Colossians 3
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
The summer after I graduated from high school my family moved from New York to Florida. As anyone who has ever had to move a family across the country knows, moving is a big deal. To help with the move, the church that was hiring my Dad enabled my parents to hire a moving company to take care of packing up all our worldly possessions and getting them safely to our new home in Orlando, Florida.
My mother likes to tell the story of finally getting to our new home in Florida and opening the freshly moved refrigerator in the kitchen and finding a single egg, still wrapped in packing paper, sitting in the “egg tray.” She had evidently left that single egg in the refrigerator when we left our home in New York and the movers had dutifully packed it up with the rest of our belongings and transported it all the way to Florida!
I’ve often thought that would make a good commercial for a moving company, because THAT’S a good moving company! The guy who took the time and care to pack up and move that egg was also a great example of what Paul is talking about when he writes:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
My mother likes to tell the story of finally getting to our new home in Florida and opening the freshly moved refrigerator in the kitchen and finding a single egg, still wrapped in packing paper, sitting in the “egg tray.” She had evidently left that single egg in the refrigerator when we left our home in New York and the movers had dutifully packed it up with the rest of our belongings and transported it all the way to Florida!
I’ve often thought that would make a good commercial for a moving company, because THAT’S a good moving company! The guy who took the time and care to pack up and move that egg was also a great example of what Paul is talking about when he writes:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
We have already talked about how our work matters to God and how people matter to him as well. We’ve seen that the gospel fundamentally changes the employer- employee relationship by adding a sense of value and responsibility to both.
Now we see one more revolutionary idea: that how we do our job is both an act of worship as well as a testimony to the work of Christ in our hearts.
Here’s how I would summarize Paul’s teaching here: All work well done serves others and honors Christ.
Sometimes we think that in order to be a witness for Christ in our workplace we have to carry our Bibles and consistently engage people in overtly spiritual conversations. While these may be things we can do, depending on our workplace, Paul is telling us that perhaps the most important thing we can do is perform our particular job with excellence.
Think about it this way: what does it say about Jesus if we do our jobs poorly, or do just enough to get by?
Conversely, what does it say about our Lord if we are diligent, trustworthy workers who consistently go above and beyond to serve our boss or our co-workers with excellence? Which do you think is a better witness for the God we claim to serve?
Now we see one more revolutionary idea: that how we do our job is both an act of worship as well as a testimony to the work of Christ in our hearts.
Here’s how I would summarize Paul’s teaching here: All work well done serves others and honors Christ.
Sometimes we think that in order to be a witness for Christ in our workplace we have to carry our Bibles and consistently engage people in overtly spiritual conversations. While these may be things we can do, depending on our workplace, Paul is telling us that perhaps the most important thing we can do is perform our particular job with excellence.
Think about it this way: what does it say about Jesus if we do our jobs poorly, or do just enough to get by?
Conversely, what does it say about our Lord if we are diligent, trustworthy workers who consistently go above and beyond to serve our boss or our co-workers with excellence? Which do you think is a better witness for the God we claim to serve?
I like to think the guy that moved the egg was a follower of Jesus, because that’s how I think Jesus would have done that job. I also am challenged to ask myself, “Would I have packed up the egg or just tossed it in the garbage when no one was looking?”
If I’m honest I have to admit that I probably would have tossed the egg aside as not being worth the effort. I think Jesus is teaching me, and us, that the egg is worth the effort because HE is worth the effort.
Pastor Brian Coffey
If I’m honest I have to admit that I probably would have tossed the egg aside as not being worth the effort. I think Jesus is teaching me, and us, that the egg is worth the effort because HE is worth the effort.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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