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2008-06-22 (am) Ephesians 6:5-9 Godly Workers
What is your attitude as an employee?
What is your attitude as an employer?
How do you react to situations you are in?
How do you handle deficient employees?
How do you work under tough bosses?
The Apostle Paul gives tough instruction here.
He does not campaign for worker freedom.
Nor does he advocate employee abuse.
He doesn’t lift one over the other, as we might be inclined to do.
He is simply gives the proper context on the relationship between an employer and an employee.
The context is this, whether you’re the employer or the employee, render your work as to the Lord.
It isn’t about the paycheque.
It isn’t about the next crop, the next harvest, the next sale, the next job.
It isn’t about meeting your needs, your goals, your dreams, and your expectations.
Your job isn’t merely a stepping stone onto bigger and better things.
It is about the Lord.
We render our work, as to the Lord.
That is our focus.
That’s our attitude.
That will get us through the day, any day, if that is our focus.
But it is hard.
It is very hard.
Not every job is fun, not every job is exciting.
Sometimes you get to be in a job that gives you tremendous satisfaction, like me.
I love my job.
But it took a while to get here.
In the meantime, the other jobs did not give me the same satisfaction, and perhaps the same is true for some of you.
Nevertheless, we are commanded to render our service as to the Lord.
Some bosses are good, some are bad.
Some employees are good, some are bad.
This is not very easy at all.
To encourage us this morning, and we all need encouragement, to give us some perspective, let’s consider Joseph.
Joseph had it all.
He was a favoured son, from his Dad’s favourite wife.
He walked with God.
God revealed His plan to Joseph in a dream.
It was all laid out.
One day God would place him in a position of authority over all the family.
Everyone would pay homage to him.
That’s what the dream said.
All he had to do was wait and make it happen.
So, there he is, on this track, the favoured kid.
He’s even got a special coat.
But there’s one wrinkle.
His brothers hate him.
For some reason, his brothers took offense to his dreams.
They perceived Joseph’s dreams as not reflecting so well on them.
So, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
They decided to put an end to Joseph and his dreams.
They plotted to kill him.
But one of the brothers wasn’t totally comfortable with the idea, so he came up with a better solution.
Let’s sell Joseph into slavery, and make some money while we’re at it!
There’s a double bonus.
They get money for the guy they hate and they don’t have to live with his blood on their hands.
It’s a win-win situation for all but Joseph.
In spite of his dreams, in spite of his lack of tact around his brothers, Joseph really did have good character.
He was optimistic.
Well, perhaps more people would prefer being sold as a slave than being dead.
On the other hand, under some slave masters, death would’ve been preferable.
Joseph worked hard as a slave.
He didn’t whine and complain.
He didn’t try to convince his master, Potiphar of who he really was.
He didn’t go around saying, “In a dream God revealed that he’s going to save lots of people through me.”
He worked hard and honestly.
He earned his boss’ respect.
He moved up the ladder.
Before long, he was running everything in Potiphar’s house.
He maintained utmost integrity.
He didn’t abuse his position at all, though he had every opportunity to do so.
Joseph rendered his work as to the Lord.
He was full of integrity.
He did not consider his position as something to be grasped.
He did not consider his position as something to be robbed.
He avoided pride, he avoided selfishness, and he avoided entitlement.
In this, he found true joy and satisfaction.
He wasn’t working for himself.
He was working for the Lord.
Maybe the time he spent at the bottom of the pit, before he was sold into slavery, left for dead, maybe that gave him perspective.
Maybe every day, he realised that he could have been dead.
Therefore, he honoured God in everything he did.
He worked hard.
That is until Potiphar’s wife decided she was bored with her husband.
She set her sights on the handsome Hebrew in her house.
But Joseph would have nothing to do with her.
He maintained his integrity.
After one of her advances, he fled and she accused him of rape.
He was innocent.
And yet he lost everything.
It did not appear that God was rewarding him for his integrity.
Potiphar put him in prison.
Again, it appeared that God’s revelation was false.
And yet Joseph kept faith.
Even in prison, he made the most of his situation.
He again gained honour and respect, even from the guards.
Being in jail was no picnic.
He cried out to the Lord to save him.
But God left him there for a while, for those of us familiar with the story, God had great plans for him, and prison was part of that plan.
So, though Joseph had to deal with injustice, being wrongfully accused, wrongfully imprisoned, after all, he was nothing less than the very best employee that a guy could ever want.
Even though he suffered evil again, and again, he remained faithful to God.
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