New Job: Colossians 3.22-4.1 (ESV)

 

How we do our job matters, especially when we are sharing the Gospel, it matters.  Paul is writing to believers in Colossae.  He’s answering the question, “What’s it mean to do life?”  This passage is part of the household codes that we visited last week.  How does this affect our job?  The troubling part for us is that the household codes apply to slaves.  Some people in that congregation were probably slave owners and some were slaves.  Slavery still exists today and we do not condone it.  We have fellow believers around the world that are slaves. What do we do when our circumstances aren’t ideal?  Sometimes this happens in our workplaces or in our homes.  We pray for God to change things but sometimes nothing changes.  Some things persist even if they’re against God.  Sometimes we don’t like our job or our boss.  We excuse and reduce our attitudes and behaviors as a result.  This really affects our Gospel witness.

Follow well.

There are many times when we are not the leader.  Following is just as important as leading.  When we search for a leader we look for someone who can follow well. 

                    ²²Slaves,obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 

This verse says to obey in everything.  This is the same word we had a few verses back when it talks about children are to obey their parents.  The word “earthly” reminds us that these circumstances are temporary.  It might seem like some things will never change, but this life is temporary.  If we devalue our job, our role and our boss, we also devalue ourselves.  If we aren’t giving all of ourselves to the task at hand we devalue ourselves.  “Eye service” is when someone is watching and sees us.  “People pleasers” is when we try to make people like us.  Do not serve just when people are watching. Some people are only working when the person in charge is watching. Someone I know was a leader in a general labor job.  He couldn’t figure out why this one guy was so slow.  Every time he saw him the man was working hard.  Why was it taking forever for him to accomplish things?  He couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so one time he visited the man and he was working hard.  He walked away and then turned back around and the man had sat down.  The man worked well when someone was around but just sat down and stopped working when they walked away.  A solution is found here for this in the last part of the verse above: “with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”  This applies to any circumstance where we are not the leader.  Children play a game called, Follow the Leader.  Children are well aware when it’s their turn to lead.  We like to be the leader.  When we are the follower it’s not as exciting.  Following is difficult to do when you’re not motivated.  Our motivation should come from the person we work for: Jesus.  Our motivation should not come from our circumstances, but from God.  Some slaves might have been slaves for all their lives.  Paul says we need to know Who we really work for.

Work for Jesus.

                    ²³Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 

There’s a theme of the heart here that whatever we do, this gets broader here, our job, or whatever we are doing the reason for our motivation is Jesus Himself.  We do lots of things that aren’t our job to do.  The reason for our motivation is Jesus.  Think about something you do not like to do.  Maybe you do not like to fold laundry.  Some tasks are just not that exciting.  There’s always something we do not like doing so we reduce the significance of what the task is.  We lower the standard and maybe just work when people can see.  Paul flips this around for us.  We are always in the presence of God.  Whatever the task is we are to do it as if we are working for Jesus.  This turns our work into worship.  When we are at church we know this is worship.  Tomorrow, on Monday, it’s harder to think of what we’re doing as worship, as serving the Lord.  Worship is giving ourselves to something or to someone.  When you’re doing things you really don’t want to do, like folding laundry, when you do it for Jesus it makes a difference.  Students, your task is to study and be a good student.  There are times when you don’t want to read or do an assignment.  In this stage of life, this is what you are called to do.  When you study and read, give those tasks to Jesus.  It pleases Jesus when you give yourself to the task at hand. 

Our inheritance is from the Lord.  Slaves did not receive an inheritance so what motivation did they have?  “God, because I’m Yours I’m doing this for Your glory.”  When we think like this we have shifted our thinking.  Jesus will reward us.  Some circumstances are unjust and God is not pleased.  It’s NOT OK.  God will bring justice.  Let Jesus right every wrong.   

Let Jesus bring justice.

                    ²⁵For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

We lose motivation when we are wrong.  It’s so easy to justify not doing a good job when we have a valid reason.  It’s not for us to bring justice.  What happens is self-preservation kicks in and we pull back.  This is a natural response to protect ourselves.  We can pull back and be vengeful towards others.  It’s OK to protect yourself, but it’s not OK to do wrong just because someone else did wrong.  We are called to do the right thing. 

“There is no partiality.”  There’s a HUGE imbalance of power in this church in Colossae.  Slave owners can do whatever they want to with their slaves.  God will bring justice.  We need to let God do what God does.  Some of you are the baby in your family.  You don’t have as much power and you need others to protect you.  The older children think the baby of the family gets whatever they want.  God is impartial and will bring justice in His time.  Sometimes where we struggle the most is in this last verse, what we do when we are in charge.

Lead well.

Sometimes we are the leader at home, in a group, on a team, and at work.  What do we do?

                    ¹Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

“Justly and fairly.”  Those in leadership have people under them.  The responsibility is to treat people well.  This situation in Colossae, where people owned slaves, they were to treat them well.  Legally, slaves were just property and they could treat them any way they wanted.  Paul says to treat slaves justly and fairly, to live by a higher standard than just what is legal.  What’s legal isn’t the standard we are called to.  Paul raises the bar.  Our standard is not the law, it’s Jesus!  We are called to treat people the way Jesus treats us.  Colossians 2:6 reads, “Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” When we give our life to Jesus, we are His.  He has complete rights over us.  We are less than slaves, but Jesus treats us like brothers.  The standard is higher.  I don’t know your circumstances, but know Jesus is faithful.  You can trust Jesus.  Would you do that today?

Sermon by Dr. Scotty Carpenter.  Sermon Notes by Jeni Martin Johnson.

Children’s Sermon by Janet Smith:

Valentine’s Day is coming up next week.  We enjoy giving cards, notes and gifts to our loved ones.  We show our love for all kinds of people.  Something written is special because we can read it again and again.  God has written us a love letter: The Bible.  God’s love for us is all throughout Scripture.  The Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  By sending Jesus, God showed us how much He loves us.  There’s an interesting thing in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.” Jesus didn’t say to just love one another when we feel like it. We can learn to love others through Jesus.  Jesus spent time with people.  Let’s make Valentine’s Day more than just a card or a gift.  Let’s love all people and follow God’s command.