Good Work and Good Rest (Exodus 31)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here we are working our way through the book of Exodus if you will turn to Exodus chapter 31. we looked at Exodus chapter 28 and 29 last week the week prior we looked at 26 and on up and we looked at some of the sections in chapter 31. in chapter 31 there is a section on a census that is to be taken and we won't spend time studying that together but we are moving to chapter 31.
Today and we're going to study through this entire chapter together I um a couple years ago was on vacation and I ran into a store to buy some milk I think that's pretty much all I needed I might have needed one other thing but mostly milk and if you had stopped me on my way into the store and said hey how much should milk cost I would have said I don't know and I don't have any opinions about milk I just need some and I would have been thinking I told you the truth I walked to the back of the store and I get to the gallons of milk and milk was six dollars in.
Something and I said to myself six dollars what on Earth like I'm just standing there staring at this like if his milk lost its mind did this come from a magical cow what what on and apparently I had a lot of opinions about milk that were very deep inside of me that I cared deeply about because I was enraged in this grocery store and I wouldn't have been able to tell you that um two minutes ago and the reason I tell you that story is that this morning we are going to.
Look at a passage that is going to I think shine some light on how we view work how we view work and how we View Rest and how we view our labor and I think it's possible that you might think I don't really have like a philosophy of work I don't have a Theology of work I don't have something that I've I haven't given this much thought I don't really have opinions on it and what I'd like to say is you do actually have some opinions on work maybe you have thought it through.
But if you haven't I'd like to offer that you actually do have some sort of a viewpoint on work you're like me with milk you might not realize it but you have some thought process and I want to tell you the two primary ones that our culture gives us these are the ones that you're handed as like hey pick an option these are the two ways to think about work and I would argue that you probably have you lean in one of these directions option number one work gives you your identity it helps you know who you are and it helps everybody else know who you are and by having good work you are better.
And by having worse work you are worse this is identity this is one of the reasons not the only reason but one of the reasons why we ask people pretty quickly what do you do what kind of work do you do it's not just a good topic of conversation when you first meet somebody it also helps you know what kind of person are you who are you but people don't know how to answer that question so you say what kind of work do you do and it helps us to find that.
So work as identity is one of the cultural options we're given the other one is that work is a necessary evil that is useful for providing the type of life that you want work is a necessary evil that is useful for providing the type of life that you want so if you want a lavish life you need work that will provide that if you want to live in the woods and eat Roots you don't have to work at all you did it.
But whatever lifestyle you want the amount of rest that you want the amount of pleasantness that you want the amount of stability that you want work is there to provide that and you need to work the exact amount that gives that to you and one of the reasons I think I can help you see that this is how we think about this is we ask little kids what do you want to be when you grow up and B is a is an identity word what do you want to be.
When you grow up and we're interested in this answer and I my wife showed me one where this little kid was like going first day of kindergarten and said how they were and it said What class they were going into and then it said I want to be when I grow up and they put chicken nugget and I guess they thought what's the most amazing thing ever I want to set up my sights High I'm going to be a chicken nugget.
But we don't want chicken nugget as an answer you want to hear Dr lawyer scientist astronaut Batman like we want something good to pour yourself into and usually if you're talking to a kid and you say they say they want to be a doctor and you say that's great you are saying that's great either because what a good identity what a good person to be what a good honorable thing to make yourself into or that's great Doctors live at the lake.
And if a kid says something and you say you don't want to do that usually it's because it won't provide the type of life I want for you or it's not the type of person I want you to be because those are our primary things that we're given culturally now as a Christian we add a third thing into this because I talk to people they'll say things like I'm really trying to follow Jesus I want my life to matter is it.
Okay for me to just repair HVAC units my entire life is that okay is it okay if all I ever do is teach kindergarten is that okay like am I okay to do that or have I missed something have I rejected the mission of God somehow and so this passage I think shines some light and gives us some clarity on all of that and will help us have a better approach to how we ought to view work and how we ought to view living lives of a lot of normal work under the leadership of.
God and in worship and glory to him so let's pray and we're going to read Exodus chapter 31 together God we ask for your grace we ask for your help we pray that you would give us clarity as we study your word today that we might be Spirit-filled laborers that we might love you and love our neighbors well through them in Jesus name amen now I do not think that this passage is primarily here to teach us the things that we're going to talk about this morning.
So we're going to read through it and I'm going to try to help you see it in context with Exodus before we're going to walk through and point out some of the things that help kind of say hey this this gives us some handles here on how we ought to think about work so Exodus chapter 31 the Lord said to Moses Moses up on the mountain God's been telling him over and over again all the things he's going to have to do the.
Lord said to Moses see I have called by name bezalel the son of Yuri son of her of the tribe of Judah and I have filled him with the spirit of God with ability and intelligence with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs to work in gold silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood to work in every craft and behold I have appointed with him a holy AB the son of ahissamak of the tribe of Dan and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you and this is a recap of what we've been studying the past few weeks starting.
In verse 7. the tent of meeting and the Ark of the testimony and The Mercy Seat that is on it and all the Furnishings of the tent the table and its utensils and the pure lamp stand with all its utensils and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offerings with all its utensils and the Basin and its stand and the finely worked garments the holy garments for Aaron the priests and the garments of his sons for their service as priests and the anointing oil and The Fragrant incense.
For the holy Place according to all that I have commanded you they shall do so God's been telling him you're going to do this you're going to build this you're going to build this this is how you're going to build it this is how long it's going to be this is how wide this is what a span is all those things and then he says and I've set aside specifically these men to help they're going to build it and then he says this in.
Verse 12. and the Lord said to Moses you are to speak to the people of Israel and say above all you shall keep my sabbaths the Sabbath is the day of rest that one day in seven they would work six days and then they would rest and worship in the rest of the Lord and do no work you shall keep my sabbaths for this is a sign between me and you throughout your Generations that you may know that I the Lord sanctify you.
So he says the Sabbath stands here to show you that I'm the one who sets you apart who makes you holy who makes you good I'm the one who rescues you I'm the one who gives you your worth that's what's built into that word sanctify and it's important because of what he's about to say verse 14 you shall keep the Sabbath because it is Holy for you everyone who profanes it shall be put to death whoever does any work on it that Soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Now as we study the Ten Commandments one of the things we talked about is that we don't have a good radar As Americans for the sanctity of God the Holiness of God and so when he says things like you're going to keep the Sabbath and if you don't you're going to be put to death we immediately think that's an overreaction but it's because we have an under reaction to the Holiness of God to the weight of obedience and do you see what a rejection of the Sabbath is it's a rejection of knowing.
God is the one who sets them apart God has invited them into this sanctifying relationship and a rejection of the Sabbath is a rejection of God being the one who makes them holy who does the work and so they're in this in some ways a rejection of Sabbath for them is like a rejection of salvation for us to say that we don't want Jesus I'll be the one who makes myself good I'll be the one who makes myself holy and it does what to us what it does to them which it cuts them off from the people.
Because he said they if if they're to remember consistently that he's the one who redeems and then to to work on that day is to reject that it's a problem and he will not put up with that being rampant in them in among his people and you will be put to death verse 15. six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest holy to the Lord whoever does any work on the Sabbath today shall be put to death.
Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath observing the Sabbath throughout all their Generations as a covenant forever it is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed if you have more questions about the Sabbath we taught about it when we looked at the fourth Commandment in the Ten Commandments we won't spend as much time on it today Verse 18 and he gave to Moses.
When he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai the two tablets of the testimony tablets of stone written with the Finger of God so he's handing off to him all that they've talked about Moses is about to go down the mountain and get to work all we've read so far is stuff that he's supposed to do he's leaving with a to-do list in so many ways he's got a bunch of things he's got to do God's given it to him and sitting down the mountain.
Okay so one of the first things though that I think is helpful for us as we try to understand how we ought to approach work because what's happening in this moment is God is giving Moses all these instructions and he's telling him who's going to accomplish it and he's reminding him of the Sabbath and sending him down and that's kind of where this fits in the context of Exodus but I think for us it's helpful for us to notice a few things that clarify how we ought to view work the.
First one is this look at verse two see I have called by name bezalel and then in verse 3 it says and I have filled him with the spirit of God now Moses is hearing this what for he's calling this guy specifically and he's filled him with the spirit of God what for and when we think of being filled with the spirit of God we think prophecy he's gonna he's gonna be like in the Priestly service there's something going to be something something really spiritual is going to happen.
And then he says filled him with the spirit of God he's filled him with ability and intelligence with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs to work in gold silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood to make every craft I filled him with my spirit for work for craftsmanship for competency that he's poured in him ability and intelligence knowledge and all craftsmanship that this is a gift from God and this is really interesting to me it's really encouraging and I also think that.
If we're to consider bezalel I don't think that he was sitting in his tent and had spent his entire life being incompetent and God Zapped him and suddenly he was like I must make artistic designs I don't think that's what happened I think that what happened is what happens in all of life for us where God is at work in this man and he grows in competency I don't think when he made artistic designs for the Tabernacle it was the first time he had ever done it one of the things he had to do was filigree that they were going to do this I want to show you all filigree this is filigree he had.
To engrave precious stones wrap them in that and put them on the shoulders of the Priestly garments I don't think it was the first time he'd ever made filigree I think this was something that he had been good at been competent been growing in that God had poured this ability in him and then God says I've specifically designed him for this purpose so go back look what he gives him his ability and intelligence so and then knowledge and all craftsmanship and these are gifts from.
God which if you think about this if God's the one who gives these things then it glorifies God for bezalel to be good at them that if Moses comes down and he says I'm looking for bezalel a son of Yuri son of her tribe of Judah like he goes to the tribe of Judah y'all got a bezel yeah we got seven okay son of Yuri son of her oh okay we got two that are under her but only one under Yuri that's the one I'm looking.
For and when he says okay show me what you can do how does bezelo glorify God by being excellent and Moses would be watching him and go and then look at God like wow you poured intelligence and ability and knowledge and craftsmanship into him this is amazing to bezel would glorify God well by being good at this and have y'all ever in life seen someone who had ability and it just you kind of marveled at it physical ability they could dance or play a sport they they could play an instrument.
For a moment you just kind of swept up in the actual beauty of it the glory of it because there's God-given ability that's in the world that points us to him it doesn't terminate on itself but it rolls us up y'all ever seen intelligence and just been blown away by it like someone who figured something out came out with something new fixed the problem designed something you ever just your car's not working so you pop the hood and you're sad but impressed.
