Tag-Archive for » work «

Community Things

Friday, May 10th, 2013 | Author:

One reader in the community owns a restaurant in the St. Louis area.  He would like to hire some people, especially those attached to this community who are looking for work.  As he said, “If I can help someone, why wouldn’t I do it?”

So, if you are looking for work and you think this is an opportunity for you, here are some of the details.  All the rest can be discussed with Keith.

Manager Position:  3 days open to close $450.00/ week  or 4 days open to close $600.00/ week
 Restaurant Pizzeria:  Manage staff and store.
Cook position:  base pay 7.35 an hour to start.   Restaurant Kitchen Work
Counter Position:  base pay 7.35 an hour to start plus tips.  Answer phones, take orders, and waitress.
I have temporary  room until the “Person” is able to provide their own living quarters.
Keith,
Cell:636-376-7080

 

Category: Articles, Community Issues & Prayer Requests  | Tags: , ,  | 5 Comments

Turn-Around Specialist

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 | Author:

but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.  Acts 26:20  ESV

Performing deeds – It takes more than simply changing your mind.  That’s the Greek word for “to repent” – metanoeo.  Literally, “to notice afterward, to change one’s feelings, purpose or opinion.”  As you will notice, the Greek verb locates this action in the nous, the mind.  Perhaps that’s where we first got off track.  We began to believe that Christianity was first a mental change and only afterward a change in behavior.  We forgot that the basis of the New Testament metanoeo is the Hebrew verb shuv (to return, to turn back, to repent).  And in Hebrew, there is no turning unless it is accompanied by the required behavior.  That’s why this verse immediately adds “performing deeds” that fit the change in direction.

Even the Greek text pushes us in this direction.  “Performing deeds” is erga prossontas.  You’ll recognize the first word from our English words like “ergonomics” and “ergometer.”  Work!  It’s not just deeds, but rather all effort, all purposes, all actions, whether religious or secular (is there a difference in Hebraic thought?).  Erga is what you do.

Prasso is how you do it.  Prasso is the sheer activity of human beings.  It does not stress the outcome so much as it stresses the effort.  One of the derivatives is pragma.  You’ll recognize this in the English word “pragmatic.”  Prasso is about what we attempt, perform, complete, take as a task or concern ourselves with.  Notice that Paul connects repentance directly with all subsequent action.  In other words, if repentance is true, everything changes.  It is simply impossible for a man to repent and then continue to act in the old ways.  Repentance demands change.

Let’s get practical about all this.  Far too many believers have been told that repentance and forgiveness are states of the mind or the soul.  The Greek separation of human beings into body, mind and soul lends itself to this false understanding of repentance.  We come to believe that repentance is a spiritual activity.  We think that once we experience confession and the warm feeling of forgiveness, we have arrived at a new state called “saved.”  But this is utterly foreign to Hebrew thought.  No man is rescued who continues to side with the enemy.  A servant of the Lord is a traitor to the world.  Where there is no change in behavior, there is no reconciliation with the King.

Of course, this is usually not an instantaneous transformation.  Consider Israel in the wilderness.  Forty years of failure.  Hopefully we won’t have to learn that lesson.  But the demand of Yeshua is just as harsh.  If you side with the world, you are an enemy of the Messiah.  Change must occur.  You must begin to experience confrontational nausea when those old behaviors present themselves.  You must learn to be sick of sin.

Turn around.  Stumble if you must.  Back peddle.  Wrench your side.  But get going in the other direction.  Things won’t look familiar because you are seeing them from a different perspective.  But that’s what’s supposed to happen.  If it’s not, then something else is wrong.

