Work Matters

Lead Vocalist (Joel)

Welcome & Announcements (Sterling)

Good morning family!

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Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Luke 1:49-50)

Prayer of Praise (Shelly Robertson)

Great Things

I Am Not My Own

Prayer of Confession (Chris Berlin), Idleness

Assurance of Pardon (Ephesians 2:8-10)

He Leadeth Me

All Glory Be to Christ

Scripture Reading (2 Thess. 3:6-12)

You can find it on page 1176 in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Sterling)

Prayer for PBC—Help us to work hard

Prayer for kingdom partner—Montgomery, Mike & Linda (Cru)

Prayer for US—Attorney General

Prayer for the world—Wallis & Futuna Islands

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

START TIMER!!!

“Work is what you do so that eventually you won’t have to do it anymore.” [1]

That idea of work is pervasive in our culture—whether it comes to us through a live-for-the-weekend mindset, get-rick-quick schemes, or a retirement culture that looks eerily like a thirty-year vacation.

But sadly this idea is more prevalent in the church than most of us would like to admit.

In his book Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life, Christian economist David Bahnsen offers this thought experiment. [2]

What would come next in a Christian sermon that begins like this…

“Today I want to address those of you who are striving for the corner office, who worked late a couple of nights this week, who are receiving big bonuses and the praise of men, and yet are grinding, struggling, and fixating so much of your time on jobs and careers.”

If a sermon began like that, does anyone actually think the next line would be something like this?

Well done! You are being faithful and obedient! I pray you are finding the joy in this worthy calling you are after, and I hope we can address in this sermon the biblical commandments that we all behave that way—with ambition, diligence, excellence, and hustle.

Or do we all know that the next line will be something like this:

We must address the temptation to think that our work defines us and is the basis for our identity. We must check our motives and make sure that we are focused on generosity and giving, and not professional accolades and rewards.”

Far too many churches treat work as if it’s a necessary evil that interferes with the Christian life, instead of seeing it as an essential part of Christian faithfulness.

That is not the way work is viewed in our text this morning...

Turn to 2 Thessalonians 3:6

As Paul prepares to conclude his final letter to the Thessalonian Christians, he addresses a problem with their behavior.

By the way, that’s a mark of a good pastor. A good pastor does more than preach good sermons and teach good Bible studies. He knows you enough to know what’s going on in your life. And he loves you enough to tell you when your life isn’t lining up to the Word of God.

In Thessalonica the behavior problem was that many of the church members had quit their jobs. They had heard that Jesus had already returned (an error Paul corrected in chapter 2), so they figured it didn’t really matter if they worked or not.

But Paul insisted that work mattered.

That’s the Big Idea I hope to communicate with God’s help this morning: A thriving local church understands that work matters.

As we seek to understand the importance of work biblically, I want to ask and answer Four questions:

First, I want each of you to answer for yourself the question WHAT is Your Work?

Then, with that in mind, we’ll look at the text and answer the questions...

WHO do you work for?

WHY should you work?

HOW should you work?

Let’s begin with our first question…

1) WHAT is Your Work?

This first question isn’t directly related to our text, but it will help us to apply this text.

When we think about the subject of work, many of us only think about some sort of employment where we’re getting a paycheck.

If you have a job and a paycheck, that’s good! It should be fairly easy for you to apply the passage moving forward.

But if you don’t, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being one of the idle busybodies described in verses 11-12.

I don’t want everybody without a paycheck to leave here thinking they’re supposed to go get a job! (Although, perhaps, some of you should).

Here are a few ways you can faithfully work without getting a paycheck...

The stay-at-home mom is probably not getting a paycheck, unless she can somehow turn those dirty diapers into currency.

But you are working! And even if the culture doesn’t value that work, the Bible does!

Organizing your home, caring for your children, training them, disciplining them, teaching them about Jesus—that is your work.

If you’re a homeschooling parent, the work you’re doing to educate your children is work!

Holly does 99% of the homeschooling in our house. Yes, it’s true. I’m a one-percenter.

But when I help out with that one percent, it is HARD WORK!

