Bowling Green Covenant Church

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 1 September 2006

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” — 1 Corinthians 15.58 [ESV]

“We ought not merely to labor in the Lord but to do so abundantly, to overflowing. The labor of man after his expulsion from paradise was punishment for his transgressions, but this labor [enabled only by grace] is the basis for the rewards which are to come.” – John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul

In the beginning God created us to work. Genesis 2.15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Ephesians 2.10 recapitulates this from the perspective of the New Covenant and spiritual rebirth through faith in Christ, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The Old and New Covenants teach that work, before and after the Fall, is part of our calling as men and women created in God’s image.

So then, work is good. By working we support ourselves, our families and, just as importantly, work enables us to build the kingdom of God. Relax. You are not going to be asked to write a check (although if you want to, that’s fine). Work is good because God created us to work. When we work we fulfill God’s calling for our lives.

The Reformation recaptured more than our understanding of salvation. In addition to recapturing the doctrine of justification by faith, the Reformation also recaptured the definition of work as spiritual vocation. Our culture separates work into the categories of spiritual and secular. This is a false dichotomy. For followers of Jesus Christ all work is spiritual work. All work; be it in the Church, in the home, the office or factory, is a spiritual vocation. “Our callings in life, from husband to wife, father to mother, from son to daughter, form farmer to statesman to minister to housewife, flow from God’s call and love for us in Christ. And mysteriously, our work somehow plans a part in the drama of that final day when the entire creation will be set free from its bondage (Romans 8.18ff.),” (Chris Donato, Tabletalk, September 2006, page 18).
It is with that final day in mind that Paul exhorted the Corinthian church “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” As those who know God’s call and have tasted His love for us in Christ, our work, the work He has given us to do, be it inside or outside the Church is an act of worship grounded in hope. Work is an expression of hope—the steadfast, immovable confidence that our labor, as well as our faith, in the Lord is not in vain.

The key, of course, is to know for Whom you are working and why. Addressing this matter elsewhere Paul wrote, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him,” and again, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Colossians 3.17, 23). Paul’s words, and those of Chrysostom, remind us that when we work for the Lord the pay may not be great, but the benefits are outstanding!

There is more to life because Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. There is more to work for the same reason and especially because He is coming again bringing His reward with Him. Remember that the next time your boss asks you to work overtime, or a client drops your business, or your child vomits in the middle of the night, or you have to deal with ornery co-workers. Work is hard. But God is good.

To work is to worship. To work is to have hope. Our labor is not in vain. All work is an opportunity to “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

You think about that.

MM