The Rhythm of Work

Hey, we're going to be in Genesis here this morning. If you are new we're typically a church that goes through books of the Bible. We went through first and second Peter over the last year. We're taking a break this summer because summertime have a lot of hit and miss and so we're doing a series on rhythms and looking at what that looks like in our lives and then this fall we're going to begin 1st Corinthians and you can plan on hunkering down in 1st Corinthians 4 at least 18 to 24 months. We're going to spend a grip of time in there. So if you like man, I love going through books. Guess what we're going to do it. You just got to wait till September and will be in one for a really long time what we're looking at here this morning. I'm really what I want to consider in our mindset is redeeming rhythms of life. Specifically this morning Redeeming the rhythm of work not every single person when you walked in here this morning, you have a theology that is surrounding the idea and the topic of work and some of your theology comes from what you were taught by your parents. For others of you Theology of work comes around what you learned in the church what you see model or maybe you learn in school or maybe you even Googled work before because that tends to be our God of this age, right? And so if you Google work kind of this idea of what does work look like or what is rhythms of work what you're going to get is a ton of Articles and arguments on how we are a overworked stressed out burned out culture. I did that here and it says that from Business Insider, so take it for what it's worth satistics show that people's jobs can contribute to workaholism insomnia and divorce the average person spends more than 90,000 hours in their lifetime at work and it affects their personal lives and the article goes on to just list the different ways that people are losing sleep or losing relationships. They're losing friendships because of War. Know what I want to do this morning because it's incredibly important for our rhythms of work is I want to talk about a right Theology of work. Really I write Orthodoxy concerning work that should lead to the right orthopraxy or how we actually play this out in our lives concerning the idea of the problem isn't work. The problem of work is not work, but it's our rhythms or ideas concerning work. And here's what I need to point out from the very get-go and he spent much time around redeemers, you know, some of my favorite chapters in the Bible come from Genesis 1 2 and 3, you know, all we have is Genesis 1 2 and 3 we'd have so much explanation as to where the world came from and what our purpose and went went wrong in the world and one of the things that you'll quickly see if you read Genesis 1 through 3, you'll see that there is a God who is at work who is created man, and he is called man to work. Ball Genesis 3 answers in it didn't delete The rhythms of mankind. It didn't erase the plans of God for work and rest and friendship and food and getting together. But it distorted and twisted our desires for these things. This is a huge shift in thinking that we need to grass and understand especially when it's going this morning to come to this idea of work that the problems we see around us. Not just physical problems or emotional problems, but that the world in the way in which it ticks and is falling apart because there's also the spiritual problem deep inside of individuals who are depraved of the truth and the word of God and write understanding of how the world is to operate and work around us. However, in Redemption God is reconciling a people unto himself and he also missing is also reconciling these rhythms in our lives that play out today. Absolutely. He is grabbing a hold of our hearts and conforming them in the image of Jesus Transforming Our Lives and radically changing us for our Salvation. So important to understand that But when God moves in our hearts and in our lives, we understand that Christianity is a whole life religion that Christianity touches every part of your life. Do you know that about your Christianity this morning that Christianity is not just some compartments that comes off on Sunday mornings and you seen some praise songs. Then you go your way and maybe Midway to get a little influence through a Bible study or through a community group or through some other sort of gathering that you have with a group of people but Christianity reorders out and tire lies and there's no other way around it or if we have said several times salvation orders Our Lives we orders are thinking and how we view the world around us. This is the first thing that we need to understand here this morning when we're talking about work that God when he moves in US gives us different ideas. And we previously had is he Seated on the throne in our hearts and our lives what that means is we still rest. We still eat we still have friendship. We still play We Still Love But as God moves in our hearts and our lives will begin to find is those things are under God not above God they're not the priority or the main pursuit of life but they definitely are part of pursuing God believe it or not as we'll see you this morning when we consider this idea of work Which is honestly one of the biggest parts of everybody's lives and I'm not this morning. Just going to talk about work being that place in which you go to to receive a paycheck because I'll tell you what there's a lot of people who do a lot of work that do not get paid. Right? There's a lot of things that get done around your home around your property at church on Sunday when you're volunteering they're all different kinds of Avenues in which this can play out in our lives and we're going to see that everybody in some facet or another you are working and it's not just talking this morning about a 9 to 5 or 4:10 or 9 months on and 3 months off. But this idea of work has to get down to the very miniscule tasks that we even participate in the very things I can seem so draining and life sucking and we think I don't bunch of do that or partake in that or what Glory could this actually bring to God and tending the chores and making sure the family is functioning things are livable. This is all work. Lawn needs mowing. The weeds need picking and the food needs cooking. Right? These are all things that were participating in and what has happened in society. We come to either load work or love work, but have not found a balance in between right? We've come to be a group of people that say we get all of our hope all of our identity all of our joy from the things that we do whether it's for money or it's some sort of Hobby and it actually becomes this Idol in our life that tells us who we are and why were love and how we were accepted or we take on this view of work that it's something that's to be loathed despised and hated and that Leisure is actually the true God and you need to do whatever it takes to get to that true God of leisure, right? That's the Instagram view of work. Picture of a margarita poolside hanging out and doing nothing cuz that is how you truly live and not his success and the Bible is going to reorient our thinking and it's going to actually declare that work is good. Work is right but work is not everything work is not who you are and my hope is that into recovering a Biblical Theology of work. We create healthy rhythms in life surrounding work a couple of questions here surrounding work now. Once again get out of the mine instead of what I do to make a paycheck because work doesn't stop when you clock out if your apparent you're like, I know actually the hard work when you get home and you have to deal with things. Alright work. I want you to ask yourself these questions. I might work rhythms healthy or put another way is work my only rhythm. Rhythm we talked about this last week something that you only regularly do it's got pattern to it. It's happening over and over again. Do I only do other life rhythms Family Church friends pursuing the things of God when it's convenient because work is not currently consuming me. Basically, do I only engage and the other aspects of Life can only function and other activities when work is not depressing thing in my life is the way I'm working sustainable tropical for my life and what God actually wants for me. The big question are my work habits is my work rhythms. Actually what God has called me to buy by idolized it and allowed it to consume me. I want to share a few scriptures concerning work for this morning. It begins in Genesis chapter 1 where to look at verse 24. It says and God said let the Earth bring forth living creatures according to their fruits livestock's creeping things and beasts of the Earth according to their kinds and it was so and God made the beasts of the Earth according to their kind and the livestock's according to the kinds of everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind and God saw that it was good. Then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. And let him have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image in the image. He created him male and female. He created them God bless them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth really God creates man. And the first command gives them is to have this rhythm of relationship with one another that were actually being Community with each other Perry's going to talk about this in a couple of months or 6 weeks from now whenever got him scheduled in this idea that we actually need to be in life rhythms of community and friendship because God has ordained design that for our lives in a way for us to truly actually glorify him, but it goes on and it says And fill the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea the birds of the heavens over every living thing that moves on the earth. The first thing that we see here concerning work is God created man, and he says get to work. He says cultivate take what I have made take this beautiful garden and attendance. Make it wonderful make it profitable make it usable create something as I had actually done for you and have established that for you. Then in Chapter 2 Verse 3. It says so God blessed the seventh X Universe one. That's the heavens and the Earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done and rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God bless the seventh day made it. Holy because on it got arrested from all his work that he had done and creation. We see that God makes man God tells man to cultivate to work to subdue then in Genesis 2 we read that once again God worked he rested and he's establishing this pattern for humans to follow after now only serve a culture today at least Western Society in Western culture and people is work good or bad or neutral. What do you think? The response would be? Nobody wants to take a stab at it. How is work bad? No is work neutral.