If you’re a homeschooling mom or dad, that is at least part of your work.

If you’re a kid, your work is to obey mom and dad and do whatever chores they ask you to help with around the house.

Holly and I are very passionate about teaching our kids to work hard, so every single child—ages 6-14—has a list of chores they must do every day. The younger kids’ chores are easier, and the older kids’ chores are harder, but everybody must work.

Kids, when your mom and dad make you do hard things that’s because they love you and they want you to learn the value of hard work.

So when you listen to this sermon, don’t think “this isn’t for me because I don’t work,” think “how can I do a better job with my chores? How can I better obey mom and dad? That is my work!

If you’re a student, at least part of your work is your school.

Kids, this applies to most of you as well.

And there are also some adults here pursuing degrees, and that is a very challenging thing that requires a lot of time and effort.

If you’re a student, working hard at school is at least part of your work.

If you’re retired, but you’re still physically able to work, I hope you aren’t living a life devoted to the pursuit of leisure.

In some ways, the retirement years ought to be your most fruitful years of work, because now you’re able to focus on the work that gives you the most joy and has the greatest impact.

Hopefully you’re using your retirement to pour into your grandchildren if you have them, to serve your church, to make disciples, to be a caregiver for a loved one, to grow in some skill that can be used to serve others, or to volunteer for some other ministry.

If you are, that is your work.

If you find yourself in one of these categories, I want you to think about that thing—whatever it is—as your work.

As you hear what God’s Word teaches us in our passage, apply it to your homeschooling, your childrearing, your chores around the house, your volunteer work, and your schoolwork.

But if you’re not in one of these categories, I’d encourage you to seek wisdom from a pastor.

It could be that you’re not working and you should be.

Or it could be I’ve overlooked something you’re doing that would qualify as legitimate work.

If we’re going to thrive as a local church, we want to develop a culture where hard work is valued, even if it doesn’t come with a paycheck.

Now that we’re thinking about what we do for work, let’s move on to our second question…

2) WHO Do You Work For?

If I asked you that question before the service, you would probably tell me the name of your employer.

Riverside, the Shipyard, the Air Force, Meineke, or the Poquoson Library.

Or perhaps you would share about the kids you’re raising or the places where you volunteer.

But the New Testament says the Christian works for someone else...

2 Thessalonians 3:6a—Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,…

More important than the name of your company or the name of your boss is “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When the Bible calls Jesus “Lord” it means He’s sovereign, He’s our authority, He’s our Master, He’s the boss.

As the Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper once said “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’” [3]

Now I want you to hear me very carefully here. Even though Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, some of you have not yet recognized Jesus’s Lordship.

Or, to put it more bluntly, you’re living in rebellion to His Lordship.

As far back as year 2000, some have protested presidential elections by using the slogan “Not My President.”

That’s what some of you are doing to King Jesus: “Not my Lord”!

But posting “Not My President” on social media doesn’t change who lives in the White House.

And refusing to submit to Jesus’ Lordship doesn’t change the fact that He is Lord, whether you recognize Him or not.

The Bible is clear that the day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The question is not: will I recognize Jesus’ Lordship? But will I do so gladly now or begrudgingly later?

If you have been refusing to recognize Jesus’ Lordship, I invite you to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus today.

EXPLAIN THE GOSPEL

If you've done that, you must now LIVE LIKE Jesus really is your Lord.

And that means recognizing Jesus has authority over every part of our lives, not just what we do on Sundays.

Whether your job is changing diapers or changing oil, building ships or flying jets, managing people or filling prescriptions, crunching numbers or catching fish, your work is to be done in service to King Jesus!

Another place where Paul teaches this explicitly is in…

Colossians 3:23–24—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 Christ.

What’s stunning is that Paul is writing this to slaves!

Now slavery in the ancient world was not like it was in our nation 200 years ago. This wasn’t lifelong, race-based chattel slavery. It was something more like indentured servanthood. Still not great, but not exactly what comes to most American’s minds when we think of slavery.

But here’s Paul’s point: even if your job is at the very bottom of the food chain, even if it’s the worse job in the world, you should still do it for King Jesus!

