Today, we come to the final of the six messages on God’s Economy, as we seek to bring a message of hope to people living in economic difficulty and uncertainty. Today, we address the topic of work, and how “work” doesn’t have to be a four-letter word: there is hope for those who work.
The Bible has a lot to say about work and rest. We are going to take a look at three major topics today on work, the last of which will be split into four sections:
Work’s Purpose
What’s Broken with Work?
Work’s Boundaries
Within work’s boundaries, we are going to look at:
Consequences of Work and Laziness
Sabbath
Being a good boss
Attitude
Instead of our normal pattern of all of our Bible verses up front, we’re going to hear from the Bible throughout this message, in each section. But we will still wrestle with our Growth Questions throughout:
- How do my current financial practices reflect Biblical values?
- How does the message of the Scriptures give hope to those in financial uncertainty or difficulty?
- Whom can I tell about this financial message of hope who could join us for worship?
- How can this financial message of hope impact our community through my own words and actions?
- What challenges does this passage offer to my current financial practices and attitudes?
Part 1: Work’s Purpose
Genesis 2:15
Ecclesiastes 3:9 – 13, 22
The two passages we see here are examples of the Biblical perspective on work’s purpose. Human work has a purpose from creation forward: the man is put in the Garden of Eden to till the ground and keep it. It is not too much a stretch to say, then, that human work, understood from the creation, is part of a fulfillment of God’s purpose for human beings as his representatives in the created order. Human work helps bring the creation to its fullest expression. Without the Man in the Garden, it would not be well kept. With the Man in the Garden, it produces what it is designed to produce.
In modern terms, the role of humans in the creation, in the “ecosystem,” so to speak, is to bring out the fullest expression that creation can have. Humans have a role in managing the environment, but also using the creation to produce what they need, inasmuch as it brings fullness to the creation, not destruction. It is this balance that speaks to what humans produce, how it is produced, and how it is disposed of. It is this balance that shows the disaster that chronic unemployment is, that environmental degradation is, that short-sighted planning is.
So if the purpose of God is for human beings to work within the creation to bring it to its fullest expression and fulfillment, then we see what Ecclesiastes says as well: that we are designed to enjoy the work we do, and God’s gift to us is taking pleasure in what we do.
But what happens when work doesn’t bring us pleasure? What happens when human work is destructive to the creation, instead of bringing it to its fullness? What happens when there isn’t enough food to go around, or enough work? What then?
Part 2: What’s Broken with Work?
Genesis 3:17-19
As a part of the greater story of human brokenness, these three verses stand out as an explanation of the brokenness of work, summarized well in Ecclesiastes 2:20-21.
The curse comes from disobedience – breaking the commandment of God to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Human disobedience, or sin, causes the thing which God intended for good for the humans and the rest of creation to now be broken. The curse says that the ground, which is human responsibility, no longer will produce as it should – it will be broken, and be hard work. Instead of having the fruit of the orchards of Eden, humans have to scratch a living from bare ground. The ground will not readily yield its produce, and it will wear human beings out and exhaust them, until they return to the dust from which they are made.
Inasmuch, then, as we see work being broken, futile, exhausting and unproductive, we see this curse in action. We see the curse of human brokenness writ large on the canvas of our society. And inasmuch as we see human work degrading the created order, we see that the purpose of work has been twisted beyond recognition until work has become survival and a tool for both laziness and oppression.
So if we feel overworked, underappreciated, or manipulated at work; if we are unemployed or working all hours; if we are lazy or workaholics; if we work to the point of destroying our bodies, or chronically injuring ourselves; if our work destroys the creation or prioritizes the non-human creation over human beings – then we are expressing the brokenness of the curse.
Nevertheless, we know that God has come in Jesus Christ to break all the curses that bind humanity to sin, evil and death. He has come to destroy the powers that hold human beings in patterns of life that destroy their own lives, the lives of other people, and the creation at large.
So if work makes your life miserable rather than giving you life, there is hope. If your work puts you in a position of physical pain, exhaustion and/or injury all the time, there is hope. If your work threatens the environment, there is hope. In the cross of Jesus Christ there is hope that work will be fulfilling, healthy, and enjoyable.
So how do we get there? There are four areas the Bible addresses about how we may take advantage of the curse Jesus has broken for us, and we’ll look at them in the next section.
Part 3: Work’s Boundaries
Part 3.1 Consequences of Work and Laziness
The Bible says much about the consequences of work and laziness: here are a few verses as examples:
Proverbs 12:11 “Those who till their land will have plenty of food, but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.”
Proverbs 12:14 Both manual and non-manual workers have value
Proverbs 14:23 Work brings a profit, but mere words poverty
Proverbs 18:9 Slackers are like vandals
Proverbs 20:21 Get rich quick schemes never work
Proverbs 21:25 Cravings of lazy is deadly, since they refuse to work
Proverbs 24:27 Provide yourself an income (a steady one) before trying to build up wealth or settle down
Proverbs 28:19 The one who farms will have enough, worthless pursuits will lead to poverty
Ephesians 4:28 “Thieves must give up stealing, rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands so they have something to share with the needy.”
