And in This Essay She Wrote the Following

Ephesians 6v5-9

Work for the Lord

Dorothy Sayers was a well-known author from the early 20th century. Crime writer. Play writer. But she was also a Christian. And she wrote an essay titled: why work?

And in this essay she wrote the following:

“In nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the so called secular vocation.

(What does that mean?)

The church has allowed work and religion to become separate departments. And therefore the church is astonished that work in the world has been turned to purely selfish and destructive ends. And also is astonished that many have become uninterested in religion. But is this astonishing?

(She doesn’t think so)

How can anyone remain interested in a religion or a faith which has no concern for nine tenths of his or her life?”

You see what she’s saying. 9 tenths of the average person’s life is spent in the work place. And so how can anyone be interested in Christianity if it only shows concern for the little 1 tenth on a Sunday morning or an early morning quiet time.

And yes those might be very significant occasions in the week. We need to have them in place. But I think Dorothy Sayers might be right. Not enough concern for 9 tenths of a person’s life. This has been a major failure in the church. And this morning I hope our passage will protect us from that mistake.

We looking at a passage addressed to slaves and masters. And its got lots to teach us about how the gospel should affect our work.

But before we dive in I need to say a few things about slavery. Here we’ve got instructions for slaves. And many people have a problem with that. Doesn’t this show that the Bible allows slavery or even supports it? Why doesn’t the Bible condemn it?

And that question becomes even more important in Africa. One of the biggest obstacles to the gospel in Africa is that people feel that Christianity has enslaved them. In many places Christianity arrived along with Colonialism. And the abuses that many black Africans experienced due to Colonialism. And the enslavement of many black people often gets associated with the Christian message. It’s a massive obstacle in our country.

And its true. There were people. Before slavery was abolished. People who owned slaves. And supported slavery. Who considered themselves Christians. And Who’d point to the Bible and say: look here. The Bible gives instructions about slavery. It’s fine for us to have slaves.

And so this is a very important question. Does the Bible support slavery?

Three comments to that question. Firstly,

You just need to read these verses to see Paul isn’t trying to summarize what God’s perspective is on slavery. He’s not saying here: This is what God thinks about slavery. Its good or its bad. No. Instead he’s saying: tomorrow morning. From Monday to Sunday. This is the real world. This is the institution in which you’ll be living. And so how you gona live in this institution in a way that is Christian. How’s your life gona stand out because of the gospel. And so he’s not critiquing slavery here. He’s not saying its good or its bad. He’s just saying this is the reality. Slavery might be bad. It might not agree with the gospel. But how can you live within it in a way that is Christian?

Second comment. if you go back and look at the history. 200 years ago. Its pretty well known. Who was it who led the fight to abolish slavery?

It was people like William Wilberforce. James Ramsay. John Wesley. Christians. Evangelicals. Strong gospel people who believed the Bible.

And so the question is: if the Christians 200 years ago felt compelled by the gospel to rise up and fight slavery. Why didn’t the early Christians who believed the same gospel who read the same Bible. Why didn’t they feel the same need? And the answer is because slavery in Bible times was very different.

Firstly it wasn’t based on race. People weren’t enslaved because of their nationality or the colour of their skin.

Secondly, it wasn’t permanent. It was about 10 or 15 years long.

Thirdly it wasn’t based on kidnapping. So you couldn’t just go and kidnap them and make them your slave. Often people would sell themselves into slavery to pay their debts or to try and provide for their family. Some people deliberately chose to be slaves to have their needs met by their masters.

And fourthly, slaves had rights. A slave could take his master to court. He could lay a complaint against his master.

So it was very different from the slavery we often think of from a few hundred years ago.. In fact, the commentators point out that in Bible times, even many doctors and lawyers and politicians were slaves to someone else.

But then thirdly, even though slavery in Bible times was very different. It wasn’t as bad. Even though Christians were’nt commanded to rise up and fight it. Still I want you to see there’s enough in the New Testament for slavery to slowly wilt away and die.

FF Bruce - one of the leading Bible scholars of the 20th century. This is what he says:

When you read the New Testament, he says:

The New Testament brings you into an atmosphere in which the institution of slavery can only wilt and die.

