What motivates you in the work you do? What does the way you work say about you? Who are you ultimately working for? Given the amount of time most people spend working during their lives, those are important questions. In this message from David Platt, we’ll see not only the way work played a role in God’s redemptive purposes in Nehemiah 3, but also the way in which God designed work from the beginning to be for our good and his glory. Though our work is often difficult and unsatisfying due to the effects of sin, knowing Jesus should transform why we work and the way we work.
(For more resources from David Platt and Radical, visit radical.net.)
What motivates you in the work you do? What does the way you work say about you? Who are you ultimately working for? Given the amount of time most people spend working during their lives, those are important questions. In this message from David Platt, we’ll see not only the way work played a role in God’s redemptive purposes in Nehemiah 3, but also the way in which God designed work from the beginning to be for our good and his glory. Though our work is often difficult and unsatisfying due to the effects of sin, knowing Jesus should transform why we work and the way we work.
(For more resources from David Platt and Radical, visit radical.net.)
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. If you have a Bible and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with. Let me invite you all to meet me to Nehemiah, chapter 3. Feel free to use Table of Contents if you need to Nehemiah chapter 3, it's in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, and as you're turning, I want to welcome those of you in other locations around Metro DC as we gather together as a church family around God's word, and especially those of you who are visiting with us today. We are really glad that you're here.
Speaker 1:The majority of you who are members of this church family spend the majority of your week doing work, either in an office or home or at school outside of a church setting. Think about it this way if you work just 40 hours a week for 40 years of your life, then you will put in over 80,000 hours at a job during your lifetime, and if you go to college, then kindergarten to college is another 15,000 or so hours preparing to work. We have 80 students from Penn State just passing through here today and worshiping with us. So all those hours in education, and then for many there's collective hours commuting. On top of all that, I've not even mentioned the hours of work you do outside of school or a paid job like work in your home or in the community. Needless to say, these hours represent a massive portion of your life. So what's the point of it all? Is it just to provide an income or put food on your table or a roof over your head, or is there more to it than that? We talk all the time about how you are made to glorify God among all nations. We send each other out every week to be disciple makers of the nations. Yet most of you will leave here today to either go to school or work in a secular profession in the world this week, outside the church. So does that mean you're not really involved in the work of God for most of your hours this week? Or do you sometimes think I do my job or I go to school during the weekdays or whenever that might be, and then I serve God outside of that, on the weeknights or on the weekends, outside of my job or school? I guess the question is is that the way God views these hundred thousand or so hours that you spend of your life. It's kind of something you just have to do, or to really do what matters? I don't think so, but unfortunately I think many Christians don't have God's understanding of their work on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:And based on Nehemiah, chapter 3, I hope that by the Spirit of God that will change today. Actually, turn back to Nehemiah 2. I just want you to circle the word work every time we see it In this story of Nehemiah that we're studying, remembering again that Nehemiah was not a preacher or a prophet or pastor or a paid staff church member. He was a cup bear turned project manager for rebuilding walls around Jerusalem, which is the work he's referring to in these verses. Look at Nehemiah, chapter 2, verse 16. He says the officials did not know where I'd gone or what I was doing, not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials and the rest who were to do this work of rebuilding walls. Let's circle it that way. Then verse 18, and I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also the words of the king had spoken to me and they said let's rise up and build. So they strengthen their hands for the good work. You might circle it there and then you jump past the chapter we're looking at today.
Speaker 1:Look at Nehemiah, chapter 4, verse 11, which we'll study, lord willing, next week. Our enemies, these enemies start to rise against the rebuilding of the walls and says they will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop this work. And then, in verse 15, when our enemies heard that was known to us that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. You keep going in verse 16 and 17,. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction and half held the spears, shields, bows and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. Then, in verse 19, I said to the nobles and the officials, the rest of the people, the work is great and widely spread and we're separated on the wall one from another. Verse 21,. So we labored at the work. Half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out A few more. Just to round it out, look at chapter 5, verse 16, I also persevered in the work on this wall and we acquired no land and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
Speaker 1:Then, chapter 6, verse 3, I send messengers to them saying I'm doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? Chapter 6, verse 9, for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking their hands will drop from this work and it will not be done. And finally, chapter 6, verse 16, when it's all completed, our enemies heard of it. All the nations around us were afraid and felt greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
Speaker 1:Nehemiah is clearly a book in the Bible about God's people doing work. Now come back to Nehemiah, chapter 3, and we're not going to read the whole chapter as it's pretty repetitive, but even that is kind of the point. We read the first few verses to give you the flavor, and while we won't see the word work, we will see words that describe the work they were doing, like build and repair. So let's circle. Every time we see one of those two words build or repair, starting in Nehemiah, chapter 3, verse 1. He writes that Elijah the high priest rose up with his brothers, the priests, and they built the sheep gate, they consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the tower of the hundred, as far as the tower of Hanunel, and next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them is the Cur, the son of Omri, built. The sons of Hassanah built the fish gate. They laid its beans and set his doors, its bolts and its bars. And next to them Marama, the son of Uriah, son of Hakkaz, repaired, and next to them a shulam, the son of barakaya, son of Meshazabel, repaired, and next to them Zadok, the son of Banna, repaired.
