The other day I walked into a restaurant for lunch and I looked around at the crowd. There was an array of folks who were on their lunch break from work, business suits and dresses, refinery jumpsuits, and even the restaurant workers in matching outfits. Does your Sunday morning worship have any relevance during your work week? Is there any connection between the two? This is a question with which I believe most people struggle. Perhaps there are good reasons for this seeming divide.
The world of the Church is about grace freely given by God. On the other hand, the world of the workplace is about production and evaluations which focus on our ability to get our job done and done well. Church is about love and forgiveness given abundantly. Work is about efficiency and effectiveness in order to rise above the competition in an effort to maximize profit. Church is the world where the meek shall inherit the earth. Work can be dog eat dog… a place where only the strong survive. When you think about it, is it any wonder that often there is a disconnect between these two seemingly different environments?
In Luke 16:1-3, Jesus tells this story, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, 'What's this I hear about you? You're fired. And I want a complete audit of your books. The manager said to himself, what am I going to do? I've lost my job as manager. I'm not strong enough for a laboring job, and I'm too proud to beg. Ah, I've got a plan. Here's what I'll do… then when I'm turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses. Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, how much do you owe my master? He replied, a hundred jugs of olive oil. The manager said, here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now— write fifty. To the next he said, and you, what do you owe? He answered, a hundred sacks of wheat. He said, Take your bill, write in eighty. Now here's a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”
Going to work is no simple thing! As Christians, Jesus calls us to do more than mindlessly follow the crowd. We are asked to do four things; 1) We must always strive to do our best, 2) build community by being trustworthy and kind to those around us, 3) work for justice by seeing that everyone, including the customer, is treated fairly, and 4) we have to share our convictions about the importance of Jesus in our own lives. If we do these four things we can be assured that our work will relate to our faith. Sunday will be the day when we charge our internal batteries in worship so that we can go out into the mission field to fulfill our calling as disciples. This week, you will be unique. You will be among people whom only you can speak… whom only you can influence. Be faithful and use the tools you are given on Sunday to make a difference for those around you Monday through Friday. Until next time, Blessings!
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