The principles. The attitudes. The gospel message. It might not explicitly condemn slavery. But it does makes it impossible for it to survive.

You just think of passages like Galatians 3 verse 28. “Here there’s neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Or 1 Timothy 1 verse 10. It should be up on the screen. Paul lists a whole lot of things that are contrary to the gospel.

He says: the law is for these people. For Unrighteous people. For those who kill their parents, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers – and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel”

And so there you have it. clearly the gospel and slavery don’t go together. They disagree. And so the gospel when its truly understood and applied. It will lead to the abolishment of slavery.

And so the Bible doesn’t condone slavery. The gospel is about freedom.

Bu that’s not what our passage is about this morning. Our passage today says: slavery is a reality. Its something you gona face tomorrow morning after church. And so how you gona live within this institution in a way that is Christian?

And so that leads us to us today. What about us?

None of us are slaves. And so how does this passage apply to us?

Well some of you might be saying: that’s obvious. I might not officially be a slave. But I sure feel like a slave in the day to day grind of work.

Studd Turcole wrote a book on work. He surveyed many people’s attitudes to work in America. And this is what he said in his introduction:

“This book being about work, is by its very nature about violence. To the spirit as well as to the body. Its about ulcers and accidents. Its about nervous breakdowns and kicking the dog. Its about above all daily humiliation. To survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great many of us.”

And I think that’s true. for Many of us. Work does feel like a daily grind. A frustration. Its often unrewarding and harsh. It feels like slavery.

Some of us probably feel like that all the time. Im sure all of us feel like that some of the time.

And we might not have slave masters over us. But that’s pretty much how we view our boss or our employer or our lecturer. They driving us to work. And so you might say: this is obvious. Of course I need to hear God’s Word for slaves. That’s me. I feel like a slave.

And furthermore. something Tim Keller points out is that…it’s a fact that in the early church. The church was full of slaves. They flooded into the church. They were attracted to this message. And the reason why is because in the Christian gospel they found something that affected their daily life. From Monday to Sunday.

In spite of the humiliation. The frustration. And the unrewarding harsh environment of being a slave. Just imagine. If you think youir work’s bad. Just imagine being a slave. But these slaves found that the gospel spoke into their situation. And gave them meaning. motivation. Something to keep them going.

And so that’s why we must read these verses. if these instructions could even help slaves to be motivated. How much more could it help us. in the so called “slavery” of our daily work.

And so lets look. Ephesians 6 verse 5. The main command for slaves is to obey.

Slaves obey your earthly masters. But of course its possible to obey simply out of obligation. outward obedience. There’s no motivation.

And maybe that’s how you go through much of your work life. Obeying your teacher or your boss or your employer. But just doing it out of obligation. Just going through the motions. Your heart’s not in it.

Well God doesn’t want you to work like that. He wants you to be motivated. Just look at these verses. Notice how many times they refer to the attitude of your heart.

Verse 5. “Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart”

Verse 6. Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye’s on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Verse 7. Serve wholeheartedly … as serving the Lord

And so over and over again. Paul repeats this. In our jobs. In our studies. in the daily grind of work.

We should be motivated from the heart.

And that’s not meant to discourage you. you working people. Now you feel even worse about your work. You feel guilty cause you haven’t been motivated. No. This is meant to give you hope. God wants you to be motivated. He wants to motivate you.

And isnt that something you want? Or Is it just me who hates those days when I feel unmotivated and uninspired. I hate those days!

If I think of the happiest times in my life. Its been when my 8-5 daily study or work. Was a place where I felt motivated. That’s what we all want.

And here we see God wants that for us too.

And so the question is how?

How can we have this? If even slaves could find this motivation. How much more so should we. How can we find it?

And you can see the answer repeated three times in these verses.

Verse 5. Slaves obey your earthly masters, with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, as you would obey Christ

Verse 6. Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ

Verse 7. Serve wholeheartedly, as serving the Lord.

The key to wholehearted obedience is to do it as for the Lord.

Now you might have noticed. When I quoted verse 7, I read it slightly differently from the NIV. The NIV says “serve wholeheartedly, as if serving the Lord.

