Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church.

Conservative estimates claim that you will spend 13 years of your life at work.

Other estimates that I’ve seen claim that you could spend 1/3 of your life there.

And while in some instances this may sound like drudgery - it is significant to note that this has always been a part of the plan that God established as a part of His created order.

Within the first five words of the Bible we see work playing a part in what God is orchestrating.

God created - He went to work.

Following the creation account in Genesis 2:2 God rests

Just prior to this God established work as the standard order for mankind giving the command in Genesis 1:28

Be fruitful, subdue the earth - work the beautiful and bountiful creation in which I have placed you.

It is interesting don’t you think that God worked six days and rested one - and of course we recognize that in His sovereignty over all of creation that even on that seventh day He was still working to sustain His creation.

And if that is the case then why is that statement there - that God rested?

It is to establish for us the expectation of work as the norm of life.

The fact that God rested carries an eschatological or end of time promise for us that one day we will be able to enter into the rest that the Lord has promised us.

But there is also an applicational point of this for the here and now and that is that there is a balance in our lives between work and rest.

As a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve work is now considered to be a bad thing because it is hard.

For some their job can seem a drudgery - something they loathe getting out of bed for every day.

I can openly confess that there were days when I was in the Navy that I felt that way about my job.

And so we seek to establish ideals like a four day work week and to get more time off for more opportunities for rest.

In fact rest becomes a goal, a pursuit and in some cases an idol where we will neglect things that need to get done just so we can get some “rest”.

On the other side of this challenge, there are also some for whom work becomes too much of a joy or too consuming of their lives and they can never rest.

There’s always the next task, the next goal, the next rung on the ladder for them to climb.

Work becomes their obsession, their identity and their idol.

The point is that, just as God demonstrated in Creation, there is a balance and a proportion in our lives where we work and take time to rest.

When we try to force that balance to be what we desire it to be rather than what God has established it to be the inevitable result is an idolatrous lifestyle that doesn’t honor God.

Now hear me when I say this that work is not a bad thing - work is a part of God’s original created order and there are many who believe that in the new earth we will still have work responsibilities.

But that’s another can of worms for another day.

This morning we have a text of Scripture to deal and wrestle with as we try to formulate a theology of work.

And just a brief side note - we should understand that theology is not just some high minded, ethereal science that is studied only in the ivory towers of Seminary.

Theology is the study of God and then, having an understanding of Him, how that impacts every aspect of our lives.

Theology impacts everything we do.

Last week we looked at a theology in the home - how God structured the home, the impact of the Fall and what our God-ordained responsibilities are in the home.

This week we’re going to shift our focus a bit and develop a theology of work - not of works as in works based salvation, but of work meaning the tasks that we have been given to accomplish every day.

So with all of that preamble in mind, turn in your Bibles with me to Colossians 3:22 and we’ll be reading through to chapter 4:1.

I immediately have to address an issue that can distract us from the primary and most important lessons we can glean from this text.

It is the issue of slavery.

And the issue can really play itself out in this text in two ways - each depends on your viewpoint.

The first is that clearly Paul must have been in favor of slavery because he doesn’t speak out against it here given the chance.

The second is the flip side of that question and it is if Paul was against slavery why did he choose not to speak out in the writing of this letter?

One thing that we should recall and keep in mind as we examine these two questions, is that as this letter is being read, just as was the case with the children, Paul is assuming there will be slaves in the room while this letter is being read which would be, in itself, revolutionary in the way that slaves were treated.

They were property, not viewed as people, and so would not have normally been addressed but instead would have been completely ignored.

Also, standing right next to Tychicus during the reading of this text was a man by the name of Onesimus who was a runaway slave from Colossae and from a member of this church.

We have some of his story in Philemon.

That brings us back to the question of either why didn’t Paul speak up or did he actually support the institution of slavery.

And we also need to briefly understand that our concept of slavery - meaning chattel slavery that was practiced in the western nations during the 18th and 19th centuries - is skewed with respect to the institution of slavery in the ancient world.

The answer to Paul’s reaction of seeming inaction in regards to this institution is both and.

Did Paul support slavery - No. In fact by addressing slaves directly in this text he is assigning to them a personhood that no one else in society was and so he was undermining a key view of that institution that they were merely objects of no more human value than a piece of furniture.

