1 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,320 If you have your Bible, you can open up to Galatians chapter 5, 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,920 going to be in Galatians chapter 5, picking up from about verse 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,240 13 to give you a little bit of a backdrop. 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,600 I like the fact that Clint mentioned mentioned us as a base 5 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:18,680 church. It's one of the things we're 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,040 kind of weaving into our series at the moment. 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,560 I don't know if you're familiar with Two Kings 22. 8 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,160 It's a moment in the history of of Israel where King Josiah, I 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,800 think he'd been king for something like 18 or 20 years. 10 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,880 And he started his own little building project. 11 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,720 He looked at the temple, thought, you know, it's in a 12 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,560 little bit of a disarray. And so he sent A-Team to go and 13 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,760 fix up the the temple and something unexpected happened. 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,360 They found the Bible the high priest took here comes to the 15 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,320 king and says, listen, we found the book. 16 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,760 I don't know if you remember Rory mentioning that a few weeks 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,720 ago we found the book which meant that for at least the last 18 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,920 18, possibly 20 years, the the King had led the nation without 19 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,080 scripture, the the church had led the Tabernacle without 20 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,000 scripture. The people had lived without 21 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,120 Scripture. And you can imagine what this 22 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,760 did in terms of turning the nation and the Kingdom and the 23 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,480 Tabernacle on its head. Now say that because the verse 24 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,240 we're going to look at has done that to me this past week. 25 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,320 And since I can't afford therapy, I just thought I'd 26 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:21,240 share it with you. And we can deal with it publicly 27 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,560 together. But it's in Galatians 5, verse 28 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,280 13, and it says the following. It says for you, a call to 29 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,240 freedom, Brothers and sisters only. 30 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,240 Do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your 31 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,480 flesh, but through love serve one another. 32 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,520 Now, I know you're looking at that and you go, like kind of 33 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,800 was expecting more, but all right, turned your life upside 34 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:42,680 down. What's going on there? 35 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,840 Well, the reason why this thing got a hold of me the way that it 36 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,120 did was because I just finished reading through an article a 37 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,360 lady by the name of Dorothy Sayers had written on work and 38 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,200 she says the following. She says how can anyone remain 39 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,440 interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with 40 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:02,400 9/10 of one's life? You're saying, how can anyone 41 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,120 have any interest in a religion that's for Sundays only and has 42 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,880 nothing to do with our Mondays? Which is why I read this verse 43 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,480 through the lens of work. You call to freedom, Brothers 44 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,240 and sisters only. Do not use your freedom as an 45 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,280 opportunity to indulge your flesh. 46 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,840 Pretoria East, but through love serve one another. 47 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:27,440 So that's what we're going to do. 48 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,320 We're going to take a look at serving one another. 49 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,800 What the Bible says, a biblical world view on work this morning. 50 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,080 So turn to your neighbor, tell them to buckle in. 51 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:43,040 We're going to jump straight in. So when you think about work, 52 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,120 what do you think of the sociologists say we probably 53 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,720 think of one or two things. On the one side we think of work 54 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,640 through the lens of idolatry. I think in Pretoria East, this 55 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,960 is our lens idolatry. You know you want to make the 56 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:00,640 bucks, you want to have a Botox budgets, you want to have the 57 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:04,680 fanciest car. You know you're doing e-mail on 58 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:06,800 holiday and over the weekends and you're finishing that 59 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,640 projects while the family is out swimming in the sea. 60 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:14,680 And they say that. How crazy is this that if in a 61 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,680 marriage one of the partners works 10 hours more than the 62 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,000 national average, you're twice as likely to get a divorce. 63 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,800 Because this is the power of idolatry when it comes to work. 64 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,520 It has a power, a dark and a belly. 65 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,760 And work gives us identity. It gives us worth. 66 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,400 It gives us safety and comfort and all the toys we can handle. 67 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,720 So sometimes when we approach work, we look at it through the 68 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,040 lens of idolatry. Other times we look at it at it 69 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,040 through the lens of futility. There goes my caffeine, just 70 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,040 like and you should have had a full cup. 71 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,160 Futility. You know that they say that 72 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:56,120 Gallup did a poll of all working adults in the US. 87% of working 73 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,960 American adults hate their jobs. I wonder if we had to ask hands 74 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,520 up, yeah, how many hands would go up? 75 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:05,840 Hates their jobs. My hand will go down because the 76 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,640 boss's wife is here. Futility. 