But you need to know, the word “if” isn’t actually there. Literally it just says, “serve wholeheartedly as serving the Lord”. And that makes it a lot stronger. In other words, you mustn’t just pretend as if you serving the Lord. This isn’t just pretend. This is real. The real Person you serving when you go to work each day is the Lord.

And so dyou see how that transforms your perspective on work. It destroys two divisions we often setup in our minds. Firstly it destroys the division between the sacred and the secular.

Often people think that in order to serve God they need to work in the church. become a pastor or a missionary. Or at least they need to do some ministry in the church, like teaching Sunday school or helping at the sound desk or singing in the music team. And those are all important. We need more people to do those things. But often people think that’s the only area in which to serve God. And then from Monday to Friday we might be able to serve God if we get an opportunity to share the gospel or if we attend a work prayer meeting. But the rest of our working hours. The majority of our life. The 9 tenths. We not serving God. We just getting through our work.

Well These verses destroy that division.

And this was one of the great discoveries of the Reformation.

You know the reformation. Martin Luther. John Calvin. Breaking out of the dark ages.

Often when we think of the reformation we think of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

That was the one great discovery: We not saved by works.

But another great discovery was what we see here. Its often called the priesthood of all believers.

During the dark ages it was thought that in order to serve God you needed to become a monk or a nun or a priest.

And so that’s what Martin Luther did. He became a monk. But as he studied his bible and read passages like this in Ephesians, he realized that all people are called to serve God. All Christians are priests. Whatever our job or occupation. And so later in his life he could write these words: “the milkmaid has as honourable a calling as the preacher and priest.”

And so I hope that’s an encouragement to you. Christianity isn’t a faith that remains unconcerned for 9 tenths of your life. as you go out into work on Monday morning. Whatever your job is. God is deeply concerned about that work. Ur called by Him to do it. You must do it for Him.

But secondly, this truth doesn’t only destroy the division between the sacred and the secular. It breaks down the hierarchy in the workplace. You see we often classify people according to their jobs. So on the one hand you’ve doctors and professors and lawyers and accountants. They well educated, sophisticated, with well paid.

And then on the other hand uv got gardeners and the maids and the factory workers. Often less educated. Lower skilled work. Lower pay.

And what this truth does is to completely level the playing fields between these different groups.

And you can even see it here with slaves and masters. One of the amazing things here is that Paul starts by speaking to slaves.

There were many other documents in those days dealing with slaves and masters. They were called household codes. They gave instructions about how slaves should be treated. But never in all these household codes were the slaves addressed themselves. These codes always just addressed the masters. They didn’t feel the need to address the slaves. After all, Slaves just do what they told.

Well not according to Paul. He addresses the slaves. And He addresses them first. And in fact he addresses them more than he does the masters.

You see he’s treating them with dignity.

And then when he does finally get to the masters. Look at what he says to them. Verse 9. This is amazing. Completely unique at that time. Verse 9. “and masters, treat your slaves in the same way.”

In the same way! What does he mean in the same way?

Well he’s not saying that masters must obey their slaves. He’s not breaking down that authority structure. He’s simply saying: masters, you need to realize that you too are slaves. You might have a more impressive looking position. But actually you also just a servant of the Lord. Look at the rest of verse 9. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with Him.”

And so dyou see how this affects how we treat people. Its so tempting to look down on those with a lower paying profession. You’ll see it everywhere. You’ll see it in the world.

I’m afraid I’v seen it in our church. Quite often.

I’v seen it in myself. Quick to acknowledge and to greet and to show respect to the high paying professional. But easily just ignoring the common labourer.

Friends that should not be seen in the Christian church.

The playing field is level before Jesus.

We all simply servants of the Lord.

And so for the rest of our time this morning. I want you to see how this truth that we serving the Lord can motivate you in your work place. Whatever your job. It can motivate you in three ways.

Firstly, it’ll give you reverence

Secondly, it’ll give you recognition

Thirdly, it’ll give you reward.

If you think about it these are very common motivations. If ur the boss or manager of a company. These are things you’ll use to motivate your workers.