, but for eternity.