Speaker 1:Just pause there real quick. I don't presume I'm announcing all these names, correct? Just a little Preacher tip for you whenever you're like in your church group and you're supposed to be reading and you come upon names like this in the Bible, just just give it your best shot and keep going. Don't even stop. Just act like, own it, like, act like you know what you're doing, because nobody in that room is gonna be like you pronounce Meshazabel wrong, like they have to be really bold to do that and you'd be like well, then you just become the designated reader every time from now on, since you know how to pronounce the Hebrew names perfectly. So anyway, just little side notes. Verse 5, and next to them, the tekoites repaired, but the nobles will not stoop to serve their Lord. So these two words built and repaired up here over 40 times in Just this chapter.
Speaker 1:The whole chapter is about how these individual people were Working, building, repairing the walls around Jerusalem. And you know it's interesting, not one time in the entire chapter Do we ever see anyone specified as a builder or a carpenter as their vocation. Instead, we see priests, including the high priest back up in verse 1, building. We see rulers and officials of all kinds repairing merchants from different trades. Let me show you an example in verse 8, next to them, ozeal, the son of Harhaya, goldsmiths repair. Next to him, and I, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the broad wall. It were the goldsmiths and the perfume makers repairing and building. You get to verse 12. It says, next to him, shalom, the son of Hala ash, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.
Speaker 1:It wasn't just these individuals, there was them and their families. It was men and women from all kinds of backgrounds and Places, representing all the people of God. In fact, there's only one group of people among God's people. This chapter says refuse to participate. You saw back in verse 5, the nobles, basically the aristocrats among the tecowites, believe this fork was beneath them. But everybody else worked. All kinds of people with all kinds of gifts, working together to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. All kinds of people doing all kinds of things, to use the language of Nehemiah 218, do this good work.
Speaker 1:So as I was studying this passage this week and Praying and just thinking about what God is saying to us as his people today through it, my mind immediately went to all the names of different people from different backgrounds, with different jobs, who are a part of this church and part of this church family. By the way, if you are a part of this church family but you've never Taken the step to put your name down as a member of this church family, said I'm committed to being the body of Christ here. I want to encourage you to do that as soon as possible. Followers of Jesus belong to local churches, which, to be sure, means so much more than having your name on a list somewhere, but it does involve having your name on a list of people who've explicitly said or committed to being the church together. Just like all these names of God's people matter in Nehemiah chapter 3, your name really matters the member of a local church, the body of Christ, expression of the global body of Christ and, specifically today, I hope, every member of this body, your names, that you hear God affirming the work you do in this church, not just in the church but in the world, amidst all the hours that you work, in all the different ways that you work for his glory and part of me wishes. I had a lot more time to dive really in depth into a biblical understanding of work, but I want to get the highlights and light of this picture in Nehemiah chapter 3. I want to show you the foundational understanding of what you do, the foundational understanding of work that's underneath all of this in the Bible, and some of this may seem obvious, but I really want to encourage you to let it soak in and affect the way you view the work that you specifically do. And, to be clear by work I Certainly mean any job, assuming it's not a sinful job. So any job at all, or school, or work you do in your home for your family, including raising kids, I think of Alphorbes consistently ranks a stay at home parent as one of the most difficult jobs in the world. So if that's, you, don't for a second underestimate the work you're doing on a daily, nightly basis. We're talking work that you do in any way, anything that's not rest. I Want to remind you biblically, from God's word you might write this down that well, first and foremost, god himself delights in work, that God Enjoys work.