Topical Index: repent, metanoeo, shuv, perform, prasso, work, erga, Acts 26:20

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | One Comment

Paycheck

Sunday, March 11th, 2012 | Author:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  Philippians 2:12 ESV

Work – Anyone who knows a little about the study of motion and work is familiar with this Greek word.  It is ergon (noun) and ergazomai (verb).  We get ergonomics from this root.  In the Greek culture, it covered an extremely wide range of occupations, trades, skills and activities.  The Greeks were a people dominated by a “work ethic” (doesn’t that sound familiar).  One of their greatest poets coined the phrase “known by their works.” We carry the same orientation today when we use the formula greeting, “What do you do?”  We are simply suggesting that people are measured by their work.

For the Hebrews, “work” is a word that is ultimately about God.  God is a God of activity.  He is known by His work.  Of course, this begins with Creation.  God’s handiwork is seen in every aspect of creation.  But God is not limited to a Newtonian view of the universe – a God who set everything in motion and then walked away.  God is at work in every moment and every detail of His Creation.  God is continuously involved in the history of this world, in judgment, redemption, direction and eventually restoration.  Yeshua confirmed this view of God when He said, “My Father is working even now” (John 5:17).  In the New Testament, the work of a believer is always ultimately an expression of the activity of God.  This means that no matter what trade, occupation, skill or activity you name in answer to the question, “What do you do?”, the believer understands that his or her activity is first and foremost service to God.  Since work is an extension of the active God, there is no discrepancy between “faith” and “works.”  One is simply a reflection of the other.  Work is the Hebrew avodah, the harmony of partnered effort, service and worship.  By the way, if you are involved in toil, then you know that what you do isn’t work because it isn’t the serendipity of worship of the King, blessing others and care for the creation.  Toil is drudgery.

Work is serious business.  Your work is God’s calling to you to demonstrate His sovereignty in your life, His character in your actions, His holiness in your choices.  So, work it out carefully.  There is a lot more at stake than a paycheck.

Once you’ve determined to work out your own salvation with care and concern, you’re ready to read the second part of this verse.  Your work is God’s work too.

Topical Index: work, ergon, ergazomai, avodah, salvation, Philippians 2:12

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , ,  | 7 Comments

Working Class Member

Monday, February 20th, 2012 | Author:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow-citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,   Ephesians 2:19 NASB

Fellow-citizens – This word is sumpolitai.  You can see the combination of sum and polites – literally “together with a citizen.”  It is also translated “fellow-workers.”  That is important because this word does not simply mean that we are designated members of a class (citizens) without responsibility.  God does not adopt us to some lazy aristocracy.  The word is derived from a root meaning “to work with” or “to help.”  There is a peculiar and wonderful balance here.  It is the balance struck between the fatalist and the pragmatist.  We can see this balance if we answer two questions.  The first is this: “How is it possible that we can help God?”  After all, God is all-powerful.  He doesn’t really need us to do anything, does He?  That means that nothing that I do can really help God since whatever I do He either already planned for me to do or He was just using me to do what He wanted.  In the end, says this reasoning, God will take care of it all.  That sort of thinking sends us down the road of fatalism – the “que sera, sera” logic of inactivity.  I can sit back, comfortable in my citizenship in God’s kingdom, and let Him take care of everything.  There are many people who claim to be fellow-citizens who apparently believe this.  They are the ones whose hearts seem to be centered on “what’s it to me?” attitudes.  Somewhere along life’s road we have probably met more than one of these.   No wonder so many of us have trouble asking for help from someone else.

There is another side to this teeter-totter.  It is the often-expressed Benjamin Franklin-ism “God helps those who help themselves.”  This is the pragmatist.  “If you want to get something done, you have to do it yourself,” is his motto.  Self-reliance is his creed.  More likely than not, we also know quite a few fellow-citizens who live this kind of life.  They are also just as difficult to ask for help.  They believe that God needs their special help to accomplish His work.

Both of these positions are false for the same reason.  They are both ego centered.  Whether I choose inaction or self-reliance, my choice is driven by my assessment, not His request.  God invites me to be part of His plan.  He expects me to respond. The Bible is full of fallen characters who thought either that God would do it all or that they had to do it all.  The truth is far more wonderful.  We should notice that working with and helping are community actions.  If we are truly fellow-citizens, then we are hands and feet of the Almighty.  We do His will because He asks.  We are involved.  We must be involved.  That’s what it means to be sumpolitai.  You cannot be a part of God’s family and intentionally separate yourself from others.

