Introduction: The following is number 5 of 6 blog postings entitled Our faith @ work that are part of the keynote address given at the CH Leaders conference in Nov 2009 in Orillia.
a) Isa 65:17 -25We’re living in between two ultimate realities. The reality of what was and the ultimate reality of what ‘will be’. We have some information on what was, less on what will be, but we do know a lot of what is. However, there are some windows that we are able to peer through. Our image of what and how we are to be living today is both rooted in our past (creation) and our future (the coming kingdom). Jesus said that the “Kingdom of God is here.” We are to begin to live it now.
Our work is to be redemptive
a) Isa 65:17 -25We’re living in between two ultimate realities. The reality of what was and the ultimate reality of what ‘will be’. We have some information on what was, less on what will be, but we do know a lot of what is. However, there are some windows that we are able to peer through. Our image of what and how we are to be living today is both rooted in our past (creation) and our future (the coming kingdom). Jesus said that the “Kingdom of God is here.” We are to begin to live it now.
17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.
19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.
21 "They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23 "They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.
24 "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD.
b) Rev 21:22
18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.
19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.
21 "They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23 "They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.
24 "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD.
b) Rev 21:22
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
Work is an important part of God’s original design, our lives now, and for the coming Kingdom. God’s purpose is to redeem His creation in the now, and Christ was sent to do that work of redemption. We were unable to come ‘toward’ God on our own. I think if we are able to catch a glimpse of this eternal ‘toward’ Sacred Dance of Father Son and Holy Spirit, we would see the gift of God, and the work of Christ with new eyes. The most well known most quoted verse of the Bible takes on new meaning “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. For a period 33 years, Christ of His own volition stepped out of the sacred dance circle. We know so little about the cost of God sending His Son. We tend to mostly define Christian faith in relationship to the Cross, which is central, but, it is enveloped by the whole of God story, in which the Cross is the doorway. Christ steps out of absolute holiness, purity, life, love, goodness, mercy, grace, justice, light and is born as a vulnerable baby into the experience of sin, hate, injustice and death.
Php 2:4-8
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
Work is an important part of God’s original design, our lives now, and for the coming Kingdom. God’s purpose is to redeem His creation in the now, and Christ was sent to do that work of redemption. We were unable to come ‘toward’ God on our own. I think if we are able to catch a glimpse of this eternal ‘toward’ Sacred Dance of Father Son and Holy Spirit, we would see the gift of God, and the work of Christ with new eyes. The most well known most quoted verse of the Bible takes on new meaning “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. For a period 33 years, Christ of His own volition stepped out of the sacred dance circle. We know so little about the cost of God sending His Son. We tend to mostly define Christian faith in relationship to the Cross, which is central, but, it is enveloped by the whole of God story, in which the Cross is the doorway. Christ steps out of absolute holiness, purity, life, love, goodness, mercy, grace, justice, light and is born as a vulnerable baby into the experience of sin, hate, injustice and death.
Php 2:4-8
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
What Christ willingly stepped out of, and into, in order to redeem the work of Creation, is separated by a chasm only crossable by Christ Himself. Redemption was not Christ’s labour or job, it was his work; remember He was a carpenter for 30 of those years. His work of redemption which was not confined to His three years of ministry, but He lived it in His previous 30 years of ‘on the job’. How often have we thought of the purpose of our work to be redemption? When you walk into the office, or home, or program, are we thinking redemptively? When we are dealing with a difficult situation are we thinking redemptively? That does not mean that we are lax or excusing, sometimes the most redemptive thing we can do is let someone go. Christ’s work is not a job anyone of us would sign up for, especially knowing that crucifixion waited at the end. But Christ certainly saw this as His necessary work even knowing its cost. In Luke 2:49 we see that from a young boy He understood this as He said to His parents and those who were looking for him, “Did you not know I must be about my Father’s business (work)”? And then again as an adult in John 5:30
"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. "
That work of the Father took him all the way to the Cross.