Because it's like this thing is magical I don't know how to work it but somebody made up something really good here there's intelligence that's done these things but it also says intelligence and knowledge and I love that that's separated because intelligence and knowledge are not exactly the same thing we put them together a lot but someone can have knowledge without being the most intelligent person there have been times where you've interacted with somebody and they just know they know what they're doing they know how to fix the problem they know how to sort a thing out there are people.
If you ever watch anybody who works in food service or fast food that loves their job and does a good job and knows what they're doing have you ever seen like I'll get stuck watching videos sometimes of people who just know what they're doing and some kind of building a craft or working on a thing or who can just flip Burgers real quick or the people who do that little ice cream thing where they take the ice cream from you and they give it back to you or whatever have you ever seen this like you can go to Marble Slab and be blessed by someone being really good at doing what they're doing and enjoying.
It they have the knowledge the competence to do this and craftsmanship He blesses them with these things and he specifically calls him to these things that it's a God-given ability and a God-given calling for this but then he says this verse 6. and behold I have appointed with him a holy AB the son of a hissim a hyssamek of the tribe of Dan and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you I have given to all able men ability I want you to.
Look at that for a second ability is a blessing can you highlight that for us that ability is a blessing y'all work is not a curse it's cursed by sin so there's aspects of it that are more difficult but work was in the garden God designed us to be competent and to work and that we bring him glory in good work so if God's the one who gives ability if God's the one who gives skill and craftsmanship and knowledge then we can glorify.
God by doing that well therefore all good work can be worship if there's a way in work to glorify God through ability and skill and knowledge and craftsmanship which I would argue that all jobs take something of one of those four take ability or they take intelligence or they take knowledge or they take some craftsmanship that all work takes some sort of then if that's a way to glorify God by doing it well therefore work can be worshipful now there are some occupations that you're not allowed to do like.
If you said God's gifted me with the ability and one of the things that I'm great at is hurting people who owe the mafia money we would just say he's given you other abilities find one of those you might excel at this but this is not an okay thing for you to do but most occupations most work is going to be something that you get to do in a way that glorifies God that's worshipful so there's a way for bezalel to be tied up where he thinks that work is just about himself.
Therefore the only way he could be humble in work is to be bad at it because if he's good at it it terminates on himself it makes him prideful there's a way for him to try to steal the glory from God and make it about himself wrap his identity up and that wrap his worth up and make it about himself but if good work is meant to glorify God then the way to be humble in work is not to be bad at it.
But to worshipfully be very very good at it the way to be humble in work is not to be bad at it but to worshipfully be very very good at it and do y'all see how if work can be worshiped that that undermines our two primary cultural options given to us that in this option work is about you it's about your identity it's about your worth and so that all of your work ultimately just turns around and is about you you don't become a doctor.
Because you want to care for sick people and it's a blessing to the world you don't become a lawyer because we need Justice you become that because those are good things to be and ultimately your work is about you but if my work is worshipful and it rolls up and prays to God then that kills that approach it undermines it you think that work is just unnecessary evil so that you can enjoy the actual good stuff of life when you understand that God's blessed you to be worshipful in your work it can't be evil it's part of the good stuff of life it has purpose in it.
And so this approach this understanding undercuts our approaches to work but I want you to see something else it's not just that work can be worshipful but work the use of skills the exercise of these abilities that God has given us can be done in worship but it's also one of the primary ways that we love our neighbors look at verse six behold I have appointed with him a holy AB the son of a hissamak of the tribe of Dan and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you Moses has been up on a mountain.
God has been repeatedly telling him he's been repeatedly telling him that he's going to have to do this he's going to have to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make a table you're going to make a tent you're going to make a an effort you're going to make a breast piece you're going to have bells and pomegranates it's all going to be.
Finally done it's going to be done really well it's going to be engraved really well you're going to make filigree you're going to make all these things I don't think that Moses was thinking oh no I can't do that I'm a shepherd Moses was a Shepherd he's not about to walk down the mountain and weave a tent I think Moses was thinking what we would think which is we're going to make this because that's how it works and then God specifically says I've blessed all of them with ability to accomplish all these things and all that they're going to accomplish isn't just about worship it's not just about themselves.
But it also blesses everybody around them that it's a blessing to have this kind of ability that I want to I missed a quote that I want to read to y'all and we'll point out to y'all as we understand that work is an act of worship and then work as a way to love our neighbors this is a quote from Dorothy Sayers she's an author and she says this the Church's approach to an intelligent Carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him to not be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to Church on Sundays.
For the record It's a Good Counsel but then she says this what the Church should be telling him is this the very first demand that his religion makes upon his time is that he should make good tables and in doing that who worship and he'll love God and he'll love his neighbor there's a in his book Tim Keller wrote a book called every good Endeavor and in that book he quotes another book work the meaning of Life by Lester decoster and I want to read this quote to you it's a longer quote.
But I think it's a helpful thing to Think Through he says this work is the form in which we make ourselves useful to others and which others make themselves useful to us we plant with our work and God gives the increase to unify the human race so he says that in work I make myself useful to others others make themselves useful to us and God blesses this this is the concept that Martin Luther has of The Masks of God that God works through work we're told in the Bible that.
God strengthens strengthens the bars of the city we're told that God watches over the city we're told that God feeds everybody we all he does but one of the ways he does that is that someone builds the walls in the bars of the city and someone watches there's night Watchmen that watch over the city and there's someone who milks the cow and someone who delivers the milk like God feeds me but one of the ways he does that is there's a Food Lion a mile from my house and every day someone goes over there and unlocks the doors.
For me and puts the lion back in the back where he's been doing night Watchman stuff at night so that he won't attack me like there's there's things that someone does so that I can enter in there and be able to get the food out and it's a blessing and so this is what Lester decoster says he says look at the chair you are lounging in could you have made it for yourself how would you get say the wood would you go and fell a tree I said sure.
But only after first making the tools for that and putting together some kind of vehicle to haul the wood and constructing a mill to do the lumber and making roads to drive on from place to place in short a lifetime or two to make one chair you're gonna go cut down a tree okay make the tools to cut the tree down all right you did it you got your tree down now what you're going to do and it's just a helpful thought process of being like.
Okay another take forever he says if we worked not 40 but 140 hours per week we couldn't make for ourselves from scratch even a fraction of all the goods and services that we call our own our paycheck turns out to buy us the use of far more than we could possibly make for ourselves in the time it takes for us to earn the check work yields far more in return upon our efforts than our particular jobs put in why because of everybody else that we could not in the amount of time have the things that we have live the lives that we live.
But we can together because of everybody else Tim Keller then says in response to this quote the guy ends this quote by saying the difference between a Wilderness and a culture is simply work without if everybody quit work we would just be in a wilderness and Tim Keller says there may be no better way to love your neighbor whether you are riding parking tickets software or books than to Simply do your work and he calls this the ministry of competency you get to work in the ministry of Competency which means being competent being good at the work that you've been given is a way to love your neighbor my granddad grew up in the Swansea.
Area and he said he he joined the Marines he went and signed up he said he walked out of the office got on the bus with a bunch of other guys and they rode to Paris Island he said they get off the bus when they get off this man comes out in a uniform and yells I'm your mama now boys my granddad said he thought I may have made a mistake one of the first things they did was they issued him a uniform and they issued him boots.
And so they went in and they all got measured for all of these things and they you know measure you can give you your stuff he said they measured somebody's foot gave him a boot gave him a pair of boots sent them out measure their gas foot and gave him a pair of boots send them out eventually they measured his foot and apparently he has more of like a Clydesdale hoof than a foot he said his foot is almost as wide as it is long it just is like.
And so they measured his foot and then when looked for boots and the guy who's in charge of this is just looking they're trying on boots looking trying on boots looking trying on boots it's like his first day in the Marines and he's just sitting there trying on chew after two after shoe he said his drill sergeant comes back in and starts yelling at him while the the guy was in the back looking for shoes and then he said one of the most magical things that's ever happened in the Marines happen.
For his his time in the Marines the guy who fits you for Boots outranked the guy who was yelling at him so he said he walked back in and said let me tell you something this Marine's gonna have shoes that fit his feet he's got to be on his feet all the time and he said he just chewed him out he said he just sat there after being chewed out watch this guy get chewed out and then got to sit there until he had boots and he looked at me and said that man found me boots that fit my feet and it was the.
First pair of comfortable shoes I've owned in my entire life that's the ministry of competence that man loved my granddad well do you know how easy it would have been to say I don't think we have the size put these on and how much more difficult life would have been for my granddad as a marine with shoes that didn't fit that's what had happened to him his entire life he had shoes that didn't fit but this man did his job well in this room we have people who work in construction we have people who work in the medical field we have teachers we have people who sell things people who prepare food people who prepare.
Taxes people who help with people's books and finances we have people who sell products fix products cut hair which of those are we willing to give up competency on I know you don't want an incompetent mechanic or an incompetent doctor you don't want them quickly Googling things while you're talking to them you'd like for them to kind of know what they're doing and if they're going to Google at least know where to go but I can WebMD at the house I want you to know what you're doing.
But y'all do we want an incompetent person to cut our hair no have you ever had a really good haircut I really good one and you just walk around like because you just know this person knew what they were doing and they figured out my my head shape and they were able to dodge all the bumps or whatever have you ever had a really bad haircut like a bad haircut that that messes your life up for a short period of time.
But everybody's got to get haircuts yeah you go into a place like when I go into the Verizon store I've gone in before and I felt like I know more about my phone than this person which is bad I've also gone in and after about five minutes of talking I've just relaxed I'm like this person's like my wizard they know what they're talking about the ministry of competence blesses your life and you work one of the primary ways that we love our neighbors is that we're good at our jobs there may be a way.
For you to get another certification there might be some YouTube videos that you can watch there might be some ways that you can grow in knowledge or craftsmanship there might be ways that you can get better at your job that you can learn how to use this type of equipment there's something that you can do that you can be competent that you can help and love and serve people well so that when you go to work you are worshiping the Lord and loving your neighbor and you get to do that day in and day out that completely changes that's counter-cultural to our cultural approaches to work that.
If work is worship and it's not about me and it's not about giving me the good life but it's about me honoring God with the abilities the skills the knowledge the intelligence the talents he's given me and if work is a way for me to love my neighbor then I get to go to work every day just knowing that if I competently prepare this food I've blessed people if I get their order right I've blessed them if I have a good attitude.
If I'm honest when they ask me questions I've blessed people the ministry of confidence is competence is a way to love your neighbor go to Lowe's when you have a problem your day will then be decided by how competent the help at Lowe's is and it makes a difference so what kind of work do you do and how can you get better at it so I believe that begins to answer our question the third question that we have which is is it.
