Allen Jackson - Work and Money - Part 2
I don’t know if we’re gonna do this in the next session or not, but Jesus had a great deal to say with that. When God gives you gifts and abilities, the biblical phrase you probably know is, «To whom much is given, much is required». And we should all understand on both a historical and a global setting for this current generation, we have been given crazy gifts, unbelievable gifts. If English is your first language, you’ve been given an incredible gift. If you want to be a serious student of the Bible in the world today, you have to learn English just because of the amount of literature that’s written in the English language. So that if English is your first language, you’re given a head start over almost anybody else.
The abundance of our lives, the opportunities we have, that our children have, that are, you know, I know we know people that have more, we don’t have everything we would like. But there is an accountability that comes. There will be an accounting. We will have to give an account. The number seven, learn to give God first priority with your money. If you’ll take those verses of scripture and those seven statements and just invite the spirit of God into your life with them. «God, I wanna learn to honor you with my money».
What does that mean? Well, a part of its generosity. It’s not really the point of this lesson, but I’ll take a moment because it’s true, and I’ve lived it since I was a boy. I believe the first tenth of our income is the Lord’s. I’m not a legalist. People say, «Is it gross or net». You and the Lord work it out. «What if it’s a capital gain and I tied on the investment before I got the capital gain»? Stop. I agree we’re not under the law, but the first portion of what we have, I don’t even think it’s mine, it’s the Lord’s. And truthfully, I’m happy to give it to the Lord. And for most of us, you know, there are times and seasons in our lives when a tenth is a tremendous sacrifice, but there are times and seasons when it’s far from that. And I’ve always wanted to be a part of the generosity of my life, the giving of my life that reflected a sacrifice.
So, I’ve never wanted to limit my life to that and it’s not that I’ve always had such tremendous affluence or, but I can tell you God has always been faithful. I feel the same way with my time. I try to give my time on a regular basis in places where there’s plenty of wise counsel that would say, you know, there’s the time management coaching would probably say you shouldn’t do that, but it isn’t my time, it’s the Lord’s. I serve his people at his pleasure and there’s some discretion in there. I hope there’s places where you volunteer, where you serve. There are chunks of my week that I still do as a volunteer because I intend to serve the Lord with my life. Be generous, it will bring the good things of God into your life. It’s counterintuitive, the culture won’t reinforce it, but it is biblical.
I’m gonna take a minute or two. We can’t do all of this, but I want to open it up because again, I think it’s so culturally relevant. There’s the question, «Is work a curse»? Our attitude towards work has shifted dramatically in recent decades, and I’m not pointing at the younger generations. I don’t think it has a great deal to do with them. I think it has a great deal to do with parents and grandparents who worked hard and didn’t want their children or grandchildren to. And I think that’s unfortunate because as I’m gonna submit to you that there’s a biblical value in work. In fact, there’s a dignity and an honor in work that God built into us and into this earth, and I believe work is a part of what we’re called to do.
And to see it as a burden or an intrusion or an imposition or something that’s unfortunate, I don’t believe we were designed to live to recreate. I believe recreation is good, and I think relaxation is necessary, and I believe a rest is important, but I believe there’s a biblical call and dignity in work. In Colossians 3, and verse 23, it says, «Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you’ll receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It’s the Lord Christ you are serving».
There’s a couple of things in there that are worth just tagging. There’s an inheritance. There’s a reward that comes from the Lord. You know the parables of the stewards that are entrusted with talents or money by a master who’s going away. And when the master comes back, there’s an accounting asked for. But there’s a reward to those who were prudent or did a good job with what they were entrusted with. Jesus told those parables. This is not some subtle, you know, this isn’t about a prosperity gospel. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have to work hard. It doesn’t mean you won’t have difficult times. It doesn’t mean you’re gonna be crazy rich, and it doesn’t mean that the wealthy people are wrong or ungodly.