Maybe is work good. Is work good. What scripture say work is good a good God who said these things are good made work. Now. Our culture tends to think work is what gets in the way of my life work is what presents and prevents me from actually having a life and having fun work there for is some kind of enemy and we're allergic to work and we shouldn't have to work Arch. We shouldn't have to get our hands dirty to the ideology. That work is bad is not actually a Biblical idea. It actually has secular roots or has Pagan Roots whether it's the myth that I share with you guys a couple of weeks ago or it's Pandora's Box for the human beings were given this box and they were told they don't open it and if you are told not to open anything, what do you want to do? You want to open it and they're actually in this myth and actually really negative towards females. The biblical account of the fall of Man is put both on man and woman here in Pandora's box. Myth. Here's what happens if she gets the box and she opens it up and what comes out of it death sickness pain suffering War. She is a theology is a thought is rooted in ancient thought processes. That work is evil or maybe today we think work is neutral, but it's neither of those work is actually good work is good. When I say work is good. How did we come to that? The first thing we see in Genesis is God works there for work and not be evil. Cuz God is not even work is good. Sinclair Ferguson said man was made to work because the God who made him was a working God. Work is not bad scripture tells us that though God ceased from his labor. There. Is this Rhythm to his labor that he tells man to labor as well some believe that work is a curse that comes from the Genesis 3 narrative in some Evangelical circles work is a first look at Genesis 3, it does not say that work is a but now the ground what man is supposed to chill what we're supposed to be able to cultivate and get food from and provider provide for ourselves. That is what is she going to labor by the sweat of your brow that the physical act of work is not a curse. how to curse the ground absolutely and so we see this creating God has given this mandate to Adam and Eve to us as well that we are to work what that means is work is a calling here is a Biblical understanding our Biblical view of work. We are called to work but it is not our first collie.

