The Lord God had planted a garden in the east,
In Eden,
And there he put the man he had formed.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
For we are what God has made us,
Created in Christ Jesus for good works,
Which God prepared before to be our way of life.
How was your weekend?
I worked hard in the yard on Saturday,
Spent all day moving shrubs,
Planting new ones,
Weeding,
Gardening.
It took a lot of effort and thought,
But by five o'clock I was done.
I put steaks on the grill,
Sat down with a beer,
And looking at what I accomplished was very satisfying.
That was the best part of my day.
You need to bring that gardener to work.
God's perspective of work is very different from our own.
He views work as a great gift.
The first thing God did was put Adam to work and give him responsibility in his garden.
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live,
That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil.
This is the gift of God.
Work is essential to our human nature.
It's in our DNA.
Good work is satisfying and brings about good results.
It is our Father's great gift to us,
One He wishes us to accept freely.
Our call is to work for our Father,
24-7,
365 days a year,
Especially where we spend most of our daily lives,
At work,
In our occupations.
Sixty percent of our waking hours is spent working,
90,
000 hours in an average lifetime.
Work is defined as using mental and physical effort to accomplish a result.
It helps to describe work as being useful,
Helpful,
And productive,
Not just for our own needs,
But also for the well-being of everyone.
Whatever you do,
Work at it with all your heart.
As working for the Lord,
Not for men,
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Work is where we make ourselves useful to our Father to care for His creation and care for each other.
Work is also where others return the favor and make themselves useful to each of us.
By working together,
We help shape civilization.
When good work is done well together,
Society does well.
Ideally,
A shared life is created where all humanity can grow.
God's creation was made for all to flourish.
One day all will be restored.
In the meantime,
We work with our Father to enable all to both live the life and make the contributions for which they were created.
Jesus told a parable about His Father that reveals the type of compassionate employer our Father is.
Prosperous and successful,
The vineyard owner goes out to hire the workers he needs for the day.
Unlike other owners,
He goes himself,
Personally.
He knows how many he needs and hires the exact number.
He hopes the others will find work.
But he can't stop thinking about the ones he's left behind.
Throughout the day,
He returns to where workers still wait to be hired.
He doesn't return just once,
But four additional times to see if others are still waiting for work.
Each time,
He hires more.
Then,
With only an hour of the work day left,
He goes one last time.
He finds a handful still waiting.
His compassionate heart is moved.
He hires them all.
They have not given up.
They did not want to go home empty-handed.
He wants to help and gives them work to do.
He will let them contribute and receive pay for their labor.
They will be able to return home,
Heads held high,
Respect and dignity intact.
Now it comes time to be paid.
Only the first have an agreement to be paid a day's wages.
The others trust him to do what's right.
He surprises everyone.
Starting with the last hired,
He pays everyone the same,
A full day's wages.
To some,
It seems unfair to those who have worked longer.
But they are only looking at things with the world's eyes.
The Father brings the kingdom's view of justice to the forefront.
The Father's justice is cloaked in mercy.
The Father knows the importance of work in his plan.
He is eager for all to find dignity in being useful to one another.
To experience together the gratifying,
Satisfying experience of working together,
Solving problems and being fruitful,
And to share together in the fruit of their labor.
In our own work,
Our Father calls us to align our careers with his mission to restore all things.
In addition,
He desires we draw others into the good labor of his vineyard,
To give them the dignity of applying skills and growing in abilities.
Working in the Father's vineyard is also a metaphor for our own role as Christian laborers.
The work of agriculture takes what nature has to offer and makes something of it.
Our occupations are similar.
Like Adam,
We are put in God's garden of creation.
We are called to work the soil entrusted to our care,
To get our hands dirty.
We take the raw material God provides and draw potential out of them.
The biblical perspective of this is to be stewards of creation.
As Christians,
We are stewards of all that is entrusted to us.
For this reason,
Our occupations really matter.
They are key to our stewardship for society and God's creation.
And let people learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs so that we may not be unproductive.
The measure used at the Last Judgment highlights some of what good work produces,
How it's meant to be productive in meeting real needs.
Many of our livelihoods are linked to meeting the needs of society – food,
Drink,
Clothing,
Shelter and health care.
Without a good economy,
Societies don't run well.
It's important that industry,
Commerce and government work well together for the good of all.
Working for our Father is a call to be stewards of His creation,
To make ourselves useful to both God and one another,
Each doing our part.
Our Father is the compassionate employer calling us to join Him in His good work,
To live a life of dignity,
To work with faith,
Integrity and excellence,
And,
Like Him,
To do it for the good of all,
Not for personal benefit.
Life in Christ is a life of self-giving,
Not self-serving.
As we serve Him and others,
He wants us to draw others into the work of restoring all things,
To experience firsthand the dignity of work and the dignity of being a productive worker.
As disciples of Jesus Christ,
These are the choices we're called daily to make.
Daily choices are the chisels that sculpt our character.
Daily choices determine how well,
Over time,
We will reflect the image and character of Christ,
Especially choices to live a life of faith,
Integrity and excellence.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