We’ve just gotten this inverted in so many ways. But it means if you will honor God with your life, that whatever you do, it’s plain English, work at it with all your heart as if you’re working for the Lord. No matter whose name is on your paycheck, I went to work in the name of the Lord. I serve this congregation, but truly, I do it to serve Jesus of Nazareth. This just happens to be the station he gave me. I serve at the Lord’s pleasure. That changes everything about your orientation. Whatever the corporate name is on the check that you cash, we serve the Lord in that place. And we’ve drifted, we’ve lost this. I get this. It’s countercultural at this point. According to the Princeton Management Association, 82% of Americans say they hate their jobs, 82%. Most people see work as a necessary evil, something they must endure until that blessed far off event called retirement.
There’s a book called «Your Work Matters to God». And the authors had a great deal to say about what God’s Word says about our jobs. I’ll give you a couple of sentences. «Every day, millions of workers go to work without seeing the slightest connection between what they do all day and what they think God wants done in the world. For example, you may sell insurance, but you may have no idea whether or not God wants insurance to be sold. The selling insurance matter to God or not? If not, you’re wasting your life. We think your work matters deeply to God. It’s not something we do apart from God as the secular world would view it. It’s not something beneath God’s dignity and concerns as some Christians would view it.
Work is a major part of human life that God takes very seriously. It has intrinsic value. It’s inherently worth doing. Through work we serve people. Through work we meet our own needs. Through work we meet our family’s needs. Through work we earn money to give to others. And through work we love God». We don’t go out into the secular marketplace all day and then gather in church for a few minutes to serve God, we serve him all day. So just some simple high level observations. Work is a blessing, not a curse. There’s some really bad theology around this. We often think of work as God’s punishment. We picture an angry God thundering at Adam and Eve, «You sinned»? And the only fitting punishment for your disobedience is you’ll have to work every day the rest of your lives. Work isn’t a form of punishment. God is a worker.
In the introductory chapters of the Bible, for six days, God labored. He designed the universe, he developed the balance of nature, he fashioned the plant and animal kingdoms, and he formed man from the dust of the earth. And when he finished the work of creation, he rested for a day and he went back to work. John 5:17, Jesus said, «My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working». We forget that God gave Adam and Eve work to do long before they fell.
Genesis 2:15, «The Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it». One of the words used there is the modern Hebrew word for a night watchman, for a guardian. A part of Adam’s assignment was to guard the garden. I’m a bit bemused at Christians who say we shouldn’t talk about culture or what’s happening in the world around us. We have an assignment to be watchmen on the walls. From the opening chapters of the Bible through the concluding chapters of Revelation, we have an assignment to engage the world in which we live with the truth of Almighty God.
And a part of that is this value of work. The best workers in all of the culture should be Christ followers. Employers should want to know first, it should be the first interview question, «Are you a good Christian»? That is a part of our heritage, but it’s another story. Work was a part of their perfect existence in the garden. It wasn’t work that came as a result of sin, but painful and difficult work. Admittedly, work may be more difficult and painful because of Adam’s curse, but God’s original intention for work was for our good, so that we would have a sense of self-worth, so our relationships could be enhanced, our physical needs would be met. Work still meets those needs.
Which brings me to that second point. I believe work is essential to your well-being. I’ve had a number of jobs. I’ve served as a pastor for a long time, but even in that pastor assignment, my task varied widely. When I first started, I was the only employee, which means I mowed the grass and cleaned the bathrooms and did weddings and funerals and preached sermons. But long before I got to that lofty assignment, I had other jobs. I worked in factories, I cleaned stalls. At the time it felt like an endless season in my life. Truthfully, it was a few short summers.
Cleaning stalls, if you’ve never done that, it’s not as romantic as it is on television. It’s a hot, smelly, the work never stays done. No matter how beautifully you clean the stall and how clean and fresh the straw or the shavings you put into the stall, that horse will mess that thing up. That I still remember to this day. The feeling I would have. You want to do it early in the morning. It’s better early in the day. So, if I was on my mark and I hit my points, I’d be done relatively early in the morning and I would spray for the flies in the barn when I was done, and I’d stop and I’d look back at that and the stalls were clean and the hallway was well groomed and the flies had been addressed.