The Bible reminds us over and over again that the creation operates in cause-and-effect most of the time. Actions have consequences. Inaction often has more consequences than doing something at all. If we do not plant a crop, we shouldn’t expect to reap a harvest. Our crops may still fail because of weather patterns or other things that are outside of our control (part of the curse), but not planting because we don’t have control over the weather is profoundly stupid.
The same goes for our non-agricultural society: jobs do not just come out of thin air. We must develop and hone the skills for which we can receive an income in our current job, so that if we were to lose it, we have something we can take with us elsewhere. If we are unemployed, then despite the potential futility of looking for work in a depressed economy, there is still a greater chance of finding a job while looking than while not looking. I know it can be depressing trying to find work when everyone says no.
If slackers are like vandals, then passivity and laziness are not a part of God’s healing of the curse. If get-rich-quick schemes never work, then gambling (even in state-sanctioned lotteries) shouldn’t be a regular practice of believers. If our family systems prevent the consequences of laziness (death and destruction, starvation and ignominy) from fully developing, why should we expect a government “of the people” to do any better? If we expect to be able to live in our own apartments, or establish our own households as teens and young adults with our significant others, without having our own income, why don’t we expect it not to work? (2 Thessalonians 3:10 says that those who don’t work aren’t entitled to eat.) If we have a high level of expertise in something that will not earn us a living, is that a career or a hobby? How much of our lives do we expect to spend in leisure, vacation or retirement?
Our actions have consequences, and our inaction has consequences. Work that lives in the fullness of life offered by Jesus takes stock of these questions and their consequences, and shows us where the boundaries are and the balance is.
Part 3.2 Sabbath
The biggest boundary for cycles of work and rest in the Bible is Sabbath:
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
This boundary says that work cannot and should not be expected to be seven days a week. At least one day per week people should be able to rest – and that our rest should not require someone else to work for us. The boundary also says that we should work six days – in order to fulfill how God designed creation. Exodus 34:21 reminds us that even during our busy times, we must find a time to rest; in our non-busy times, there still is work to do.
It is really hard in our modern society to take rest that does not involve someone else working. Going out to dinner (someone’s waiting tables), watching a sporting event (someone’s running the camera, let alone the football), even turning on lights (someone’s at the power plant), all these things involve someone else working for us. This is why Jesus reminds his disciples that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) Obsessing over the minutiae of Sabbath-keeping was driving Jesus’ own society a bit batty; it could do the same to us. The point is that human beings need cycles of rest – true rest, not merely leisure or entertainment – at least once a week, wherein we celebrate that God has created all of this and will take care of it without our help at least once a week. The Sabbath concept also acknowledges what is for many modern people a big hang-up: that there is work beyond just the stuff we do and get paid for, which leads us to what the Bible says about bosses.
Part 3.3 Being a Biblical Boss
The Bible from Genesis to Revelation speaks to bosses:
Leviticus 19:13 – don’t withhold wages overnight
Deuteronomy 24:14-15 – don’t withhold wages from the poor, because they need their money that day.
Deuteronomy 24:19 – don’t go back and pick up your leftovers in the field, so the poor may come along and have enough to eat. (Don’t use every last penny of business income on yourself; give some away on purpose, to provide for the poor.)
Isaiah 58:3 – don’t even bother with fasting, prayer and worship if you are going to oppress your workers – God will not take delight in your spiritual efforts if your business takes advantage of workers or customers.
1 Timothy 5:17-18 – pay people honorable wages, including (especially) those who are leading the congregation.
James 5:4-5 – low wages defraud the poor and God will hear their cries and come after you to make it right on their behalf.
Really, the verses are pretty self-explanatory. Business must be done ethically and fairly; workers must be treated as real people who must be able to live off of what they earn. Bosses must make sure wages are paid and work is rewarded. Anything else unleashes evil on the world. Businesses owners should support the poor, and not try to salve their consciences through church attendance if they are in an unhealthy relationship with their workers during the week.
Part 3.4 Attitude
Finally, the Bible has some things to say about workers’ attitudes. The language may be shocking to us, but it really applies to more than just literal slaves:
Ephesians 6:5-9
The work we do may not be slavery, but most of us do not have the option to quit and walk away from our job when we feel like it, either. Bosses are to keep people on track, but not threatening their well-being or personhood in the process. Workers are to work as though they are working for God – not just to please the bosses, knowing that God will reward us, even if the boss never notices.
This, of course, could be a sermon all by itself, but it must be said: our attitude can make or break our work environment, either as boss or worker. More than anything else, finding ways of serving God’s purposes in how we work will break the curse on work we see all over the place. If we choose not to live in workplace antagonism, we will find new hope and life within our jobs.
How, then, do we see a message of hope for work? It has a purpose, given by God. While it is cursed and broken on the one hand, God desires to redeem it. He has given us boundaries of consequences, Sabbath, boss responsibility and attitude to help us re-shape our way of working, our way of thinking about work, and our way of leading others in work. How can these things bring a message of hope to us and those around us?
- How do my current financial practices reflect Biblical values?
- How does the message of the Scriptures give hope to those in financial uncertainty or difficulty?
- Whom can I tell about this financial message of hope who could join us for worship?
- How can this financial message of hope impact our community through my own words and actions?
- What challenges does this passage offer to my current financial practices and attitudes?