Jesus at Work

For you idealistic students, let me go ahead and pop the bubble for you…the adage of “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life,” is completely false.

You know, on those “grass is greener” kind of moments, you look around at someone else and say, “Man, I wish I had their job. It sure would be a lot more fun to do…fill in the blank.”

Sometimes, I think being a window washer would be a lot of fun. Lower stress job with a clear purpose: when I come in, this window is dirty. When I leave, it has to be clean.

I like to mow, so I have thought maybe a side gig mowing lawns would be a nice change of pace.

Then, I had the opportunity a week ago to help trim lawns for a guy who has a mowing business.

We did six lawns in about 5 hours, and I was sore for days.

This was one of those cooler days, but I still was sweaty and sore and tired.

You know what truth that reminded me of? Work is work, and it is always going to be work.

For you idealistic students, let me go ahead and pop the bubble for you…the adage of “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life,” is completely false.

No matter what you do, whether you are an entry-level employee or the CEO of a multinational corporation, there are going to be days when work is hard.

By the way, this isn’t just true for those who have some type of corporate job. Stay-at-home moms may look at their kids or their husband as their boss. Students have to act towards their teachers and professors in this same kind of way, doing what the professor tells them to do.

How, then, are we as Christians supposed to look at our jobs?

That’s what we are looking at this morning as we continue our way through Ephesians.

We have seen throughout this series that Jesus is bringing everything back together, repairing the damage done through sin.

Through his death and resurrection, he now offers complete salvation to anyone who will receive the gift of life he offers.

Not only has he given us salvation as a gift, we have every spiritual blessing and even have unique gifts that help us build up other believers to grow up into Christ.

We have seen that what God has done requires us to make a change, putting off the old way of living and putting on the new way.

We can only live out that new life if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us with God’s power and goodness.

Over the past two weeks, we have seen that one key element of that filling is that we now willingly submit to one another.

We saw it in marriage, as husbands and wives are called to submit to one another, each reflecting Christ to the other in unique ways.

Last week, we saw that children are called to submit to their parents, honoring them throughout their entire lives. Not only that, but parents are called to submit to their children by teaching them about who God is as they consistently love, discipline, and lead their kids.

Now, we are turning to one more human relationship that needs work.

Go ahead and look with me at .

In this passage, Paul is instructing slaves and masters how they are supposed to treat and respond to each other.

Again, what God is saying through Paul here is incredibly revolutionary to the people in Ephesus.

You see, there were some 60,000,000 slaves in the Roman empire. Although some slave owners were kind, slaves were legally considered property.

To give you an idea of how badly they were treated, one slave owner wrote this:

Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Revised Edition) Masters and Slaves

Varro, writing on agriculture, divides agricultural instruments into three classes—the articulate, the inarticulate and the mute. The articulate comprises the slaves; the inarticulate the cattle; and the mute the vehicles. The slave is no better than a beast who happens to be able to talk.

It is incredible to think that they could have this great a disdain for human life, but to the Romans, slaves were nothing more than animals who could talk.

So, then, the relationships God is calling slaves and their masters to is something that would be largely unheard of.

Today, by the grace of God, we have made great strides in fighting against the evil that was slavery.

There are still people enslaved around the world, and even in some capacities in the United States, but to my knowledge, no one here is either a slave or a slave-owner.

For us, then, we are going to draw out the principles that Paul lays out and see how they impact the way we work.

If these were to be true of those who were slaves, then surely those of us in better situations should follow suit.

Although we don’t own slaves, some of you are in leadership positions where you have people working under you, and you need to hear what God has to say here.

We can wrap it up in this idea: whether you are an employee or an employer, keep in mind that you are working for Jesus.

Whether you are an employee or an employer, keep in mind: you are working for Jesus.

You are working for Jesus.

Just like we have seen before, we are going to start with the one society would expect to submit first.

With that in mind then, we see that...

1) Employees: Work with integrity.

You can summarize verses 5-8 with one idea: work with integrity.

Work sincerely.

We are going to see some specifics of what this means for our attitudes, but for now, remember that integrity is the idea that you have a moral code and you are sticking to it.

You aren’t going to allow yourself to be divided and distracted.

Why? Because you aren’t working for a boss or a professor or your spouse or whoever you think you are; you are working for Jesus.