It is important to point out that “work with” and “help” are synonyms. Kingdom work is not the same as jobs and toil.  Kingdom work is other-directed.  It is blessing someone else through my efforts on God’s behalf.  Apply that standard to your current occupation and see if what you do is fit for the Kingdom.

Topical Index:  help, work, citizen, sumpolitai, Ephesians 2:19

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , ,  | 3 Comments

Taking Care of Business

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 | Author:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days you shall labor and do all your work; and the seventh day is a sabbath to YHWH your God; you shall not do any work,  . . .  Exodus 20:8-10  J. Green translation

Work – Work/worship/serve is the combination of meanings associated with the Hebrew word avad.  But this isn’t the word used in the fourth commandment.  The word used in this commandment is melakah, a word that means “work, occupation, business, workmanship or service.”  Six days you shall take care of business, but not on the seventh day.  Seems clear enough, right?  Well, maybe not.

As an interesting aside, we might notice that melakah has the same assumed root as the word mal’ak and mal’ak is used not only for messenger but also for angel (all those who carry a message).  Does this suggest that work is also a form of message-bearing?

TWOT[1] distinguishes melakah (work) from ‘amal and yaga’ (toil).  Work emphasizes effort that involves skill and benefits, as opposed to toil which it seen as burdensome labor.  Melakah describes not only the effort but the results.  This commandment prohibits three things on the Sabbath:  what we do that is associated with skill, what we do that provides benefits and what we do that could involve saying something about us to the watching world that would dishonor God.

With this broad definition, the next obvious question is, “What are those kinds of things?”  The Bible specifically mentions nine activities.  Only nine.  But Judaism expanded these nine to 39 classifications and from there to hundreds of rulings on particulars in works like the Tractate Shabbat.  Of course, there were good motivations behind these expansions.  No one wanted to accidently violate a commandment so everyone wanted to know the details.  These details are included in the oral Torah, eventually written down in rabbinic material.  This process tells us something about the culture we encounter when we read the Bible, particularly the New Testament.

Martin Hengel’s study of the influence of Hellenism on Judaism contains this remarkable statement:  “From about the middle of the third century BC all Judaism must really be designated as ‘Hellenistic Judaism’ in the strict sense, and a better differentiation could be made between the Greek-speaking Judaism of the Western Diaspora and the Aramaic/Hebrew-speaking Judaism of Palestine and Babylonia.”[2]  Hengel continues, “The Jews were the only people of the East to enter into deliberate competition with the Greek view of the world and of history,  . . . after 70AD they suddenly broke off from giving accounts of their history and concentrated entirely on developing fundamentally ahistorical halacha and haggada  . . .”[3]  The destruction of the second temple precipitated this break but the foundation for it was laid hundreds of years earlier in the rise of rabbinic theology.  An example of Hegel’s observation can be seen in the dozens of rulings regarding the proper application of melakah.  Judaism in the time of Yeshua was already on its way toward this concentration of halacha and haggadah.  It is simply impossible to read the texts of the New Testament without understanding this background.

Judaism today is not the same faith that we find in the older books of the Tanakh.  It has been transformed since the destruction of the Temple.  That doesn’t mean we cannot learn a great deal from Jewish insights and investigation, but it does mean that we have to probe as best we can behind the cultural transformation that occurred after the fourth century BC in Israel.  In other words, we have to look toward the cultures of the ancient Near-East (like Mesopotamia, Babylon and Egypt) if we are going to understand words like melakah as they were understood by the chosen ones who stood before YHWH at Sinai.

We have a lot to learn, don’t we?

Topical Index:  Sabbath, work, melakah, Judaism, halacha, Exodus 20:8-10


[1] The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, eds. Archer, Waltke, Harris

[2] Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism, p. 104.