We are called to work you dear Christians should not love hate the spies work work as a calling by calling. I mean God has put things in you giving you a Big Woody's. If there's one job for you, but is a range of jobs that use those abilities. I need to find your abilities. You can use them as a signpost for the jobs that find themselves most fulfilling in you. What does that mean? It's a lot of work is not cursed work is good. God is gifted each and every single person because image bearers reflecting the very image of God. He has put inside our heart desires their forward to use these desires to go out into the world to make and to create What distance says is there's not just one job for you. But because you have talent and gifted you could actually use your talents and gifting in many different ways. But you to do these things unto the glory of God. Now when we talk about the purpose of work is a lady. Her name is Dorothy Sayers and she wrote an article. You can look it up called. Why work and you're something that she says and nothing has the church. So lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the secular vacation. She is allowed work and religion to become separate departments and is astonished to find that work of the world is turn to purely selfish and destructive ends and that the greater part. I become uninterested in religion may continue society as a whole and individuals in particular are dying because they do not have the Revolutionary old biblical Doctrine. Our society is not only hurting from it but individuals are hurting because we don't have it the church's approach for example to an intelligent Carpenter is usually defined exhorting him to not be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to church on Sundays with the church should be telling him is this at the very first a man that his religion makes upon him that he should make good tables.

Think about it. You come to church your Carpenter your construction worker. You work on the Landscaping you prep food. You're a teacher. You're a doctor Euro lawyer. Will you have given this opportunity to run businesses and you come to church on Sunday and was so often taught when it concerns work is the first thing is is that you should not get drunk as Dorothy Sayers is saying they should be really careful with how you spend your leisurely time that has been the Mantra of what his priest from Sunday after Sunday. But what does say or say in this she says the first thing that should be told you you hear Carpenter is it you should make really good tables. It's your customer service kind of person. You should have the best customer service. If you build home. You should have the best product. If you give presentations, you should give the best presentation that is what God has called you to do in a way in which you can actually honor and glorify him in your work. Rajini work for Redeeming the purpose of why we're doing these things and it's not for our Glory are our purposes. But for God and His glory and his purposes work was to bring about human flourishing as well as the world Fleur. She she was so individualized work when we do the first one. All right, we want to bring about individual flourishing in our work. What does individual flourishing my family is taken care of my cars run. There's a roof over my head. I want to flush When was the last time you looked at your work and you thought how does this make the world around me flourish Martin Luther had some great things to say about this back in his day. He says what makes a city secure is good laws from good legislators good laws upheld by good lawyers security by police and military good governance from magistrates and managers and rulers. In other words. God takes care of us through the work of other people. All work is God's way of meeting your needs and giving you life for the work of other people. That's really amazing. All work. I love that last night all work. Is that idea that God's way of meeting your needs and giving you life to the work of other people you think about how Society works for Farmers to construction workers to Educators to doctors to lawyers to even the very people who do the minuscule tasks and society that maybe we have a tendency to look down on but just like CS Lewis talks about how there's no mere mortal, right? There's no way to look down in a single human being and think less of them. There's no way we can look at a single job in society and look down on a person for the chassis they do because if they did not do this task would not be done as well. It takes us all to make this world go round and round. Cheapest idea of work in the nature of work, it's bringing order out of chaos and Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 through 2. The world the Earth was without form or void in the spirit hovered over there the waters and God take something is very chaotic this picture of the sea that is presented in ancient literature in the topic and we can talk about it some point this C represent chaos disorder the unknown and God takes this and he makes order out of it. twerk Last summer we had this really ugly burn that's not in front of our house and their I'm not the most, you know intuitive when it comes to landscaping and doing things of growing things. I don't even have the right a lingo or language. All right. You don't want me doing your garden. I can promise you that it'll look like death nautical to see my wife says we got to get that thing out of here, and I'm like Honey do list. All right, we got to get this thing out of here. So I take this burn down all these Stones stacked around it. I didn't remove all the bark dust and just throw it into the goat. Can I take all of the dirt that was in there and spread all across this just dry arid part where it used to be and right next to it is grass and she's like, that's ugly.

