 "So, what is it that you do for a living?" How many times have you asked someone that question or one like it? It can be construed as "small talk," but there is nothing "small" about the answer to that question, and there is definitely nothing small about what we do. On this Labor Day weekend, I have images come to mind of giant Communist parades. We’ve all seen the propaganda shots, the happy comrades with their tools in their hands singing the praises of the State. "Workers of the world unite! The only thing you have to lose is your chains!" How ironic that everywhere Communism has taken hold, whole people groups have become enslaved. Their work disappears in an oppressive machine that views individual labor as grist for the mill that yields nothing but heartache and suffering. We, on the other hand, are given the privilege to be invited to have our work matter, really matter. This past week an icon in Eugene passed way. His name was Harry Ritchie. His Obituary said he founded, owned, and operated the jewelry business that bore his name. He was advanced in years, and I am not sure whether his blood relatives still run the family business, but the power of the good name has survived him and is still attached to the enterprise that he began. Well, you and I are a part of a family business too. We are workers, yes, but we have risen. Not we’ve been elevated to the status of partners. No, even better than that, we’re heir’s. Jesus said, "A slave doesn’t know about the master’s business, but I call you friends." We’re not worker bees in a giant secular collective. Oh no, we’re royalty. We are partners with the sovereign of the Universe. What we do for a living is to continue the work of the kingdom of God on earth. Paul says, "We are His ‘workmanship,’ created in Christ Jesus." He goes on to show that there are things, good things, that we were destined to do before the foundation of the world. The Greek word translated workmanship, "poiema," was used to describe a tapestry. If you’ve ever seen a tapestry you’ll remember that on one side there are a seeming jumbled mess of threads. On the other side, however, the side people see, is a clear image, a picture. You may see a dead end job, but if you do what you do to the glory of God, trust me, all those around you will see a clear picture of the Son of God. You are a one of a kind signed original, a MASTER’s piece. Pastor Jim |
