“The Christian Wallet: Work to Live or Live to Work?” Matthew 5: 13-16 Ecc 3:22

If I asked you why you work, what would you say? I think for most people the answer is going to be something along the lines of “because I have to” or “to make money”. But is that God’s view of work?

Somewhere along the way, we have arrived at a very unhealthy view of work. We look to Genesis 3 and say that if not for Adam and Eve’s sin then we wouldn’t have to work. And yes, part of Adam’s punishment was God saying that he would have to toil the land. That by the sweat of his face you shall eat bread. But that’s not the first mention of work in the Bible. No, that came in Genesis 2, prior to the fall at all. Here we find that God put Adam in the garden in order to till it and keep it. In other words, work is not punishment. Work is part of a gift from God.

But if we are honest with ourselves, it doesn’t always feel like a gift, does it? Work can end up feeling like something we just have to do. Perhaps, we need to reframe the purpose of work in terms of scripture in order to help us grasp what God is calling us to do. 

The first question when it comes to our work that we need to ask is does it honor God? That means two connected and important things. First, are we living into our call? Your call is the purpose God has created you for. The gifts that you have been blessed with. We hear stories in church about folks who are called to do big things for God. Abram who was called to leave his people and his land to go to the place that God had prepared for him and to live in covenant with God. Moses who led his people out of Egypt. Joshua who took the people into the promise land. Paul who brought the Good News to the gentiles. The list goes on and on. 

When we get so focused on the largeness of what God called these folks to do, we can forget that God calls you and me as well. It’s not about how vast the thing is that God calls us to do, its about whether we are listening and being obedient, saying yes and following where God leads. 

I have a friend named Karen. Karen has been called to do many things with her extradoniary life, but right now, God is calling Karen to organize collection drives in her community each year for school supplies. She starts collecting months before the school year starts and through that call folks are abundantly blessed. This is Karen’s work for this season of her life and through it she honors God. 

Which leads us to the second part of God honoring work - it will bear fruit. We often talk about work in terms of what we put into it, but God is also looking at what comes from it, what the outcomes are. But God’s outcomes are not the same as those of the world around us. God isn’t looking for how much money we make or if others deem us to be a success. For God, outcomes are people whose hearts and lives are touched by what we do, by how we live into our calling. 

The second question we need to ask is does our work bless others? Today’s Gospel text is found in Jesus’s teaching on the sermon on the mount, shortly after the Beatitudes. Here, Jesus continues his sermon beyond flipping blessings on their head by talking about our very purpose on this earth. To be salt and light. 

I used to teach at a mini-camp for students in the northern part of the annual conference. One year, we were learning about the sermon on the mount and for one of the lessons I gave the students flashlight. We talked about this passage about being salt and light and what it means to share our light with the world. And those kids - starting in fourth grade got it, they got it church! They understood that that Jesus was using us, all of us, as vessels to shine forth the light of God. A light that had already changed some of their lives! 

  In the ancient world people under stood how important salt and light were. Salt was the chief way of perceiving food. It was used in worship. It was a small thing of great worth. Light was also important. It dictated when people could work. Illuminated what they could see. Both salt and light were ordinary things that had extraordinary importance. 

Sometimes we forget just how important the gift we have to share as the church is. Does this gift take work? Absolutely. But it also bears much fruit because we have the light and love of Jesus Christ. We have a message that cannot be contained. 

Sometimes though, we don’t want to do the work. We are afraid that we will be rejected or it seems too hard, so we stop looking for opportunities to share the love of Jesus and start looking for ways that we can be just as successful as everyone else. We stop trying to reach out to new people to share Christ’s love with and start thinking that we are good enough as we are. The result, church, is us hiding our light and losing our flavor. 

I love the word choice of Jesus in this section of his teaching. He isn’t saying we should be salt and light, or that we will be salt in light, rather that we are. We are salt and light. By virtue of our faith in Christ we are sent forth to share the message with the world. Because we have been adopted into the family of God, we have a task to share the life-giving love of Jesus with others! Salt and light both are the gift and enhance the fruit of blessing others for the kingdom. 

There is, however, a third question that we need to ask ourselves as well - does our work bring us joy? In our Old Testament reading today, we heard these wise words from Ecclesiastes - there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work. In other words, work should also be life giving to us. It should be something we are passionate about that brings us a sense of satisfaction and joy. 

For some of us, however, we aren’t going to be able to answer all of these questions affirmatively when we consider our job. That place we go for a bulk of our week or the thing that we do in order to earn a paycheck. If that’s a case, where are the other places in our lives where we can honor God, bless others, and find joy? Maybe its like my friend Karen, in your volunteer work. Maybe its something you do for the church, or in the community. Whatever it is, that is work too, because it is something that we are doing for the glory of God!

Pastor Mike Slaughter in his book bearing the same title as this sermon series spoke of his District Superintendent who once preached at Ginghamsburg on moving from a TGIF mindset to a TGIM mindset. Where we see our work as holy. See our work as bearing salt and light into a world in need. See our work as something that flows out of us.

Friends, whatever you may consider your work, whether its the place where you earn a paycheck or where you pour your heart out in volunteer service, may it be a place where we are at work for the Kingdom, shining forth the very light of Jesus Christ. Amen.