[3] Ibid., p. 100.

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , ,  | 6 Comments

Chasing Shadows

Monday, October 17th, 2011 | Author:

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order:  If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.  2 Thessalonians 3:10  NASB

Will not work – There is a South African colloquialism describing men who would rather sit than work.  It’s called “chasing shadows.”  These men sit against the side of a building during the day, moving only enough to stay in the shadows and out of the hot sun.  Why should they work?  The government gives them housing, electricity and water.  If they complain to the right people, they will probably get food and medical care.  Why bother to do anything else, especially in an African culture that lacks any form of Judeo-Christian work ethic?  Chasing shadows is good enough as long as someone else pays my bills.  The disparity between the immigrant generations of Afrikaners and the indigenous Black population couldn’t be more stark.  One toils in the sun.  The other sits in the shade.

You might be appalled by this lack of human motivation, this deterioration of humanity into nothing more than sleeping dogs.  But before you complain that government corruption, government interference and government desire for voter dependence are the contributing factors, perhaps we need to take a step back and look at another historical influence – the theology of free grace.  My observations and the observations of many people on the mission field and in third world countries is this:  evangelical Christianity has contributed to an entitlement spirituality that equally contributes to human indolence.  Around the world, converts wait with an open hand for the rich to send them what they need.  Forgiveness is free so why shouldn’t all the other provisions of God come the same way?  Just pray and expect someone else to provide.  Just sit in the shadows.  If the indigenous culture did not provide a strong incentive to work, Christianity will not suddenly change that.  God gives freely.  Why should I have to do anything?

On a very personal level, I have often been confronted with the complaint that Today’s Word should be free to everyone.  Why?  Because it is about spiritual things and all spiritual things are free.  I have been called quite a few names by insisting that Today’s Word requires commitment.  If computer savvy readers have this attitude, imagine how much more it resides in those who do not enjoy Western luxuries?

Apparently Paul wasn’t of the opinion that God was running a cosmic entitlement program.  “If anyone (no qualifications) will not (makes the deliberate choice) work (be productive for the benefit of self and others),” then there are consequences.  No one must be allowed to mooch off of the community.  Everyone must contribute.

Is Paul’s instruction God’s word?  If it is, then can you imagine what God’s assessment of our current political and religious give-away programs might be?  What do you think God would say to the shadow-chasers?  What would He say to those noble-minded mission organizations that demand nothing in return for their efforts in the field?  If Paul speaks God’s mind, do you think YHWH approves of our good-news hand-out mentality?  One thing is absolutely certain.  Expect nothing and men will live up to that standard.

My friend Jason runs a charitable organization that builds houses in the slums in Mexico.  His isn’t the only mission doing this work, but it is the only one that demands that the family receiving the house perform 200 hours of community service before they get the house.  When he started with this novel concept, other missions organizations told him it would never work.  Besides, they were giving away houses for free.  Many years later, the houses Jason and the owners built are painted, they have flowers in the yard, they have the same families living there and they are actively engaged in helping others get homes.  The houses given away for free are run-down shacks.  Multiple groups have come and gone through their doorways.  The yards are still full of trash.  Expect nothing and you will always get it.

Paul was right.  It is God’s word.  Man was made to work.  Take work away from him and he becomes a dog seeking shade.  God’s grace isn’t free.  It cost a price so enormous that no one could pay it.  The resulting blessings are also not free.  “Work out your salvation” needs to replace “God has a wonderful plan.”  When we stop giving it away, we might actually see lives changed.  The few who are chosen will avail themselves of the opportunity and all will see the difference.  Keep up the good work, Jason (click here to see what Jason is doing).