77 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:14,840 You know that 50% of us, they say, 50% of all working adults 78 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:20,040 do the bare minimum. It's called quiet quitting, just 79 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,560 enough to not get fired and also get your paycheck until you 80 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,240 retire. And those are the two lenses 81 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,120 that the world looks at when it looks through when it comes to 82 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,560 work. But none of those are the heart 83 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,320 of God when it comes to our work. 84 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,160 So in the Bible, kind of like the second page of Genesis, we 85 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:40,920 come across work for the very first time. 86 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,080 When I was at Bible college, one of the things that they taught 87 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,800 us was that it's important that it's called this, the rule of 88 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,640 First mention. So when a word or when a 89 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,200 principle or a theme is mentioned first in scripture, 90 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,200 that kind of becomes the Plumb line for the rest of scripture. 91 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,000 You need to look at it through this lens. 92 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,240 When it comes to work and what is fascinating for someone like 93 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,640 me, a wordsmith, I love the nuances of the Hebrew language. 94 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,520 The word for work is Abu da and it has a very wide semantic 95 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:11,720 range. So in Galatians, sorry, in 96 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:16,680 Genesis 215 says God puts Adam and Eve in the garden to work 97 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,160 it. This is our stereotypical work. 98 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,920 It's here you get raw elements and you need to beautify it. 99 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,840 Work kind of a calling, a vocation of you all. 100 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,680 But you turn a few pages later into Exodus and you see Moses 101 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,480 standing in front of Pharaoh and God said tell tell Pharaoh to 102 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,360 let my people go so they can avodah me. 103 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,720 Now it's not so that they can work me, so that they can 104 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,080 worship me. Same word, different context. 105 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,680 Work meaning work and work also meaning worship. 106 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,440 And the third use that avodah has in the Old Testament in 107 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:58,600 Hebrew is a master being served avodah by a slave or a king 108 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:03,400 being served by a subject. Or as we see in Galatians 513, 109 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,880 we serve through love, we serve one another. 110 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,400 So these are the three elements of work. 111 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,640 This is what your Monday should look like. 112 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,960 If you want to know, am I working biblically as a son of 113 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,680 God, as a daughter of God? Or am I working just like the 114 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,760 world? It's my work, work, sweat equity 115 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,040 and worship and service. So let's take a look at these 116 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:30,600 three. Firstly, work is worship. 117 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,880 When I was in Bible college, we we were slept with a verse. 118 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,040 I say slept because it was used against us. 119 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,200 It was weaponized. It's Colossians 317. 120 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,400 It basically says whatever you do in Word or deed, do it all in 121 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,640 glory of God. You know, everything is is 122 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:45,280 worship. You have to honor God and all of 123 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:47,800 that. I remember this week prepping 124 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,760 for this morning. I remember sitting at breakfast 125 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,600 the next morning and one one of the guys held up his orange 126 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:54,720 juice. He's like, I just don't know how 127 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,320 to worship God by drinking my orange juice right now, you 128 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:02,560 know, is it like, look, look, it's like what do you do? 129 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,200 How do you walk your dog as worship? 130 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,040 Like, really? I mean, but it's in the 131 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,600 scripture there, everything you do, whether word or deed, we do 132 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,440 it as representatives of Jesus Christ and we do it all in glory 133 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,320 and worship of the Father. And so I started scratching 134 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,920 around this week and I came across something fascinating. 135 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,520 It's called cabana. So the Jews had this, this 136 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,880 phrase, cabana. It's like Savannah with AK. 137 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,240 My spell check kept making it Savannah, but it's not dry and 138 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:31,960 you can't drink it. It's Cabana. 139 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,360 And Kavana means something where you impute a holy intent to 140 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,880 something. Now you you get this. 141 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:42,360 You don't know it, but you get this. 142 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,200 Imputing some meaning to something. 143 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,080 Has anyone here met President Cyril Ramaphosa? 144 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,400 Few hands. Anyone met the Queen before she 145 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,120 passed away. Anyone met Rory? 146 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,000 You know there's when you when you meet someone. 147 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,840 A statesman's a dignitary, a president. 148 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,040 It comes with certain decorum. There's, and that's got nothing 149 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,000 to do with the person. It's not because they were 150 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:12,040 immaculately conceived, it's because you've imputed meaning 151 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,280 to them, right. So I ran a production studio for 152 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,120 many, many years and I learned very quickly we were doing radio 153 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,720 and TV ads. So when you have a client come 154 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,480 in, we did, for example, did the Rugby World Cup and we were 155 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,720 doing the Absa ads. And so now you, you want to get 156 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,920 the best voice, someone with a warm timber authority. 