Holiness-Reflecting, Redemption-Displaying, and Mission-Advancing

Bible Passage: Colossians 3:17; Proverbs 11:1; Daniel 6:4

Introduction

Is there anyone in your life who you look up to as someone worthy of emulating? Depending on where you ask that question and in what context the qualities of what would be expected as admirable might vary a great deal. Generally speaking in our culture we value you people with power of some sort. Generally is closely associated with some degree of wealth too. Most people probably in and outside the church a like if asked would love to be part of the 1% who control the vast majority of wealth today. If you ever wanted to be stunned by opulence just do a quick search on YouTube for New York Penthouse apartments or something to that effect. There is one building in Manhattan that has generated a lot of buzz lately. People are annoyed by it because it’s destroyed the iconic view of the Empire State Building from Washington Square Park. It’s this skinny little building that 262 Fifth Avenue that has 29 units. So in the middle of a housing crises, they’re building a new building that will only house 29 people and honestly probably won’t house anyone. The units are so expensive the only people who buy them will be people who are using them to essentially launder some of their money in the US. People from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, etc. People with loads of money who might occasionally need a place to stay when they visit New York, but mostly want to invest $10M dollars and New York real estate seems like a safe bet. Plus they can buy some artwork that really holds value well. Oh to have such problems. It’s hard to grasp the kind of wealth that permits buying 3000 sq ft apartment in midtown Manhattan.

But is that really the kind of life you want. I feel reasonably safe in saying for most of us here today the answer would be no. We’re not working towards that or either anything remotely resembling it. We want a warm place to live, some family to surround us and the opportunity to worship and honor our God. If that’s not what you’re looking for maybe give it some consideration. I think you will find it’s better to live quietly and honestly than to be a fabulously wealthy jerk. Most of us want to spend time with people who are worth spending time around. We don’t want to be around the loud mouth who only ever talks about themselves or the gossip who constantly speaks ill of the people in their life who don’t happen to be in the room at the moment. This series of lessons we’re looking at now are all about what it means to be an everyday Revolutionary. This particular week is all about pursuing excellence, integrity and grace in the work that we do to feed our families.

1. Reflecting His Holiness

Colossians 3:17 “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.”

Whatever You Do

Applies to everyone and everything

Whether you are paid or volunteer

You are always the Lord’s servant

Be Certain of Your Attitude

Be a reflector

Be polished regularly

So you shine brightly

Give Thanks to Jesus

Not always easy

Not necessarily what we want

Always what we’re called to do

Yesterday as I do many days, I spent the afternoon with my camera and a few hundred of my close friends, rather than with my family. I’m not sure that my picture taking always has the intended effect of doing something for the young people in our community. But that is honestly a part of why I do it. I do sell some of my photos but that’s in part to keep me on the right side of tax laws and so I’m actually allowed to go to all the places I do. It would probably otherwise be kind of weird for a man my ages to have so many young friends who are not my relatives or even acquaintances in most instances. But I’ve had a few occasions over the years to share both my love of photography and my love of the Lord. I also got to spend some time yesterday at the Mercy Outreach even taking photos. Wow what a difference. As the football game neared the end of the first half the other team was getting frustrating and to be honest seemed to change their goal from winning the game to trying to injure our players. Pretty quickly I got off track and want to hurt the little punks myself. In that moment, I lost track and was not remotely thankful.

2. Displaying His Redemption

Proverbs 11:1 “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.”

No Room for Counterfeit Christians

Quiet living requires genuine redemption

Are you really His child

Live it out loud

Integrity Matters

Society requires it of us

We’re ambassadors not politicians

One lie can ruin your reputation

God Delights in Our Honesty

Dishonesty hurts more than your reputation

Honesty is expected in all things

Don’t give it a foothold

Probably most of us these days only see a scale in our closet or wherever we change. Maybe if you go to a gym you’ll see one there. And of course, if you go to see the doctor they will want you to get on one that is so utterly inaccurate, you know the one you got ten years ago at Walmart on sale that’s definitely a piece of precision machinery. Then you have to go see the doctor wearing at least 10 pounds of clothes. What the writer of proverbs is talking about though is one of the old balance type scales. The closest we see to it these days are the ones at the doctor or gym with the little lead slide weight. What he’s referring to though was the habit of some of altering the weights they would put in the balance. If they were weighing out flour or wheat or something like that, they might file off or drill out some of the weight so the customer ended up paying more for less. Nowadays, they just repackage stuff and shave a few ounces off here and there to make business more efficient. The point being, don’t be a dishonest cheat in your work. Give people what they pay for, tell them the truth even when it hurts. Lying or trying to cover something up while you work to get it right is never a good idea.

3. Advancing the Mission

Daniel 6:4 “Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.”

Officials sought to trap Daniel

Went looking for a grounds for complaint

Wanted to destroy his reputation

Were not happy with his position

Dishonor him in the Kingdom

Desired to get between him and the King

His wisdom overcame them

People don’t like to see other succeed

He was found faithful

No ground for complaint with regard to the kingdom

He was faithful without fault

No errors in his work for the king

When you live a quiet and honest life, it shows in the work you do. I have 14 people who’s work I supervise and I’m part of a larger group of another 40 or so engineers. Most of the people who I work with and around are generally good people. But the honest ones stand out. People who will go above and beyond what is asked seem to be more and more rare as I get older. Yes, I’m getting to be one of those … “back in my day …”. It’s not just the younger generation though. They do things a little differently and sometimes take a little more effort to lead. But they’ll do what they need to if appropriately incentivized. I’ve been buying more and more chocolate lately. That seems to do the trick. At least it gets them to come into my office more often. If you want to be recognized and stand out in your workplace. Work hard as though you were doing it for Jesus. What does that mean? If you knew He was watching you all the time (He is) and He wants you to actually do good honest work. Would you cut corners and do just enough to get by? I just got done this past week sitting with the other managers and figuring out who gets recognized for their work with a larger raise. It was actually pretty easy. We all work together in teams on projects and they all have to bring there work to all of us for review, so we see the ones who are really going after it. They do great work on their presentations and when asked to follow up, they do so quickly and thoroughly. The one’s who are just doing enough to keep people happy. They’re easy to spot too.