Okay for me to just fix hvacs my whole life can I do pool repair is that okay I think one of the things we've done well as a Church if we told you that one of the ways you can have purpose in your work is by being a missionary that God has already placed you somewhere and that you have co-workers and you have an overseer and you have all these people that God intentionally puts you there that you might reach them with the Gospel and that nobody else is there you've already been commissioned and as a missionary and that's true and I don't want you to lose that.
But I think we've also failed to tell you that one of the ways that you can live a good life is to make really good tables one of the ways do you know how much of life is meant to be normal how much of your life is meant to be go to work eat some food go to sleep it's a continual thing and that one of the blessings we're told is for us to be able to find joy and enjoyment and purpose in our labor our toil that this is a blessing from.
God that's one of the things Ecclesiastes tells us and you actually get to go to work and worship and love your neighbors day in and day out doing whatever good work you find to do and so can you do HVAC repair your whole life yeah if you Worship in it and you love your neighbors well in it I'll tell you one thing when somebody when I need my HVAC repaired I want a competent honest person to show up at my house you ever just like I'm not a hugger.
But sometimes if somebody does something I think I want to hug you I'm not going to but like it's weird for me to hug the plumber but like I want to hug this plumber because they have just they've blessed me and there's a way for you to do that in whatever work you find yourself doing and for someone who says I just stare at a computer I don't have co-workers I don't have anybody that I get to to try to be a missionary with.
Okay well do you know that some people in our Church would die if they had to stay at a computer every day they would physically wither up and fall over dead they do not they have not been blessed with the ability or the skill or the craftsmanship to handle what you are handling and you get to bless people well by doing your job well and you get to love people and you get to Worship the Lord in the skill that he gave you that other people don't have.
So yes you can do that but one of the things that I think is very interesting In this passage that I don't want us to miss because it's a part of this whole thing for us it's part of this whole cultural thing for us is that good God glorifying Rest is an appropriate counterpart to good God glorifying work because go to verse 12. and the Lord said to Moses you are to speak to the people of Israel and say above all you shall keep my sabbaths.
For this is a sign between me and you throughout your Generations that you may know that I the Lord sanctify you why does he say this right here before he sends them down the mountain because he's about to put a tablet of a to-do list in his hands y'all Moses's to-do list is longer than yours do you know how many things he's got to go skillfully make do you know how many animals he's about to have to kill so that they can have priests like do you know this list is long and guess what not going to be done in six days.
And so there'd be a real Temptation for them to go we got work to do this is what we have to do to be the people of God but what's he say above all you're going to keep my Sabbath because I the Lord and the one who sanctifies you that's not what you have to do to be the people of God that's what you get to do because you're part of the people of God but it's not what you have to do to be the people of.
God because I'm the one who sets you apart good rest real rest do y'all realize that in either one of our cultural options you don't rest well this option you don't rest can't rest I'll rest when I'm dead okay because I my worth is here and if I stop working who am I I've got to achieve I've got to make a name for myself I got to get enough money I've got to do it I've got to prove I've got to show back up to my high school reunion and be like whatever and over here rest is the point of life Recreation and pleasure.
And so it gets over inflated here it Withers and dies and here it becomes some monstrosity that it was never meant to be and it's not enjoyable it doesn't work that way it's never enough but if we have worshipful work we get to have worshipful rest and they're a beautiful counterbalance to one another that the people who were worshiping in their work are also the people who can just stop because work isn't about them and it's not about providing the good life they just get to stop and say the Lord's good they get to rest genuinely rest be free I think I think we need to know that rest is a gift and it's a.
Necessary practice to remind us of the place of work rest isn't the goal and it isn't the achievement but it's also not a punishment or a hindrance to finding our significance but it's a blessing and I think that this information is good and helpful but I think it's insufficient I don't think this information will help you actually straighten out your problem not on its own I just don't think it can I think you can leave going I'm supposed to worship and work I'm supposed to.
But here's the problem all of this hinges on God being the one who sanctifies them and so for us all of this hinges on Jesus if Jesus isn't at work in this it doesn't work if Jesus doesn't come in and rescue you because I want you to see something if we say things like my job just isn't good enough usually what we mean if someone said why why why if you had if you were trying to you know if your counselor was like a four-year-old and you just said a statement.
And then they said why why why why you would eventually get to I think it doesn't make me into enough I don't feel like something with this job or it doesn't give me the good life do you have y'all know that wanting identity and value and worth and wanting pleasantness and rest and stability is a longing for Jesus that I want someone to show up and tell me I'm okay I want something that fixes me and lets me sleep at night I want delight and rest and satisfaction I want to be stable I want to know that I'm all right I want to know that I'm loved I want to know that I'm enough do.
You know that's a cry for Jesus so unless Jesus shows up we won't ever be free to approach these the way we're meant to approach them because it's Jesus who comes and rescues and forgives Sinners and gives them an identity it's Jesus who gives us a purpose who gives us a reality who sets us free it's Jesus who gives us freedom and stability and delight and if that's true for you if Jesus has shown up and you've surrendered to him trusted in him and he's at work in you through his Spirit.
Then guess what you can worship and work because you don't need it you don't need it to satisfy you don't need it to fix you you don't need it to make you into something you have that in Christ and therefore you get to just return it back to the Lord and you get to genuinely enjoy your work and if Jesus is the good life then you just you can rest if he's where your Delight comes from and your fulfillment comes from do y'all realize that it's never enough that.
If you're over here in this Camp you've had moments where you're like I did it how long did that last if you're lucky six months before you had to keep achieving you had to keep earning and you had to keep proving and you had to get more and it just you ever had that moment where you think finally and then a mosquito bites your neck I guess it's not enough there's never enough rest there's never enough relaxation there's never it never satisfies you always want more there was never a good enough party or a good enough celebration or a good enough stability It's never enough.
Because they were only meant to point us to our ultimate rest and our ultimate Worth to be found in Christ but if we have Jesus then we get to people who work who worship and work and love our neighbors well who work hard and rest well in the freedom that he's the one who sanctifies us that he's the one who's accomplished all of this for us so that we're free to operate in this way let's pray oh Lord so much of our life is going to be taken up with work and I think it's easy.
For us to to think it's meaningless I think it's easy for us to only care about what it provides for us I think it's easy for us to wrap our entire identity in it and so Lord we ask that by your spirit you would begin to untangle our hearts that you begin to see that we're Sanctified by you that our hope is in you our stability our freedom our rest our Delight is in you Lord for the person in the room who doesn't have you who hasn't trusted in your salvation.
Lord we pray that you would help them to see the emptiness the exhaustion found in placing their worth and value in their work we pray that you would help them to see The Emptiness found in thinking that life is just about what Pleasures they can hoard here we ask that by your spirit you withdraw them to yourself so that they might find what they're actually looking for and for all of us who have found you Lord may you continue to work in us to sanctify us to set us apart to draw Us near to you.
So that we might worship you in our work and we might love our neighbor as well in Jesus name amen Matt and Natalie are going to come back up and and then the minute the band will join them and we'll sing together and we're going to take communion and communion is a rather a regularly practiced reminder that we need Jesus that we needed his body broken for us and his blood shed for us that without him we have no hope and that with him he is the one who sanctifies us who sets us apart.
And so that when you come in to communion that you were proclaiming his death until he returns that we are blood-bought people of God rescued by his work and that our hope is that one day he sets everything right that in the midst of this labor and this desire this Pursuit what we're saying is we want salvation and we want heaven and we stand between those moments as Christians where we have been made right with God by Jesus and we look forward to the moment.
When he rescues and redeems us and that's what communion is if you are not a Christian do not partake in communion it is not for you if you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus we would invite you to do that and Christians in the room take a moment to consider yourselves to consider your approach to work to consider whatever the Holy Spirit's putting on your heart that you might need to repent of that you might need to change in your attitude before you come and celebrate that.
Jesus Christ died to save Sinners and that your hope is in him and that is he that sanctifies so take a moment when you're ready.
Wisdom and Work (Proverbs 24:30-34)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And our college was not cheap. And they knew it all year long.
That if they did not pass, they were going to have about a $135,000 tuition bill that you cannot retroactively go back and get scholarships for. And they didn't pass. And they did not get commissioned. And they had a large amount of student loans that they were going to have to pay for. And I remember him talking. He's like, I'm in the military and I have moms calling me about their kids.
He's like, what is happening? But they knew it. They knew it was coming all year. They knew the consequences. They didn't pass a basic PT test. But they rejected their responsibility.
They conceded. This drift towards chaos was coming. And they just conceded. They didn't take it seriously. They didn't own the responsibility in this. The Proverbs speak fairly aggressively against this type of conceding to chaos.
This type of neglecting your work and your responsibility. It has quite a bit of correction for those who do not take work seriously. And my hope this morning is that as we walk through this, I don't know if you've noticed this. At times, the Proverbs assaults you. It's a lot. And this is one of those mornings that it will assault you.
My hope is that we would not be so prideful. That we would not hear the word of God. See the correction that we need in response. That's the hope every morning as we sit under the authority of this word. And I hope indeed that is our posture this morning. Let me pray for us and then we'll jump into the text.
Father, we thank you that you've given us work. I pray that you'd help us see this morning that we would glean from the Proverbs. And the wisdom that it provides. So that we could be complete workers who glorify you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. Alright, so. A few years back, we did a series called The Hammer and the Hammock. It was just a quick series discussing work and rest. We had more time and more space to cover both of those subjects. So if you were not here, if you want to go back and listen to it, I would encourage you to go on our website to our sermons page and go back and listen to it.
We had a lot more space there to cover this subject. But I want to briefly give a theology of work to kind of help us, orient us to understand this well. So we are made in the image of a God who works. God worked to bring about creation. He made everything out of nothing from the universe and the stars all the way down to the deepest depths of the ocean. He made everything.
For six days, He worked and then He rested. Modeling a pattern of a rhythm of creation. And we're made in His image. That He formed man from the dust of the earth. Breathed life into it. And placed His image in us.
One of the ways we reflect the image of God is that we get to be workers who glorify God. Work is a pre-fall reality, which means that it happened before the fall. I know some of you might hate your job and think it is cursed. It can be for different reasons. Work is difficult, but it is actually a gift. That when He puts Adam in the garden and tells him to cultivate and take care of the garden, He is getting to participate in something that is different than any other aspect of creation.
He gets to reflect God who worked and brought about creation. It's a gift that He's given us. That we get to work in this garden, in this world that He has given us. He's given us dominion over. Now we know how the story goes.
That Adam and Eve sinned against God. And then one of the curses that gets handed down is work. That you could work in the field by the sweat of your brow, but you would only produce thorns and thistles. That is a curse that is work is going to be difficult. It is going to be hard. You may work very hard and it may be fruitless.