But he also doesn’t seek to change their station or call for some sort of slave revolt to throw off the evils of slavery.

The social revolution that was brought about by the new testament and first century church was accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel and that’s what Paul’s goal here is - to tie two other aspects of life as slaves and masters in the case of the first century culture and the employee and employer in the twenty-first century.

So let’s look at the points that Paul brings out and see how they apply to us in our own work contexts.

As we examine this text we’re going to see three things - our method of work, our motivation for work and our memory at work.

Our method of work, our motivation for work and our memory at work.

Our Method of Work

Colossians 3:22; Colossians 3:20; Matthew 6:22

And speaking of work have you seen that guy?

You know the one I’m talking about - he’s (or she) is the one at work who shows up every day, does what he’s told with a smile and then goes home.

That guy.

We can’t stand that guy.

He’s always so cheerful, always in such a good mood, always does what he’s told.

He’s the guy that gets made fun of in movies - the Ned Flanders character.

The problem for us is that that guy is the standard Paul is calling us to in this text.

He says obey your human masters in everything - and with the exception of a few words that he’s changed it is the exact same statement that he made to children back in verse 20.

And in this verse as in the earlier verse addressed to children - everything means everything.

We don’t get to choose to be obedient in some tasks because we like or prefer them and then not to perform other tasks because they’re not as cool or we don’t like them.

When I was in the Navy we had a few rules that, if you followed them, guaranteed that you would be successful.

The first was always show up on time.

The second was in a clean uniform and shaved (if that was required of you) and the last was ready to work (basically don’t be feeling the negative effects of whatever you did last night).

It is amazing how many people struggle with just those three basic rules.

It reminds me of the inspirational video of a SEAL Admiral delivering the commencement speech at the University of Texas where he said if you want to change the world start off by making your bed.

Do this one simple, small task and you start off by accomplishing something every day which leads to more tasks accomplished.

If you want to succeed in your workplace - start off with simple obedience to everything you’re asked to do, whether the task is small or large.

Notice here that

Paul doesn’t predicate your obedience on the type of boss that you have.

He doesn’t say if they are a swell person then you should be obedient or anything of the sort.

He’s going to get to the reason for our obedience in a moment.

Here he simply makes this statement requiring obedience but hidden in it there’s a subtle promise.

Do you see it?

He says obey your human masters.

He’s reminding the slaves that “this too shall pass”, that these are only human masters and that their control over them is only temporary.

He’s hinting at what he’s going to say later in the text regarding do all that you do for Christ.

This is not a fatalistic “grin and bear it” promise but instead a gentle reminder that really there’s only so much they can do to you and that you have a higher purpose a higher reason for obedience.

But we’re not quite there yet - there’s more in the text to address before Paul gets there.

Have Integrity

Paul admonishes the Colossian slaves to not work only while being watched, as people-pleasers.

This is to have integrity in your work.

To do the right thing whether someone is sitting there watching you or is off handling their own tasks.

Having integrity at work is also a safety for the worker.

Zig Ziglar says it this way “With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide.

With integrity, you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt.”

The Bible gives us a great picture of a man who had impeccable integrity in the person of Joseph.

Even though the wife of Potiphar was attempting to seduce him, he maintained his integrity and refused to be engaged in that way even though his master was not present.

And he went to jail for it - but he could go there guilt free knowing that he had maintained his integrity and God worked it out for the good of so many people.

His quote to his brothers that what they had meant for evil God meant for good could easily have included Potiphar’s wife.

When I was in the Navy we had lots of times to call into question a person’s integrity.

One that I will never forget was when I was onboard a Guided Missile Cruiser and we were in Charleston, South Carolina to load the ship.

When liberty call goes down the crew generally scatters like rats and it was much the same on this night.

And since we were in the United States you didn’t have to have a liberty buddy going with you.

We had one Sailor who was charged with taking out the trash from the mess decks.

This was back in the late 90’s when we still used large paper bags to collect our trash.

In his hurry to get off the ship and because he didn’t really want to take the trash out he figured it would be okay to just throw that bag of trash over the side before he walked off the ship.