Amen. It is interesting that, well, that Daniel mentioned Philippians 2, because that is one of the passages that we will refer to this evening of having the same mind of Christ, and that is why I picked that song, as we think about the topic of work as worship, and that’s what we will be doing this evening. But first, if you will, would you turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 1, and we’ll start right at the beginning of this evening. We are continuing this series on worship this evening.

And just to kind of catch us up a little bit, we started by laying the foundation, talking about what worship is. And we saw that worship is the recognition of another person’s superior status or honor. And so, as we saw that God is the only one to be worshiped in true worship, that means true worship is expressing God’s worthiness. and honor and glory. That’s a very base description or definition of what worship is, expressing that God is worthy, that he deserves honor and glory. We saw that to glorify God is to show his importance, to show how important he is in our life and in the world.

And then after we kind of got our definitions down, we talked about the different areas of our life that worship affects. And what we saw is that worship affects everything. Worship affects all of our life. If we are in Christ, if we are Christians, if we are God’s people, all of our life should be a life of worship. Our lives should be lived as spiritual sacrifice to God, as living sacrifices, as Romans 12 tells us.

And as we begin to look at the different areas that this affects, last time we saw that this starts in the home. That the worship that should characterize our life begins in the home. The home was where Israel was supposed to ground their lives of worship. And they were to teach these things to their children so that these lifestyles of worship would be passed down from generation to generation. And the same is true with our lives. We are to instill in our families and in our homes the principles of worship, the principles of putting God first in all things so that our families know them and keep them.

Things like reading the word of God, like prayer and singing God’s word. All of those things ought to be part of our family life, our family worship. And eventually in this series on worship, we are going to get to the elements of our corporate worship, the things we do here on Sundays. But before we get there, I wanted to cover another aspect of our lives that’s affected by our understanding of worship. And that is our work, or our vocation, our job. So this evening, we will be thinking about our work as worship.

And we’ll look at what both the Old and New Testaments say about work. and how our work is worship to God when we think about it and do it rightly. Just like any other aspect of worship, if we are not thinking correctly, if we are not doing it correctly, it isn’t necessarily worship. But only when we do these things according to how God would have us do them, things like our worship ceremonies, but even our work. If we aren’t thinking correctly about our work, if we’re thinking of our work as simply a way to pay the bills or to go punch the clock and come home and finally get away from the work that we’re called to do, we’re not really worshiping God in the jobs that he’s placed us in. So we need to think correctly about work and we will see that the Bible has a lot to say about work. In fact, the very first pages of scripture start with work. We see God at work, creating the world. And that’s exactly what the Bible calls it. If you turn over just a page to Genesis chapter two, starting in verse two, listen to how it describes God’s creation and his creating work.

And on the seventh day, God completed his work, which he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it, he rested from all his work, which God had created in making it.” Three times in this simple description of what God has done, it’s called work. God was at work for the first six days of time. and rested the seventh. In fact, that is what distinguishes the seventh day is that he didn’t work. The first six days he did, and then he rested.

Throughout the Bible, God is portrayed in human language to us as a worker, using language of different human jobs, things that we can understand. God condescends to us and speaks in language we can understand, and he does that by describing himself doing different jobs. For example, you can stay here in Genesis 1, I’ll just read you a few examples. But listen to all these descriptions of God at work in Scripture. We already mentioned the Creator, but we also see that He’s a builder or an architect in Proverbs chapter 8. We’re starting in verse 27. Listen to how it describes God working.

It says, he established the heavens. Or when he established the heavens, I was there. When he marked out a circle on the face of the deep. When he made firm the skies above and the springs of the deep became strong. When he set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not pass over his command. When he marked the foundations of the earth. It’s speaking in architectural language. That God is the great designer and architect of all these things.

It also speaks of him in other jobs. He’s a musician and a composer. He writes these songs. For example, Moses’ song in Deuteronomy. God wrote it for him. God says, now teach this song that I’m about to tell you to the people. Deuteronomy 31, 19. So now, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it in their mouths so that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. So God himself is the composer of his music.

