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Created for Work: A Biblical Understanding of Vocation

Rev. Doug Pratt — February 14, 2010
 

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Reading through the Bible

Our best estimates, based on sales of special One Year Bibles and reading guides in our Book Center, is that a large portion of our congregation—between 500 and 600 of us—have started the year 2010 with a plan to read all the way through the Bible. For some of you this is a first-ever attempt, while others have done it one or several times before. It’s a wonderful discipline, and can be a great daily “workout” for your spiritual muscles.

This morning I will be preaching on the passage of scripture that all who are doing the daily reading plan are experiencing this very weekend. We hope to do this from time to time throughout the year, as an encouragement and incentive to our Bible readers. This text is from the end of the book of Exodus. We’ll be reading it together in just a moment and exploring its implications for our lives.

But first let me speak a word directly to those of you who have undertaken this commitment. In the next couple days you will be exiting the Book of Exodus—the thrilling story of the deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Next stop is the Book of Leviticus: 27 chapters of detailed laws on dietary regulations, sacrifices, cleansings, criminal codes, and moral and ethical codes. It’s not exactly going to be gripping, page-turning material. Some people quit their attempt to read all the way through the Bible when they get to Leviticus.

Those who are experienced long-distance runners know what happens to nearly everyone when they attempt to complete a marathon (a 26 mile race). Somewhere along the race course a runner will “hit the wall.” The body aches, the energy declines, and the mind starts whispering that it’s time to quit. Many marathoners give up when they “hit the wall.” But those who keep going and push through it report that it actually becomes easier. The body adjusts, and the runner is able to make it the rest of the way. Think of reading through the Bible in a year as being like a marathon, and Leviticus is “the wall.” I encourage you to keep going, to persevere, over the next couple of weeks, even though the readings may seem boring and irrelevant.

And it will be a help to you to remember that in our daily readings we will have not only a section from Leviticus, but also a portion of the New Testament and one of the Psalms and Proverbs. Even if you have a hard time finding personal meaning in Leviticus, you should find that the other portions of scripture speak very powerfully and personally to you.

Scripture Reading

And now, let’s read from the end of Exodus 35 to the beginning of chapter 36. Up until now we have seen Moses carrying a very heavy burden, serving as the nation’s President, sole legislator and chief justice. We might conclude that Moses is “omni-capable” — that he has the talent to do everything. But we are about to find that this is not the case. While Moses was a great man used mightily by God, he couldn’t do it alone. And the Lord has been preparing other people, with other skills, to come alongside him:

And Moses told them, “The LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. The LORD has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, intelligence, and skill in all kinds of crafts. He is able to create beautiful objects from gold, silver and bronze. He is skilled in cutting and setting gemstones and in carving wood. In fact, he has every necessary skill. And the LORD has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their skills to others. The LORD has given them special skills as jewelers, designers, weavers, and embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn on fine linen cloth. They excel in all the crafts needed for the work.

"Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other craftsmen whom the LORD has gifted with wisdom, skill, and intelligence will construct and furnish the Tabernacle, just as the LORD has commanded.”

So Moses told Bezalel and Oholiab to begin the work, along with all those who were specially gifted by the LORD.
Exodus 35:30 – 36:2 (NLT)

God-Given Gifts

What’s surprising to recognize in this passage is that the same spiritual language used earlier to indicate the special gifting and calling of Moses—that he was “filled with the Spirit of God” and “given great gifts” as a leader and communicator—is also used of people named Bezalel and Oholiab, whose skills were of a very different kind. They were good with their hands. They were craftsmen, builders, contractors, engineers, artisans, teachers, managers. In this passage God is hereby lifting up and granting nobility and great worth to a wide range of skills and talents. In other words, it is not just Moses who has gifts and a calling. Every one of God’s people has something they can contribute. Every job is important and holy.