Topical Index: work, eat, free, 2 Thessalonians 3:10

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , ,  | 18 Comments

Praise and Worship Music (1)

Saturday, August 27th, 2011 | Author:

“The Rock!  His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.”  Deuteronomy 32:4  NASB

The Rock! – You’re standing on the banks of the Jordan.  You’ve been waiting for this day for forty years.  Your parents have died, along with all your friends’ parents.  But they passed along this hope to you.  “One day you will stand on the river’s edge.  One day you will enter the Land.”  Today is that day!

The great leader, Moshe, prophet of God, addresses the throng.  Almost with disbelief you learn that he will not cross over.  Joshua will lead you into the Land.  But Moshe has one more gift to you and to all who wait.  He has delivered the Torah, God’s instructions for life in the Land, once more.  Your parents told you about the day when God Himself delivered this code of conduct.  They told you that they shook with fear when the Lord settled on the mountain.  They taught you Torah since the time you were able to remember.  And now the day is here!

Suddenly Moshe breaks into song.  It is the first song of praise and worship.  Here’s how it begins:

Ha-tzur

tamiym pa-a-lo

ki kol-d’ra-kav mishpat

El emunah ve-eyn avel

Tzadik ve-yashar Hoo.

We don’t know the tune anymore, but we can certainly study the lyrics.  What we discover is the amazing depth of Moshe’s song.

“The Rock!” (Ha-tzur).  Most English translations add “He is” but the Hebrew text doesn’t need this.  Perhaps Moshe’s song begins with a triumphal shout!  The Rock!  In Hebrew metaphor, God is as solid as could be.  He is the firm foundation, the mountain of stone, the unshakeable granite beneath our feet.  The Rock!  Here we stand!  We will not be moved.  Can you hear it?  The thundering clap of hands.  The drum roll.  The entire congregation in one voice shouting, “The Rock!”  This is victory we can touch, see and feel.  Here before us in the Jordan.  God’s promise delivered.  The Rock once more confirmed.

“Tamiym pa-a-lo” (perfect His work).  The second thought draws another equivalence.  If God and Rock are equal, so are perfect and work.  Tamiym is an adjective meaning “blameless, complete” and in a moral sense, “true, virtuous, upright, righteous.”  In more than half of its occurrences, it is about the sacrificed animal without blemish.  Moshe combines this pregnant word with po’al, the Hebrew word for what is performed or completed.  Po’al emphasizes the result of the action (from pa’al – to do or make).  Everything God does is blameless, complete and upright.  And buried in that thought is sacrifice, even the sacrifice of God Himself.  It too is done perfectly.

God unshakeable, God of unmovable foundation, is the God of sacrifice, of blameless accomplishment.  The Rock is the Altar, the place where God demonstrates His complete reliability.

You’re ready to cross the river, but before you do, Moshe reminds you that you did not arrive on the bank by your own effort.  You will not cross because you earned it.  Nor will your occupation of the Land depend on your strength and cunning.  This is God’s day.  This is His plan.  The Rock has arrived at the river and the way is about to be parted.

Topical Index:  ha-tzur, the Rock, Moshe, Deuteronomy 32:4, perfect, work, tamiym, po’al

 

 

 

 

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 5 Comments

Alien Righteousness

Thursday, August 11th, 2011 | Author:

For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Parazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, to do His task, His unusual task, and to work His work, His extraordinary work.  Isaiah 28:21  NASB

To work His work – “As for me and my house.”  Joshua’s often-quoted declaration makes his commitment clear.  Perhaps it’s worth noting that it includes his entire house.  Joshua says that he and his family will serve the Lord.  The Hebrew verb is, of course, avad.  Joshua is going to work for God.  It doesn’t matter what the rest of the Israelites do.  He knows where he must labor.

Of course, avad also means worship.  Joshua’s family will not only work under the Lord’s banner, they will also worship Him – and no other.  Joshua’s work is godly worship.