And there was a feeling, you know, you did a good job. That wasn’t gonna last 45 minutes. Those big old ugly horses would mess it up, but God created us with an emotional need that can only be met by an honest day’s work. There’s a time for rest, but it’s not the same. It doesn’t elicit the same response. There’s even science behind it. Every person having been made in the image of the Creator has a God-given desire to imitate him and to create. We long to accomplish a task to do something valuable. When we complete a difficult task, we feel satisfaction and a greater sense of self-respect.
Ecclesiastes 3, «Everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil, this is the gift of God». Work isn’t to be avoided, it’s to be taught. It has to be taught. It has to be learned. The old notion and it seems antiquated to us and quaint and certainly out of fashion, but… Or a grandfather or a father would pass down life skills to their son or their grandson, an apprenticeship program or a mentoring program. For generation upon generation upon generation, that’s how skill sets were passed down. We live in a time of such rapid change that seems archaic and kind of funny. But the value of work has to be handed from generation to generation. Third, work is a partnership with God.
John 5:16, «Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, and the Jews persecuted him». Imagine criticizing Jesus for the way he served God. If there were large, loud, powerful voices that criticized Jesus in the pursuit of his faith, they were motivated by the kingdom of darkness. What do you think the probability is that there could be voices that would criticize in the 21st century how we serve God? Same adversary folks. But watch the response, «They criticized Jesus because of what he was doing on the Sabbath, and Jesus said to them, 'My father is always at his work and to this very day, I, too, am working.'»
Again, I can borrow my child life. When I was at home as a kid, a boy, my father practiced veterinary medicine. And my brothers and I would from time to time have the privilege he would take one of us with him for when he would make calls. He was an equine practitioner. He treated horses and the overwhelming majority of that meant he had to go where the horses were. They didn’t bring the horses to him. So, if you’re the one that got tagged to make calls with that, that day, it was a treat, you’re gonna get to go for a ride in the station wagon. And you might get fortunate enough that he’d buy you a soft drink or maybe even slow down long enough to feed his lunch someplace. Which 100 years ago in Middle Tennessee meant that he’d stop at some country store out here at some crossroads before there were chic and city people were moving there.
Then he’d buy you a bologna and cheese sandwich and you’d had a big day. But still, we all remember when we’re together we talk about those memories of joining our father. Well, I’ve pulled that forward. I’m certainly not a kid any longer and those little country crossroads aren’t the same in middle Tennessee anymore, but I get up and start my day every day thinking, «I’m gonna join my heavenly Father in his assignment today». I got a calendar. I’ve got appointments and assignments, but that’s not really the essence of it. I’m going to represent a kingdom. And yeah, I got things to do and I’m responsible and accountable and decisions to be made and problems to be solved and budgets, all that stuff has to happen, but I’m going to serve my king.
When we work, we are business partners with God in meeting the needs of the world around us. People need food and clothing and shelter and protection and education and love and encouragement as well as a saving knowledge of Jesus. God is depending on us to be expressions of fulfilling those needs. I’ll add another one to it. God will judge our work. That’s awkward. He’s got an opinion. He talked to some of the servants, he said, «Well done. Here’s your reward». To others, he said, «You wicked, lazy servant». I don’t wanna be in that line. He gave them gifts, he gave them an opportunity, they didn’t respond well, and he said, «Remove them from my presence». In fact, the phrase he uses, he said, «There’ll be weeping and gnashing of teeth».
That’s a phrase that is used repeatedly in scripture. And my best understanding of it is it describes a group of people who led significant portions of their life right at the entry to the purposes of God, but refused to participate. So that when the opportunity was finally closed off, their response was such tremendous remorse that there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. See, I think we leave too presumptively. We imagine we can always have those choices. God will judge our work. Ephesians 4:28, «He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need».
