A Labor of Love, August 31, 2014

A Labor of Love

Luke 10:38-42, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

August 31, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Midwest Work Ethic  “A woman comes home from work and says to her husband, who is retired, ‘What did you do today?’ ‘Nothing,’ he replies. His wife then raises her voice and says, “Really? You did nothing yesterday.” He replies, ‘I know. I wasn’t finished.’

Obviously this man wasn’t raised in the Midwest or he would have embraced the Midwest Work Ethic. As many of you know, I was born, raised and educated in Iowa.  And like you, I grew up immersed in the Midwest Work Ethic. What did this mean? I ran across the following definitions and thought they really captured the essence of how we were raised.

1. Do the right thing
2. Do what you said you would do
3. If you want something done right, do it yourself
4. If it’s broken, fix it. If it’s torn, mend it. If it squeaks, oil it.
5. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well
6. Most luck comes from hard work, goals, and sticking to it
7. If you’re getting paid to work forty hours a week, you actually work 40 hours
8. A person needs to be thrifty, work hard, and be self-reliant.
    
   Negative Concept of Work  Yet, it’s easy to think of work in a negative way. Assignments at school are called homework, and students groan. We talk about doing the “chores.” Honey-Do lists appear magically on weekends. We toil. Work is drudgery. We’re encouraged to “keep our nose to the grindstone and shoulder to the wheel.” As we go to work, we “join the rat race.”
   After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, God said “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground...” [Genesis 3:19] As a result of such negative associations with work, many people say, “If I won a million dollars, I’d quit my job in a heart-beat and retire to a life of ease and luxury.”
   Importance of Work  However, I dare say that such retirement wouldn’t last long, especially if raised in the mid-west. Instead of avoiding work, we embrace it, and indeed, need it.  Having something to do is so important that many retirees become depressed because they feel they have lost their identity as to who they are. Their sense of self-worth is damaged.
   Anne Frank  Anne Frank said in her diary, “Daddy has been at home a lot lately, as there is nothing for him to do at business; it must be rotten to feel so superfluous.” [“Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl,” p. 11]
   Andy Griffith  In one episode of Andy Griffith, Andy decided that Aunt Bea was working too hard. So he hired Malcolm Merriweather to do the cooking, cleaning and washing so that Aunt Bea could relax, watch television, go shopping, and spend time with her friends. Very quickly, Aunt Bea felt useless and became very depressed. But when Malcolm left, she began to sing and laugh. [“The Return of Malcolm Merriweather,” 1964]
   Thomas Carlyle said “There is gospel, good news, goodness, healing, and even salvation in work.  When all human props collapse and sorrow devastates a man, his work will give him something to live for.” [W.B.J. Martin]
   Thomas Edison noted, “As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.”
   Work Camps   Over the years of my ministry, I have taken senior high youth on nine mission work camps in such states as Tennessee, West Virginia, Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio. I remember in particular a trip we took to Des Moines, Iowa to work on two Habitat for Humanity houses. Every day, each of our twenty-four senior highs, without exception, arrived at the Habitat Houses ready and eager to work.
   When they were asked to do such things as shingle the roof, cut and put up siding, install insulation, sand the floors, or put in the windows, there were more than enough volunteers to do the tasks. And this was with a heat index of over 100 degrees each day we were there. Why did they do it so willingly? Because they knew they were doing something good for someone else. They were needed and wanted to help. Because they were working together as a close knit youth group. Because they had been brought up in the Midwestern Work Ethic.  And because it was fun.
   Importance of Work   Co-Workers with God - As you can see, our Sunday bulletin lists Kirk, Mark, Liz and Wally as members of Grace Presbyterian staff. But it also says, “Ministers - all who serve Christ here.” In our morning reading from Corinthians, it says that we are God’s servants, working together. Other versions say we are God’s co-workers. Each and every one of us are servants and co-workers with God to achieve God’s goals in life. It has been said that “God will not do some things unless we work. He stores the hills with marble, but he has never built a cathedral. He fills the mountains with iron ore, but he never makes a needle or a locomotive. He leaves that to us.” [“The Kneeling Christian”]   However, not everyone sees work as accomplishing something.  

