Working for God

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 20th of September, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service, also streamed live, due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Since I was sidelined a bit two Sundays ago, I wasn’t able to bring you my annual Labor Day offering.  Elder Jim Neese gave a wonderful message on Jesus’ “Interrupted Sermon”, but I still feel the need to address what the Holy Spirit put on my heart.

So today we’re going to talk about our labors in this life, in our daily walk.  And who better to lead the discussion than one of the greatest, hardest working, most faithful laborers in the early church: the Apostle Paul.

Please listen and follow along to what Paul has to say about working for God, in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 6, verses 1 through 10, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load.

6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

--Galatians 6:1-10 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for looking into the hearts of every person and discerning our true motives and intentions.  Thank You for ensuring that what is sown shall, in due season, be reaped.  You promise that those who sow goodness will be richly rewarded in Your timing, while those who sow evil will be punished.  Father, please help us to cleanse our hearts of all evil intention and hurtfulness.  Help us be more obedient to Your word and thus more pleasing in Your eyes.  And Father, please protect us from all the effects of the coronavirus and all the troubles of the world around us.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us for this day.  Lay the groundwork for all our future labors, that everything we do be pleasing in Your sight.  And please help us take guidance, strength, and encouragement from Your Holy Spirit within us.  This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Some unknown wag once noted that there are three kinds of workers.  For example, when a piano is to be moved, the first kind gets behind and pushes, the second pulls and guides, and the third grabs the piano stool.

Now, let me say right up front that this church family is the hardest working I’ve ever seen or been associated with.  When there’s a job to be done, folks jump right in to help share the load.  But how many of us have experienced situations where too many “helpers” just grabbed the piano stool?  And how many times have we seen folks ride on top of the piano while others push and pull?

We can’t all carry the stool, and none of us should be going along for a free ride.  But as we push and pull and carry, let us remember that in all we do, let’s make our labors be for our Lord.  Let’s do the very best we can do, in everything we do.

In our scripture reading this morning, it may seem a little difficult to see how it applies to working for God, but there are many aspects to working other than physical labors.  At its heart, Paul is speaking more on spiritual labors rather than manual.

He begins by telling us it’s our duty to try to help another believer back onto the right path if they’ve gone astray, but to do so gently, kindly, with love.  He says we should bear one another’s burdens.  Now that can certainly mean to help each other with some physical chore if needed, but I believe Paul is more concerned about our spiritual burdens, those loads we carry on our hearts that can weigh us down.  We need to help each other with those loads, if for no other reason than to show our love for one another, as Jesus would have us do.

And then we get to the warning.  Do not be deceived.  Don’t let someone else put the wrong ideas in your head.  God is not mocked.  He cannot be fooled.  He can see into our hearts and He knows us.  He knows exactly what we are, which is not always what we say we are.  Those who do good will be rewarded and those who do evil will be punished; maybe not in this life but in God’s perfect timing.  So anytime we have the chance, we should do good.

Have you ever heard the expression that we should work to live, not live to work?  As a workaholic, too many times in my life I had a tough time remembering that.  Too many times my work, my job, became my life.  My labors were for the wrong things, the wrong reasons.

After the feeding of the 5000, the multitude chased after Jesus, seeking Him.  The Apostle John recorded what our Lord told them, in the 6th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 26 and 27…

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

--John 6:26-27 (NKJV)

Jesus was speaking to me there, and to all of us, but I never heard His words until much later in life.  We shouldn’t waste our life working for things that perish, that rot and decay, that have no true value.  Instead, labor for that which is eternal.  Labor for our everlasting soul and eternity in heaven.

Still someone may ask why must we engage in this spiritual labor when we’re already having to work just to survive.  Why should we work for God?

The Apostle Luke, in the 1st two verses of the 10th chapter of his Gospel account, tells us that Jesus named His 12 disciples, and then…

1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

--Luke 10:1-2 (NKJV)

And now we’ve gotten back to the harvest that Paul also mentioned.  But again, this is more about spiritual labor than physical.  Sure, the apostles were required to physically go out into the villages and cities, preaching the Gospel and proclaiming the kingdom of God, but their actual work was in spreading the Good News of salvation, in reaching out to those whose hearts might be softened enough for the Holy Spirit to enter and do His work.  Their labor was to affect the spirit of mankind.

And if Jesus thought that 70 was not enough workers in His time, how many more are needed today, when the world seems headed toward ruin?  How many more people desperately need to hear about Jesus, to get to know Him personally?  There’s a lot of work to do, and it up to us – Jesus’ church – to do it.

In your bulletin, you’ll see a little exercise I had Dama include.  It talks about our labor for the Lord.  It is a labor of love, and not done in vain.  And it is for eternal things, as Jesus instructs us.

Take a few minutes when you get home and read the referenced scripture for each point.  Let God speak to you, through His Holy Spirit, and tell you what He would have you do for Him.  Let’s work for what is eternal.  Let’s get to work for God.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for offering us an eternal reward for working for You, for our labors on Your behalf.  Help us, please Father, to do what is pleasing in Your sight.  Help us to not grow weary in our labors.  Help us to take courage in these troubling times, and not let all the turmoil overwhelm us and weaken our faith.  And Father, help us be more loving, more trusting, more merciful, and more kindhearted toward others in our daily walk.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You specifically sent Your followers out to cities and villages in advance of Your own visits.  Their mission was to prepare the people for Your coming.  Their job was to spiritually ready them for what lies ahead.  This, too, is the mission You have set before us, Your followers, Your disciples in this present age.  We are to prepare the people spiritually for the day when You return to set the world right again.  Our job is to work for You, for the Kingdom of God, for that which is eternal.  We are to rescue the perishing, opening their spirit to You.  Forgive us, Jesus, when we don’t feel up to the task.  Forgive us when we grow weary or when we hesitate out of fear of what others may think of us, or do to us.  Help us, please, to remain strong in our faith and steadfast in our efforts.  Give us Your strength to get through these times of uncertainty.  And Lord Jesus, please heal the divisions between us, that creep in and separate us, even within Your church family.  Give us Your heart for loving others.  Help us to love one another as You love us, to see one another as You see us.  Help us remain faithful and obedient through these troubling times, concerned more with the needs of others than with our own wants and desires.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.