Twice in this passage, we see the we are working for Christ. One other time, we see that we are doing God’s will by working with integrity.

The idea behind the word “sincerity” is “not having an ulterior or double motive” or, “simplicity, purity, sincerity, faithfulness...”(WSNTDICT 572)

God is calling you to live that way

Twice in this passage, we see the we are working for Christ. One other time, we see that we are doing God’s will by working with integrity.

Twice in this passage, we see the we are working for Christ. One other time, we see that we are doing God’s will by working with integrity.

You don’t work hard for the company for a paycheck or because your boss is so good to you. You don’t write your papers and do the projects for your professor because you want a diploma.

Ultimately, your goal in whatever work God has given you is to work as if Jesus is your boss, because he is!

When you go into work this week with that attitude, it totally changes the way you look at your job. You are working for Jesus now, so you have to work with greater integrity than you ever could.

To make it clearer, Paul gives us at least four attributes of what it would look like if we work with integrity.

Notice that these aren’t suggestions; they are commands.

Although this isn’t an exhaustive list of what it means to work with integrity, I can guarantee that if your work is characterized by these four attributes, you will be well on your way to walking in integrity at work.

How many of you have jobs where you have some kind of performance review?

These attributes would be four words that could be written on your performance review if you are working with integrity:

Work

A) Respectful.

This comes out of verse 5. We are called to obey our human masters “with fear and trembling”.

That sounds kinda crazy, doesn’t it? Does that mean I am supposed to walk around like Piglet all day at work, scared of my boss?

“Fear and trembling” doesn’t mean cowering; it means acting respectfully towards those who are in authority over you.

One commentator defined it this way: Fear and trembling describes...

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 6

not slavish terror, but (See on 1 Co 2:3; 2 Co 7:15) an anxious eagerness to do your duty, and a fear of displeasing, as great as is produced in the ordinary slave by “threatenings” (Eph 6:9).

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 6

an anxious eagerness to do your duty, and a fear of displeasing, as great as is produced in the ordinary slave by “threatenings”

Your desire to do your job well should have an attitude or respect that wants to please your boss as much as you would if he had the power to beat you!

You might say, “Well, you don’t know my boss.” True, but I know you are not literally his slave, part of his property!

Even if your boss is the worst in the world, you are still called to show them respect.

1 Peter 2:18–19 CSB

Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel. For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.

1 Peter 2:18 CSB

Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.

By respecting a boss who doesn’t deserve it, you are showing your ultimate respect for Christ, willing to do what he calls you to do, even when it is difficult!

You can’t fake that respect for long.

It is something that God has to work in your heart, and it only lasts when you have the second attribute we see in verse 5...

B) Sincere.

You are called to do your work“in the sincerity of your heart.”

The idea behind the word “sincerity” is “not having an ulterior or double motive” or, “simplicity, purity, sincerity, faithfulness...”(WSNTDICT 572)

Man, don’t you wish God would have left this one out?

This is like we saw last week with children and their parents. We can obey someone, but to have an undivided heart with pure motives that seeks to honor them sincerely? That is so much harder!

We would rather fake it, right? I know I’m supposed to do this, but I am not going to put my heart into it.

That isn’t what God calls us to do, though.

Our work must start in a sincere, undivided heart. We aren’t seeking our gain or our fame, we are seeking to honor Jesus through the way we work.

Let’s check in here for a second: how are you doing so far?

If God was writing your performance review, would you be able to have these first two written on there?

If not, there is hope, as we will see at the end.

If you and I are working with a sincere heart, then the next attribute will flow pretty naturally:

C) Dilligent.

Look at verse 6...

Isn’t it interesting that people haven’t changed at all?

People have always worked harder when you are watching then when you leave them alone.

As Lou Gerstner, a former CEO at IBM said, “People don’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect.”

We all have a tendency to work harder when we know someone is paying attention.

Isn’t it interesting that the motive hasn’t changed, either? We work harder because we want our boss to be happy with us and we want a promotion and we want a bonus and we want others to know how hard we work.

However, God is calling you as a Christian to work hard all the time, whether anyone sees it or not.

Why? Because God sees it!

Don’t worry about whether or not your boss catches you on Facebook when you should be working; worry about whether or not God sees you.