The Keeping Busy Syndrome  This fact is reflected in a Peanuts cartoon I saw a few years ago. Lucy tells Charlie Brown that she is thinking of starting some new hobbies. Charlie Brown replies, “That’s a good idea, Lucy. The people who get the most out of life are those who really try to accomplish something.” Lucy responds with surprise and says, “Accomplish something? I thought we were just supposed to keep busy!”

 

Sometimes Christians become caught up in the “keeping busy” syndrome. Many are the times I’ve asked recent retirees what they do with their time. Often the response is, “I really don’t know, but I’m always busy.”

 

The Meaning of Life - Busyness without purpose happens in spite of the fact that most people say want their life to have relevance, purpose and direction. They would like their lives to emulate the promises of a beer which claimed that it “starts bold, finishes clean, and refreshes completely.” [Michelob Dry Beer, 1988] 

Labor to the Glory of God - Paul puts work and our life in another perspective when he says, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” [1 Corinthians 10:31]  

We Presbyterians echo that thought in our Shorter Catechism. The first question asks, “What is the chief end of man?” Answer, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” [Book of Order: 7.001] To glorify God means that by our actions, by our words, by our thoughts, by our forgiveness, by our play and by our work, we reveal God’s power and saving grace to the world.

Ben L. Rose said, “Everything we do, if it is honest and faithful to what is right and true, can be done to the glory of God.  Sing or paint a picture or teach children or sell merchandise or plead cases or drive a truck to deliver needed goods -- all these can be done to the Glory of God.” [“On Christian Vocations”]  It all depends upon our perception of life, and our perception of who we are in relation to God.

Statue of Liberty  As you might remember, the Statue of Liberty was refurbished a few years ago. When the men began working on the outside of the crown and torch, they found the workmanship to be exquisite in its detail. The original artisans of this statue had no inkling that their work would ever be seen, yet carried out their craft with such meticulous detail that you would think it was to be hung in a museum. I believe they were glorifying God without thought of recognition or reward.

Mary and Martha - In our scripture from Luke, we heard of the time that Jesus went to visit the sisters, Mary and Martha. Now Martha was the self-appointed hostess when company came, making sure her guests had everything they needed. And so during the time Jesus was in her home, she spent her time scurrying around seeing to it that Jesus was comfortable and had enough to eat and drink. On the other hand, all her sister Mary wanted to do was to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his teaching. Such idleness upset Martha who felt that Mary should be helping her in her hostess chores.  So she said to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her to help me.” Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”  [Luke 10:40-41]

Work Can Keep Us From God - In this case, Martha was so preoccupied about being the good hostess that her work actually kept her from Jesus. In the same manner, our work, no matter what it is, can keep us from Jesus. For many people, their work, rather than Jesus, is their whole life. They find their purpose and identity in the jobs they do. It becomes their god. This truth is borne out by the fact that when someone meets us, the second question they ask after finding out our name is, “What do you do for a living?”

God has a rightful claim over our lives, even in the midst of rush hour traffic and boring frustrating jobs. God rightly expects to use the gifts he has given us to proclaim and make visible the reconciliation of the world through Christ.  We are coworkers with God as we serve God and one another in bringing wholeness to all of God’s creation. This includes youth, housewives and retirees.

Questions to the Bricklayers  A man saw three bricklayers busy at work. He asked the first bricklayer, "What are you doing?" "I'm laying bricks.”

The man asked the second bricklayer the same question. "I'm putting up a wall.”

 

He then asked the third bricklayer, "What are you doing?” 

 

"I'm building a great cathedral.”

 

This week, take time to look at your life - what you are doing, how you spend your time, your talent, and yes, your treasure. Then ask yourself...

Am I laying bricks, putting up a wall, or building a cathedral? Amen.
Luke 10:38-42 NRSV

 

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 NRSV

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human?

 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.