A friend of mine had a baby recently – and her husband took a week or so off before heading back to work. I asked him how it was going.
He said, work is alright, but it’s different now . I just don’t find it matters as much as it used to. I won’t quit or anything, but it just seems less important to me.
True enough. My friend still needs to work, but there is a new member of his family who is far more important than every possible promotion, raise or accolade.
We all need this kind of shift in perspective – not by all going and having a kid – but by inviting God to be at the center of our lives.
When there is no ultimate goal or concern in our lives, or that varies day to day, or simply becomes whatever is most urgent, busyness consumes us. We can’t stop it or get away from it.
If God is the ultimate center of our lives, then everything else falls into place around Him. James, who we interviewed a couple weeks ago was consumed by the lifestyle his lucrative career could buy, and lost himself. In the end, he quit, took a break, and eventually came back – but able to see that work wasn’t everything. You can watch the interview again here: https://vimeo.com/72458543
He and my friend with the baby both realized they were enslaved to their work, sometimes without even realizing it.
This kind of slavery to work is something God wanted to prevent Israel from ever experiencing again, or inflicting on anyone else. In Deuteronomy 15:1-2 and Deuteronomy 15:12-15:
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor.”
“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
We’ve heard a lot about the Sabbath day so far, but this introduces the idea of the Sabbath year where Israel was meant to release every debt, and release every person who was so indebted they had sold themselves into slavery.
Why? Because God had released their nation from slavery, and this would be a constant reminder. Every week, a day off, and every 6 years, a year off for crops and for the lowest servants. This would be a clear sign they were not worshipping work, but worshipping God.
That same act of liberation needs to be in our rest. We need to tell ourselves we are resting to prove we are not slaves to our employers, to our bank accounts, to our pride or anything else. We are children of God, not defined by work.
There is more to me than my work.
This inner shift has to come before we try making outer, structural changes to our weeks and years, like we’ll discuss next week.
Question: What would it take for you to see your work differently? What could change for a year, or what life event, would break the cycle?
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We're exploring who has influence on our spiritual lives. We've seen four tests to identify a negative spiritual influence.
The good news is that Jesus is the one teacher who satisfies the tests he’s just laid out.
Attractiveness. Long before his birth, Jesus was described in this way by the prophet Isaiah: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
People chose to follow him because of his teachings, and his claims about himself, that were far from superficial.
He taught with authority of his own, regularly hinted at his identity as God. This apparently had nothing to do with the way he looked, the tone of his voice, or the size of his hairdo. No one mentions it int he Bible. It has everything to do with the truth of his words.
Consistency. He made bold claims, but Jesus was absolutely consistent in living them out. Scour the Sermon on the Mount, and see if you can find any occasion where he contradicts his words.
He said to pray in secret. While praying to his Father, he went away, sometimes to a garden, to be alone.
He said to turn the other cheek. While being arrested, told his friend to put down his sword and let it happen.
He said, love your enemies. While hanging on a cross, said “Father forgive them”.
His words were also consistent with God’s word throughout centuries.
He told us in the Sermon on the Mount he was the fulfillment, not rejection, of the Old Testament law. God hadn’t changed his mind, God wasn’t wrong, God was fulfilling his purposes in Jesus.
He regularly quoted the Old Testament law, and then got right to its core – the heart change that went beyond fearful obedience.
His words are consistent with the lives of his followers. He never promised we’d be millionaires, drive Cadillacs, or never experience pain or sorrow in this life…like some false teachers will claim to get your money or devotion.
He did promise that he’d bring about a kingdom far better, and invited us to follow him there, taking up a cross.
He was definitely not short lived. He is still worshipped today. Jesus rose from the dead, and still lives today, both reigning over the universe and living in the hearts of those who follow him. 2000 yrs on, the words of the Sermon on teh Mount are revered the world over…and have brought life to those who’ve not just revered them, but lived by them.
The Church exists because he and his teachings were not short lived, but of eternal value. By following him, our lives can be transformed
Motives. After all his teaching and healing, he died on the cross for us. There was no benefit for himself, except that he would close the separation between us and God. He had our best interests at heart.
If you have found teaching of false prophets lacking, urge you to test Jesus. Not just those who claim to represent him, for good or ill, but test Jesus himself. Read his words, if find him attractive not in a flashy superficial way, but rather find that he satisfies your deepest yearnings.
Invite him to be your teacher, become his disciple. Then experience his risen, eternal life and its transformative power in your life, consistent with all he taught.
If you've never experienced that, and you’ve been accepting less, then my hope is that you’ll try the real thing.
Contact Ryan to learn about what that could look like in your life!
Challenge: Who has been a positive spiritual influence in your life? You should spend more time together, set up coffee, phone call or lunch with them! Who can you influence in the same way? Set up time with them, too.