Other things you see, like in Isaiah, where he’s a metal worker. Isaiah chapter one, verse 25, I will also turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and will remove all of your alloy. This is language of somebody who works in metals and burns away the impurities of metal. You also see he is described as a tailor in Job chapter 29. I clothed myself with righteousness and it clothed me. My justice is like a robe and a turban.

Again, speaking in human language, language of human occupation so that we can understand what it is that God has done. Other places you see he’s a tent maker, or a potter, or a farmer, or a shepherd, or a designer, or a builder. Again, all different human jobs that are all describing the work that God does. So God is a worker. He works and we see the effect of his work. And all of these different references and more tell us of the work God does. And again, it uses human vocations, human jobs to describe those things. But the Bible does not say that God is the only worker.

If you’re there in Genesis chapter one, go right to the foundational text of what it is to be human. Starting in verse 26 of Genesis 1, we see the classic image of God passages. Genesis chapter 1 verse 26, God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

And God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. So God made us in his image. We are supposed to reflect him. We are an image of him. Now this doesn’t mean that God made us to be gods ourself, but we are to be his image. And think about what an image is. Think about a reflection in a mirror. You look in a mirror, that’s not really you on that glass that you’re looking at, it’s your reflection, it’s your image. It reflects what you are like. And in the same way, we are to reflect what God is like as his image bearers. And part of that is reflecting God’s work. And we work because God works.

And then the next verse, what is it that God tells Adam to do? The very first thing he gives him to do as an image bearer. He explains that Adam is an image bearer. And then verse 28, the very next verse, God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.

God says, I made man in my image. The very next thing he does is he hires him. He gives him a job to do. God hired Adam and gave him a job. He said, first, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, then subdue it and have dominion. You have a job to do. You aren’t just here to be on vacation in the Garden of Eden. You have a job to do, Adam. Rule over the earth, work it, keep it. Use what God has given to glorify him and benefit mankind. And this also means serving and guarding his creation, being stewards. Creation is a gift from God and Adam was to steward that gift. He was responsible for how he kept it.

And not only that, something else to notice here is Adam’s job was given to him before the fall. Adam had a job before he sinned. So what that means is that no matter how much it feels like it sometimes, work is not a result of the curse. Our working, the fact that we are to work, is not because Adam and Eve sinned. Our work is harder because of the curse for sure. But work was there before sin. And we still have the command to work even after the fall.

Turn over to Genesis 3, over a couple pages. We have the passage of God cursing Adam and making his work harder, starting in verse 17 there. Then to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you saying you shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you. The very ground that I gave you to work and to keep, the job that I’ve given you, that’s now cursed.

In pain you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles shall grow for you. And you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread. Till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. That’s Adam’s curse, that work is hard now. He is given the ground to work and to keep, and now that ground is cursed, and it’s gonna bring forth thorns and thistles. Could you imagine farming with no weeds? Could you imagine taking care of your lawn with no weeds? How nice would that be? But it’s harder now because of the curse.

But then look down to the end of chapter three, where God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden. Starting in verse 22. Then Yahweh God said, behold, man has become like one of us to no good and evil. And now, lest he send forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. Verse 23, therefore, Yahweh God sent him out of the garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. He was sent out of the garden to work. to cultivate the ground, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

So right from the very beginning, we see Adam was created for a purpose. That purpose is to glorify God in the job that he gave him. Adam was created to work. And like Adam, we too, as image bearers of God, were made to work. And we most glorify God when we function as He created us to function, when we do what He made us for, when we work like He designed us to work. Have you ever felt that feeling of accomplishment after a hard day’s work? That good feeling of accomplishing something really difficult?

Well, that good feeling shows us how we were designed to be. That is how God made us. That is good and right. This is how God created us to be. And we’ll look at this a little bit more here in a few moments. But that good feeling we feel after accomplishing something, that’s reflecting the image of God. That’s doing what He created us for.

And despite our sin and our rebellion against God and our refusal to govern His creation the way that He designed us to do, God’s common grace still allows us to accomplish things. Even though our work is cursed now because of the fall, God’s grace still allows us to have success in our work. We are actually able to accomplish tasks. We are actually able to have some success in the work that God gave to the human race. Things like advances in society and culture. Turn over now to Genesis chapter four, and you see this immediately, even after the curse. Genesis chapter four, starting in verse 16.