157 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,280 And I subsequently discovered that the client doesn't get 158 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,679 that. The client wants Brighton Pulsa 159 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,159 to come and read a script because Brighton gets the game. 160 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:44,240 You know, it's like, no, but it's like, you know, we can do a 161 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,560 whole lot better. And what I used to do was I 162 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:52,200 would find out what their little fandom was and you'd get an 163 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,520 actor or an actress or a Springbok rugby player or 164 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,960 whatever the case because they would never complaints. 165 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,520 I mean, you can't complain when it's Bucky's doing your voice 166 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,880 over, you know, he's just the bee's knees. 167 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,800 And it's not because of him or because of the voice or because 168 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,080 of the abilities, because we've imputed something to them, 169 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:12,520 right? You're following me. 170 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,680 We get it when it's the big things, but it also applies to 171 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:20,480 the small things, the small things like your child's 172 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,840 drawings that you've stuck on your fridge. 173 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:28,920 It's not because they are a breathtaking piece of artwork. 174 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,600 It's because you've imputed value to them. 175 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:37,800 OK, so Cabana is an imputed imputation of holy intent. 176 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:39,800 So they said the following. They say when human. 177 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,600 This is not from scripture. This is sort of like their 178 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,840 little picture drawings. They say when human beings fell, 179 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,240 the glory of God that we carried was shattered and fragmented 180 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:51,840 into every molecule of the universe. 181 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,280 And when you Cabana, it's basically you're taking those 182 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,000 molecules and you're rebuilding something and you're bringing it 183 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,720 to God as an offering like your daughter's drawings and you 184 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,360 impute holy, intense or meaning to that. 185 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:09,000 And it is received from the father as worship our work. 186 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,840 Which is why Martin Luther King junior the the American activist 187 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,760 said if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper. 188 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,880 Sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures sweep streets 189 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,960 like Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets like Shakespeare 190 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:27,160 crafted plays sweep street so well that all the hosts of 191 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,040 heaven and earth will have to pause and say here lived a great 192 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:35,040 St. sweeper who swept his job. Well now if you don't think this 193 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,200 matters and you're like, seriously, I'm a sweep. 194 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,840 Like I'm doing it to Jesus and I've got a quote for you. 195 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,120 This is my own quotes. It won't be on the screen. 196 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,320 If you don't think this matters. All you need is bad customer 197 00:10:50,320 --> 00:11:02,600 service, a bad boss, a bad dentist, bad coffee Clint, a bad 198 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:08,520 insurance broker, a bad medical professional to realize what a 199 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,800 gift to the world that is when someone works as unto the Lord. 200 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,600 My daughter, 13 years old in ICU and that when she went from high 201 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,240 care to ICU we weren't allowed to spend the evenings with her 202 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,000 anymore. And so she was left alone with 203 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,760 the medical staff. And every morning we would 204 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,680 discover whether or not the nurse nursed as unto the Lord, 205 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,480 whether it was a career or a calling. 206 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,240 And if a 13 year old can get that, how much more I have any 207 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,340 father? How much more your boss or Co 208 00:11:46,340 --> 00:11:51,160 workers? But it is resting on our 209 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:56,400 shoulders as sons and daughters of God not to work like the 210 00:11:56,400 --> 00:12:00,440 world, to work as worship for you. 211 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,200 A call to freedom, brothers and sisters only. 212 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,200 Do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your 213 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,960 flesh, but through love serve one another. 214 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,760 So this work is worship. What about work as as a calling? 215 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:15,600 Now this is a tricky 1 because I don't really like the calling 216 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,720 thing. I put together a document if you 217 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,440 want to get a hold of it, shared on Friday night at satellite and 218 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,120 I've made available to them. So like a biblical framework for 219 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,760 for calling you can ask one of the leaders they'll send it to 220 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:32,320 you But to get the idea of calling, I've mentioned the 221 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,040 story once before but it it bears repeating. 222 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,320 A friend of mine, Brian Bonds was in school down in KZN and 223 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,880 during COVID one of his teachers just came to mind over and over 224 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,160 again and he spoke to his wife about Miss Kay and said I don't 225 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:48,560 know why, but she's just on the heart. 226 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,800 Want to track her down when I find out if everything's OK. 227 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,080 And they did that and as soon as the doors were open and we were 228 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,680 allowed to gather in crowds. He had an appointment with Miss 229 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:00,440 Kay because he just, he realized what he wanted to do was he just 230 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,880 wanted to thank Miss Kay for what you meant in his life. 231 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,360 And he was telling me the story of how it was. 232 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,680 I think it was what's that grade seven-year standard five year 233 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:12,160 last year of primary school. She was his teacher and he was 234 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:17,400 saying up until then he was sort of like a loner, didn't really 235 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,600 feel like he amounted to much, didn't carry much value. 