Speaker 1:The Bible begins with God working. The first verse and the beginning God created and it's no Coincidence that God's work in creation is described in the timeframe of a seven-day work week and some 104. Verse 30 says God rejoices in his works, in creating and sustaining and providing and protecting and leading and guiding. Think about it. God is working all the time for us and Through us. This is pretty awesome to think about, but the only reason your heart is beating and your lungs are breathing right now is because God is working for you. Just think about that. You're not telling your heart to beat right now or your lungs to breathe. God's doing that, and if he were to stop working, so would you. And even the good work that we do, is God working through us, right? When we ask God? Just think basic Give us this day, our daily bread. How does God answer that? Through people who, by His work in them, through them, plant and harvest grain, and bakers who make bread and people who sell it to us. God chooses to work through our work.
Speaker 1:You think about Nehemiah, chapter 3. God had power to speak and the walls around Jerusalem would be rebuilt, but he didn't do that. Instead, he gives this people the ability to work and rebuild these walls, which means? So follow this. God designs us to work. Isn't it interesting? As soon as God makes man and woman in the Bible, he calls us to work. This is Genesis 1, 26, and 30. And Genesis 2, 15 puts it this way the Lord, god, took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden. To do what? To work it and keep it. And keep in mind this is before sin even came into the world. So work is not a result of sin. It's the part of the beauty of creation from the very beginning, a part of what it means to be human.
Speaker 1:I love what Tim Keller said in an excellent book on work called Every Good Endeavor. He wrote Work is so foundational to our makeup that it's one of the few things we can take in significant doses without harm. Indeed, the Bible does not say we should work one day and rest six, or that work and rest should be balanced evenly, but directs us to the opposite. Ration, leisure and pleasure are great goods, but we can only take so much of them. If you ask people in nursing homes or hospitals how they are doing, you will often hear that their main regret is that they wish they had something to do, some way to be useful to others. And this is so important because so many people even in the church are maybe especially in the church view work almost like it's a necessary evil in this world, something we have to endure in order to make an income to get by. And some people have to suffer through menial, unimportant jobs in order to make that income. It's just what you have to do, and school is the same. It's just what you have to do.
Speaker 1:And that kind of thinking is totally unbiblical, because work is actually a part of God's innate and good design for our lives. It's a mark of human dignity. Whenever we're working, we're reflecting the image of a working God which brings divine dignity to even what some would call the most menial of jobs. Jesus himself made this clear. Philip Jensen asked the question if God came into the world, what would he be like? For the ancient Greeks he might have been a philosopher king. The ancient Romans might have looked for a just and noble statesman.
Speaker 1:But how does the God of the Hebrews come into the world? As a carpenter, god has designed the world to work around men and women made in his image, working with all kinds of dignity and all kinds of work. Again, in the words of Tim Keller, farming takes the physical material of soul and seed and produces food. Music takes the physics of sound and rearranges it into something beautiful and thrilling that brings meaning to life. When we take fabric and make a piece of clothing, when we push a broom and clean up a room, when we use technology to harness the forces of electricity, when we take an unformed, naive human mind and teach it a subject, when we teach a couple how to resolve their relational disputes, when we take simple materials and turn them into a poignant work of art, in all of these things. We are continuing God's work of forming, filling and subduing.
Speaker 1:That we see from the very beginning of the Bible, and this is where we realize it's a really good thing that most of us have different jobs and, specifically, that most of us are not on staff at the church, like if all of us were pastors or church staff members, it would be a horrible thing for sustenance in the world. We might know how to teach the Bible in Shepherd the Church, but we wouldn't know how to do anything else. Or if we were all salespersons, we would have no products to sell. If we were all police officers, we'd be safe, but we'd also be hungry. If we were all lawyers, we'd all be in trouble. We need each other.
Speaker 1:Every one of our work matters In a similar way to how the body of Christ is different parts, all of which are important. God's created us to work in all kinds of different ways in the world, all of which are important. See this in God's Word human work, However lowly the world might deem it to be, even you might sometimes think it is, it's dignified because it reflects the glory of God, our Creator. This is so big for us to make sure, especially in the church we don't set up some artificial distinction between some whose work is more dignified than others and pastors more dignified than accountants or missionaries more knowable than telemarketers. The church itself said if we look externally, there's difference between washing dishes and preaching the Word of God as touching to please God. There is no difference at all. That's a biblical view of work, that there is no difference, when done to the honor of the Lord, between preaching and washing the dishes. Do you really believe that that preaching and washing the dishes are just as important to the glory of God? Yes, I believe that. Take something like house cleaning and imagine what if it's not done Before long. There's germs all over the house, viruses and infections threatening to make you sick that eventually could kill you. That's pretty important Work, no matter what kind it is, in and of itself is dignified. It's a beautiful part of God's design for us as workers made in His image, which is why we see in the Am I 3 priests and officials and merchants and goldsmiths and perfume makers all doing good work to God's glory, amen.