We start with Cain. Then Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch, and he built a city. And he called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.

Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehuahel. And Mehuahel was the father of Methuselah. And Methuselah the father of Lamech. And Lamech took for himself two wives. One was named Ada, and the other was named Zillah. And Ada gave birth to Jabal, and he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. And his brother’s name was Jubal, and he was the father of all those who play the lyre and the pipe. As for Zillah, she gave birth to Tubal-Cain, the forger of all the implements of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Neamah.”

All of these different jobs and advancements in society that happen, this is the family of Cain. Speaking of the curse. This is the family of Cain. This is Cain’s line. And look how they flourish and advance by the grace of God. They are taking dominion. They are accomplishing what God set out for them to do. And culture and civilization are growing because they’re functioning the way God created them. They’re accomplishing these things. In fact, the greatest advancements in civilization and culture come from cultures where God’s people have influence, where Christianity has flourished.

This doesn’t mean that everyone in that culture or even the greatest achievers in those cultures are Christians, but the reality is where Christians influence, where Christianity influences culture, those cultures thrive. It’s just a fact. Look around the world. The fact is obvious.

In places where there has been a long history of Christian influence, Societies and cultures are more advanced than places where that isn’t the case. And in places where other gods and false religions have held influence, cultures and societies have stagnated. In fact, there’s a great book actually written by an unbeliever named Tom Holland, and the book is called Dominion. It’s not the Tom Holland that plays Spider-Man. It’s a different guy. Don’t be thinking that. It’s a different guy. He’s a historian, but he’s not a Christian.

He wrote a book called Dominion that traces the influence of Christianity on civilization. He shows that from the death of Christ onwards, the more Christians influenced society, the more advancement that society had. And even an unbeliever makes that case, that Christianity affects the greatest cultural advancements in the world. And we also see the success of the mandate given to Adam in the enjoyment of work. We talked about that earlier with the good feeling that we get from accomplishing things. This is how God created us to be.

Solomon talks a lot about this. Turn over to Ecclesiastes, if you would. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon speaks from two perspectives. He speaks from the perspective of a man without God, and how far he can get in life without God, and then he brings in the corrective perspective of bringing God into the picture, and how God corrects how we think about life. And Solomon talks a lot about work. Solomon, as wealthy and powerful as he was, Solomon was a very hard worker. He accomplished a lot. He tells us about that in Ecclesiastes.

But in Ecclesiastes chapter two, verse 24, Solomon says, there is nothing better for a man than to eat and to drink and to have his soul see good from his labor. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. Some of the perspective you read in Ecclesiastes is from the man without God. But there are times where he speaks in and says, this is what I’ve seen from God. And so that’s where you know that he’s on the right track in those lines of thought. And here he’s saying, for a man to see good in his work, to see success in the work that he sets out to accomplish, that is from the hand of God. He says this also, if you flip over to chapter three, verse 13. Solomon says, moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor, it is the gift of God. And then lastly, flip over to chapter five.

There’s a longer section where he’s speaking specifically about the reward of work. He talks about the vanity of working for money and trying just simply to accumulate money, working for a paycheck so that I can build my portfolio and become richer and richer. Realizes that this is vanity because eventually I’m gonna die and where does my money go? I can’t bring it with me and I’m gonna leave all of this hard work to somebody. I don’t know What good is that and that’s his perspective of work without God? but then He has a, again, corrective to that, and where he sees the perspective from God’s point of view, or a man that honors God.

In verse 18, listen to what he says here in the next few verses. Here is what I have seen to be good, which is beautiful, to eat, to drink, and to see good in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun in the few days of his life which God has given him, for this is his portion. This is what God has given him to do. And if he can do that and enjoy it and glorify God in it, this is good. He continues, furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also empowered him to eat from them and to take up his portion and be glad in his labor. This is the gift of God. For he will not remember much the days of his life because God allows him to occupy himself with the gladness of his heart. Solomon’s corrective words here are enjoy what God has given. Enjoy the lot in life that God has given you. Enjoy your work. Don’t live for your work. Don’t live for the riches that you can gain from work. Just enjoy the work that God has given you.