I fixed the berm it's gone now. That's ugly. So I went down to my local Lowe's store and picked up some seed and lo and behold I planted seed and I watered and I watered and I watered and I grew.

Listen to me every person that came over for the next 3 weeks new I grew grass. I was bummed I didn't I took raw elements of this world and I made something not out of nothing like God, but I took what he had created and I found deep satisfaction in it. I was walking the trail praying for our church this week and there is this Mom and she had four kids on bikes behind her and as they started nearing me there was one kid in the distance just stuck in the back and she was watching the youngers. I totally understood our position and all the sudden she and her three kids are passing me and I'm approaching this kid that was left behind and he had his bike on the ground and he's just sitting there almost in tears. And I said, well what's wrong he reminded me of me. I would cry over everything. You can still do and he looked at me and he says when I when I pedal it makes a clicking sound on my bike is breaking and again, I'm not mechanical flipped it upside down and I begin to talk with him about the chain in the gears. We went through some things and we realized there was something off and we fixed it and the kid just jumps up and there is a complete joy and satisfaction because not me we fix that together and there was satisfaction and fulfillment in our work. interesting in Ecclesiastes, 224-225. It says there is nothing better for a person that he should eat and then drinks and find enjoyment in his toil. Eat and drink and find enjoyment in your work this also I saw its from the hand of God for a part from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment for the one who pleases him. God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. Work is good. And you're going to find satisfaction in work? You may not always love the work that you do in fact because it's cursed they're going to be hard and difficult and miserable days. But there is to be fulfillment in the work that we do if we're actually fulfilling this biblical mandate that God has placed on it and what this verse in Ecclesiastes says is that we are in the right order of under God but over creation. This is really important distinction that has to be made this morning. We are under God but we are over creation Now in the fall and then sin Romans 1 says that we despised and rejected the Creator and we actually chose to worship creation over this God who made us with chosen our own individuality and purposes and self-fulfillment with Elevate that to such a degree that we said in this I will find satisfaction and hearing Ecclesiastes this preacher what he's saying is you Me you sure you ought to find fulfillment in work the listen, you have to get the priority rights. If you're not serving God it'll be futile and worthless and painful all your work will be worthless if you don't serve and love God. Doing the biblical mandate is actually enjoying and allowing work to bring satisfaction to your lives. I have preached you probably listen not only to me but several other people several sermons on the idolatry of work anybody ever heard of serving titled at the idolatry work. If you've been here for a couple years. Do you heard one trust me? They was just terrible Pastor then my goodness. All right. we've talked about this rightfully so but it has been so overstated that sometimes we feel we should no longer rejoice in the work that we do. That no longer should we feel some sense of satisfaction from the very work that is completed and any rejoicing or joy that I get from work could be idolatry. Listen to create to make to take chaos and bring it to order. That is what God did and when we do that were actually Imaging. Every human being has a deep desire for this. We all have a desire to image God because we were made in His image you have to do it. And and here's what I mean by that. Here's how we do this through work this morning. If you create a business, you're taking a potential product or are you taking something that lacks and society and you should Society needs this Society can benefit from this and you create something out of chaos and disorder and you go here is what we need to fix this problem. Is a better product is hasn't been done before and we can do you like to create Arts you using your imagination you're using your talents and abilities to draw the mountains that sit out there to do what to bring pleasure to somebody else not just yourself. If you are good at taking a terribly organized organization. And that's one of your like this and you look at it. This place is a mess. You know, what I would do I'm running for the hills, but some of you are super good at taking bad organizations and making those things click and making them profitable making them function and making them work. That is Kitchen chaos and disorder and making an orderly some of your counselor and you take the chaos and disorder of somebody's life and you make it quarterly as your share with them and you're giving them ideas and you're showing them who Jesus is in the midst of its some of you and your teachers and you've got these chaotic third graders are running around at your ankles and their lies are crazy and they are a mess that you're getting them for 9 months and you're pouring into them.