236 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,360 He felt he was more of a disappointment in society than 237 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,600 anything else as a young man until he was in her class and he 238 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:30,000 tells the story of how she just saw he had an athletics gift and 239 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,480 loved on him and cared for him. And he he began to feel like he 240 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,280 was her favorite. He says he remembered he won one 241 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,400 race and she allowed him to stand on his desk with his medal 242 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,840 for the whole class, to see in and explain what it was like 243 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,000 going over that line first, whatever the case might be. 244 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,200 And he also realized that he was her favorite because there were 245 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,520 awkward moments where she would come, you know, to have a maths 246 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:55,400 problem and she'd lay her hand on him and just sort of lean in. 247 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,440 And he was like, OK, this is kind of weird, but, you know, 248 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,280 you know, my type of thing. I appreciate it. 249 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,040 But looking back, he realized, you know, it was just an 250 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,840 affinity that she had for him and she was a remarkable teacher 251 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,680 and so she wanted he wanted to say thank you. 252 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,280 So took his wife and they had coffee with her and he took a 253 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:17,040 gift hamper and fruit basket and flowers and you name it and told 254 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,480 her how much she meant to him. And then she said OK, is it OK 255 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:23,120 if I share myself the story? So please, I'd love to know. 256 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,280 And she said every morning she would arrive at work 30 minutes 257 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,120 before everybody else and would spend the morning praying for 258 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,320 the students, would lay her hands on every chair and every 259 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,800 desk, knowing the students by name, knowing some of their 260 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,680 stories, knowing the family situation, knowing what they 261 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,600 need. And she said as well, whenever 262 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:41,920 they had asked questions. And she said luck your maths 263 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,200 question, she said. I'll lay my hands on you while 264 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,400 you're asking me the question. I will be praying in tongues 265 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:53,160 over you fighting on your behalf, he says. 266 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,560 Sorry if it was a little awkward, but that's what God 267 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,840 told me to do. And he said this. 268 00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,720 He said. What would my life have been 269 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:04,360 like without her praise? He said he radically changed 270 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,680 personality. Self worth, value, World view is 271 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,680 now a pastor in the US. What would my life have been 272 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,440 like without her prayers? What spiritual battles did she 273 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:17,000 win over my life? And then he said she simply took 274 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,720 her Mondays to Fridays and her turned her career into a 275 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,200 calling. I love that. 276 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,320 It's part of what Scripture calls us to when God says 277 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:32,640 avodah, I've made you to avodah. So I went and I went on to the 278 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,520 interwebs to try and find best way to frame what I see in 279 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,960 scripture as calling. And this is the best that I 280 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:40,400 could come up. It's not my own. 281 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,600 I've taken bits and pieces from lots of people, but this is how 282 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:48,160 I define calling Is to influence a corner, a community, or a 283 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,960 culture through redemptive participation. 284 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,680 OK, it wasn't just working really, really hard as a 285 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:58,120 teacher, but engaging in redemptive participation to 286 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,040 influence a corner. It might just be the tiny little 287 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:01,520 corner of the shop that you work in. 288 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,720 Or there might be a corner of the city, Might be a community, 289 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,760 or might be culture. OK, but this begs the question, 290 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,400 OK, So what does that look like to influence a corner community 291 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,400 or culture through redemptive participation? 292 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,520 So what does redemptive finances look like? 293 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,320 Anyone working in the finance industry. 294 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,560 What does that look like? I can tell you what it doesn't 295 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,320 look like. It doesn't look like my text 296 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,560 lady that I had many, many years ago. 297 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:30,560 She's not in three CI. You don't know who she is. 298 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,360 OK, be free. But Saturday night she sends me 299 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,040 an e-mail, so probably 12 years ago. 300 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,680 Saturday night I'm preaching the next morning and I don't even 301 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,600 know why. I think was the devil that got 302 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,720 me to check my e-mail. I'll never check e-mail on 303 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,640 weekend, but I'm checking it at like eight, 9:00 at night. 304 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,920 Dear Stephen, I've done your tax. 305 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,240 You're going to have to pay SARS 110,000 Rand. 306 00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:01,240 Have a great evening. Worst tax lady in the world. 307 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,880 That's what it's not. So I probably preached a lemon. 308 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:08,960 I don't know what you know, Like, let's just worship. 