And again, this is that good feeling of accomplishment that I was speaking about before. We feel that because this is the gift of God. This is what God has given us to do. In fact, there are other places that speak of the gifting in our skills in work as God’s gift to us. God specifically gifts people with wisdom and understanding and knowledge and skill in a certain craft or in a certain trade so that they can become excellent in their work.

Have you ever heard of Bezalel and Aholiab? They’re the guys that designed the temple. They were God’s chief trades workers or the tabernacle at least in Exodus. Turn over to Exodus chapter 35. It’s a great passage. Speaking of these two men who were trades workers, they worked with their hands. They were men that were hard workers and they were excellent at what they did. And listen to the way that God speaks of them and the glory that they bring him because of the excellence that they have in their work. Exodus 35, starting in verse 30.

It says, then Moses said to the sons of Israel, see, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur. of the tribe of Judah, and has filled them with the spirit of God in wisdom, in discernment, in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship, to devise designs for work in gold and silver and bronze, and the cutting of stones for settings and the carving of wood, so as to do well in every work of thoughtful design.” Bezalel was a carpenter, a builder.

He worked with his hands. He was a blue-collar guy. He just worked hard, and he worked hard to be good at what he did. And God called him by name to build for him. And it continues, he also put into the heart to teach both he and Aholiab, the sons of Ahissamak, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with wisdom in their heart to do every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet and material and fine linen and of a weaver and those who do every work and make designs. God specifically called these two men to work for him, to work with their hands. Bezalel was the builder and Aholiab was the designer and decorator.

Two men of God known simply for the excellence in their work. Don’t ever think that your work or your trade job is not important or glorifying to God. Look at these two guys. Hardworking, blue collar builders that God names in his word simply for the excellence in their work.

The pastor is not the only one who glorifies God in his job. Any job that you have, as long as it’s a legitimate job and you’re not doing something illegal, any legitimate job that you have glorifies God when you do it with excellence. This is an example of that. If you do the job God has placed you to do with excellence, you are glorifying God. You are working to show my God is great. This is why I work hard. This is why I work hard to do well. so that I can show that my God is great.” That’s glorifying God in your work. Not only that, not only has God gifted us to work, but the Bible says God also grants the ability to make wealth with our work.

In his words to Israel in Deuteronomy, Moses is telling them of what God is gifting them to do in the land. And in Deuteronomy 8, verse 18, he says, but you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who is giving you power to make wealth, that he may confirm his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day.

He gave them power to make wealth. Why did he give them power to make wealth? Well, it says that he gave them power to make wealth so that he may confirm his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day. So that he could make himself known. So that he could show himself. His people are successful and wealthy because he has gifted them to be so. He has gifted them with the power to make wealth so they could show who he is. so they could glorify Him. Becoming wealthy is not a bad thing in itself.

It’s a God-glorifying thing. The Old Testament also tells us that God establishes the work of human hands in Psalm 90. It says He blesses our work in Psalm 128 and Proverbs 10. There’s many other places that speak of God’s gifting us with the ability to work. And he tells us, we actually, he gives us joy in it. He makes it so we can enjoy the work that we’re given. In Isaiah chapter nine, speaking of Israel, it says, they will be glad in your presence as with the gladness of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide their spoil. Speaking of the reward of hard work. And again, all of this positive language about work helps us to understand how and why the Bible speaks of the sin of laziness. It speaks of the sin of laziness a lot, especially the book of Proverbs.

It has a lot to say about the sluggard, the lazy man, the man who refuses to work. This is not the man that can’t work because of whatever reason, a physical ailment or whatever it may be that prevents him. This is the man that can work but won’t. The man that can go out and work for a living but refuses to. The man who simply looks for handouts because he’s too lazy to get up and work hard.

It says a lot in Proverbs chapter six, starting in verse nine. How long will you lie down, oh sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a rock. He’s talking about the guy who won’t get out of bed in the morning. How many times are you going to hit your alarm? Get out of bed, get to work.

Proverbs 12, verse 27, a slack-handed man does not roast his prey, but the wealth of a man is precious for the diligent. Proverbs 19, verse 24, the sluggard buries his hand in the dish, but will not even bring it to his mouth. And then chapter 20, verse 4, the sluggard does not plow from winter on, and so he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

The lazy man is not going to get anywhere. And there are many more passages just in Proverbs about the lazy person, the person who refuses to work and none of them are good. And what’s God’s solution for the lazy person? What does he tell the lazy person to do?

