For The Lord, Not For Men

Good evening from the Panhandle. Well here it is almost another Lord's Day. Tonight we are looking at Colossians 3:22-25. Here's a question for you, do you live to please yourself, or maybe others around you. The truth is or should be what I do, I do for the Lord. Christ Jesus is the one I live for, how about you?

Integrity and Faithfulness in Work Yields Peace of Mind: The late great American Methodist clergyman and author, Rev. Charles Livingstone Allen (1913 - 2005), told this story in his sermon entitled "How To Sleep Well On A Windy Night:""A boy went to a farmer and asked to be given a job as a hired hand. The farmer asked, ’Are you willing to work?’ ’Please sir, yes sir, I can sleep well on a windy night,’ was his strange reply. ’Can I trust you to look after my things,’ said the farmer, Again, the boy gave the same answer. The farmer asked several questions seeking to determine if the boy was honest and trustworthy; but, to each question, he received the same reply!

Deciding that the boy might be a little simple-minded, the farmer hired him anyway; because, there was something about that boy that he liked! The boy proved to be a willing worker and everything went well until one night a big storm came up! The farmer heard the howling wind and rushed to the boy’s room, ’Get up,’ he shouted, ’let’s go tie down the hay stacks, put up the tools, and secure the barn doors!’ The boy was so sound asleep that the farmer could not wake him!

Fearing to waste time trying to wake the boy and get him up, the farmer rushed out see about his things! When he came to the haystacks, he found them already firmly tied. He found the tools in their proper places in the barn; and, the barn doors securely closed! As he went back into his house, he realized what the boy meant about sleeping well on a windy night! He meant that each day, he did his work well; and, even in the midst of a storm, he could sleep! - From a sermon by George Dillahunty, The Joy Of The Lord! 10/17/2009

God created work to give us a sense of dignity, to teach us responsibility, and to give our lives accomplishment. What difference will your faith make on the job site? Paul mentions four distinguishing marks of those who live out their faith at work.

Col 3:22-4:1
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

1. Submission (v. 22)

Obedience and submission in the work place is another way you show “reverence” to Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus came to earth not to be served, but to serve—and He instructed us to adopt the same attitude: But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25–28). 

 

Paul wrote, Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. (vs. 22). If Paul told slaves to do their work heartily (and they received no paycheck), then what about the rest of us who do get paid? “Well, they don’t pay me nearly enough,” some might say. Okay, you may not get paid adequately—but taking longer lunch hours, clocking out early, or coming in late is not the way to even things out. If you are paid for eight hours, you need to give eight full hours. Why? Because you are a servant, and good servants do good work. 

 

It is said, that the best pathway to promotion is servant-hood. Whoever wants to be a leader must adopt the attitude of a servant. A prideful employee is seldom seen as a “promotion possibility.” It is the humble worker who diligently labors with a godly attitude that management sees as leadership material. Never doubt the impact of your attitude on everyone around you—the boss included!

Just one more thought. If you are the boss, what kind of boss are you?

All that said, but who’s your real employer? That leads us to our second suggestion.

2. Diligence (v. 23)

When you look at your job as “working for men” you can get angry, depressed, dissatisfied, apathetic. When you look at it as “working for the Lord” you will be grateful and diligent. Your employer exercises supervisory authority over you, but Christ Jesus is your Lord. You work for Him: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Col. 3:23). If you are a Christian, Christ Jesus is the supervisor at your place of work—and He not only watches you from afar, He’s right there with you. You and I need to give a full day’s labor regardless of whether we think management is fair, because Christ Jesus is ultimately our employer, and He’s always on site. 

 

You and I should do our very best because the Holy Spirit is present, equipping and energizing us. We make a terrible mistake by segmenting life! We may think that Monday through Friday we go to work, Saturday we play, and Sunday we worship. God has not designed life that way. If Jesus Christ is our Savior, we can’t exclude Him from any part of life. It isn’t right to teach a Sunday school class with everything we have, but meander into work the rest of the week. 

 

We won’t be tempted to do our work merely to be seen by men if we remind ourselves that Christ Jesus is our real Boss. Do I mean that your job is also the Lord’s work? Yes! Ministry is not just what you do in the walls of the church. You worship God every day of the week, Sunday through Sunday. On Sunday, you worship Him in church; on Monday through Saturday, you worship Him by doing a good job at work. Your exalted status as a child of God dignifies your work. That’s why your office or place of employment should never be the same because you work there. You serve the Lord Christ Jesus (Col. 3:24). Do you have a good testimony in the marketplace for Him? Are you one of your company’s most faithful employees because you serve Him? Does your attitude reflect the joy you have in seeing His name on the door as the real Boss?

Excellence: the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. This brings us to our third observation.

3. Excellence (v. 24)

Our reward is not our paycheck, but what the Lord will give us, and He has the best retirement plan around. Paul wrote, “ … knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance” (Col. 3:24). Of course, you must get paid now to take care of your household expenses. But if you have done your very best and given all you have, you will never really get paid all you are worth. 

The wonderful thing to remember is this: you may get insufficient wages down here, but you will get rewarded beyond all reason up there! God will much more than equalize everything in the Judgment. The Boss who has watched you all these years will reward you justly. Do you see yourself as a servant? Do you consider God your real Boss and work “as unto the Lord,” no matter how menial or boring your job might seem? Have you realized that you have a tremendous reward coming later for faithful labor performed now? If so, you are getting the most out of your work.

You can receive your reward here and now and that is it. Or you can receive a reward with eternal benefits. The choice is totally up to you. That brings me to the final observation.

4. Honesty (v. 25).

If you realize you are really working for God, then you will know that when you are dishonest, you are cheating God as well as men. 

The host of a radio program told about a man who described his religious views by saying, “I’m a Christian on Christmas and Easter.” He seemed to think Christianity was a part time proposition. Even if we don’t deliberately relegate our faith to just 2 days each year, many of us engage in a form of part time Christianity. We do that when we pick the time and place to practice our faith instead of being consistent every moment of every day. 

When we choose to sin or neglect our relationship with Christ Jesus or let the world squeeze us into its mold, we become part-time Christians. Christ Jesus told us to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). He didn’t suffer an unbearably cruel death on the cross so that we could pick and choose when we want to follow Him. We are to demonstrate God’s grace in our lives both at home and at work – 24/7.

Conclusion: Submission, diligence, excellence, and honesty. The Christian’s ultimate employer is the Lord. We work for Him with all our heart, and from Him comes our reward.