Are You 'Ordained' to Your Work?
I had a number of different jobs during the summers that I was a student. I've done everything from stripping 50 year-old wallpaper to collecting brush to retail to debris collection to greenhouse construction to youth pastoring. The variety of my own experience is only expanded as I look at the many things that you are doing this summer - everything from missions trips to book-selling to camp to life-guarding to sandwich-making.
As you begin to wrap up your work this summer, I have a few encouragements from Colossians 3:22-24: "Slaves, your job is to obey your masters, not with the idea of currying favour but as a sincere expression of your devotion to God. Whatever you do, put your whole heart and soul into it, as into work done for God, and not merely for men - knowing that your real reward, a heavenly one, will come from God, since you are actually employed by Christ, and not just by your earthly master" (Phillips version; a parallel passage is found in Ephesians 6:5-8)
Look closely at these verses. In both passages, the Greek from which Phillips gets "not with the idea of currying favour" literally says "not with eyeservice as manpleasers." Do you ever find yourself rendering "eyeservice"? That's the kind of service that looks busy when the boss is around, but settles into complacent time-killing when he or she is gone. It's the kind of complacency that we fall into when the work seems inconsequential - you're making Subway sandwiches, or digging holes, or filing records. It's the kind of complacency that we settle into when our work seems unappreciated or criticized. When you feel like a cog in the machine, it's hard to be enthusiastic!
Fortunately, Paul says, we are not an impersonal cog in a machine at all. It is "work done for God," employment provided by Christ himself. When we work for people, we are not always under their gaze; we are not always in their presence. But since we are employed by Christ, every sandwich is made in the presence of Jesus, every hole is dug in the company of Christ, and every record is filed under the true Master's gaze. Every employment becomes holy - an opportunity to serve Jesus Himself. Similarly, when we work for people, we will invariably be under-appreciated. But when we serve a Master like Jesus, who is always just, we can know that we'll receive payment for our service.
However, this is not a "Santa Claus is coming to town" message, i.e. "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been good or bad, so be good, for goodness' sake." Rather, if we are employed by Christ in whatever occupation we are doing, it means that there is some sense of His "ordination" to that position, no matter how humble. Jesus has a purpose for placing you in the employment you have this summer! He hired you specifically to be there! And He always equips His servants for the tasks they've been assigned to. So, one commentator says of these verses, "Do it cheerfully, not discontented at the providence of God which put you in that relation." In other words, don't gripe at God for putting you here. Instead, by faith accept it as your assignment for this time, and joyfully and thankfully embrace it.
I once sat in on a lecture by Paul Stevens that made a great impression on me. He pointed four ways that we see God working in the world: He is Creator (inventing things), Sustainer (keeping everything running), Redeemer (repairing, mending, and transforming), and Consummator (bringing things to a conclusion). Do you see your tasks anywhere here? This means that entrepreneurs and artists are sharing in God's creative work. Homemakers, administrators, and landscapers join in God's sustaining work. Pastors, technicians and nurses share in God's redeeming work. And educators, journalists, and project managers work in God's consummating work. It's all a reflection of God's character and ways, and therefore all holy! For this reason, we can put ourselves into every task with enthusiasm, or, as these verses say, with our whole heart and soul, because even the "menial" tasks are not meaningless.
And yet the menial tasks can still be difficult to do, day after day. Brother Lawrence was a monk in the 17th Century who understood this struggle. His role in the community was to be a cook and dishwasher. Day in and day out he made simple meals for his Christian brothers. I've been reading his simple book, "The Practice of the Presence of God." He can to understand that there was not a division between holy and ordinary tasks. Instead, we should "do that for GOD's sake, which we commonly do for our own." How did he do this? Here is his description:
"Completely immersed in my understanding of God's majesty, I used to shut myself up in the kitchen. There alone, after having done everything that was necessary for my work, I would devote myself to prayer in all the time that was left. The prayer time was really taken at both the beginning and the end of my work. At the beginning of my duties I would say to the Lord with confidence, ‘My God, since You are with me, and since, by Your will, I must occupy myself with external things, please grant me the grace to remain with You, in Your presence. Work with me, so that my work might be the very best. Receive as an offering of love both my work and all my affections.' During my work, I would always continue to speak with the Lord as though He were right with me, offering Him my services and thanking Him for His assistance. And at the end of my work, I used to examine it carefully. If I found good in it, I thanked God. If I noticed faults, I asked His forgiveness without being discouraged, and then went on with my work, still dwelling in Him. Thus, continuing in this practice of conversing with God throughout each day, and quickly seeking His forgiveness when I fell or strayed, His presence has become as easy and natural to me now as it once was difficult to attain."
Think about this in relation to your own work. How do you think it would affect you if, every day before you got out of bed you offered yourself to God; if, every day as you drove to work, you dedicated the tasks of the day to Jesus; if every half hour you stopped for 30 seconds to say thanks to God for the breath you are taking, for his provision of work, and for one aspect of His character? I remember some very special times of worship as I tromped around in the mud - singing worship under my breath even as the rain poured down over my hard hat. This was Brother Lawrence's practice - he did everything he could to bring his mind back to the awareness that his Master, Jesus, was watching him work, was equipping him to work, and was grinning ear to ear with pleasure as He observed His servant cook and wash dishes wholeheartedly.
Try it! I encourage you to start paying more attention, each day, each hour, and each minute, to Christ's presence with you. As you're driving, turn off the radio and think about an aspect of God's character - His mercy, for example. Take a minute to reflect on Him, and then pray, simply, "Thank You, Jesus for Your mercy to me - in giving me life today, in restoring the broken relationships of my life, in providing me with my daily needs, in forgiving my many sins, and in calling me friend." Then, as Paul says, "in view of God's mercy, offer your body to God as a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). And continue on with your day. He will fill everything you're doing with meaning and joy!