Well, back in Proverbs 6, starting in verse 6, go to the ant, O sluggard. Observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and your poverty will come upon you like a robber and your want like an armed man. The solution God has for the lazy man is get to work. Even the aunt knows without anybody telling her that she’s got to go get to work or she’s not going to survive the winter. So the solution for the lazy man is get to work. God doesn’t want us to be in poverty, especially when that poverty is of our own doing. So get to work. at the end of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is addressed to my son. It is Solomon giving wisdom to his son. And at the very end of the book of Proverbs, he has wisdom about finding a good wife.

This is the type of wife you should look for. As one of my former professors and an Old Testament scholar, Dan Block, said about Proverbs 31, which describes this woman. He says, this artfully composed alphabetic acrostic may have served as a kind of homemaker’s catechism, taught by mothers to their daughters in preparation for adulthood and marriage, or by fathers who prepared their sons to marry well. This is how Israel taught their sons and daughters what a woman of God was like. This is the type of woman a wise son would look to marry. This is the type of woman that daughters would aspire to be.

We don’t have time to read through it or to walk through everything in Proverbs 31, but this chapter of the Bible, it characterizes this woman of one of responsibility and diligence and commitment to her family, her husband and children, and even her neighbors, and puts all of them ahead of herself. This is a type of woman that doesn’t praise herself or beg for people to notice her. She demonstrates her fear of God by her hard work. The Proverbs 31 woman, over all other things, is a hard worker. She works hard, and she lets the achievements of her hands speak for her. She’s a good helper for her husband. She’s doing what God created Eve for, to be a helper. The Proverbs 31 woman is a woman who lives her life as a living sacrifice.

And in the Hebrew Bible, the Bible that the Jewish people had, and as they, there was different ways that they organized the books, but in a lot of the Hebrew Bibles, as they organized their books of the Bible, do you know what followed the book of Proverbs in a lot of them? Proverbs, you have Psalms and Proverbs, and Proverbs ends with this description of this woman. You know what follows the book of Proverbs in a lot of Hebrew Bibles is the book of Ruth.

The book of Ruth. After the last chapter that speaks about this ideal wife, many Hebrew Bibles then go right to the story of Ruth, who is an exemplary woman in the Bible. Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, and he wrote about this ideal woman in chapter 31, and he probably had in mind as he’s thinking of this woman, all the stories he heard about his great, great, great grandmother, Ruth. That’s not that far back before Solomon came on the scene. So he’s probably heard a lot of stories about Ruth, even before the book of Ruth became part of their Hebrew Bible. But when you read about this Proverbs 31 woman, it sounds a lot like Ruth. A woman who was diligent, who worked hard to provide, who sought to obey in all the things she did.

There’s a lot more we could see from the Old Testament about work and how we are to glorify God in the vocations that he’s given us to do. But let’s take a look at what the New Testament has to say about work. As we come to the New Testament, we start with Jesus. Jesus had a job. Before his earthly ministry began, we see that the Bible tells us Jesus was a carpenter, like his dad, Joseph. In Mark chapter 6. Mark 6, verse 3, it tells us about Jesus’ job. Mark 6, verse 3, as the people are questioning, who does this Jesus think that he is? They say in verse 3, is this man not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?

Are they not his sisters here with us? And they were taking offense at him. Who does this guy think he is? He’s talking like this. He’s a carpenter. I had him build something for me a few months ago. We know Jesus. We know what he does. Jesus had a job.

Even when he began his ministry, as he transitioned from being a carpenter to the ministry that God had given him to do, as he spoke of that ministry, we’ve seen it a lot in John, he speaks of that as his work. the work that God has given him to accomplish, to do.

When it comes to speaking directly about work and what the New Testament has to say about how we should work, the Apostle Paul has a lot of good things, a lot of good insight into our work. So turn to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. We have a little bit of a longer section we’ll look at here, but here Paul is directly addressing The idea of work in the context of the New Testament church. How should we think about work? 2 Thessalonians 3, starting in verse 6, this is what Paul says.