And then we come to Isaiah.  YHWH Himself declares that He will avod avodato (work His work) but this time His work will be utterly alien.  It will not be what the people expect.  This time the work will be nokriya avodato (foreign work).  Joshua made a commitment to work/worship the Lord.  YHWH now makes a pledge to bring about the unimaginable – to bring about the destruction of Israel at the hands of its enemies.  How is this possible?  Hasn’t YHWH made an unbreakable vow with Israel?  Does He not exclaim, “Ephraim, how can I give you up?” (Hosea 11:8).

Once more we are confronted with a Near Eastern worldview.  What God does defines what is good.  There is no external standard that He too must meet.  He is the standard.  His actions are always good.  So when He turns Israel over to its enemies, He is doing what is good.  His work is self-glorification.  It is making His name hallowed.  It is foreign and alien from Israel’s perspective, but not from God’s.  His purposes are served.  He is worshipped.  When Joshua declared that he and his household would work/worship the Lord, he did not mean that he would ascribe to some ethical principle that would insure proper behavior and civility.  He did not mean that he would practice appropriate rituals and maintain holy attitudes.  He meant that he would do whatever YHWH asked of him because YHWH’s will was his only concern.  Centuries later God has to remind His people that His will is still their only concern.  When the people stood in front of Joshua and declared that they were witnesses to their commitment, they had no idea that one day their witness would involve such severe chastisement.  They could not have imagined that God would use their enemies to bring about His purposes.

But we should know.  We should not be surprised to discover the YHWH will avod avodato on us in the same way if necessary.  Work isn’t always wonderful from our point of view.  Sometimes it seems like a destructive force, tearing us into pieces.  We simply lack the perspective to see the whole.  God works the work of His purposes, and sometimes that means the work of destruction, the work that makes us wonder if God really cares about us.  Sometimes we forget that what He does is always good.  That’s when we need to remember Joshua and Isaiah – and then get on with what we are called to do next.

Topical Index:  work, worship, serve, avad, Joshua 24:15, Isaiah 28:21, Hosea 11:8

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 11 Comments

Passion Fruit

Saturday, August 06th, 2011 | Author:

and there was not a man to till the ground  Genesis 2:5  (Hebrew World translation)

To till – There is no difference between sacred and secular.  Better read that again since nearly everything about our culture is based on separating sacred and secular.  We have church and state, spiritual and carnal, righteous and wicked and all the other dichotomies that break our world into segmented pieces.  So how can the cultures of the ancient Near East, including Israel, view the world without a line between sacred and secular?

The answer is simple:  God inhabits all.  God is sovereign over all.  God directs all.  As soon as I create the artificial boundary between the things of God and the rest of the world, I imply that God is restricted to His realm but I live in both.  This is the basis of idolatry.  There is no difference between sacred and secular.

But, there is a big difference between how I choose to respond to this unity.  The categories of righteous and wicked, obedient and disobedient, sacred and profane are real.  They come about because human beings have chosen to ignore that fact that there is no difference between sacred and secular.

Let’s look at one simple example.  Let’s consider what it means to work.  The Hebrew word is avad.  This verb also means “to serve, to develop, to cultivate, to perform some service and more specifically, to serve YHWH, to worship.”  Its opposite is shabat, to rest, to cease.  Avad is not the same as ‘atsav, to toil.  Avad is part of God intended function for Man just as shabat is part of God’s intention for Man.  Man without avad is less than human.  There is no “retirement” in the service of the Lord.  That dichotomy (work/retire) is another invention of a broken world.  In the originally created world, avad is what men do.

Notice the connection between avad and the source and object of avodah (the noun “work”).  Men are to work/serve the source of their being, the earth.  Men came from the earth.  They are ha-adam from the adamah.  Their role is to act as caretakers and stewards of their own source.  In the process of doing this, they serve the earth and worship the Lord.  God created Man to avad (cultivate) and shamar (care for) the earth.