Speaker 1:Now the problem is you might write this down sin distorts our work, mm-hmm. And we see this from the beginning of the Bible, right after man and woman sin, god says work is going to be burdensome. And the rest of the Bible, as well as our lives, testify to the frustrations of every kind of work in this fallen world, work that's often filled with struggles and often feels pointless. Just read Ecclesiastes to get a picture of this one. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all these days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation. The word literally means like an anger. Has anyone ever been angry in your work or frustrated in your work? Well, that's the result of sin in the world.
Speaker 1:Sin distorts our understanding and our experience of work, and even the way it plays out. Instead of working for the good of others in the glory of God, we can so often work selfishly or with no regard for God's glory, sometimes even working in ways that are harmful for others. Or often our sinfulness leads us to overwork, to the point where we can't put it aside, we can't put the phone down, we're always checking, we're always working, we're consumed by our work to the point where we see rest as weakness, as the enemy of productivity. We fail to remember that God has commanded us to rest, to put work completely aside for regular periods of time. Or we can take that to an extreme and not work to the point of laziness, which God also warns against in His Word, or we can just undervalue the work we do. They can. I just have to trudge through this, even though it doesn't really matter when God says our work does matter. And in all of this I want you to see so I'm going past the Amaya here, specifically to where all the Bible is pointing I want you to see how Jesus transforms our work, our understanding, our concept of work, and then how we work.
Speaker 1:Think about how the gospel of Jesus, the goodness of Jesus, transforms, transforms work First and foremost. Fundamentally, the gospel frees us from trying to work in order to earn God's favor, which is massive, because every major religion in the world is based on what you do to get to God or the gods or life. In Islam it's five pillars. In Buddhism it's an eight-fold path. In Hinduism it's multitudes of rituals to appease millions of gods.
Speaker 1:And Jesus comes on the scene and says no, I have done the work for you. You don't have to work your way to God and life. You can't. You have sin in your life that keeps you from God, that you cannot erase or overcome on your own, no matter how much good work you tried to do. But the only reason I came, jesus says, is to pay the price for your sin on a cross and to conquer it by rising from the gray in victory over sin and death, so that anyone, anywhere Jesus says, who trusts in me, what I have done for you, will be forgiven of all your sin and restored to relationship with God for all of eternity by faith, not by work. So if you've never put your faith in Jesus, been freed from work to try to get to God today, let today be the day where you say I trust in you and your work, jesus, for me to be forgiven of my sin and restored to relationship with you. And when you do that, for all who have placed your faith in Jesus, think about how this transforms your view of work.
Speaker 1:This was so big in the Protestant Reformation, this being highlighted salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus, not by works, because if our works, and specifically our religious works, can earn us particular favor before God, then it only makes sense that church leaders have the most favor before God and everybody else is kind of second class in that sense. But that is not true. No matter what our job is, we all come to God the same way through faith in Jesus. I come to God through faith in Jesus, you come to God through faith and in Jesus, which means we're all priests with access to God through Jesus, no matter what kind of work we do. I don't have special access because I'm a pastor. Jesus alone has made access possible for all of us as God's people.
Speaker 1:Martin Luther put it this way he said in his pure invention that Pope, bishops, priests and monks are called the spiritual estate, while princes, lords, artisans and farmers are called the temporal estate. This is indeed a piece of deceit and hypocrisy. He said, all Christians are truly of the spiritual estate. There's no difference among them except that of vocation. We are all consecrated priests. A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests to God.
Speaker 1:Yes, no matter what job you have, if you are a follower of Jesus, you have access to God through the work of Jesus, which means you're now free from work. That's trying to earn favor with God. And now taking another step further. You're free to work with dignity in all kinds of ways that are good for you and good for the world and glorifying to God. That's what Colossians 3, 23, and 24 is saying. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord, not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as a reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Do you see this? Whatever job you're in, you're working in, you're not ultimately working for this boss or that company. You're working to please Jesus, and that transforms your work. Talk about meaning in work and purpose in work and motivation for work, the value of your work. Now you realize that what you do nine to five every day is that secular work, and what you do when you serve on the church on Sunday, as spiritual worker, going to school, is kind of outside. No, it's all work to the glory of Jesus, every bit of it. And this changes everything.