Now we command you, brothers, so don’t take this lightly. This isn’t a suggestion. We command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who walks in an unruly manner and not according to the tradition which they received from us. What tradition are we talking about, Paul? For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us because we did not act in an unruly manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship. We kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.”

We’re starting to see the problem here. This is what these unruly men were not doing. They were not working hard, and they were causing problems. They were a burden to these people. He continues, not because we did not have the authority, but in order to offer ourselves as a model to you so that you would imitate us. Again, we gave you the example of working hard, and these people are not working hard. Continues, for when we were with you, we used to command this to you.

If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat. This was a problem when Paul was there. And Paul addressed this already. And he told them, listen, if they’re not willing to work, don’t let them eat. Continues, for we hear that some among you, again, are walking in an unruly manner. And this is what Paul is directly speaking about. Doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ that working with quietness, they eat their own bread.

But as for you brothers, do not lose heart in doing good. If anyone does not obey our word in this letter, take special note of that person to not associate with him. so that he will be put to shame. And do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”

Paul’s solution here to the one who won’t work, who refuses to work, who goes to his neighbors looking for handouts and is a busybody and sticking his nose in everyone’s business and is a burden to everybody, Paul’s solution to that is church discipline him. Don’t associate with him. Put him out. That’s how seriously Paul took this. This is a big deal. This church in Thessalonica had a problem. And the problem was people who wouldn’t work. They were going around being busybodies and causing trouble. And Paul’s solution is get to work.

Get to work and don’t associate with anyone who doesn’t. If someone doesn’t work, they don’t eat. Because staying busy keeps us out of trouble. It keeps you from being a burden to others. And again, now, obviously, it’s not talking about those who are physically unable to work. And this and other places we’ve looked at aren’t talking about that.

The Bible has a lot to say about helping people who are unable to work. But this is directed at people who are able and refuse, who do not do what God has created us to do. Work is what God created us for, and when we willfully refuse to work, we are sinning. We are not functioning the way God created us.

And again, Paul leads by example here. We see in this passage in 2 Thessalonians, he starts with, imitate us, do what we did, work hard. Paul was a tent maker, and he speaks of it often in his letters in the New Testament, how he refused to be a burden to anybody. Even though he had the right to earn a living from preaching the gospel, because of the example he wanted to set for these people, he worked hard and wasn’t a burden to them.

And here are some other principles that the New Testament gives us on work and the attitude we ought to have for our work. And it really shapes how our work can be worship. We don’t have time to turn to everyone and study them all, so I’ll just summarize. This is kind of an overview of this. But throughout the New Testament, we see this. We talked about Philippians 2 earlier that Daniel read.

The Christians are to have the mind of Christ. who in the incarnation took the form of a slave, and he came to do the work that God had for him, and he completed that work. And we are to have that mind of Christ, putting others before ourselves. We see in Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3, they’re very similar passages, that slaves must obey their earthly masters in all things as an act of worship to Christ.

The way that they worked was their worship to Christ. They’re not merely to please their human masters, they’re not working to make the boss happy, but they’re working out of sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord. And that was their acceptable worship, those passages say. 1 Corinthians. as Paul is recognizing the hardships that some of these Christians were facing. Some of it was in their workplaces, and they were being taken advantage of.

As Paul talks about the resurrection, Paul encourages them to be steadfast, to keep working hard, because your reward is coming. In the resurrection, their labor for Christ would be rewarded. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul warns That while we are supposed to work for a living, we’re not to put our trust in riches. That’s not what we work for. The purpose of our work should not just be to pile up more money. We need to work to please God and allow Him to bless that work.

Again, in other places, James, in the book of James, James rebukes the rich for taking advantage of their employees. And Peter tells servants in his letters to serve respectfully and submissively regardless of what their bosses were like, what their masters were like. Because those who suffer unjustly will be rewarded by God, he says.

And there’s a lot of places that speak of our attitude toward work. So again, the Bible has a lot to say about work, which makes sense when we understand that work is what we were created for. Work is what God created Adam to do, created mankind to do. And all of this biblical evidence that we’ve looked at, all these passages, They tell us we need to recognize the dignity and value of our work. We shouldn’t look on work disdainfully, as though it’s something miserable that we have to endure. Work brings glory to God. And when we think of our work that way, that it brings glory to God, it benefits others and it serves the world in which we live.