309 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,200 Let's just worship because I'll got home and I'm looking at my 310 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,880 books. I'm thinking like how 110,000 311 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,119 Rand completely out. I think the last time I paid 312 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,640 5000 Rand tax and I'm paying 110,000 Rand. 313 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,119 And I can't remember what it was because it was so long ago and 314 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,440 it, you know, I'm not allowed to bring it up in therapy anymore. 315 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,160 But for some reason it's something like, you know, you 316 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,240 get a tax rebate with having solar at home if you work from 317 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:32,640 home. It was something like that. 318 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,800 I said listen, have you factored this into it Sunday afternoon? 319 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,640 Don't hear from her until Monday because that's when she goes to 320 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,560 work. OK, this. 321 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,320 Hi, Stephen. I've recalculated good news. 322 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:50,040 You're getting 15,000 Rand back, so that is not redemptive 323 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:54,280 finances. OK, Redemptive finances would be 324 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,440 like a friend of mine. We had dinner last night and I 325 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,400 remember over the years he's built up an incredible company. 326 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,800 But I remember him telling me the stories of how he sat with a 327 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,960 single mom with their first child going to varsity and she 328 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:07,840 just cannot afford it. And she doesn't know what to do. 329 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,040 But she, he restructured their finances and cashed out on some 330 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,000 unit trusts or whatever so that she could send her son to 331 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,080 varsity. Now he's graduating or a man 332 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,640 that he sat with who had a chronic disease and they don't 333 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,160 know how they're going to afford their medical bills. 334 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,720 And he said, well, listen, don't you remember about five years 335 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,080 ago I said, let's just add this little clause on you. 336 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,040 And it was only 45 random month. Now we can cash out and we can 337 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,600 pay all your medical bills. That's what redemptive finances 338 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,320 look like, where where you you're basically pushing your 339 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,360 industry away from the brokenness and greed of society 340 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:46,120 towards stewardship and generosity rather than adding to 341 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:49,160 the idolatry or the futility of work. 342 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,160 Redemptive finances. What does it mean to be a 343 00:18:54,160 --> 00:19:01,000 redemptive lawyer? Could it be redemptive divorce 344 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,360 lawyer looks like the following. I heard the most remarkable 345 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,040 story I said. I don't know if you know but in 346 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:09,200 Ephesians 525 it says husbands must love their wives and wives 347 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,120 must respect their husbands. And she read this and when 348 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,360 scratching around like what does it mean to to respect a man. 349 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:18,600 What what is that? And whilst this is busy 350 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,400 processing and she's busy learning, she has a client come 351 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,680 in and the lady wants a divorce but she wants it to sting, she 352 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,240 said. I want my husband to bang, yeah, 353 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,080 I want to pull the rug out from underneath him. 354 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,280 He's going to wish he never met me. 355 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,080 So she's thinking, like, sure, how do I behave? 356 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,360 Like a redemptive divorce lawyer in this space. 357 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,440 So she hatches a plan. The spirit gives her great 358 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,360 insight. She says, listen, if you were to 359 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,240 divorce your husband now, and if you really want to go and, you 360 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,120 know, cut throats, probably going to be happy to see you go, 361 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,120 she says. Why don't you, for the next six 362 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:59,240 months, treat him like the world's best husband, build him 363 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,800 up, and then when he's least suspecting, well, you issue your 364 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:08,840 divorce papers, cut him off at the shins like this is, this is 365 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,400 going to work. So she gave us some advice. 366 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:16,040 She said, you know, things like, you know, find the best possible 367 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,800 explanation for why he's late and he doesn't let you know that 368 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:20,560 he was coming in rather than ripping his head off. 369 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,680 You know, just maybe just convince yourself. 370 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,240 Well, maybe he's dealing with the boss and, you know, couldn't 371 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,320 get out. So when he comes home, you know 372 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,400 you're not hacking him off of the shins, but you love on him 373 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,400 and building him up, she says. Things like, you know, don't be 374 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,400 easily offended, don't bring up the past, don't pack the 375 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:42,360 dishwasher by making noises and giving him the bombastic sada. 376 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,200 So just pack the dishes, he says. 377 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,040 You know, no criticism, just encourage sending messages. 378 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,480 Like, I really appreciate it when you said awesome how he's 379 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,680 feeling, How is they build him up and then she put in her diary 380 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,400 six months later, then come and we take him off at the shins. 381 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,600 Appointment comes and goes. The lady doesn't pitch up the 382 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:05,160 lawyer phones. Listen, you missed your 383 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:06,000 appointment. What's going on? 384 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,400 No, no, no, no, no. We don't want to get divorced. 