Is that the way you approach your work, Christian?

Moms, when you’re wiping noses are you acting as if you’re serving Jesus?

Homeschooling parents, are you teaching reading and multiplication tables and grammar as if you were serving a King?

Kids, are you doing your chore charts as if Jesus was the one who gave it to you?

Students, who are you trying to please with your schoolwork? Your friends? Your parents? Yourself? Or Jesus?

Employees, when your boss asks you to do something that you think is stupid, do you do it with joy as if it was Jesus who asked you?

As Sebastian Traeger & Greg Gilbert write in their fantastic book The Gospel at Work, “No matter what you do, whether you’re a private, a cook, a lieutenant, a latrine cleaner, a trench digger, or a tank commander, it is the King himself who has deployed you to that job. It’s his call. You don’t deserve to be in his army in the first place. You deserve to be crushed by it. Wherever he’s decided to deploy you, trust him and serve him well. It isn’t what you’re doing that really matters. It’s who you’re doing it for.” [4]

If we’re going to thrive as a local church, we need to remember that we’re ultimately working for King Jesus.

If someone told you the King of England or the President of the United States was coming to your neighborhood, and you had been invited to work in his service during his visit, would you do it?

I think most of us would view it as a great honor to work for a king or a president—whether you agreed with his political views or not.

How much more should we be eager to work for King Jesus! Frankly, this should be the only reason we need.

But Paul is so motivated to see the Thessalonian Christians working hard, he gives us more reasons why we should work.

3) WHY Should You Work?

In verses 6-10 Paul gives at least three additional reasons why we should work...

A) Work because you represent JESUS

2 Thessalonians 3:6—Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

Notice what Paul is saying: avoid the person who claims to be a Christian but stubbornly refuses to work.

I think this is someone claiming to be a Christian because Paul says “keep away from any brother.”

And I think this is someone stubbornly refusing to work—not just somebody temporarily unemployed or underemployed—because they are walking in idleness. It’s not something they stumbled into, but something they’re content remaining in.

Paul is saying, “Claiming to be a Christian means something. It means you’re representing Jesus. And if you’re a representative of Jesus, you better work hard. Don’t be lazy.”

But what does it mean to “keep away” from these people?

The word literally means to “avoid.”

I think Paul is referring to the act of church discipline.

If you’re new to Christianity or to PBC, that idea might be new to you. Please come back next week, because we’ll look at it this idea in a bit more detail as we finish up this letter.

For now, you need to understand that a person who claims to be a Christian but stubbornly refuses to work is a serious problem.

If you’re going to call Jesus Lord, you actually need to follow Him. Don’t call Him Lord if you refuse to do what He says.

Christians are called to represent Jesus. We work hard because He worked hard for us.

But also you should…

B) Work because it helps your NEIGHBOR

2 Thessalonians 3:7–9—For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.

Remember Paul, who wrote this letter, is a traveling minister.

He goes from one place to the next starting and strengthening churches.

In Paul’s day traveling was expensive, just like it is in our day. You needed money for lodging, money for food, money for transportation.

Because he was a gospel minister, Paul could have asked the church in Thessalonica to financially support him.

That’s what he means in verse 9 when he talks about his rights.

In another letter, Paul explains why it’s right to pay those who devote their lives to Christian ministry.

1 Corinthians 9:13–14—Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

It is right and good for a church to financially provide for those who devote their lives to ministry. PBC, you do this well. Thank you!

And yet, even though Paul could have asked the church in Thessalonica to support him financially, he didn’t.

He was a single guy. No wife or kids to care for, so he was able to do what many pastors can’t do. He got a second job.

In verses 7-8, Paul says he worked night and day. He paid for everything he ate with his own money.

Years ago the church I pastored in Louisville, KY hosted a large block party for our poor neighborhood.

We provided games, food, and gospel literature to a few hundred people, and our tiny little church of 30 people didn’t charge anybody anything!

But there was one man who refused to receive our hospitality. When the event was over he tried to hand me money and I refused to take it. So then he started picking up trash and putting chairs away for us. He told me he couldn’t accept this without working for it.