And you're sharing with them and you're giving them skills and others of you are working in organizations like this to make those jobs turn and go round and round to see if your work is incredibly important.

Even take the very minuscule task of cleaning your home. If my home doesn't get cleans, we're all getting salmonella tomorrow. I mean my kids drop eggs every single day on the floor on the counters of the going outside and if my wife is not coming through sometimes me with bleach and everything else. We're all going to die. It's not going to be good yet. What happens in our society as we look at it in tasks like that unimportant absolutely in order to it and why I'm taking such Great Lengths to actually explain this process is because if we're truly going to redeem The rhythms of work, we need to see the importance of work in the part that are workplace and society-at-large now if you are in here and you are a mobster your work's not good you need to get out. You're peddling drugs, right you're stealing to do anything to make a living. That's not work. That's destruction. That's chaos. That's disorder. We're taking whatever task it is. Mowing lawns Landscaping, whatever it maybe we can do those things unto the glory of God. You must always always always see your work as divinely appointed by God.

For a long time especially in late mid church history. They really wanted you to only view the clergy those of the cloth as having divinely appointed tasks and jobs. That is a myth. first jobs given to anybody in the Bible with gardeners God himself getting his hands dirty making man out of dirt. Your work is divinely divinely appointed. understand that some of us don't need to change how we view our work in order to establish. Healthy rhythms around our work here is the problem. I kind of looked at work as idolatry and then you didn't get the full sermon cuz you missed it maybe a year ago. Now you're going to actually get the sermon on that now, so I want you to understand that not all your work is idolatry but work as idolatry that happens in our lives when your work tells you who you are and why you matter. Dear mother and my mom's even here. Her son's we both Pastor? That doesn't make her a better mom in a single person in here.

If if if me or my brother go off the rails, it doesn't make her a worse mom because of who she is who she is in Jesus Christ. But it is so easy for my mom to view her value to his term her identity because she poured so many years and made so many burritos and whatever else ice cream closed Michael Jordan shoes when we couldn't afford them thinking my kids will like me. My kids will love me and my kids will accept me and you can she didn't you can assume an identity from that moms. Please a lot of pressure today cuz you see a lot of moms on Instagram. Just killing it, right.