We need to lift up this truth in every generation of the church. It is easy to think that those who are dramatically visible—those who speak or sing or serve as an elder or deacon in an ordained office—are the only ones who have a “ministry,” a “calling” from God. But actually we all do, whatever our talents and whatever our place of service. In earlier eras the mistake has been made of setting apart some—those who were ministers or priests or church musicians—and considering that only they were “called.” The word “vocation” literally means a “calling.” But in the Protestant Reformation the biblical teaching was rediscovered that all believers are to serve the Lord in a vocation, wherever they are.

This means that a faithful believer can serve God just as much in a so-called “secular” environment as in the church. Ancient Israel needed only one Moses, but it needed a lot of Bezalels and Oholiabs and others who could do all the work that was needed. A church needs only a couple pastors and professional musicians, but it needs lots of people to serve the Lord with a wide variety of gifts. And we serve the Lord not only inside the walls of the church, but wherever He leads us. If you love Jesus Christ, you serve Him every bit as much in a hospital, an accounting office, an elementary school, a construction company, or a court of law as you do at church. All work is actually “ministry” if done for the right motivation and in the right spirit.

Christian author (and clinical psychologist) John Trent puts it this way in addressing people who have recently decided to take their faith seriously and want Christ to live through them at all times:

The answer for you isn’t to ditch your career and workplace and join a monastery. The best answer is for you to stay where you are and capture your workplace—any workplace—for Christ. You may not be able to change the entire culture of where you work, but you can make a difference. You can change yourself, and in the process you may be able to change others.

I like John’s vision, and I think it can apply to all of us.

From the Beginning

One of the first truths we learned as we opened up our Bibles to Genesis 1 was that God created all of us to do meaningful work. Before any sin or corruption ever entered the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were working hard, putting in full days fulfilling the roles their Creator had given them. They were the very first farmers, ranchers, herdsmen, gardeners, vineyard keepers, and orchard growers. Their task was to tend and care for earth’s creation and oversee it as God’s appointed managers.

Therefore work is good. We were not created for idleness and leisure, but to do the tasks He has gifted and called us to carry out.

There are a wide range of professions and talents represented in this congregation. Some have special skills to serve in businesses and corporations; some work best in trades of construction or mechanics; some have wonderful abilities to raise families and care for households with skill and compassion; others teach children, treat patients, assist in real estate transactions or manage investments.

Some of us have enjoyed the blessing—unknown in the ancient world of the Bible and newly-developed in the modern world—of a time we call “retirement.” But even in that phase when work no longer is necessary to put food on our tables, we still feel the impulse God put within us to do something meaningful. And so hundreds of our retirees give selflessly of their time as volunteers to help build houses for “Habitat,” to tutor Hispanics in English, to put in hours at a thrift shop or hospital, to serve this church in a thousand practical ways.

Everything we do can be a ministry, a service to God, and a help to others, if we do it in the “spirit of the Lord” and with the right attitude. We are actually giving glory to God when we work—every bit as much as we glorify Him on Sunday morning by our prayers and hymns in a worship service.

We glorify Him by doing our best with the talents and opportunities He gives us. We glorify Him by caring about the people around us. We glorify Him by living our lives—including the way we do our jobs or volunteer tasks—the way the Bible tells us to. We glorify God when we earn a living to provide for our family’s needs and, beyond that, to have enough to share with others and to support the Lord’s work. We glorify God when we prayerfully watch for openings in our relationships to say something that will help or guide or encourage or open the spiritual eyes of another person.

Attitude is Key

What we do is less significant morally and spiritually than how we do it. Being a priest or pastor is not more “holy” in God’s eyes than operating a retail store or working an assembly line. Many men and women in my profession have, regrettably, served the church for self-centered and egotistical motives. And many who have served in seemingly-humble or “secular” jobs have honored God fully in their labors.