Is that what’s going on in Paul’s mind? Is he too proud to accept help? Is he stubbornly refusing to receive a gift?

I don’t think that’s it at all!

Paul worked hard to support himself in Thessalonica because he wanted to help them.

In verse 8 Paul works to bless others. He works so that he’s not a burden to them.

In verse 9 Paul works as an example. He’s showing them what hard work looks like.

Christian, whether you realize it or not, your hard work helps your neighbors in the same way.

Your hard work provides goods and services that bless others.

Whether you’re painting walls, cutting grass, selling insurance, filing taxes, waiting tables, or managing people, when you do your work with excellence you’re blessing the people around you.

And when you work hard, you’re also being a good example.

When you keep working without complaining, even when your job is annoying and hard, you’re an example of perseverance!

Christians should work hard because our work helps others.

But finally you should…

C) Work because you need to EAT

2 Thessalonians 3:10—For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

A lot of people get very bent out of shape with Paul here, but notice very carefully what he says. He does not say “if anyone is UNABLE to work, don’t let him eat.” He says “if anyone is UNWILLING to work, don’t let him eat.”

There are circumstances when someone might be UNABLE to work, due to injury or disability.

But even in those cases, I think many people with disabilities are able to work far more than we think.

Research suggests that when disabled persons have opportunities for meaningful work, their mental health outcomes improve, reducing suicide risk.

God created us to work, and meaningful work is a blessing, not a curse.

If you’re physically able to work, you should.

And as Christians we should be careful NOT to give handouts to those who refuse to work.

As the old Chinese proverb says: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

If we’re going to thrive as a local church, we need to remember why we work.

We work because we represent King Jesus, we work because it helps our neighbor, and we work because we need to eat!

Let’s conclude with our final question…

4) HOW Should You Work?

With every issue, there are two pitfalls we can fall into.

We can move too fast, or we can move too slow.

We can be too trusting, or we can be too skeptical.

We can talk too much, or we can talk too little.

The same idea is true with our work. There are two main pitfalls we can fall into.

One the one hand you can be idle in your work.

Or, on the other hand, you can make an idol of your work.

And yet, most of the Christian teaching and preaching about work I’ve heard through the years is directed towards the problem of idolatry, not idleness.

David Bahnsen says it this way in his book Full-Time...

“I am struck by the defensive tone churches take, presupposing that too much work is the default sin of their congregation rather than not enough work. I guarantee that the latter outnumber the former in every church I have ever observed or studied by a wide margin.” [5]

Far more important than what Bahnsen says is what the Bible says.

There are dozens and dozens of passages that condemn the sins of laziness and idleness. And few, if any, passages that condemn the sins of overworking.

I am NOT saying overworking isn’t a real problem for some of us.

But apparently God’s Word sees under-working as a far greater problem.

It is possible to make an idol of your work. But most Christians are far more likely to be idle in their work.

And it is the sin of idleness at work—not idolatry of work—that Paul speaks against in our text.

2 Thessalonians 3:11–12—For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Notice that Paul is talking about those who “walk in idleness.”

Just like in verse 6, walking in idleness implies a settled state.

Not working or not working enough isn’t something you’ve stumbled into. It’s something you’re content remaining in.

Notice also that idleness actually leads to other sins.

The person who isn’t busy working quickly becomes a busybody.

As the old saying goes, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”

Are you guilty of the sin of idleness?

Stay-at-home mom, are you guilty of idleness? Are you faithfully working hard in caring for your home and raising your children, or are you devoting much of your time to doom-scrolling and binge-watching?

Retired man, are you guilty of idleness? Are your days devoted to leisurely pursuing your own hobbies and interests, or are you exerting yourself in honest work—even if you don’t get a paycheck?

Young person, are you guilty of idleness? Are your days filled with video games and social media and playtime, while your room is a mess, you procrastinate your schoolwork and you rarely if ever help out around the house?

Here’s a few warning signs you might be idle in your work, whatever your work is...

Some of these come from the book, The Gospel at Work. [6]

You might be idle if you view your work merely as a means to an end.