By the way, he does!

If you want some passages for this, write down these references: , ,

God sees, God knows, and did you see what else Paul says? God rewards! Jump down to verse 8.

Don’t be confused: this isn’t talking about something like our American notion of karma, where if I do good then good things will happen to me.

This is largely referring to the reward God will give us after we die, so we may not see the fruit of it now.

God sees what your boss doesn’t, so work hard, even when no one is watching.

He rewards that!

Knowing that he is watching and rewarding leads to the last characteristic of working with integrity from this passage:

D) Positive.

The sincerity of our heart leads us to work hard and also to work with a good attitude!

Look back at verses 7-8.

You are working for God, not for people!

I know you may work for an incredibly demanding boss or professor or teacher, and you feel like you can never satisfy them, but that isn’t true of your ultimate Lord and leader.

You can work with joy because you know that God is ultimately going to reward you.

How? Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

God loved you so much that he would send his own son to die in your place. He was raised from the dead so you could have new life.

If he did that, then can’t you trust him with your job?

Romans 8:32 CSB

He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

If he would give you his Son, then can’t you trust that he will reward the work you do as you serve him?

Let that carry you with joy into the work week tomorrow!

Work hard, knowing that God is going to reward you.

Go back and reread to see all that God has promised you.

Let those truths soak deep into your soul, and rejoice in them.

“But I hate work and I feel sad just thinking about going back tomorrow.”

Let me remind you of a truth I heard several months ago that has been hitting me more and more: your feelings don’t have brains!

There are times when you have to tell your feelings how to think.

I know it feels rough, and I have had stretches in every job I have ever had where it was all I could do to get up and go into work that day.

That’s when you and I need to stop letting our feelings run the day and instead cultivate a positive attitude based off the truth that God is your real boss, he sees everything going on, and he will reward your faithfulness!

Yet

So, then, that’s what it means to work with integrity: respect those who are over you, do your work sincerely, work hard no matter what, and keep a positive attitude because of what God will do.

If you still feel like you can’t, hold on just a few minutes. You are right, but I am going to get to that in a bit.

First, though, let’s talk about what you are supposed to do if you are someone else’s boss:

2) Employers: Lead gently.

Go back to verse 9...

We didn’t leave a lot of time to talk about this section because there isn’t much more to say.

How are you supposed to lead those underneath you? Just like those under you are supposed to work.

We didn’t leave a lot of time to talk about this section because there isn’t much more to say.

Lead them with integrity. Treat them with respect, sincerely, setting an example of working hard and maintaining a positive attitude.

There is one additional note, though: you are called to lead gently, not through fear and intimidation.

Go back and look at , where Jesus redefined leadership for us. He was fully in charge and knew it, yet he was willing to get down and wash his disciples’ feet.

That’s what you are called to do. Don’t threaten, don’t manipulate, don’t intimidate.

After all, that’s not how your boss treats you, is it?

Your Master is in heaven, and he doesn’t play favorites. In his eyes, you aren’t any higher up than those underneath you, so keep in mind that you are working for Jesus as well.

This runs contrary to our society’s view of success and power, yet it is clearly God’s design.

Let me remind you: you can’t do this on your own. Power structures, laziness, rebellion…all of these things are so deeply tied up in our hearts that we can’t get past them on our own.

Jesus overcame them for us, though. He demonstrated what it was like to obey the Father when it was hard, maintaining a sincere and positive attitude the entire time:

Hebrews 12:2 CSB

keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He was obedient to the Father, and it cost him his life.

He knew there was a reward coming, so he endured the cross.

In so doing, he made a way for us to be saved.

None of us can live up to this standard or any other standard in God’s word. God knew that, so by sending Jesus to die for us, his blood covers our sin and makes the way available for us to come into a relationship with him.

He trades our laziness, bad attitudes at work, and every other sin, for his perfect obedience, so now, God sees Jesus’ work and not ours.

Once we have that relationship with him, as we saw in , we can be filled by the Spirit of God, who equips us to live as his servants.

Look back at verse

Over the last few weeks, we have seen that we are called to lives of radical submission. Those commands have some incredible promises to bookend them: 5:18 - be filled by the Spirit and then 6:10 - be strengthened bye the Lord and his vast strength.

Rely on him today.