Speaker 1:Friends of mine Greg Gilbert, sebastian Schrager they wrote an excellent book entitled the Gospel at Work. I wrote the forward for it because it's so helpful. And at one point they write do you ever experience satisfaction or enjoyment in your work? And if not, if you struggle with that, it might be worth it. It might be worth thinking about why you don't. And they talk about how everything changes when you're in Jesus and you're working serving Him through your work, they write.
Speaker 1:You don't necessarily have to enjoy the mechanics of what you do in order to find a measure of enjoyment and satisfaction in your work. Maybe your job is cleaning on the grace pits in a hydraulics factory and you work in a non-air conditioned metal warehouse in the brutal 110 degree heat of East Texas. Hardly anybody can be expected to enjoy the mechanics of that particular job. Yet if this describes your work, you can still find satisfaction and enjoyment in it by doing your job well and knowing you're doing it for the King's glory and as an expression of love for him. Do you realize this?
Speaker 1:When you are writing a memo at your desk, when you're talking on the phone with a customer, when you are preparing a lesson for your class, when you're studying for an exam or writing a paper, when you're selling a product or serving some food or changing a diaper or making a decision or managing a company or a household, hammering a nail, fixing a leak, performing a surgery, whatever you do, you are worshiping God. As you work, you are literally serving the Lord Christ. Discipleship to Jesus is not just what you do when you have a Bible study at your school or workplace or you serve at the soup kitchen yes, that, and it's whatever you do on a daily basis. It's all discipleship to Jesus. So think about how it changes everything from now to serve Jesus every day in your work with excellence.
Speaker 1:Whatever that work is, you're doing it for him with honesty and integrity. You're doing it for him with joy that reflects his joy, with respect and kindness toward others around you. In your work that reflects his character as a servant to customers and coworkers and classmates and kids, loving others as your self, as the spirit of Jesus in you and powers you to do and, yes, looking for opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus through your work, wherever he leads you in the world. It's all bringing glory to Jesus and in this way, you realize that your good work, day in and day out, brings great glory to God. The good work you do every day in your home, at your job, in your school, in our city, in the church and in the world, as a single, as a spouse, as a parent, as a student, as an employer, as an employee or retiree who's free to work without pay.
Speaker 1:The good work you do day in and day out as a follower of Jesus brings great glory to God and, based on what we're seeing in Nehemiah 3, I want to be clear. I don't just mean with good work big, flashy, extravagant things that you might think of. I mean all the work, whatever you do, whether you're paid to do it or you're not paid to do it, whether others see it or no one, but God sees it. It's all work that God delights in and God has designed you to do that. Jesus has come to totally transform so that you might do this good work to the glory of God.
Speaker 1:So here's how I want to close, and with inviting and challenging you to respond in three ways. First, I want to invite you to hear and feel God's affirmation of the good work you're doing every day. I want to invite you just to pause and receive from God his spirit through his word, affirming the good work you are doing. I, just the person in front of you, beside you, body like you, right where you're sitting, good work day in and day out, even if you're in a hydraulics factory, what you're doing day in and day out by God's good design for God's great glory through your life.
Speaker 1:And then, second, to prayerfully ask God about any ways he may be leading you to work differently for his glory. And this could go in so many different directions, but what should think about it maybe be God is calling you to be content in the work you were doing, not always looking to other things that you could be doing, but to be content and even joyful in your work as you're serving Jesus. Or maybe there's a way in which God may be leading you to work with more humility or integrity or kindness or excellence. You've grown half-hearted in your work or maybe you need to make some changes to stop over working. Surely, in this fast-paced culture we're living in, god, by his spirit, is saying to some brothers and sisters right now to put it down and rest according to his good commands for your life. Or maybe let's call you to start working. Or maybe there's different work that God may be calling you to do, maybe work in the church or in the world.
Speaker 1:Just ask God are you leading me to work differently in any way for your glory? And here's why it's important to do the first step first, because sometimes we we have a tendency to jump from one thing to the next because we're not satisfied in our work. Let's make sure the first and foremost were satisfied in Jesus, that we're not looking to work to satisfy us in a way that only Jesus can. And then, in the process, let's make sure we make any changes in work because he's leading us to do that, in which case brothers and sisters can be really helpful counselors for us to seek that counsel. And in the process, third, pray that God would be glorified in the good work he has called you to do. Let's make this our constant Nehemiah three like prayer as a church family on a daily basis. God, help us to glorify you in whatever work we do. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.