Untitled Sermon

Title, Prop, Outline:

...

Wisdom for Work

Prop:

Outline:

The Nature of Work

Definition

The most common Hebrew word (מַעֲשֶׂה) can mean (HAL):

deeds

labor

accomplishments

practices (DBL)

The second most common Hebrew word (מְלָאכָה) can mean (HAL):

missions or business journeys

business (abstract)

craftsmanship

objects, wares

service (e.g., employment)

duty in worship

All of these concepts are overlapping here at the word “work”

And they will come through inescapably in our study

Yet for purposes of this lesson, we’re honing in on “the focused expenditure of energy in order to do or accomplish a goal or task” (DBL, #5126)

That means especially your occupation or job

Either in the long term, as in a career

In the short term, as in a single task or day’s work

Or the training or education you undergo to prepare for that work

But also your regular responsibilities to your home

And to God’s people, i.e., your ministry

And this regular expenditure of energy, day by day, year by year, will inescapably amount to your “life’s work,” as they say

Which we’ll talk more about later

But with this definition in mind, I want you to again take a jet tour of Scripture to gain a sense for the biblical theology of work that lay behind Proverbs and would further develop them

It’s origin

God created man to work for His glory (Gen 1:26-28)

God’s creation set the example for man’s work (Gen 2:1-3)

God created the earth to be worked (Gen 2:5)

The Garden was ground zero (Gen 2:15)

God created women to work alongside men (Gen 2:18)

God cursed the earth because of man’s sin (Gen 3:17-19)

“thorns and thistles” means new hazards and futility

“toil” and “sweat” means a difficulty in overcoming these

Man began to long for deliverance from his toil (Gen 5:29)

a reminder of God’s curse and sin’s consequence

a reminder to seek God’s deliverance from sin and punishment through Messiah

Work is still good, glorifying to God, and commanded by God

Now (Eccl 5:18-20; Col 3:23; 2 Thess 3:6-13)

In the coming Kingdom (Isa 65:21-23; Matt 19:28-29)

In the eternal state, without any curse! (Rev 22:3-5)

It’s necessity

Prov 16:26 (cf. Eccl 6:7)

It’s fundamental principle

Prov 20:4

Prov 10:4-5

The Reward of Diligence

Definition

What it sows

It budgets resources (Prov 27:23-27)

It makes plans (Prov 21:5)

Its takes counsel (Prov 15:22)

Its commits plans to the Lord (Prov 16:3)

Its accepts the Lord’s changes (Prov 19:21)

It self-starts (Prov 31:13, 27)

It rises early (Prov 31:15)

It strikes while the iron is hot (Prov 31:18)

It follows through and finishes (Prov 12:27)

What it reaps

Profit (Prov 14:23)

Steady increase (Prov 13:11; 10:4)

fraud illustration

Honor (Prov 22:29)

explain “skilled”

Promotion (Prov 12:24)

A full life (Prov 13:4)

explain “fat”

The Waste of Laziness

Definition

A “tragi-comedy” (Kidner)

What it sows

It looks for dishonest shortcuts (Prov 11:18)

false time card?

It makes excuses (Prov 22:13; 26:13)

It loses motivation (Prov 19:24; 26:15)

It quits in adversity (Prov 24:10)

It refuses counsel (Prov 26:16)

What it reaps

Lethargy, not rest (Prov 19:15; 26:14)

explain “deep sleep”

Hunger (Prov 20:4; 21:25-26)

Poverty (Prov 6:10-11)

A hampered path (Prov 15:19)

A regretful employer (Prov 10:26; 18:9; 25:13)

A wasted life (Prov 24:30-34)

his field is a parable of his life

The Joy of Rest

The Sabbath principle (Exod 20:8-11)

...

So I want to challenge you out of the gate by asking: what is the mission of your life?

Is there any focus? Do you have goals? Do you have plans beyond this year?

We all use the phrase from time to time, “We have work to do.”

Well, take a step back, use a wide-angle lens, and tell me, what is your work to do?

Because without a clear purpose in mind, you won’t know how to approach work with any specificity.

I heard a great illustration this week on Ligonier’s podcast of R.C. Sproul sermons

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, he writes:

“[Alice] was a little startled by seeing the Cheshire-Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off. The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect. ‘Cheshire-Puss,’ she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like that name: however, it only grinned a little wider. ‘Come, it’s pleased so far,’ thought Alice, and she went on. ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat. ‘I don’t much care where--’ said Alice. ‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat” (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [New York: Barnes & Noble, 2004], 73).

If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know which steps to take next

So think about it, and be specific

How has God gifted you to work?

How will you work for His glory?

One way you can do that is put a simple statement in writing and memorize it

Christians have done this before

e.g., Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions, our pastor Tom Pennington has one

It will sharpen your focus, motivate diligence, give meaning to your rest