What does this have to do with us, our work and Christian Horizons?
Everything.
Recall the prayer of Christ in John 17:18, “As you have sent me (to work), so I send them”. We have been called by Christ Himself, to be a part of His creative, good redemptive work. Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter whether we are a plumber or doctor; factory worker or lawyer; relief worker or CEO, our call to work is the same. We have individual tasks and responsibilities, but that is not our work. We must never let our task take priority or control of our work. Our challenge is how we accomplish our work through the vehicle of our task or job, not in spite of our task. A big part of our role with one another is how we enable each other to participate and fulfill that call.
Our work impacts every avenue of our life, it not something we can take off after an eight hour shift. Our work comes with us in our relationships, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, brother, sister, children, in private, in public. In relations to our work there is no “secular” – for all is in the realm of sacred.
Here’s the other crazy thing that turn it all upside down for us, we don’t get humanly paid for our work. In fact, it generally costs us to do it. Fortunately, we do get paid for our job. The downside is that we tend to judge importance and priority on what and who we get paid by. We judge each other by position, power and pay. Others judge us according to the same standards. But, we cannot let this limit our vision of the work that God has given us. What’s the benefit of God ordained work? Well, besides working for the best boss in the Universe with an eternal life plan, we are not living divided lives, our faith is at work, and our work takes on a new focus and purpose. Our work impacts and shapes our lives and how we do what we do.
All that said, I believe we have a unique opportunity as we come together united by Christ for a single cause under the banner of Christian Horizons.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
What Christ willingly stepped out of, and into, in order to redeem the work of Creation, is separated by a chasm only crossable by Christ Himself. Redemption was not Christ’s labour or job, it was his work; remember He was a carpenter for 30 of those years. His work of redemption which was not confined to His three years of ministry, but He lived it in His previous 30 years of ‘on the job’. How often have we thought of the purpose of our work to be redemption? When you walk into the office, or home, or program, are we thinking redemptively? When we are dealing with a difficult situation are we thinking redemptively? That does not mean that we are lax or excusing, sometimes the most redemptive thing we can do is let someone go. Christ’s work is not a job anyone of us would sign up for, especially knowing that crucifixion waited at the end. But Christ certainly saw this as His necessary work even knowing its cost. In Luke 2:49 we see that from a young boy He understood this as He said to His parents and those who were looking for him, “Did you not know I must be about my Father’s business (work)”? And then again as an adult in John 5:30
"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. "
That work of the Father took him all the way to the Cross.
What does this have to do with us, our work and Christian Horizons?
Everything.
Recall the prayer of Christ in John 17:18, “As you have sent me (to work), so I send them”. We have been called by Christ Himself, to be a part of His creative, good redemptive work. Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter whether we are a plumber or doctor; factory worker or lawyer; relief worker or CEO, our call to work is the same. We have individual tasks and responsibilities, but that is not our work. We must never let our task take priority or control of our work. Our challenge is how we accomplish our work through the vehicle of our task or job, not in spite of our task. A big part of our role with one another is how we enable each other to participate and fulfill that call.
Our work impacts every avenue of our life, it not something we can take off after an eight hour shift. Our work comes with us in our relationships, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, brother, sister, children, in private, in public. In relations to our work there is no “secular” – for all is in the realm of sacred.
Here’s the other crazy thing that turn it all upside down for us, we don’t get humanly paid for our work. In fact, it generally costs us to do it. Fortunately, we do get paid for our job. The downside is that we tend to judge importance and priority on what and who we get paid by. We judge each other by position, power and pay. Others judge us according to the same standards. But, we cannot let this limit our vision of the work that God has given us. What’s the benefit of God ordained work? Well, besides working for the best boss in the Universe with an eternal life plan, we are not living divided lives, our faith is at work, and our work takes on a new focus and purpose. Our work impacts and shapes our lives and how we do what we do.
All that said, I believe we have a unique opportunity as we come together united by Christ for a single cause under the banner of Christian Horizons.
Neil Cudney
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