The daily choice we have is the choice of our attitude. Will we focus on taking from our work and labors for ourselves alone, or will we focus on giving back to our workplace and the people we deal with? For some, the key to transforming their attitude towards work—whether for pay or volunteer, in the home or in a separate workplace—has been to address the question: Who is my boss? When a Christian decides to make Jesus Christ his CEO and do everything ultimately to please Him, it can change his attitude profoundly.

A recently-retired career Navy officer tells his story in a book entitled A Man After God’s Own Heart. For several years he served in the submarine corps. His work included not only months of shore duty stateside, but also long deployments at sea of 3-6 months in length. When a group of sailors are packed like proverbial sardines in the tin can of a nuclear sub for that long a period, tensions and stresses can grow and a complaining spirit can spread like a flu bug.

But this man decided that during his deployments he would see his ultimate mission as serving not only his country but also his Lord. Every day he renewed his promise to the Lord that he would be positive in his attitude, respectful and encouraging of his co-workers, and would do his job with the highest excellence he could attain—never complaining on-duty or off-duty. He believes that his attitude allowed him to powerfully impact the faith of many of the men with whom he served, and even the atmosphere and climate of his subs. We all have a circle of influence around us, in our homes, workplaces, communities and church.

Integrating Faith and Work

In an imperfect world there are certainly challenges involved in the experience of work. Nothing is ever trouble-free. But I believe that persevering through all the obstacles in order to live an integrated life—where our faith is seamlessly part of our daily work and activities—is deeply pleasing and honoring to God. And it’s worth all the effort.

I want to close by telling you about a man who has tried to do this at the highest levels. His name is Dennis Bakke. He’s a Harvard MBA who retired a few years ago as CEO of AES Corporation (Applied Energy Services), a nearly $20 billion a year company that generates and distributes electrical power in over 30 countries worldwide. Dennis is a serious follower of Christ, and upon his retirement he wrote a book about his and his corporation’s approach to faith, values and the world of the marketplace.

The title of the book is Joy at Work. By that he does not mean closing the office on a Friday afternoon for co-workers to go bowling and have pizza and some beers together. Nor is he talking about the “team-building” and “morale-building” exercises so hilariously lampooned in “Dilbert” comic strips and the sitcom The Office. Rather, he’s talking about a deep kind of satisfaction and fulfillment—which he labels “joy”—that comes from doing our jobs well, serving other people with excellence, and experiencing the proper rewards (both tangible and intangible) that come from work done the way God meant it. There are always challenges, though. Many of you have lived the ups and downs of work, in companies big and small, in profits and non-profits.

One of the tough times Dennis Bakke tells about was a rough period when his company’s stock price went into a steep decline. Some analysts criticized AES because its profit margins were smaller than comparable companies (the stock priced dropped to a low of $5 in 2003—today it’s around $15). Dennis and his board decided to stick by their priorities and their values, even though their own short-term financial interest would have led them to cut corners on quality, to raise prices, to eliminate corporate charitable contributions, to cut research and technological development, and other actions. “It takes courage,” he says, “to hold to shared values and principles when shareholders and financial institutions pressure us to focus exclusively on the bottom line.” Yes, it does. Following God’s way is never easy, in any arena. There are always temptations.

But the Word of God, from Genesis through Exodus and all the way into the letters of Paul in the New Testament, consistently speaks of the importance and value of bringing our faith into our working life. Just as Bezalel and Oholiab offered their talents and gifts to be used by the Lord, so we can today.

Conclusion

Perhaps there is someone here who needs to let the Spirit of God perform an “attitude adjustment” to their work—to see it in a new light beginning Monday morning, as an opportunity to live your faith and serve with love your Ultimate CEO.

And perhaps there is someone here who has been given a gift or talent by the Lord but is hiding it, sitting on it, failing to use it in a fulfilling way. Maybe you need to offer your time and your skills to the Lord as our two workers in Exodus did: “Here I am, Lord. I’m willing to be used by you.”

May each of us approach this day and every day with a new sense of calling, and a renewed commitment, to serve God with excellence wherever He has placed us and with the gifts He has entrusted to us.