What the Bible says about my work
Sunday 24 August 1997

For thousands of years people have dreamed of a golden age when the world was young and everything needed to support life existed in profusion. According to Roman poet Lucretius, earth once brought forth

[The Way Things Are, Book II]

It's true that our diligent work can easily be undone, and we have to go back and redo it. But more and more people today despair of finding suitable work at all. In 1970, one in ten Australian workers worked part-time; today the ratio is one in four. Longterm unemployment is on the increase, particularly among the young. Those who work fulltime are working longer hours, especially men working more than 49 hours a week.

According to a recent Economic Planning and Advisory Council report, "The skill level of the labour force will increase, but those with low ability face a bleak future and possible underclass status - poor pay in short-term jobs alternating with unemployment" (Weekend Australian, 16-17 August 1997).

Young people could be forgiven for adopting a pessimistic outlook in the face of such trends, facing a future where it's everyone for himself or herself, where obsolescence and downsizing and rapid change are the order of the day, and where not only the goalposts but the rules of the game keep changing.

In The Acquisitive Society, (1920) English economic historian and Christian R.H. Tawney critiques modern Western society's headlong pursuit of the acquisition of wealth and its inane focus on the attainment of personal pleasure at the expense of the wellbeing of others. Tawney's words echo those of a wise man long ago recorded in Ecclesiastes [2:10-11, 17-23; 4:4; 5:15-16].

The book of Ecclesiastes sketches the experiences and thoughts of a man whose character is based on atheism, materialism and selfish ambition, leading irreversibly to a purposeless and meaninglessness end. And, tragically, that character sketch is duplicated in the lives of millions of Australians today. But it's only one side of the coin. Today we're going to look at the life and work of Nehemiah whose experiences and thoughts were filled with purpose and meaning because he placed God at the centre of his life and honoured God through his work. Read Nehemiah 2:1-5, 8b, 17-18.

Nehemiah was a remarkable Jewish man who served as cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes I of Persia in 445 BC. He lived in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire which stretched from Iran to Egypt. Like Daniel last week, Nehemiah rose to a position of prominence, became an influential cabinet minister and eventually was appointed governor of the region around Jerusalem.

Nehemiah had a special task to complete: to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem and get the city ready for the thousands of Jewish prisoners of war who were returning home. Although Nehemiah was in the service of the Persian emperor, he was also serving God, and he was working for the blessing of others.

Working with a consciousness of God's presence and interest in what you're doing makes all the difference in the world to how you approach the task, and to where your motivation and purpose is drawn from. Nehemiah prepared for the work to which God had called him. Knowing he could not accomplish it alone, he brought together a team of enthusiastic and talented people, and they began the work (2:18).

It would not have been easy work rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Our family has just moved into a new house, and I'm setting aside five or six hours a week to install retaining walls and turf the property. I know a little about hard work, and backache, and the skill required to design a wall that won't come crashing down next time it rains.

Those Jews worked under exceedingly difficult circumstances, as we'll soon see. But, as the saying goes, hard work never did anybody any harm. Proverbs 14:23 says, "Hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

Despite the threat of unemployment today, hard work and conscientious workers are not always easy to find. I had a meeting earlier this year at the Bardon Professional Centre in my role as Director of Bible Radio Productions, and during lunch I noticed a sign on a neighbouring table: "Reserved - Brisbane City Council Strategy Workshop for the Management of Absenteeism"! No one turned up, and we left about 2.00 pm!

God blesses hard work and conscientious workers. He doesn't bless bludgers. But on the other hand, he doesn't expect you to work yourself into the ground, or to devote yourself so fully to your paid work that your wife or children are left on the sideline. That's why God initiated the principle of the Sabbath - a rest every seven days. Even God rested on the seventh day after he had created the universe!

Someone said that a holiday is that brief period of time between trying to get ahead so you can leave and trying to catch up when you get back. But regular rest and recreation are vital to good work. Divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually - and you, your employer, your colleagues and your family will notice the benefits.

It wasn't all plain sailing for Nehemiah and his team as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. Despite careful planning they encountered internal and external crises which threatened to halt or destroy the work. Viewing the enormous task confronting them, and they lost their energy (4:10a), they lost their vision (10b), and they lost their confidence (10c). Imagine Nehemiah's feelings when he heard these sentiments! Samuel Goldwyn once said that "ninety percent of the art of living amounts to getting on with people you can't stand."

Then, to make matters worse, they lost their security (4:11-12). You may have read the story of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, a bird who wanted to be different, to fly higher, faster and further than other birds. But his bird-friends and family had a meeting or two about Jonathan. "You're not allowed to be different," they told him. "Why can't you be like us? It's always been done this way."

We live in a world that wants to squeeze us into its mould, but as we keep our focus on the task to which God has called us, and on the God who has called us, problems and crises will be overcome. Nehemiah reminded his team of the source of their power and confidence, and got on with the work (read 4:14).

What was the result? In Nehemiah 6:15-16 we find the work completed in a record 52 days, with God's help. In the New Testament, we read, "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" (Colossians 3:23-24).

Are you weighed down with heavy responsibilities? Do you feel your barriers are too great, your goals too ambitious? Put your trust in the Lord, and work at it with all your heart, dividing the job into small, manageable tasks, and remember that ultimately it is the Lord you are serving, and it is the Lord who will get the job done.

In the book Illusions, Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, writes, "Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't." I'm editing the next issue of Tempo magazine, and one of the possible articles for publication is about stages in the life of a pastor or church leader based on work by Robert Clinton. The fifth and final stage is 'Finishing well' - and when my time comes I hope I'll finish well what God has called me to do. How about you?

Nehemiah finished well. The work was well defined and completed in 52 days. Completion calls for celebration, and that's exactly what Nehemiah and his team did. They celebrated the completion of a significant task, overflowing with thanksgiving to God for walking and working with them through it all (Nehemiah 12:27, 43).

There's a time for celebration and hard work, and there's a time for celebration and rest. God expects both, and God honours both. We're here today to celebrate - that's why we intentionally describe these services as celebrations!

As we celebrate this morning, let's affirm the value of hard work and sacrifice. Let's affirm the need for regular rest and recreation. Let's acknowledge our dependence on the wisdom and power of God to deal with crisis and discouragement. And let's go out and do what needs to be done, doing it well, to the best of the ability God has given to us.

"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" (Colossians 3:23-24).

Copyright (c) 1997 Rod Benson. Talk no. 122 by Senior Pastor Rod Benson at Flinders Baptist Community Church, Ipswich, Australia, on Sunday 24 August 1997. Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

Recommended reading: John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You (Milton Keynes: Word, 1993). Robert Banks, The Tyranny of Time (Homebush West, NSW: Lancer, 1983). Jack Collins, Work Smarter, Not Harder (Sydney: Harper Collins, 1995).