385 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,640 We're head over heels and love because she has simply applied 386 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,640 the principle, the scripture principle Wives respect your 387 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,080 husbands. And she had done it over time 388 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,320 and had germinated love in his heart for her. 389 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,400 Before they knew it, they were like newlyweds because she was 390 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,040 behaving like a redemptive divorce lawyer. 391 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,360 What does it mean to be a redemptive restauranteur or 392 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:35,920 engineer or mechanic? On the restauranteur side, I've 393 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,840 got a friend who owns a number of restaurants. 394 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,120 He was having an end of year function. 395 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:42,640 The staff were coming. It was a function for his staff. 396 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,320 So the staff had come with their partners and the one lady came 397 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,280 with her boyfriend and at the end of the night he saw that she 398 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,960 was still sitting there and went to said, are you OK? 399 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,800 No, my boyfriend left with another lady, so he's like, OK, 400 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,320 I know some people. Giovanni, come. 401 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:05,000 So he said. Listen please, I know I'm your 402 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,120 boss, but let's sit down, have a glass of wine. 403 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,160 How can I help? I said. 404 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,640 You please break up with him. You never have to see him again, 405 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:13,640 she said. The problem is we live together 406 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,520 because I can't afford to stay on my own. 407 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,400 So he said, OK, tell me your expenses worked out that she was 408 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,600 4000 Rand short, he said. Tonight you've got a 5000 Rand 409 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,480 raise a little bit to spoil yourself. 410 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,280 You move out, you get yourself a new place. 411 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:27,880 You never have to see that man again. 412 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:34,440 Redemptive, restauranteering, mechanic, policeman, designer. 413 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,040 You know that the first time the Holy Spirit is poured out in 414 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:43,440 scripture, it's in Exodus 3535. You know who the Holy Spirit 415 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,920 comes on? Designers, graphic designers, 416 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,160 Bezalel and a holier. The two that were called to 417 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,720 create CAD designs for the temple. 418 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:59,680 The Holy Spirit comes upon them. Redemptive design, because we 419 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,000 are called to bend the corner that we work on, or the 420 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,920 community that we walk work in, or the culture that we walk 421 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:11,680 through to a redemptive calling, to generosity, to healing, to 422 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,120 restoration, to fruitfulness, to righteousness and integrity. 423 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:20,360 South African politicians for you a call to freedom, brothers 424 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:22,160 and sisters only. Do not use your freedom as an 425 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,920 opportunity to indulge the flesh, but through love serve 426 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,520 one another. Work as work as a calling, 427 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,520 redemptive participation, and then lastly work as service. 428 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,240 Right at the very end of Galatians 513. 429 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,640 This is really one of the things that got under me says But 430 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,880 through love serve one another. Doesn't just say serve one 431 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,160 another. Says through love serve one 432 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:48,320 another. So I looked in the Greek 433 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,840 lexicon, what that word was and it's the verb of agape. 434 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,640 So I don't know if you know it, but it's Aga pao, Aga pao this 435 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:00,200 verb agape. So he says they through love 436 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,760 serve one another. And the definition of that 437 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:10,320 absolutely untid me because I got power or agape. 438 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:15,200 The verb of Aga of agape is a love that can only be known by 439 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:21,040 the actions it inspires. That means if we were to look at 440 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:26,640 your work ethic, your Monday, and we have to say, OK, so 441 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,680 scripture calls us through love to serve one another in the 442 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,600 workplace, can you show me the actions that it's inspired, Not 443 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,560 intentions, not good thoughts or no. 444 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:42,040 My heart is right. You know, the the actions that 445 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,680 it's inspired. Look, we can take your pulse. 446 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,960 But yeah, you say yeah, but my boss says he's a real chop, OK. 447 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,200 But another part of this definition is it's a service 448 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,960 that's not drawn out by any excellence in the one being 449 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,920 served. So you can't even hide behind 450 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,960 the fact that you are working for the worst boss in the world, 451 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:08,080 even to you, says through love, serve one another. 452 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:10,200 Yeah, but he never lifts a finger. 453 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,760 Yeah, but in another part of this definition is that it's 454 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,240 unconditional, apart from any reciprocity. 455 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,360 How we doing, Pretoria E Can I hear an A? 456 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:22,840 Nah, yeah. But what about my needs? 457 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,560 You know, I've worked here for like 20 years and no one seems 458 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,880 to care. Yeah, but it's always expressed 459 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,760 as how much you are willing to Curb Your choices as a way of 460 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:39,880 meeting the needs of others. Have you ever considered work as 461 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,000 a way of meeting the needs of others? 