Work is fundamental to our humanity. It’s part of our image bearing. It’s part of how God created us to be. And this explains why unemployment and underemployment often feels dehumanizing. It feels like we’re suffering and it feels like we’re missing something because we were created to work. And when we are prevented from fulfilling our purpose, that is suffering.

We are not Living out what God has created us for and that’s why that that feeling is there And so as we think about work Again, God created us to do his work on earth and every legitimate job glorifies God Simply in our working hard and our excellence in our work And every talent and skill that we have is a gift from God and it is given to be used for his glory And we ought to have a A sense of awe and gratitude, as we should in any worship, because of the way God has blessed us.

He not only blesses us with work, but with the ability and skills to accomplish that work. Any accomplishment that we can achieve is a gift from God. Without God’s grace, we would never achieve anything. And every project that we tackle or every task that we’re given to do, it’s another opportunity to worship God, to glorify Him for what He’s given us, to show our dependence on Him, to show His importance in our life, and to give thanks to Him for the fruit of our labor.

And like anything else with our worship, there is a danger of making an idol out of it. We can make an idol out of worship if we’re not thinking correctly. And that’s why we need to think rightly about work. Sometimes we’re tempted to consume ourselves with our work so that work or our job becomes the most important thing in our life. And often there is a fine line between working hard to glorify God and working hard because work is an idol. And that is the challenge of work as worship.

But I think Jesus has some helpful instruction for us as we close this evening with Luke chapter 12. Turn to Luke 12 in closing tonight. He tells us that we shouldn’t be consumed by our work. We shouldn’t be consumed with worry over how we will provide or how we will achieve the things that we want to.

But we should work hard for Him. Seek first the kingdom of God. It doesn’t mean ignore your job and only think about heavenly things. It means in your job, seek the kingdom of God. Seek to glorify him in your work. And so the difference between work as idolatry and work as worship is in our motive in it. What are we working for? Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 22. Let me close by reading this.

He said to his disciples, for this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life as to what you will eat or for your body as to what you will put on. Do not be consumed with the material things in life, the things that you work for, the things you work for to provide for yourself and your family. For life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Life is more than what you can accomplish and the things that you can achieve. That’s not what you should live for.

Then he uses an illustration. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap. They have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds? He doesn’t say birds don’t work, so don’t worry about working. He says the birds don’t worry about how they’re gonna find their next meal, how they’re gonna provide. God provides for them. They go out and they function like God created them to.

He continues, and which of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his lifespan? And that is the base of being a workaholic, is it not? Worrying. Worrying about work, worrying about what I can achieve, worrying about what my next accomplishment will be. Therefore, if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Again, they just function like God created them to. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, you of little faith?

And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. That’s the key. It’s not saying, don’t worry about providing for yourself and your family. It’s saying, don’t make that your sole focus. Don’t worry about it. Don’t live for those things.

For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek, but your Father knows that you need these things. And here’s the solution. Seek first His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for your father is well pleased to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions and give it as charity. Make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. It’s not saying don’t work. saying, work with the right treasure in your heart. Seek first the kingdom of God in all that you do. Function as God created you to, to work, but work for Him. Work for His kingdom, and He will provide what you need.

This is work as worship. Next time we focus on worship, we’ll start to think through some of the things that we do in our worship services, what we do here at church. So let’s stand and close in a word of prayer this evening. Our God in heaven, we thank you for the way that you have designed us, the way that you have made us to be workers, to reflect your image in the way that you work, and that you’ve given us tasks to do and work to achieve, things to do to glorify you. And I just pray that as we think about our work, that we would seek to glorify you in it, that we would work hard and have excellence in our work so that you will be glorified. Lord, help us to have the right focus. Help us to not be consumed by the material things or to be consumed with our work itself, but that we would be consumed with your glory.

Lord, as we go now to this celebration of Danielle Strawbridge and her adoption, we pray that you would be glorified in that. Bless the food that you have provided for us and the hands that prepared it. And Lord, we thank you for who you are and the time that we have to fellowship and to edify one another here this evening. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.