If you don’t see your work as valuable in itself, you’re probably going to be tempted to be idle.

In his fabulous book Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller writes: “work—and lots of it—is an indispensable component in a meaningful human life. It is a supreme gift from God and one of the main things that gives our lives purpose.” [7]

You might be idle if your work totally frustrates you.

Every job has some things that are frustrating. But if all of it frustrates you, you’re going to be tempted to be idle.

When I was in college I had the worst job of my life. I washed dishes for $1.25 an hour. Now I’m old but I’m not that old. The minimum wage was $5.15 an hour then. But this was a work scholarship, so I was also get money off my tuition. But I would spend five-hour shifts washing thousands of dishes from our school cafeteria and at the end of the workweek I’d get about $25 after taxes. That’s about enough to buy a dozen eggs in today’s economy.

I HATED that job. And I did whatever I could to work as little as possible. I took long bathroom breaks. I walked and moved slowly. I complained. I showed up late and left early.

At the time, it seemed like a normal response to a horrible job. But now I know my behavior was sinful.

You might be idle if you’re regularly late, regularly leaving early, and regularly distracted at work.

You might be idle if you’re constantly looking to something else to bail you out of work.

For some of you it’s buying lottery tickets in hope you’ll strike it rich.

For young men, it’s the allure of online sports gambling.

For the middle-aged it’s the hope of an early retirement and a life of ease.

Proverbs 13:11—Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

The Bible isn’t against building wealth. But it is against disconnecting wealth from work.

You might be idle if you’re not working enough.

The Bible’s pattern is six days of work and one day of rest. That’s countercultural in the West, where we’ve become used to a two-day weekend. Some are even pushing for the Western world to adopt a four-day workweek.

Just the other day, Bill Gates told Jimmy Fallon that soon we would only need to work 2-3 days a week.

What’s even more countercultural is the idea that the biblical workday was typically from dawn-to-dusk.

Now, I am NOT saying you need to work six twelve-hour workdays to be faithful.

But I am saying that, perhaps, many of us are far more idle than we should be.

The average American adult spends 7-hours a day on screens, excluding work-related usage. [8]

That’s a LOT of idleness!

Much of the sin that enslaves some of you would not be a temptation if only you were busier.

As Charles Spurgeon said “Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.” [9]

If you’re idle, you need to repent. That means to turn away from the sin of idleness.

Maybe turning away means you change the way you think about your current job.

Or maybe you need to get another job because you’re not working enough.

Or maybe you need to get a job because you’re not working at all.

Or maybe you’re working at home and you need to expand your list of responsibilities because you’ve been idle.

Whatever it is, commit to fight this temptation for the glory of Jesus!

If we’re going to thrive as a local church, we need to work hard, fighting the temptation to idleness.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s short story “Leaf by Niggle” tells the story of a painter named Niggle who spent his life working on a single large painting of a tree. He is determined to work hard to make the tree look perfect, carefully painting every stroke with incredible detail. [10]

But no matter how hard he tries, Niggle is constantly interrupted. And by the end of his life, Niggle has only finished one leaf.

Perhaps that’s how you feel, Christian. It’s hard to be motivated to work hard when it feels like you’re accomplishing nothing.

What’s the point of spending so much time and effort working hard if in the end all that hard work is wasted?

But that’s not the end of Niggle’s story...

In Tolkien’s story, Niggle is brought to a beautiful countryside, which represents heaven.

When Niggle arrives, he is shocked to see the tree that he had imagined, but only just begun to paint.

The tree is fully completed and alive, far grander than Niggle could have ever painted it.

Every leaf is perfect, just as he had envisioned but never fully achieved in life.

If there is a God, and if He values our work and rewards our labor, than our work matters.

Your work matters because you were made to work.

Your work matters because, if you’re a Christian, ultimately you work for King Jesus.

Your work matters because your work represents Him to a lost and dying world.

Your work matters because it helps your neighbor.

Your work matters because it’s how you provide for yourself and give to others.

Your work matters because heaven awaits. So let’s work hard until the day we meet our King.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Almost Home

Benediction (Psalm 90:17)