462 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,520 Because that is the biblical framework of work. 463 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,720 That is what goes up and against the idolatry in our hearts to 464 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:59,480 pad our nests, to plan a big future and an early retirement. 465 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,600 While the Bible says in the New Testament, it says the cries of 466 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,360 the workers have reached my ears. 467 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:11,880 The unpaid workers have reached my ears because we are doing it 468 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,280 as to ourselves and not unto the Lord. 469 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,520 And so that is the invitation that Paul gives to us. 470 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,240 He says, would you, through love serve one another in your 471 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,960 workplace? Because in case you're 472 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:34,240 wondering, the final nuance of Agapao says it has its perfect 473 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,760 expression in the Lord Jesus Christ. 474 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,080 He's not asking us to do anything more than what he has 475 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:47,200 done, that we would work as worship, as unto the Lord. 476 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,480 Which will it be? Will it be work, sweat, equity, 477 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,640 or will it be worship? Is it going to be a career, or 478 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,880 was it going to be a calling? Is it going to be selfish or was 479 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,080 it going to be service? That's what he invites us to. 480 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,480 And I have struggled with this because on the server side, 481 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,040 doing something for me, myself and I is one thing. 482 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:17,160 Doing something for someone who's unappreciative, unkind in 483 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:22,520 his words, self-centered, has the corner office and everything 484 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:29,040 going from and I'm just a nobody that grinds against my flesh and 485 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,880 that one thing always expresses how much you are willing to Curb 486 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,920 Your choices as a way of meeting the needs of others. 487 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,960 Caught my attention because I read recently, you know the the 488 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,800 counter, William Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery. 489 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,440 I never realized how much it cost him. 490 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:47,960 So they said that when they wanted to abolish slavery, they 491 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,800 managed to get at least half the House of Lords to agree. 492 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:57,080 The reason why the rest would flat refuse to go along with it 493 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,960 was because of the cost. So someone did a quick 494 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,000 calculation on how much it would cost their GDP, what an 495 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,280 influence it would have on Britain's GDP. 496 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,280 Because now all of a sudden you've got to pay for the food 497 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,200 production and the harvesting and all of these things and food 498 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,760 prices would go through the roof Inflation like they've never 499 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,040 seen in world history because of one decision. 500 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,080 The second problem was a lot of the people working in the House 501 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,200 of Lords had land themselves and they were the ones who would 502 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,400 actually have to bear the brunt of these exorbitant prices and 503 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,360 paying for labor. Added to that, they would have 504 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:35,120 had to tax the people because they would need to get like a 505 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:38,200 military together to make sure that slavery was completely 506 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,640 abolished on the four corners of their their nation. 507 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,280 And there would have to be taxes on top of that to create a naval 508 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,240 defense system so that they could go after these slave trade 509 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:54,000 ships that were going to Zanzibar and the the western 510 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,160 islands. And here's what her name is, 511 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,480 Seymour Drescher. She says the following. 512 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,120 She said, well, this is what I say. 513 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,120 The cost of emancipation was so high that historian Seymour 514 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,000 Drescher called the British abolition of Slavery, voluntary 515 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,280 economicide, economic suicide, and she says they were willing 516 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,320 to trash their economy for a generation or two in order to 517 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,240 rid themselves of the slave trade. 518 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,960 None of those who campaigned for the end of the slave trade and 519 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,200 then for the freeing of the slave stood to personally gain 520 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:27,120 in any way at all, but rather only to lose. 521 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,560 Why? Because through love they were 522 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,880 willing to serve one another. Same applies whether it be 523 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,960 William Albuforce or William Tyndale, who translated the 524 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,920 Bible into English at the cost of his life, or John Cadbury, 525 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,720 who saw how alcohol was decimating the nation and he 526 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:47,680 invented hot chocolate as an alternative. 527 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,440 Or Robert Barclays who realized that most Christians couldn't 528 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,880 get a loan because ethically they were in disdain among the 529 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,680 people. And so he started Barclays Bank 530 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,800 or Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford all started to raise up 531 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,920 men of integrity to serve the nation. 532 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,320 It always comes at a cost, and this week I have wrestled with 533 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,960 this because it has gotten a hold of me, because to be really 534 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:18,440 honest, I've had to ask the question of myself, Do I work as 535 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:22,400 worship? Is it a calling? 536 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,720 Am I meant to be here? Was it just a career? 