They're not killing it. They're drowning just like you but we think I'm going to get my identity from this or if you're building homes, or if your Landscaping of your teaching you can think my progress my chest beat things are what are going to tell me who I am that is idolatry. That is what I draw a tree is we're not going to go to the statue at work and bow down before and sacrifice to work. We're not doing what we're doing is identity when did receive your identity from me? That is the number one and only place you're going to find fulfillment and satisfaction in this life that you're actually going to get identity from but the world is doing a really good job a twisting or thinking and saying if you achieve if you make it big in this world, if you become successful, then then he will have identity. She twerk can easily become identity because it's the thing. We spend $90,000 doing in our lives. But remember back in the 30s or 40s Industrial Revolution post 11th house at age 8 hours of sleep 8 hours of work 8 hours of play. I was the mindset between 8-hour workday Henry Ford 8 hours and you're working for just eight hours. You truly spend half your waking hours working. What you're doing? What kind of rhythms are we building into our lives to make sure that that is not the only place orbiting identity and help from? and redeemers office I seen our church grow and I've seen our church shrink and my wife will tell you real quickly when we shrink. I'm in a bad mood. Why? Master failed them. I must have done something wrong. I must have made them mad. I can assume an identity of value a worth from my work. we all can not as the danger of idolatry. This is why we worship work because it sure feels good when things are going right, doesn't it? I mean, it feels real good when you're not living paycheck-to-paycheck. It feels real good in life. Look at how great he is. Look at how great she is because of what they're doing in their job is a place we can receive satisfaction from What happens only of unhealthy rhythms, we have overworked stressed out burned out people because everything they do is based on performance. What else are we doing? We're sacrificing at the altar of work. Sacrificing at the altar work. What are we sacrificing? family children Friendship Community worship church when you have an unhealthy rhythms something in your life is being sacrificed for the thing that you think is most valuable to you. There is a way that leads to life a man thinks that we have a real messed up sometimes. And when I want us to see in this and we need to understand and change your thinking around works. We know how to approach work and The rhythms of work. How does this play out? We don't take breaks from work to look at rest in a couple of weeks work culture. That doesn't rest work culture that doesn't trust and it's a problem and because of that we are freaked out stressed out and burned out. We can't lay it down because we wonder if God can actually provide for us if we put it down for a moment work becomes your identity. The creative thing becomes your God and that becomes the Rhythm that we live out in our lives. God is out of the picture if you don't understand that God created us when you look at work. You're going to either same we despise this and Leisure leads to life. Are you going to say God's out of the picture work is the only thing that leads to life and I'm going to assume an identity from it. Here's what we're going to do because I managed to take this and break it into two I can sense that this week next week. We're going to see don't worship work, but work is worship. We're going to see what it means to look up and to glorify God in your job. Here's what I want for our church. Here's what I want. Even if you're retired you like I don't work. I just golf.

Tell me how to get there with a fly rod instead. All right, listen. Listen, you don't stop. I'm just telling you that you're still doing aspects of work and I can still consume your entire life. God has called you into service into what he is doing and not only our church put in the World At Large so you don't ever just quit go read John Piper Don't Waste Your Life right little read on what is actually looks like okay, but here's what I want you to understand that this morning a lot of us in here have really bad rhythms around work. We wake up thinking about work. We take her lunch break thinking about work we go home thinking about work. We get an email about work. We're supposed to be having dinner with our family and we tell our family obviously that work that text whatever is far more important because we have to respond to it in the moment and we are a just culture with the dean of the phone because it owns us because we might miss out on a job on the business and whatever else we were missing out on presence around us. Redeemers I failed miserably at this over the last year was being honest with you. I can let that things rack and ruin me why cuz I think whatever else is coming in is more important than whoever else is sitting across from me and I know in my life and maybe that's why I sent this for our church. Is that my rhythms have to change? Did you cuz God is not just called me to work? He's called me to be present with friends present with family. He's called me to rest. He's called me to Solitude isolation. He has called me into his presence. It's as we continue to look at work next week. I want to actually get some practical ideas and how this plays out in our lives, but I want you to spend this week and I want you to look at your rhythms. And I want you to say oh my goodness work as my own the Rhythm. I need some change help me Lord, or maybe you say I despised work. I love I hate work. I don't have that problem Works a good thing in the Bible calls you to it. Doesn't matter your age. It doesn't matter if you're male or female if you're single or married have kids or do not have kids. It's a good thing that God has called you to participate and what he is doing in this world. You must understand though. It comes under knowing who he is May our Christianity shape our views on work me knowing Jesus change how we approach the world around us than others. Thank you for your love. Thank you that you care about this topic of work. How you doing? Just regulated to humans and disregarded and despise it and look at it in such a way that it's just as minuscule tasks that we have to do in order to survive, but you actually put parameters and you actually made work for yes or something never to participate in for those of us unhealthy work rhythms.

For those of us who loathe and despise work if we repent. Maybe see that you've called us to work. That work is good made by you for us. Amy we have proper theological views around this that lead to proper ways. It plays out in our lives that it does not turn into idolatry but a way in which direction glorify God in our lives. Forgiveness deep understanding of what it means to work on to you you love you. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen.