Remember The Week Day And Keep It Holy
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
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"Remember The Week Day And Keep It Holy"
(Psalm 115:1; Romans 13:8-10)
INTRODUCTION:
A hobo knocked on the door of an English Inn called, "George and the Dragon." A woman opened the door and the hobo asked, "Could I please have a bit to eat?"
The woman screamed at him and in her most vitriolic voice and language began to curse the hobo, all of his ancestors and anybody who had ever been associated with him. Then in one final fiery blast, she let him know what she really thought and slammed the door in his face.
The hobo stood there for just a moment, knocked on the door again, and as the woman was opening the door said, "Now, could I have a few words with George?"
The question for the day is, "Are you George or the Dragon?"
Scripture tells us that God's people work because we are made in God's Image. The Bible opens with a picture of God working, creating a universe. God has been on the job of sustaining creation since it was first fashioned. To be created in God's image means, in part, that people have the capacity to work, to fashion and to create.
God calls us all to view our workplace as a ministry post. Our desks, our cars, our classrooms, our kitchens are a Christians pulpit.
I believe that God calls people to a certain job or form of ministry and then equips us for those jobs. All of US have a calling. All of us have been equipped with certain gifts and talents in life. From the youngest to the oldest; the richest and poorest of us, we are all called upon to give glory to God through our lives and our labor. We are called to use our gifts and talents to glorify God. We come on Sundays to worship and thank God for the blessings of life. But on Monday morning, when you've returned to the office, or the classroom, or the shop or the field or home or wherever.... "Are you George or the Dragon?"
I. FAITH LIKE OVERALLS:
Do you lose your Christian identity when you leave the Church? Do you hang it up in the entry way with your name tag? Or do you wear your faith like a pair of overalls, letting it clothe you and guide you at home and at work in order that your life might glorify God. Are you keeping the weekday holy, too?
There was a young couple with two daughters ages eight and ten who started memorizing a verse of scripture every week as part of their Family Discipleship. Mom and Dad were both excited about the way the girls had responded.
One evening, though, Mom and Dad heard the girls fighting. "I hate you!" one of them yelled. And of course the other daughter responded, "Well, I hate you, too!"
Instead of just wading in, Dad decided to try a little psychology. "Girls, what's our memory verse for the week?"
They both stopped fighting and in their most pious voices they recited that weeks verse, "Dear friends, since God loved us as much as that, we surely ought to love each other. 1 John 4:11." And then they immediately started fighting again and Dad really did have to intervene.
Unfortunately, that's a perfect example of how many of us apply scripture or the Sunday School lesson or the sermon or our Christian faith in real life. We know the creeds and lessons flawlessly, but they haven't changed how we live. We KNOW all about Christianity but Christianity isn't about knowing, it's about living and doing. We are called to live our faith so that God gets the glory. As the Psalmist says: ¢‚DNot to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the Glory."
II. LOVE WEAVES THE FABRIC:
We're called to live our faith through love like Christ. We're called to let that love weave the overalls of faith. That's the point of Paul's message in Romans 8: "Love is the fulfilling of the law." We CAN live this love in our daily lives.
While working in a shoe store, a woman noticed a little boy in front of the bakery next door. It was late fall and the boy was standing on the hot air register in his bare feet, trying to keep warm. The woman didn't really know what to do, whether she should invite him into the store or what. Just about then another woman happened to stop and start talking to the boy.
After a few words she brought him into the shoe store and bought him a new pair of shoes and some heavy woolen socks. The boy stammered around, awkwardly trying to thank her. And in the process he asked, "Are you God's wife?"
His benefactor was a little taken aback and took a minute to think about her answer and then she replied, "No, I'm not God's wife. I'm just one of God's children."
The boy grinned real big and said, "Well, I knew you had to be some kin to God," and then ran out the door.
We're called to wear the overalls of faith woven from the fabric of love; woven from the fabric created by the Son of God's love for us bursting our bonds of sin. We're called to wear the overalls of faith so that others will know that we are kin to God. And we're called to wear the overalls of faith, not just on Sunday morning, but everyday. So that each day will be held as sacred. Love weaves the fabric.
III. SACRED TASKS:
A. When love weaves the fabric of our faith and each day is seen as sacred, then our jobs will be held in sacred trust as a vocation given to glorify God. You see, no matter what your job, if it is honest work, each occupation can be a vocation. Each job can be a ministry performed and undertaken in love to glorify God.
Teaching, cooking, cleaning, repairing, painting, building, designing, planting, selling, healing, ironing, mowing, towing, studying, singing, sewing...it doesn't make any difference what the job is when it is done in love for the Glory of God. Good honest labor, whether it's bent over a desk, working at a computer, a sink, a stove, and engine, a lathe or a broom; when it's performed in love for the glory of God, it is almost sacramental in nature.
Knowing how hard it was to motivate me as a teenager, my Dad would probably faint dead away if he heard me say this, But work honors God. In a sense, when undertaken in love for the glory of God, labor is prayer in action.
God identifies with our working lives. The Son of God was a carpenter. He experienced mashed thumbs and splinters; sweat running in his ears and sore muscles. He experienced the stress of needing something yesterday and not being able to start on it until tomorrow. And he knew the deep satisfaction of a job completed. The Son of God understands both the struggle and the joy which our labors can bring because he's been there; he's done that.
And because he's been there, Jesus calls us to follow him through it all so that we can make the weekday holy and glorify God.
CONCLUSION:
I really do believe that every job, every worthy task and occupation is holy and can be undertaken and performed for God's glory. When we adopt that attitude, it adds excitement and purpose to our jobs. It allows us to be clothed in the overalls of faith woven from the fabric of love. And something almost magical takes place when you're convinced that God is involved in your work and all you do.
Grandpa was passing by his granddaughter's room one night, when he overheard her repeating the alphabet in an oddly reverent manner. He peeked in and she was on her knees with hands folded in prayer.
Grandpa interrupted and asked, "What on earth are you up to?"
"Oh, I'm just saying my prayers," she explained. "I can't think of exactly the right words tonight, so I'm just saying all the letters. God will put them together for me because God knows what I'm thinking."
There's something exciting and refreshing about knowing that God is involved in all that we do. Life becomes more significant.
Today may be the first time that you've ever considered your job as holy or as a calling. It may be the first time that you've thought about God being involved in your daily life. That's the Good News, God IS with us. God cares about you and your work.
In joyous acknowledgement of God's love and forgiveness, clothe yourself in the overalls of faith woven from the fabric of love through Christ. Remember the weekday and keep it holy by glorifying God in all that you do.
In a few moments when we come forward for the Lord's Supper, feast upon the grace of God at the Lord's table. Feast upon God's grace; be strengthened and renewed for service to Christ.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
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