In the Bible, the very first chapter of the first book, Genesis, tells the story of God creating and uses a framework of six workdays to describe its development. Then in Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, we see work, work, work.
[2:1] Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2] And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
The story of creation from the Jewish scriptures, believed by Christians, is that creation was the product of
God gets right to work from the beginning of time. That’s unique. Many other creation stories in other cultures start with conflict between gods. They say we and our world are products of destruction. But the Christian story says we are products of construction.
When it’s all done, God is satisfied, and can rest. He’s said over and over as he created, it’s good. When he created humans he said it was very good. And then he rested, satisfied he’d done good work.
For the rest of the summer, we’ll be looking at work and rest, and how important they are for followers of Jesus.
And it starts here, with the simple fact that God works, and is still working to provide, care, heal and sustain life for us on earth.
God and Jesus work: in John 5:17 he responded to those who objected to him healing people on Saturday, what should have been a day of rest. He said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
God didn’t stop working forever, he is still at work, including in and through his son Jesus.
Later in John 5:36 it’s clear God the Father has given him work to do…like an assignment.
Finally, work is in paradise. If the Garden of Eden, in creation, we get a picture of heaven on earth, and we see work is meant to be there, not just added in after humans rebelled against god – it was there before the rebellion. The nature of work changed, but it was meant to be there already.
Today we’ve seen, work is meant to be a good thing…something God embraces. Not an evil virus infecting life.
Question: Why is the goodness of work not more apparent in human life? What makes this so hard to believe?
Acknowledgements: Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour and Work & Rest
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Jesus’ second illustration about priorities in life. Said it with a confusing saying that needs to be explained for people in our day:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23 ESV)
When we ask what’s in someone’s heart, is the answer blood? No, the heart stands for something else – the core of their being. In Jesus’ culture, the eye was often used in the same way.
Someone with a good eye was someone generous. Someone with a bad eye = miserly.
Jesus is saying those who are generous are like those who can see where they are going, and those who are selfish are like the blind.
That’s why he says the eye is a lamp, or window, into the body. It’s a small thing, but its functionality changes everything. For sighted people, eyes are the guide for just about every task. We don't do much by touch unless we have to. But blind people learn to do everything differently. I’m always fascinated by how blind people get around – it takes an entirely different skillset from the way I move. And the difference all comes down to that little eye.
In this illustration, our “eye” or “heart” represents our priorities, ambitions, hopes and dreams. And like an eye, they affect everything. If our priorities are right, they affect how we handle everything else. If our priorities are wrong, then everything is in disarray, with competing priorities constantly battling each other.
Sailing - aim the bow where you want to go. Aim it at Christ’s character – the one who was generous, sacrificial because he was resolute in his priorities, God’s kingdom breaking into our world.
He was heavenly minded – but did a tremendous amount of worldly good.
Investing in developing a Christlike character as our priority is the one safe investment, because is something we can take with us. As we accept him as saviour and submit to him as Lord, he transforms us through his Holy Spirit, into his likeness. Makes us acceptable to the Father. So we can join him, in his presence, heaven.
Question: When you see someone who has what you desire how to do feel personally? What do you think of them? How does greed blind us to our true state? How does generosity free us from the grip of materialism and self-centeredness?