But most of us aren’t farmers anymore.  Most of us are lucky if we have any dirt at all to care for.  So how are we to fulfill this God-designed role?  That answer is also easy:  put your passion into redemptive work.  Even the broken world retains remnants of the Garden.  Every man and woman is hard-wired to release their passion upon an unredeemed earth.  And when that passion is put into service for the King, it becomes a vital force for work/serve/ worship.  To do what I was born to do and to glorify the Father and bless others at the same time is the true meaning of work.  Anything less borders on ‘atsav.

Just remember, there is no difference between sacred and secular in the redeemed universe.  Putting your passion into service for YHWH does not mean you must take up a sacred profession.  Nor does it mean you must work in the church.  Anywhere the earth needs cultivation and care-taking is exactly where your passions are to be employed.  There are no boundaries preventing redemptive acts from infecting any part of the broken world.  There are only righteous means to accomplish redemptive ends.

Today is a good day to evaluate your “work.”  Is it avad or atsav?  Is it caretaking of the source of your being, a delight to God and a blessing to others?  Is it the domestication of your passion?  Think about that while you cut the lawn, do the ironing or peel potatoes.

Topical Index:  work, avad, ‘atsav, toil, passion, serve, worship, Genesis 2:5

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 11 Comments

Work or Toil?

Friday, June 24th, 2011 | Author:

For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. I Corinthians 3:9  NASB

Fellow-workers – For devotional impact, one can hardly improve on Oswald Chambers’ commentary on this verse (see April 23 of My Utmost for His Highest).  With typical aplomb, Chambers delivers a razor-sharp message.  A man or woman engaged in the work of the Kingdom without a full consecration to the Lord of the Kingdom finds that “there is no freedom, no delight in life; nerves, mind and heart are so crushingly burdened that God’s blessing cannot rest.”  This “work” is nothing but toil because it attempts to replace the sovereignty of the Almighty with the planning of noble men.  Once more we are delivered to Genesis and the negotiated arrangement of Havvah (Genesis 4:1), a planned solution to her experience of pain – planned without repentance, restitution and reconciliation.  It seems that wherever we stray, we don’t get far from the Garden.

Chambers rightly notes that God “engineers everything” so that our single goal is not to plan the work but rather to work the plan, His plan of discipling others whom He brings across our daily path.  The work which He wishes us to do is not what we concoct or imagine, but rather what He puts in front of us.  That’s what it means to assert that God engineers life.

While Chambers doesn’t mention it, we probably need to take a closer look at the Greek sunergos (fellow-worker).  Paul uses this word to express the joy and happiness that arrives unbidden when we join God in the effort.  We might easily recall once more that assignment given Adam in the Garden.  Avodah – the work he was to do – was accompanied by worship and service.  In fact, it was the homogenization of all three vital elements for the development of what it means to be human.  Far too much “work” is done without the essential mixture of these three – and work done in thirds inevitably turns to toil, the destructive erosion of humanity on the wheel of gain and necessity.

Sunergos is, of course, the combination of sun (with) and ergon (work).  Work in conjunction with, work as cooperative effort, work in harmony, work as an expression of unified endeavor.  God is not a sole proprietor.  One might legitimately ask if He is even an entrepreneur.  God is a company Man.  He is corporate through and through.  His objective is the blessing of all through the actions of a few.  If we operated according to that cosmic principle, we might find that a good deal of what we necessarily do is really unproductive toil.  If you discover that there is no joy, no peace, no happiness and no ability to delight in blessing others with what you are now doing, then the chances are pretty good that toil is your mantra and avodah has been sent to the recycler.

Chambers teaches us unwavering concentration on God – not on what we think He wants us to do, but on Him – and abandonment to wherever that leads.  Paul teaches us that the productive results are not up to us, but we will nevertheless inherit the by-products:  joy, peace and happiness.  It reminds me of that first labor contract, the one made with Adam.  Are you ready to return to tilling the Garden, or do you want to keep pounding sand?

Topical Index:  work, fellow-worker, sunergos, toil, Oswald Chambers, 1 Corinthians 3:9, Genesis 4:1, Genesis 2:5

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 4 Comments
« Previous Entries