537 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,040 Am I just doing it? And am I just going to work on 538 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,160 Monday because, well, that's what I've done every Monday 539 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,240 since. But most importantly, is IT 540 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:38,720 service or is it selfish? And this thing bothered me and I 541 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:40,640 said to Cath during the week, I don't know what it is. 542 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,880 It's like it feels like the word is like wrestling, wrestling me 543 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,640 into submission. And then Friday morning it felt 544 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:51,800 like God nudged me awake and in like a nanosecond conversation 545 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,200 that all fell into place. You see, I don't know if you 546 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,800 know this, but Pretoria was set up as a knee jerk reaction 547 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:05,840 against Johannesburg. So Joburg, a goalie, 1886, the 548 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,120 gold rush. If you look at a street map, a 549 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,800 road map of Joburg, it is chaos. Basically they just plunged a 550 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:17,640 tent down and went to find gold. So it's this bird's nest mess of 551 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,680 interchanges and St. Pretorias, perfectly line by 552 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,520 line, square square. But what happened was eventually 553 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,440 they got sick and tired of the noise and the farts and the 554 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,720 alcohol and the killings on the streets and the money grabbing. 555 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,400 So they came to Pretoria to settle. 556 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:35,800 We want some white picket fences. 557 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,480 You can stay on that side of the yucks gay. 558 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,360 We've got the Opus River and some beautiful hills, and we're 559 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:45,680 just going to settle here. And so that is the spirit of our 560 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:51,000 city, is to settle. That is why when you raise a 561 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,240 sacrificial lifestyle, it T bones with the spirit of our 562 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,720 city that has saturated you and I. 563 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:05,480 And so Martin, I was telling Damien this and Martin Smith on 564 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,200 Sunday nights just before he stepped out one of the Branson 565 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,640 guys, one of the guys from Joburg, said, well, good luck 566 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:15,600 leading conservative Pretoria and worship tonight because that 567 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,200 is our reputation. That is the spirit. 568 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:19,840 And Damien said no, no, no, no, no. 569 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:26,280 We're settlers now. But we began as pioneers, with 570 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,240 the fruits of foot trackers, who gave up comfort and convenience 571 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:35,600 to the heartfelt to find a life and a living as pioneers. 572 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,880 And when he said that, it was like everything just fell into 573 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,680 place. I suddenly realized the reason 574 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,240 why this is so hard for me is because I'm saturated with the 575 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:49,160 spirit of the city. The reason why worship is 576 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,560 conservative and careful, and while Martin had to fight it 577 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,480 with his flags, is because we like to settle. 578 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:00,560 We like to stand, like to sit. We'd like to finish sometime 579 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,840 because we are saturated with the spirit of the city. 580 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,080 But over the last few weeks, I don't know if you've noticed it, 581 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,120 the call of the king has begun to ring out. 582 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,920 A call to go, a call to stand and worship and freedom. 583 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:21,520 I call the plant churches and today a call to count in the 584 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,840 marketplace by allowing the spirit of your Heavenly Father 585 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:28,840 to take work and allow it to be worshipped. 586 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,440 To take your career and turn it into a calling and taking what 587 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,320 is only ever be modelled to you as selfishness and allow it to 588 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,080 be saturated with service for our city. 589 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:47,000 And as we do that, watch as Miss Kay's pop up all over the place 590 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,960 and people begin to say of people in three CII don't know 591 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,280 what my life would have been like without his prayers or her 592 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,160 prayers. I don't know what my finances 593 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:57,800 would have been like if it wasn't for that man who sat down 594 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,680 there and redemptively restored the mess that I had created. 595 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,040 I don't know if we would have been married if it wasn't for 596 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:08,520 that person At my lunch break. It just said how you doing 597 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,159 service rather than selfish and that is my charge to you. 3 CI. 598 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:16,920 Would you respond to the call of the King? 599 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,560 Certainly Father. We just on behalf of everyone 600 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,520 sitting here, I just want to lay our Mondays to Fridays before 601 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,639 you I pray Lord that what we hear on a Sunday would not be 602 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:30,480 left on a Sunday. I pray that your Holy Spirit 603 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,080 will begin to saturate us where we are saturated with the spirit 604 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,239 of the city. Set us free. 605 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,880 Father, I pray Lord God that we begin to see the city through 606 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,000 new eyes, see our workplace, our work environment, our Co 607 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,960 workers, our bosses and our employees through the lens of 608 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,639 the gospel of work. And I pray Lord Jesus, then 609 00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:54,000 years come, maybe in 20 years time we'll be sitting at a 610 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,280 coffee table with someone who's got chocolates and flowers and 611 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,800 we were able to say how much we Lenten with your gospel and we 612 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,400 were able to see the fruit of this response to this word in 613 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:06,000 Jesus name.