There’s four criteria implied by which God evaluates our work there. Did you get it? He’ll judge our motives. So, we’ll have something to share with others. He’s going to judge our effort, he’s gonna judge our integrity, and he’s gonna judge our usefulness. God’s gonna judge our motives. Look at Proverbs 21, «All of man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart». We can justify anything, folks. Don’t you know that? You may not understand it about yourself, but you understand it about other people. It’s harder to see ourselves. We’ve all seen other people justify ungodly things, but they try to baptize it in something that has a higher motive or purpose. I don’t wanna do that, and I don’t believe you do either.
Luke 16, Jesus said, «You’re the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts». That’s sobering to me. God knows my heart. I’m not trying to convince you, hustle you, fool you. God knows my heart. That’s not a threat. Be honest with the Lord. Talk to him about your heart condition the best you know. Tell him, «So you know what, I wanna do the right thing, but ungodly looks easier». Talk to the Lord, tell him the truth. Practice cultivating integrity in your life. God knows. It’s like talking to a two-year old and you walk in the kitchen and they’ve got chocolate icing all over their face and you say, you know, «Did you eat that cupcake»? About half the time, «No». «Well, how’d you get that icing on your face»?
That’s how I feel when I’m trying to convince God about my heart condition that I know isn’t right. He knows. I’m better off saying, «You know, it was a really good cupcake and I probably spoiled my dinner». God is not nearly as concerned with how much money we make as he is with our motives for making it and what we do with it after we earn it. See, I’m of the opinion that there’s a tremendous need for men and women with their hearts that are oriented towards the Lord so that he could trust them with significant resources because they are needed in the earth. I would much prefer for the list of the wealthiest people be very overt Christians.
You know, we have some problems. We want Christian leaders, but when good Christians run for office, we don’t support them. I know now I’m meddling. You know, because we don’t like the kind of Christian they are or we find a weakness in their Christianity, but they’re out front clearly doing their best to lead Christian lives. Dr. Ben Carson, very godly man, runs for public office and doesn’t get elected, and we’ll say, «Well, you know, he doesn’t have the personality for it». Nobody had the character for it. We do the same thing with wealthy people. We’d rather judge them and think they must have done something wrong than celebrate what God has done in their life.
And finally, God will judge our efforts. That one is sobering. Not just our character, he’s gonna judge our efforts. Did we make our best effort? I wrote a great quote. I liked it a lot. It said, «I’m a missionary for Jesus Christ, but I’m cleverly disguised as checkout clerk at Kroger». I think we can all take that as an application. Revelation 1 says, «To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priest to serve his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen».
Satan’s immaculate deception is that we send some people into full-time ministry and others are spectator Christians. It’s a lie from the pit. Look, we’re all full time servants of the king. We are. If you’re a nurse, then you’re a partner with God in helping to restore his people to health and to alleviate their discomfort. If you’re a teacher, then you’re a partner with God in developing his children so that they grow intellectually. Whatever the assignment you’re performing a task, not just to draw a paycheck or to please your employer, but to serve God and your fellow man. There’s a dignity in work. Let’s decide to use the talent and the resources and the time that God gives to us for his glory.
Let’s decide to live in such a way that our lives can reflect the grace of God so that at all times and all things, we’ll have all that we need for every good work. Let that be our legacy. Let that be what we teach our children and our grandchildren. If we will do that, it matters not what the dollar does or the Dow Jones does or the Federal Reserve does. God will secure our futures and theirs, amen. I brought you a proclamation. I built it out of 2 Corinthians 9:8. I just changed the pronouns to make it personal. If that offends you, you go back and use the plural pronoun. But I like a proclamation. I like to say what the scripture says about my life. And so, if you’ll stand, we’re gonna say it together. It’s only one sentence, so you can’t start too late or you’ll miss the whole thing, all right? It’s not a bad proclamation is a part of your daily devotional for a season, okay? You ready?
God is able to make all grace abound to me, so that in all things at all times, having all that I need, I may abound in every good work, amen.
That’s good enough to say again. I know we gotta go. One more time.
God is able to make all grace abound to me, so that in all things at all times, having all that I need, I may abound in every good work, amen.