But we can't miss that work is something that was before the fall. That it's a good gift that God has given us. That we get to be made. We get to conform to the image of our God and to the image of Christ. And how we labor as we labor unto the Lord. Now, like I said, we spent a whole series on that.
I would encourage you to go back and listen to it. You need to know that going into it. Because the Proverbs does not want to give you a comprehensive view of work. It is not going to give us a comprehensive theology of work. What it mostly does is it gives us a pretty strong rebuke of our lack of work. And it has some language that shows up over and over again.
One of the characters that shows up throughout the Proverbs is the sluggard. The sluggard. Shows up over and over and over again. And one of the ways that the sluggard rejects his calling to work is in sloth. Slothfulness. We are going to see that language show up over and over again.
Proverbs 24 verses 30 through 31. You can find it in your Bible. You can also follow along on the screen. Verse 31. Verse 30. I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense.
And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns. The ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. That's it. That's the connection right there. Right back to the beginning. That the sluggard has a field.
And he neglects the field. He concedes to the chaos. He doesn't own his calling. And it becomes covered with thorns. It is a rejection. The sluggard rejects the calling of work.
And that is what we're going to see today. As we walk through a bunch of different Proverbs, we're going to see eight different ways that the sluggard concedes to the chaos. That he just neglects his calling, neglects his work, and does not own who he is supposed to be. So, we're going to walk through these section by section, starting with this first way that the sluggard concedes to chaos. First, this is the most obvious. The sluggard is lazy.
That's pretty basic. When you think of sluggard, when you think of slothfulness, that's the first word that usually comes to mind. It's lazy. Proverbs 26, 15. It says, the sluggard buries his hand in the dish. It wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
He has a meal set out before him. It's his fork. And it just says, I can't. It's too much. A few nights ago, I was in my bed, and I was on my phone. I think I was looking through Prime deals.
And I found something. And I said, I'm going to buy it. And I went to click to buy it. And it said, you need to re-input your credit card information. And I paused. I said, do I really need this?
Do I really need to buy this? Not out of like a godly contentment, where it's like, do I actually need to buy this? No, my credit card was 20 steps away. And I didn't want to get up out of bed and go and get my credit card and put the Numbers in. I was like, do I really need this? And I thought about it.
I was like, no. I'm preaching a sermon on this coming up. I need to actually go up and get my credit card and put this in. Like, it's just like, oh, there's just this laziness that's so inherent to our fallenness. They were just, ah, it's too much. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, he knows this.
He's built, I mean, there's been interviews where he's said this. He understands that people are generally lazy. The whole platform and shopping platform is built on the premise that you are lazy. He wants to make it as effortless as possible. It's true. The sluggard is lazy.
That's one way we can see to the chaos. The second is the sluggard loves the bed. The sluggard loves the bed. Proverbs 26, 14. As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. Yep.
There's a bunch of, there's a few different Proverbs that talk about the bed. When I was in seminary, my preaching professor, which I didn't learn a lot about preaching from. I did learn a lot about life. And it's a lot of nuggets of wisdom. But one day he looked at us and he said, y'all want to be successful pastors?
And me as a young seminarian said, yes, same awards. And he kind of reeled the class in. He said, you. And he put his finger out. You need to hate the bed. And I was like, we thought something else was coming.
But that was where he wanted to go that morning. You need to hate the bed. And then he just went off. He's like, you need to wake up in the morning. You need to pray. You need to read your Bible.
You need to be productive. Some people just sleep in. You need to hate the bed. I was like, all right, Dr. Smith. You getting it?
All right. Fine. And I've lived by that. Like since then, I'm like, no, I need to not love the bed. Like that's an actual proverb that has a lot of wisdom. Sleeping is fine.
It is. Sleeping is fine. There are days that you should sleep in. And then you can go to our Hammer and Hammock series. We spend a whole thing on rest. Yeah.
But there's something. There's too much rest that happens. There's too much sleeping that happens. Some of you love your beds. And I get it. Because I love my bed.
It's a great bed. But there comes a point where it becomes an agent of chaos. Where it's a place that you end up laying in too long. You toss and you turn. And you turn on a hinge again. And you snooze and you snooze and you snooze and you snooze.
No, we're called to be disciplined in life. You should know how much sleep you need. That's something that you should know. Like in my 20s, I finally figured out. I need about six to seven hours of sleep. That's the zone that I need to sit in.
If I want to be productive the next day, that's about how much sleep I eat. Now, some of you are psychos. And you need like three hours of sleep. And I don't understand you. Some of you need a little more. The older you get, that's a reality as well.
But there is a point where you need to understand how much sleep you need to be productive. If you continue to sleep in. If you stay up until 2 a.m. watching Netflix or 2 a.m. playing video games. And then you sleep in the next day until 10, 11 o'clock consistently. You're rejecting your calling. You're rejecting.
The time is a finite resource. It is. And if you sleep and sleep and sleep, the Bible says you are foolish. The sluggard loves the bed. Three. A sluggard doesn't start things.
Doesn't start things. Proverbs 14, 23 says, In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. There's no mere profit in talking and talking and talking and not doing a thing. I remember when years ago, I'm from Lexington. The downtown Lexington area years ago was just lacking. It was not a desirable place to be.
And people talked and talked and said, you know what? This could be really nice. This could be a nice place with restaurants. And it could be pretty. Like someone should do something. There was a lot of talk and a lot of talk.
And no one was actually doing anything until finally some people got together. They started a festival to raise money for beautification for it. Restaurants came in. People risked their money, put their money on the line, put businesses and restaurants. And if you go to downtown Lexington today, it is really nice. It's got nice restaurants.
They're doing all kinds of cool stuff there. But people talked and talked and talked. It took people actually taking action and doing something. You've got to open yourself up to do something instead of just talking. And it's hard. You open yourself up to failure.
It's a lot harder to build something, to start at zero. But we're not called to just talk and talk and talk. You need to do something. Maybe there's hobbies you want to do, right? Like at the beginning of the year, I said I want to learn to play piano. My goal is by the time I'm 40, I want to be proficient at playing piano.
I don't want to be great because I've tried enough instruments to know that I'll never be great. But just proficient. And, I mean, Matt and I have been writing songs the last few years. It's like I want to grow in this. I want to learn this. So I got this piano, this keyboard, and it's been a busy year.
And I have not made the time for it. And I say this over and over again when I preach. It's not that you don't have time for something. It's that you won't make time for something. You won't make time for it. If I told you in a busy work season that the bank was going to offer you a million dollars, you would make time for that.
You would get in your car and you'd go down there and you'd collect your money. If you value something enough, you will make time for it. You can talk and talk and talk instead of doing something. You want to learn a language? Start. Download an app.
If you want to grow in woodworking, whatever it is for you, don't just talk and talk. Do something. Try something. There's no mere profit and talk. Four, the sluggard has unfounded fear. The sluggard has unfounded fear.
Proverbs 22, 13 says, The sluggard says, There is a lion outside. I shall be killed in the streets. The commentators agree on this, that yes, there were lions at that time. They were not in the streets. They're in the wilderness. They're not in the streets.
So it's a ridiculous thing. That's what's being said here. I can't go out to work. There's a lion in the streets. It's a ridiculous thing. It's an unfounded fear.
The reality is that many of us have unfounded fears that prevent us from the good work that God has called us to. One of the ways that I have unfounded fears that shows up over and over again is that I play out scenarios to ridiculous conclusions. So my wife, she'll be teaching dance one night, and it's later than normal, and all of a sudden I'm like, God, she's not here. I'll look at a couple of locations, and she's still at work, but maybe she's not still at work. Maybe somebody kidnapped her. Oh my goodness, maybe she's dead.
What's going to happen? What's going to happen to our family? What's going to happen to our kids? And I play out this ridiculous scenario, and it's like, let's pause and say, No, this is dumb. She's just teaching. I believe in the sovereignty of God.
Stop worrying. We do this. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Others of you are like, I have no idea what you're talking about. You don't think enough then. I don't know.
But we do this. You'll play out this scenario in your head. Maybe you're like, I want to start a business, but if I start this, then what if it doesn't work out? What if I don't make enough money? What if we end up losing our house? What if we end up homeless?
What if we have to fight for ourselves in the street? I've seen The Walking Dead. I don't know how. I'm not going to be able to do it. And it's just like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop.
That's unfounded. Sure, there are concerns. Absolutely. Valid concern. Valid concern. Paying your mortgage.
Valid concern. Taking care of your family. But we believe in the sovereignty of God. We believe Matthew 6. That He provides for the birds. How much more so does He care for you?
He will take care of your needs. Maybe not all your wants, but He will take care of your needs. If God is calling you to take a step, to take a risk, don't let unfounded fears keep you from doing this. Fear, it's oftentimes it's fear of failure, right? That's what keeps us from starting good work. Fear of failure.
And I'm here to tell you that fear is a sluggard man's game. We're called to walk in faith. So what if the business does not succeed? If you are obedient to your calling, that is what's important. Maybe you want to be more missional in your neighborhood. You're thinking, I want to throw a block party.
Get my neighbors to come out. Invite the whole street over for dinner. You're like, I don't know, maybe they won't come. Maybe if they do come, they'll think it's weird. Maybe they'll think we're lame. Maybe they'll think we're bad guests.
And when they walk by our house, every time they're going to think, oh, these are the weird Christians. It's like, no. Be obedient to what God is calling you to. Do something. So what if it doesn't work out?
So what if you share the gospel with somebody and it does not work out like you want it to? You are obedient. That is the goal here. To not let unfounded fears keep us from the good works that God has set out before us. 5, the sluggard doesn't finish what he starts. Slugger doesn't finish what he starts.
Proverbs 12, 27, whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth. So the picture here is that he goes out, he stakes out the best spot, he watches it, and then when the sunrise happens, the deer walks out. Gets his sights on him, shoots it. It's beautiful. Takes it to the processor. Gets nice cuts of backstrap and tenderloin.
I'm excited about deer season's coming up. And then he puts it in the freezer. And then when it comes to prepare it, he says, no. No, that's too much. That's the picture here. Is that you would not finish what you start.
That you would concede to the chaos by not finishing work. When I was working on this, and I finally looked at the commentaries on this, I felt assaulted. As I looked at my office, I moved into, I was in one office. I didn't like the aesthetics of that office, so I moved down to this end of the building, Dr. Ken's old office. Refinished the floors.
Took some of the wood that was from the demo over here. Finished it. Made shelves for my books. Isaac painted it. I mean, it was all set up. And for the last, I don't know, eight, nine, however long it's been, ten months, there's been my college diploma and a painting just sitting against my other desk.
Just not, just there. For like nine, ten months, it's just been sitting there. And it took me, and I repented this week, and I put them up finally. It took me five minutes. Didn't finish the work. And I've realized, oh no, like this is what I do.
I don't finish things that I start. Like, we bought a house a year ago. It was a complete renovation. And there are things that we've knocked out. And there's things that just didn't do, didn't finish. Like, we were having a disagreement.
My wife and I had to paint the inside of the door what color to do. So I painted around when I installed the new locks. I painted around it. And it just sat there. If you've been in my house and walked out of our front door, you've noticed, for a year, it's just been painted right around the doorknob. And there's like ten of those things in our house right now that I've just neglected.
I say, I'll get to it. I'll get to it. I'll get to it. Repented this week. Painted the door. Have other things I want to do in the house.
But I think of myself as having a strong work ethic. I do. I put in a lot of work. I put in a lot of hours. There's some days I wake up early. I go work out.
Come into the office early. I'm here until 5.30. Go home. Sometimes I make dinner. I put the kids to bed. Do my devotion with them.
Get up my computer. Sometimes work until 10, 11 o'clock. Not always, but it happens sometimes. And I like to think of myself as having a strong work ethic. But the proverb says, no, you are incomplete.
It is foolishness that I might be focused enough to finish what you start. And I was like, man. I thought I was going to get out of this sermon without feeling a whole lot of conviction. Finish what you start. If you don't, you are conceding to the chaos. Six.
Six. Sluggard is restless and unproductive. I've got a couple of Proverbs on this. 13.4. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The soul of the one who's working is richly supplied.
Proverbs 21, 25-26. The desire of the sluggard kills him for his hands refuse to labor all day long. He craves and craves but the righteous gives and does not hold back. I have this internal drive, this crave to do a lot of things. I dream. I'm like, I want to do this aspect of ministry with our church.
I want to shift here. I want to focus here. I want to do all these different things. This year I had all these goals and I'm moving all around. I have all these cravings and sometimes I get too far ahead of myself and you can crave and you can crave and you can crave and you won't actually put your hands to the plow and work. The Bible says, don't.
That craving, that desire will crush you. Do something. Work. Focus on something. Complete the task. Your endless craving.
You'll keep going and going. You'll make a hundred excuses why you can't jump into it. You'll get frustrated. I mean, how many of you crave and crave to see a different office culture at your place of work? How many of you crave to see changes happen? And you can crave and crave and desire and desire or you can actually start to bring about change by how you work, by how you lead.
You can do something. How many of you all are frustrated by your community group? Because you came up with a set of values that you wanted to do as a community group and you're like the only one that seems to care about this value and no one else is owning it and you crave and you crave and you crave. How about lead by example? How about be the change you want to see happen in your group? You can crave and it will crush you or you can do something.
You can work to bring about change. Seven. The sluggard makes excuses. Sluggard makes excuses. 1519. The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns but the path of the upright is a level highway.
Now, that's a little more difficult to interpret but there seems to be a common consensus here. that the sluggard always seems to have a hedge of thorns in his path. He always seems to have something in his path but the righteous when he works diligently has a level pathway. It seems to be clear and what's being shown here is that the sluggard always seems to have excuses. There's always an excuse as to why work is hard. Always something that keeps them from doing good work. You're the kind of person that complains about your job all the time.
You're the kind of worker that complains about your co-workers that complains about your bosses. Has every single boss you've ever had been dumb? You're the only one that gets it. You're the only one that's a good worker. Everyone around you is stupid but you've got it figured out. Maybe.
It's also possible that you'll find a hedge of thorns wherever you can find one. You'll look and find all the problems and make tons of excuses as opposed to actually doing something and working hard to see change happen. Work is hard. Thorns and thistles. Yes. You're going to have difficulties.
You're going to have problems. You can make a thousand excuses as to why you can't work as you should work unto the Lord. You can't work in the calling and be a complete worker. You can complain a lot or you can clear the path make it better for you and everyone else around you. Last. Sluggard is content with poverty.
He's content with poverty. This one shows up over and over again. I'm just going to list three. Proverbs 19.15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep and an idle person will suffer hunger. Proverbs 24 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn. He will seek at harvest and have nothing.
Proverbs 24 33-34 A little sleep a little slumber a little folding of hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man. Now there are a lot more Proverbs that say that same thing. Now what happens is and I want the Proverbs to hear me clearly the Proverbs is not saying all poor people are sluggards. All poor people are lazy. That's not what the Proverbs is arguing. I know that there are those that have means that will use that as an excuse and say everyone who's homeless is lazy.
Everyone who's poor needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and not recognize that there are complexities in poverty there are systems of decay that make it difficult for people to rise. The Bible says over and over again from the Old Testament law into the Proverbs into the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus that you should care about the plight of the poor you should care about the complexities of the poor you should care and want to uplift those you should not be the person who treads upon them but it also speaks very bluntly here if you are not willing to work and you are in poverty that's on you. It's not very politically correct in how Proverbs approaches it over and over again. If you're unwilling to work a little sleep a little slumber poverty will come upon you like a robber.
It says this over and over and over again. You may have been dealt a bad hand it may be difficult for you to work for various reasons I'm not denying that but in the end it's on you to control what you can control to work hard diligently so that you can bring about change so that you can pay your bills. Listen I know there's some of us that live paycheck to paycheck in our church and there's nothing wrong with that. It's an exercise of faith to trust the Lord to bring daily bread. There's nothing wrong with that but some of you are mad about it. Some of you are frustrated and mad and angry and bitter and shake your fist at the system.
I'm here to say let me ask do you truly work hard enough? Are you putting in the extra hours? Do you have a side hustle? Do you invest well? Have you thought about any of this or are you simply going to complain over and over again and just give eye service at work clock in clock out and not ever care about being a diligent worker? The Proverbs addresses this fairly aggressively.
My hope is that we would not be so prideful to not respond in all of these. My hope is that we would listen to this. I understand that these are abrasive to say the least. I understand that these can absolutely jolt you and that some of you may want to fight this. You may hear these Proverbs and say uh-uh, I disagree. Uh-uh, you know you're reading that wrong.
Uh-uh. And the Proverbs even has a word for you on that. Proverbs 26.16 says the sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. So basically the Proverbs says of course you would. Of course you would fight this. That is what a sluggard would do.
It's even more abrasive. Now it is fairly corrective in bad work in bad work ethic in bad work habits and bad approaches to work. There are only a few places where it speaks a little more uh-uh constructively where it gives more positive this is what you should do. And I just want to point out one. Proverbs 6. Go verse 6.
Go to the ant oh sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. So the positive example the Proverbs is going to uphold is the ant. It's a part of creation. It's the antidote to bad work. I'll take it.
Go to the ant. I had a buddy in college who used to say this to his friends. He used to say go to the ant. Go to the ant oh sluggard. See the example verse 7. Without having any chief officer or ruler she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.
So study the ant. Study her ways. That she doesn't have anyone that's telling her what to do. Look at ants. They leave the colony. They go out.
They collect leaves. They collect all kinds of things. I know this because I've seen a bug's life. They collect what they need and they come back and there's nobody standing around them saying do this and do that. There's something intrinsic within them that says no this is what I'm supposed to do. They live in part of a bigger reality.
It's bigger than them. It's bigger than the individual I am. It's bigger and when we look at this for ourselves and we think about this in light of the gospel the reality is that we live as those who are made in the image of God as those who are called to work. We live in a bigger reality. It's not just work. It's something bigger.
And if you think about this as a different way of looking at this is go to the king O sluggard to see his example that we live a part of a bigger reality. We're made in the image of a bigger God who works on our behalf. It starts to make more sense when we think about how we're made in the image of our God who works on our behalf. Where would we be if God had not worked on our behalf? Where would we be if God had not created this world? Created the universe?
Where would we be if he had not scooped us up from the dust and placed his image into us? Where would we be if we sinned against God in our rebellion? If he crushed us? Where would we be if he had not come? If he had not taken on human flesh, if he had not lived a perfect life of obedience, if he had not gone to the cross to die for our sluggard, selfish ways, where would we be if he had not risen out of the tomb? Where would we be if God had not worked on our behalf?
Praise Jesus, he is not lazy. Praise God that God is not a sluggard. Praise God he is not slothful and apathetic towards us. No, we live in part of a bigger reality. We are made in the image of God who works and is continuing to work and continues to work on our behalf. My hope this morning is that as we look at the ways in which we need to repent, that we would quickly turn towards the one who worked on our behalf.
We would quickly turn towards Christ and in our repentance we would receive grace and we would worship and praise the one who worked for us. The band is going to come up. I know sometimes when I say the band is going to come up, some of you like to check out. I assume that. I don't know that for a fact because I've done in the past. As you sit and prepare for worship, I just want you to think about the ways we need to repent, the ways we need to change from our way.
Some of you have a room in your house that has remained unpainted for a year and you've neglected it and you've neglected it and you've neglected it. You need to complete the work. some of you have very bad sleeping routines and that's not okay. Let's walk through the Proverbs and it's offering wisdom and correction. If we hear it and we are not doers of the word but hear it's only, it's foolishness, it's disobedience. If you have a poor sleeping routine, you need to evaluate that, you need to know yourself, you need to change. Some of you need to stop talking about things and do something.
Pick up a shovel and work. Some of you need to do the daily things that are formative and good for our soul. You need to do the dishes, you need to mow the lawn, you need to help your wife change the diapers, you need to do the formative everyday work. Some of you need to take a risk that you have unfounded fears that have kept you from being obedient to what God has called you to. You need to start that business. You need to respond to the calling of ministry.
You need to go to the mission field. You don't need to let unfounded baseless fears keep you from obedience to what God has called you to. Some of you need to stop complaining about work and making excuses. There will always be a hedge of thorns. Or you can work hard to bring about change and see that happen. Some of you need to get a job.
You need to get a job. some of you need to get to get some of you need good work. You need something to do. It's formative. It's good for your soul. Some of you need to take on some more work. You're doing the bare minimum.
And you could be doing more that is good for you and for the betterment of those around you. Some of you who are older. I'll talk to Dr. Ken about this this morning. And he gave some good wisdom on this. The reality is that as you get older of course you're going to sleep.
As you get older that is a reality. But he said Henry Ford once said anyone who stops learning is old whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. And it's a principle. It's absolutely true. You know the people that work and work and work and work and retire and then just do nothing in three years.
They just dissolve. There's a reason why people as they age into their nineties are still active and doing things and engaging their mind. Don't waste the latter years of your life by doing nothing. No, work. Learn. Grow to know more of Christ.
You're still a missionary. There's still people that need the gospel around. You still have neighbors. You still can serve. No, we need to continue to strive and to grow and to learn and to conform to the image of Christ and being complete workers. in our repentance may we turn towards the cross. I'm thankful we have a God who works on our behalf that His grace covers our failures and in our repentance we get to be the complete workers of God that God has called us to be.
Let me pray. Lord, we thank you that your words are difficult, that they are sharp, that they pierce our hearts. I pray this morning that we would not fight you, that we would yield, that you would go to work in our hearts, that we would not concede to the chaos of this world, the decay of this world, that we would actively in our repentance fight for what is good, that we would strive to be those who do not waste their lives but work in a way that brings you glory and betters those around us. Lord, we love you. May you help us we seek to repent. In Jesus' name, amen.
Good Works and Good Rest
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We are continuing our series on Abide with the hope that we would grow in a church as abiding in Jesus through these ancient practices that we've walked through. We started out talking about the Bible and how the Bible is a means for us to further abide in Jesus. We talked about prayer, that prayer is a discipline that God has given us, that we might further abide in Him.
And then last week, we got to talk about fasting and feasting, that we might abstain from food to further abide in Jesus through fasting, that also we might celebrate with food, that it would help us abide in Jesus. And when we preach sermons, Chet and I, we typically have, you know, one of us is preaching, the other one's in the room. The other one kind of gives feedback. That's how we work as a team. And Chet wasn't here last week, so I asked Raz to fill in. I said, give some feedback.
And he said, well, he's like, those are two pretty opposite subjects. He's like, we talked about fasting, then we jumped into feasting. He said, it kind of felt like a rude transition. I said, first off, Raz, I was like, you should have been here for the intro. Because I felt like that might have eased the transition a little bit. But you are correct.
That's a hard switch. Let's talk about fasting and that side of it, and then also move to feasting. So I thought that we'd double down this week and we'd do it again with good works and good rest. That is how we're going to further learn how to abide in Jesus, is through walking through how God has called us to good works. And specifically by good works, I mean good works in Christ. This is not your 9 to 5.
This is not your career. We did a sermon series called The Hammer in the Hammock last year. We covered that, how you can use your career, your time in the workplace to glorify God, to grow closer to Him. This is eternally good works in Christ. This is evangelism. This is serving.
That God has called us to good works, but He's also called us to good rest. That we would rest in Sabbath, rest in Him. And that, talking about those two things and moving between the two, can feel a little bit like whiplash. As we work hard for the Lord, laboring, and also as we grow in resting. But we need both, because the reality is, is that God has prepared for us good works that we should walk in.
As we're going to see in a moment. And there is eternal weight, there's eternal significance in obeying that, and actually doing that as Christians. I was reminded of that this week. This is a week we had multiple people in our church family who lost family members, had family members who were dying. We had, even in our own group, there was someone that used to, that in the past has come and visited, is connected to one of the families in our group. And she passed away unexpectedly in her 40s.
It shocked all of us, and it reminded me of how brief this life is. Of how temporary this moment is in time. And the significance of us being as Christians, being obedient to the good works that Jesus has called us to. That we should walk in them. That we as Christians should, we should own the responsibility of burning the midnight oil on good works. Until we grow weary.
And at the same time, upholding rest. That we might rest in Jesus. Because at the end of the day, we are finite by design. And we are called to rest in the infinite. Resting in God. So we're going to walk through those two today.
We're going to try to tackle both. We will spend most of our time in good works. Because we did spend a whole sermon last year in the Hammer and Hammock series on rest. So most of our time is going to be spent in good works, which I think is a little bit like creation order. Six days of working, one day of rest. The majority of our time will be in work.
And we'll hit rest at the end. So let me pray, and then we will jump in. Father, thank you so much that you have given us good work. And you've given us good rest. And you've called us to both. God, I pray that you would help us listen this morning.
That we'd be able to be present. That you would speak to us. And that we'd leave here today and we would respond. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so.
Starting out, Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. For it is by grace that you've been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God. Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
If you've been around our church family long enough, this is going to sound a little bit familiar. We love grace. In our church, we talk about grace a lot. I feel like sometimes our church feels a little bit like the Cowbell SNL skit. Y'all remember that? More Cowbell?
He's got Will Ferrell and he's grabbing the Cowbell. And he's owning the Cowbell. He's owning his part in the song. And then Christopher Walken comes in. What does he say? You've got to give me more Cowbell.
And I feel like that's how we respond sometimes. Is that we'll do stuff, we'll preach sermons, and then people come up and say, Man, that was really good. Could I use a little more grace? Could I use a little more gospel? And I love it, because we've trained ourselves so well to want more grace, to want more of that aspect of the gospel. We should, because we live in a culture, a southern culture, that largely, church and understanding God, in this culture is doing a bunch of good works, that you might please God.
And we stop and we say, No, that's not the gospel. That's not the gospel of grace that we see in the Bible. Because you'll hear things like, I just need to get back in church. I need to get my life back together. And we hear that. We say, No, no, no, that's not how it works.
You don't, people will say, I just, I need to be a better person. And we say, That's not the gospel. Or my personal favorite. And by my personal favorite, I mean, I hate it. It's people will say, I got to get my church on. And I'm like, There's so many problems with that.
Outside of the fact, church is not an accessory. Outside of the fact, the church is the people of God. It's not a building. The backdrop of that statement, is that I would get my church on, in this culture, where I just got to get right with God. And we stand and we say, No, that is not the gospel. So let me be very clear.
So I don't get any Christopher Walken feedback, at the end of this. Let me be very clear. Verse 8 and 9. For by grace, you have been saved through faith. It is not your own doing. It's a gift of God.
Not a result of works. So that no one can boast. You will never earn God's favor. There is not enough good in this world, that you could do to get right with God. If you had a scale, a cosmic scale, that had on one side, all of your rebellion and sin, on the other side, all of your good works, it never is going to balance out. There is not enough good you could do, to ever get right with God.
That is the point of the gospel, that Jesus steps into our timeline, performs the perfect record for us, so that we might actually trust in Him, and not ourselves. That's the hope of the gospel. And until you understand that, you will never understand this next verse. So we lean into the truth of the gospel. We understand what it means, so we don't earn God's favor through our good works. Once we understand that, you can understand the weight of verse 10.
Verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. So once you've understood how we were purchased, what it cost, once you've understood the gospel, you read this next part, we were purchased so that we would walk in good works. He says we are His workmanship. The Greek word for workmanship there is poema. That's where we get the English word for poem. And our word poem pulls from the force of that.
Poetry is the highest writing art form. It's one of the highest arts of creativity. It has a ton of force in literature. Now, that word means workmanship. It doesn't mean poem. But we can see the connections there.
What we pull from. That that word is packed with meaning. That you are His workmanship. You are a work of art. That God is crafting and molding you so that you would be a force. So that you would do the good works that He has called us to.
And He takes workmanship and then He qualifies it. Workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. That we have good works for us. And then He says, Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Which means that God in eternity pass.
And His plan of redemption also has a plan for us. That He has given us good works that we might actually walk in them. I love this passage. Ephesians 2, 1-10 is one of the best passages in the Bible. He says, You were dead in sin. He says that you were following the prince of the power of the hell.
You were following Satan. That you were enslaved to the flesh. He says, But God in His mercy and His kindness saved you because of His grace. Now comes the worship. And part of our worship is that we are His workmanship. And we've got to feel the weight of that.
Which means as Christians, those of us that have understood the gospel, we have work to do. So if you are called in Christ, you are called to good works which He has prepared for us. So, there are two basic places that we see in the New Testament. Two basic understandings of where our good works are meant for. The first sphere of kind of where our good works are meant for is the church. That God has called us.
He has good works prepared for us in the church. Meaning in the body of Christ. The second place is in the world. The lost. Those are where our good works are meant for. And we should be laser focused on these two areas.
Y'all know why Chick-fil-A is the... Every year they rank the top restaurants. They poll people. And they rank them. And Chick-fil-A is always at the top. You know why Chick-fil-A is always at the top?
Because they are laser focused on two things. Making good fried chicken. And I said fried chicken. Because that grilled chicken... Y'all seen those grilled nuggets? Y'all try those?
They are hot garbage. They were like Steve Rogers before he came to Captain America. I mean they are just... No, fried chicken. They are focused on making good fried chicken. And they are focused on good customer service.
They are going to put a 16 year old out on the hot pavement. In 100 degree heat. With an iPad. Taking your orders with a smile. That's their lanes. They are laser focused on those two things.
And we are called as the church to be laser focused in these two areas. Our good works are for the church. Our good works are for the lost. So, let's tackle that first part. That our good works are for the building up of the body of Christ. Go to 1 Corinthians 12.
Verses 4 through 7. Now there are varieties of gifts. But the same Spirit. And there are varieties of service. But the same Lord.
And there are varieties of activities. But it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. That part of being God's work. His workmanship. Is that He has left His signature and His style on you.
And that is the Holy Spirit. That all of us as Christians have the Holy Spirit. Who empowers us for a variety of gifts. For a variety of services. For a variety of activities. For the common good.
And the context of that word common good. Is specifically referring to the church. Specifically referring to Christians. In fact, most of the lists of the gifts of the Spirit. Which we will get to a little bit in a moment. Most of those are not actually meant for those outside the church.
They are meant for the building up of the body. So let me put this in perspective for us. That God in eternity past. Had a plan to rescue you. If you have trusted in Christ. He had a plan to rescue you.
The Father sent the Son. To come and die the death on the cross that we deserve. To conquer death at the resurrection. And then when Jesus ascends into heaven. He sends the Holy Spirit. To dwell in His church.
So that partly we would use the gifts that He has given us. For the common good. And for us in this context. For us here. That means this church. That God had this grand eternal plan.
That you might use your giftings. That you might leverage your time and your energy. For this church specifically. That means the people in this room. That means the people upstairs. And the kids upstairs.
That even means the people that slept in the day. That are not here. All of us. Right now. This is where. If you are a part of this church.
God has done all this. Has given you the Spirit. For the common good of this church. And we should feel the weight of that. That one of the most important aspects of your life right now. Is leveraging your gifts.
Your time. Your energy. For the benefit of the common good of this church. For one another. Now. I want to start with some basics.
Specific to our church. That if we. Do the basics. The Mill City basics. Of following Jesus for the common good in this church. You do this.
You can level up. You'll start to realize that there are. Specific giftings. That God has gifted you in. Where you can serve for the common good of this church. But I just want to highlight some.
Basics for us. And our church. And what we call. All of us as members to do. First. Be present.
Be present. In a me culture. That is bent on living your best life. On your terms. With your schedule. We actively oppose that.
And say no. It is not about you. It is not about me individually. It is about the common good. So be present.
Which means showing up. It means being here. The two most common expressions. The two ways that we do this as a church family. Is we have gatherings for worship. And we have community groups.
That we should prioritize. Being there. That we should be present. We will prioritize. We will make so many different things sacred on our schedule. We will do sporting events.
We will do hobbies. We will do TV shows. And somehow we fail to do this. To prioritize actually being present. In one another's lives. We will never grow into the church.
That we are called to be. If we don't prioritize being present. Second. Serve one another. It is a big part of our identity. In this church.
That we might serve one another. That means formally. And informally. That we have formal needs in our church. That is why this summer. We have been talking a lot about Kid City.
There is a huge need there. We need people. We need volunteers. To help run that thing. We just do. I mean it is how we have chosen.
To partner with families. To help disciple kids. Also. It makes this 80-90 minutes. Depending on who is preaching. It makes this time actually helpful.
Do you all remember when we announced. A few weeks back. That we were talking to Casey First Baptist. We had all the kids in the room. It was cute for like two minutes. And I was like.
Oh man. This is why we have Kid City. Because we have preschoolers and toddlers. That would make this really difficult. We have formal needs. And we lay them out sometimes.
We say we need help here. We also have informal needs. And y'all. This is where I love to see our church family. At work. That informally man.
People just. We serve one another. People that need cars. We are loaning out cars. People that. I mean.
They need cars. They are giving cars away to one another. That we have situations where. I don't know if you know this. We have lots of kids. And lots of families.
And I see all the time. People just serving. I watch your kids go. Go out. Go out for the night. You guys have a good night.
I mean. Just serving one another. I see it in. People throwing parties for one another. I see all kinds of informal levels of service. That happen.
That we do as a church family. I love it. It's a big part of who we are as a church. Serving one another. Third. Another basic.
Is loving one another. And this shows up in a lot of different forms. It shows up in the stories I hear. Where. Confession and repentance have happened in group. And people who have been carrying weight for years.
Are able to. Finally confess it. Fear that there might be shame. And all they get is love. They get the response of the gospel. It's in the stories I hear of people.
Gospeling another. Gospeling one another. Inside and outside. Of group. It's in the really tough conversations that we have sometimes. One of the things we talk about.
Is we don't believe in relational weirdness. If you have an issue with somebody. You go and you talk to them about it. That's the most loving thing you can do. Even though it is difficult. It shows up in a variety of ways.
That we love one another. That is one of the chief markers of the spirit. That's one of his signatures. And we believe in this church. That we would love one another. The last one.
I give you more basic. To give generously. That means for members of our church. We want you to be regularly giving to the church. Because the reality is. This is basic.
No money. No ministry. That's it. I mean we. We ain't gonna be able to do a whole lot. I mean if we.
If it took a dip. There's only two of us that are on staff. Chet's full time. I'm part time. We can make it work. Chet could open up a few firework stands.
And a Pelican stand. I could sell some more houses. And you might think. Man that's really cool. Chet owning a Pelican stand. It'd be cool for like two minutes.
Because here's the deal. Y'all think our communication is bad now. Just imagine. These are some basics. I pulled these. These are from our membership commitment.
We have members with. That commits membership. This is what we. Some of the stuff that we outline. These are the basics. And we just.
Need to respond. With good works. For the common good. With the basics. And when you do this. When you do the basics.
Of loving one another. Of serving one another. For the common good of this church. You will start to realize. That God. Has individually gifted you.
With spiritual gifts. Like we'll give you something to do. Maybe it's graphics. Maybe it's spreadsheets. I don't know. And you start to do it.
Then you realize. I think I have a gifting and administration. Which is a spiritual gift. That we see in the New Testament. And we need that. Especially Chetanah.
We need. The gift of administration. In this church. So that. We can serve. Y'all well.
For the common good. That you might. You might be serving in an area. And then. I see this. We have certain people in our church.
That serve. And serve. And give. And give. And we're sometimes. We get a little concerned.
Sometimes. Because we don't want to burn out. But some people have such a high capacity. And they enjoy doing it. That's part of these giftings. You have high capacity.
You're good at it. And you enjoy doing it. It meets in the middle. Maybe you have the gift of serving. That we see. In the New Testament.
Maybe it's leading. Where you start to lead in some areas. We give you some weight. You start to lead some more. Maybe that results in you. Leading in a community group.
There's leading. There's giving. Maybe you're very gifted. At making money. And you also have a heart. That easily gives it away.
That is another spiritual gift. In the New Testament. Maybe it's mercy. We've been trying this out recently. We've been doing some different things. Some different projects.
Where we've been partnering. Just with people in the community. Where we've been. Coming and fixing houses. That's actually going to happen again today. Maybe you pitch in.
And some of this stuff. And you realize. I actually really enjoy doing this. I am good at it. And you might have the gift. Of mercy.
Maybe it's exhortation. Which is just. That means competitive encouragement. Like you'll see people here on a Sunday. And you'll go. And you'll shake hands.
And you'll hug. And then all of a sudden. You're texting the Bible verses. And then all of a sudden. You're writing letters. To encourage.
There's a whole list of these. We see it in 1 Corinthians 12. We see it in Romans 12. And a few other places. That when you start to do. The basics.
You start to see. That the Holy Spirit. Has given you specific giftings. That you can use. For the benefit of. The common good.
And this church family. And we desperately need that. As a church. That you would leverage. Your energy. Your time.
And your giftings. For the common good. And bless us immensely. So that is the one big sphere. Of where our common. Where our good works are needed.
Is for the common good of this church. The second. Is for the world. It is for the lost. Eternity. Is on the line.
Every time that you walk out the door. And go to work. It is present. That reality. Is present. Every time.
That you have small talk. With your neighbors. It shows up. Every time. That you go to your bowling league. Or whatever it is.
That you do. For fun. Eternity. Is on the line. We were created. As Christians.
To be salt. In light. In a world. That desperately needs it. We were called. To bear.
The good news. Of the gospel. And the Holy Spirit. To people. That desperately need it. Luther.
Martin Luther. The father of the reformation. Once said that. God doesn't need your good works. But your neighbor does.
And that's true. None of these good works. Aren't for God. We made that point clear. Paul makes that point clear. In 8 and 9.
Our neighbors. Need our good works. Your neighbors. Your co-workers. Your friends. Need your good works.
And it frustrates me. That it takes weeks like this. For me personally. Where I'm reminded. That life is so short. When I'm reminded.
That eternity. Is on the line. In the everyday moments of life. To where I gotta wake up and say. I know I got bills to pay. And I know I got house projects.
And I know I got all kinds to do. The logistics of life. But every day matters. Every moment that we have with one another. It matters. Every moment we have with the loss in our community.
It matters. Because he has called us to the ministry of reconciliation. That we once walked as enemies of the cross of Christ. But because of Jesus. He calls us into fellowship with him. So that we would participate.
In taking the gospel. To those who need it. How many times. Are we going to. Go to lunch with co-workers. And never actually share the hope that we have.
How many times are we going to be at cookouts. With neighbors. Where all we do is talk about sports. But we never actually get to the gospel. I really hate that phrase. That is attributed to Francis of Assisi.
That says share the gospel. If necessary use words. Firstly I can't stand it. Because it's a fake quote. Francis of Assisi never said it. Secondly for our culture.
It's a cop out. You should love people. You should serve people. You should leverage your time. Energy. Good works for people.
But at some point. The gospel is a message. And they need to hear it. Because if they don't hear it. They won't believe it. That's Romans 10.
God has called us into this ministry of reconciliation. That we might take the message of those. Who need it. And there are people in our lives that need it. Now. I know when I say that.
I know we got moms in the room. I know what y'all are thinking. I'm assuming what you were thinking. Because I ain't going to say I know definitively. The assumption is. I've got two little minions.
That are attached to my legs. I don't have people like. I'd love to go to lunch. But I don't have that. Firstly. Impress you just a little bit.
I've seen the mom community in Columbia. It's active. And lively. With lots of opinions online. But I've seen.
There's a whole lot of moms that connect. I know there are unbelieving moms that we can connect with. But let me make the more important point. I saw. A picture. It's a little gruesome.
I'm not going to lie. But I love this picture. I love what it illustrates. That you have a mom. That has her son. And she has the Bible out.
And she is teaching him the Bible. Proverbs 22. 22. That he would never depart from his word. That he would love Jesus. That he would have one of the most boring testimonies.
Six years old. I became a Christian. I've been following Jesus ever since. My mom shared the gospel with me. I placed my faith in him. She has given him the gospel.
And she's got the shield. And the symbolism of this is. It's the shield of faith that we see in Romans 6. Shielding him from darts of the evil one. Taking some hits herself. Shielding him with faith.
That is the eternal spiritual nature. The spiritual warfare that is involved. When you raise kids. And it matters. Those children. Those children up there.
Need the gospel. And you have an essential role. To take the gospel to them. That they might actually believe. They might never depart. From faith in Jesus.
That's your mission field. Go find some moms and mom groups. All over Columbia. But right there. That's it. That's what we're aiming for.
All of us have people. All of us have people. That need the gospel. In our lives. You can be a mom. You can be a dad.
You can be single. You can be married. We have people in our spheres. That need this hope. God has called us to good works. For the benefit of one another.
And for those outside the church. That need to hear the gospel. And when you walk in these good works. That God has prepared for us. Let me tell you the beauty of what happens. That when you serve.
That when you love one another in the church. When you find your spiritual gifting. That as you are sharing the gospel. You will further abide in Jesus. Jesus. You know that feeling.
That spiritual high sometimes. That you get when you are doing the work of God. We came back from Egypt. And we were feeling it. We were also physically sick. We were feeling that.
But spiritually. This is a third world country. It got to us. But spiritually. We were riding a high. Because we were doing the good works.
That God prepared for us beforehand. You know that feeling. When you leave a group meeting night. Where everyone is sharing the gospel with one another. People are unloading years of hurt. Years of pain.
Years of sin. There is tears. There is hugging. If you are new. That is not every community group. Don't be scared.
We have a lot of fun. We mix it up. We do some good stuff. But there are some nights. Where the Holy Spirit is actively at work. You know the feeling.
When you stand in the baptism waters. And someone who six months ago said. I don't know Jesus. I don't want him. But now they are saying.
In the middle of the waters. That Jesus is Lord. You know that feeling. That is nearness to Christ. That is nearness to him. And that is the result.
Of abiding in him. When we are obedient to the good works. That he has set up for us. So I know it is hard. I know we got crazy schedules. I know it is hard.
At the end of a long work day. To get in your car. To pick something up. And to go to a group. And to hang out with people. You are tired.
I get it. I know it is hard. To get here on a Sunday morning. And serve. I understand. That we have busy lives.
But the reality is. Is God has called us. To these good works. And there are eternal things. On the line. So we should labor.
With everything that we can. As if eternity is on the line. We should go hard after that. And then at the end of the week. We should shut it down. And we should rest.
That God has called us to good works. And he has called us to good rest. That once a week. That we would pause. And we would cease. And we would stop.
And that is a shift for us sometimes. That feels like whiplash. Work. Work. Work. Good works in Christ.
Good works in Christ. Now. Rest. Last year. As we went through that. We did.
We taught on the Sabbath. And the hammer and the hammock series. I said that. That. Sabbath rest. Argued for one.
Sabbath is one day a week. Where we cease from our work. And we confess with our rest. That we are not God. And that is still true. Sometimes after a year.
We look at our sermons. And I go. Maybe I should have adjusted that. I'm standing firm on that. That is one day a week. Where you should cease from all work.
And you should rest in God. That six days. You should go for it. But there is one day. That you should actually rest in God. So if you want more.
If you want more. Behind the argument. For why we believe in a one day Sabbath. For all of that. Go back and listen to that. I want to get real practical.
With the time that we have left. I want to give you three. Three practical principles. Of rest. Matthew 11 28. Says this.
Come to me. All who labor. And are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Jesus says to us. Come.
Come. Come to me. All you who labor. All you are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Jesus calls us in.
Into resting with him. So how do we actually go about doing that? How do you actually come to Jesus. That you might rest in him. Part of your Sabbath rest. Should go back to the first couple weeks.
Of this abide series. You need. To incorporate. The rhythms. Of word and prayer. In your Sabbath.
That when you rest. You should have the Bible. And you should also have prayer. As the first practical. Your Sabbath day. Which you should intentionally choose.
And own. You can flex it. If it's different days. If you have a crazy schedule. Like mine. But you should choose a day.
It should be the one day. Where you reserve extra time. To be in God's word. And to pray. Because the hope is. Is that after a week.
Of going forward. That you would lift up your head. And you would gaze. And look at God. And that he would fill you up. That we wouldn't escape to other things.
But we would fill ourselves. With God. And his word. It is the time for us. To recharge. And to refocus.
And we need to do it. We need to actually make that a rhythm. That we do. So go on a bike ride. Go on a bike ride. If that's something that is restful for you.
But put the Bible. On. Put your headphones on. And listen to the Bible. If you like running. Which is not restful for me.
That is the worst. I would never run for rest. But if you do. And if you enjoy running. Make it a time where you can actually pray. When you are jogging.
Say when I get to this point. I am going to be praying. Praising God for who he is. When I get to this part of the jog. I am going to pray and confess him. When I get to this next part.
I am going to pray in thanksgiving. For what he has done for me. And when I make the final turn. I got stuff I got to pray for. I got people I got to pray for. I got things that I want to see God accomplish.
Your Sabbath should be filled with word and prayer. Go to the river. Grab a Bible. Grab a journal. Make space. So that you can look up at God.
And be filled up by him. We need this. Single. Married. It doesn't matter what your life circumstance is. You need this.
I want to make one more appeal. To moms. Because you are the hardest workers we've got. Moms. You. Need.
This. Let me throw that picture back up there. It's a little over the top. You think she's got a few more arrows to take? Let me tell you something. You keep taking shots like that.
You will die. You will. You won't make it. You will spiritually collapse. Anxiety. Depression.
All of it. You. Need. Rest. Which means. Do it.
Husbands. Do it. Like get them out. Say no. I'm. You.
I got the kids. Get out. Go rest. Go grab a Bible. Go spend some time with Jesus. Get out of here.
You won't make it. You need. Rest. All of us need time with Jesus. That we would look up at him. So that we can have a sharpened axe to go to work.
And do the good works that God has called us to do. We need rest. Get it on your schedule. Figure out a time to do it. And commit to it. Actually commit to resting.
All of us should do it. I would argue even our kids need this. That our kids need to learn this. Do we actually teach? Are we actually teaching our kids the importance of resting. And specifically resting with word and prayer.
Because y'all we will stack their schedules to the ceiling. Activities. School. Sports. Music. The works.
All good things. But do we actually ever teach them to stop. And to rest. And to be before your Lord. And to grab a Bible. And to pray.
Do we actually do that? Because here's the deal. A whole generation of kids. They know how to escape. Because they'll work. They'll do.
They'll do. They'll do. There's a reason why Fortnite and Instagram and all of that consumes them. It is a place for them to escape. And it is because we have a whole generation of people. That never actually learned how to rest.
Our kids need it. This whole. Everyone in our church. All of us Christians. We need to take time for word and prayer. In our Sabbath.
The second practical. Is that place matters. Where you rest. Matters. I want to look at Mark 6. Verses 30 through 32.
It says this. The apostles returned to Jesus. And told him all that they had done and taught. So they've been out there. Doing the work that Jesus sent them out to do. And he said to them.
Come away by yourselves to a desolate place. And rest a while. He sees the work. I mean he says. For many of them were coming and going. They had no leisure even to eat.
I mean that's how hard that they were working. They were skipping meals. And Jesus says stop. Come to a desolate place. Verse 32. It says.
And they went away in the boat. To a desolate place by themselves. Get in the boat. We're going. There's probably. There's crowds following them.
Get in the boat. We got to go. We got to go to a desolate place. Because place. Matters. Where you rest matters.
Jesus models this. You see throughout his ministry. Over and over again. That he breaks away from the disciples. He breaks away from the crowds. And he finds a desolate place.
And he rests. Before God. He has fellowship with the Father. There's a reason why I look at moms. And I say get out. Because you can't rest at home.
As soon as the kids see you. They're going to come after you. Just like. They get you. Sink their claws into you. So you got to get out.
That's why I say. Go to a coffee shop. Find a desolate place. For you. And rest. That for all of us.
That's different. Maybe you can rest at home. Maybe you can carve out a place. Maybe you need to go to the river. Maybe you need to go to. Wherever it is.
That's where we need to study. And figure out ourselves. Is there a desolate place for you. That you could regularly. Break away from. That you could actually.
Look at Jesus. And his word and prayer. Without distraction. Which means. When you get there. Put away your phone.
Our phones distract us. From the vertical gaze. That we should have in God. Find a desolate place. Third. Incorporate some restful activities.
Into your Sabbath. We talked about this. Last year. That if you. If you work with your hands. Maybe you're a blue collar worker.
If you work with your hands. Rest with your mind. So if you are. If you work with your hands. Maybe you need to. Read some books.
Some Christian books. Maybe. You need to read some fiction. But you need to rest with your mind. Incorporate some activities. If you work with your mind.
If you do analytics. If you work on a computer. If you work with your mind. Maybe you need to build a thing. Maybe you need to do some pottery. Maybe you need to actually engage.
In some activities. That help you. Rest. But you got to. You got to study yourself. You got to figure out.
And incorporate some restful activities. And one of the activities. That we absolutely should do. All of us. Is that we should. At some level.
Just stop. We should cease. When is the last time. That you took 30 minutes. That just. Nothing.
Like you sat in a chair. You didn't even have a. You didn't have a phone. You didn't even have a Bible. You just sat. And you listened.
To what God had to say. When is the last time. You took 15 minutes. To just sit. And be. All of us.
Should at some level. In different parts of our Sabbath. Should cease. And just be. And give some space. For the Holy Spirit.
To speak. That we might listen. And some of you. Are like. Man. I sit and do nothing.
All the time. It's like. Cool. Go grab a kayak. Like you. You might need to do some things.
I don't know. You need to figure that out. For yourself. But we need to be people. That use our Sabbath. To gaze at God.
Through word and prayer. We need to find. Desolate places. In our lives. And we need to incorporate. Some restful activities.
Because here's the reality. I want you to hear this. We are a busy people. That is drunk. Off of our own busyness. It's like a martyr mentality.
It's like. Who can be. I'm busy. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. It's like how we show.
It's like a red badge of courage. We are drunk. Off of our own busyness. And God is saying. Stop. Look.
Look. Stop. Be. Rest. I get it. This balance is difficult.
I understand. That being someone. Who labors. And labors. For the kingdom. Labors.
And labors. For people in the church. Labors. And labors. For those lost. And then stops.
And just bees. Just bees. Just be. There we go. And ceases. And looks at God.
I understand. That both of those. That's a difficult balance. I get it. But God calls us.
To consistently uphold. Both. We need. Both. And if you start to grow in this. It's going to feel like whiplash.
I'm doing. I'm doing. I'm doing. Oh no. I need to rest. It'll take some time.
I mean. The ideal. I'll think of this from my own life. There's an ideal balance. That. And I just.
I look at older. Wiser believers. That have done this. That for six days. They got a hand on the plow. And they are laboring.
And they are laboring. And they're working. And they're laboring. And they drop the plow. And they stop. And they cease.
And they rest. And I see that. I'm like. I want that. I want my life. To be that.
That is. That is the perfect ideal. But I also know the reality. That is the perfect ideal. I'm never actually going to achieve that. I'm never actually going to model that perfectly.
And that brings us back. To what all this is built on. It's the whole point of the gospel. The reality is. Is that we will never do this. You will never be a perfect workmanship.
You will never. Never model. Perfect works. You are never going to model. Perfect rest. The good news of the gospel.
Is that somebody came. And he did it. That he modeled perfect work. That he modeled perfect rest. So that we wouldn't have to earn God's favor.
So that we could trust in the work that he did for us. Trust in the rest that he did for us. So that we could trust. We could trust in the hope of Christ. And rest in his grace. And out of that.
Look at the model that we have. And say. No. I want to continue to grow in this. I want to continue to strive. To be a man.
To be a woman. That seeks to be a workmanship. That is a force in our church. That is a force in this world. And to be someone who rests. That is a balance worth striving for.
Let us strive to have a life. Where we are a workmanship. That glorifies God with our good works. Let us strive to be Christians. That strive to enter good rest. Let's do this.
Let's model this. Let's walk this out for the rest of our lives. Knowing that one day. A time is going to come. Where because of our faith in Jesus. He will call us into eternal rest.
And in that eternal rest. There will be no striving. There will be no more work. We will simply just dwell. And enjoy him. Matt is going to come up.
He is going to lead us in a song.