Have a rough week at work? Or even a hard moment or day and
you're like, oh, where is? Jesus in this.
So we've been all month talking about.
Ways that God calls us. And today I want us to consider
that we can take what God has called us to and who God has
called us to be. To work.
And not only are we taking our call into work.
But I want us to make sure we understand that God is witness
in our work, so we are not. Taking your God to work today,
Did any of you? Who grew up in BC grow up in
grade 9 you went to. Work with your parents.
Grade 9 is take. Your kid to work.
Today alright I. Believe that there are.
Times where we're tempted to take our God to work today.
Instead of realizing that. God is with us.
Every day. And we are his.
Children, we are his representatives every day as a
kid. When I was about. 14 I sensed
the guy was calling me into what I.
Thought was full time. Christian ministry, because
that's the model I knew. Also.
When I was about. 18. I started recognizing.
The. Justice, edge of education.
And I thought I'd go to university and study it and then
I've spent decades trying to work out how do I honour God in
both of those calls. But I think it.
Came from some bad. Theology in my childhood.
That I would. Love to help you all be pre of
people who do the math thing on this estimate that we spend
about 90,000 hours of our. Lives.
In employment we spend about 4000 of our lives.
Involved in church. Activities if we're really
involved. Do you get the?
Difference. So figuring out who you are in
Christ. In your work and if you're like,
I don't have a job, this isn't it if you are a student.
That is your. Job for now and.
If you're in employment and a student.
So I want us to look at some biblical examples.
We're going to. Look at some people.
If you don't. Know who they are.
The scripture is up here so you can read and I want us to first
look at Joseph. Now we know Joseph because
let's. Be honest.
He was a bit. Proud and.
What he did is. He had a vision.
He had clarity about. What God was calling him to, God
was calling him to leadership. Now.
His teenage self-made sure his older brothers knew it was
leadership over them. And they were gone up out of him
so. He had some hubris.
Oh, was his vision wrong? If you know the.
Story, you know. His vision was right on and was
straight from God. Now he knew the stories of
creation and he. Knew that in the beginning God
had created. He knew.
The. Stories that he was.
Called, and all humanity was. Called for stewardship of the
earth. He knew the curse brought
thorns. And Thistles, Adam and Abe.
Chose to do Eve from the one tree they weren't supposed to.
And there were consequences. There's a lot in Genesis 3
about. Is this prescriptive?
Cursing or descriptive cursing. But as you read it, God is.
Describing. What's about to happen to?
Humanity because they went. Their own way.
And one of the consequences is that work got harder.
But what I want you to take? Away from this.
Is that work has always been a part of the human life work?
Itself is not a part of the curse.
The thorns and thistles and the arduousness of order is now
coming back to our friend Joseph.
He knew he was called to greatness.
But he made his brothers mad. He decided to take.
The call of God on his own life and try to.
Orchestrate. And architect it on the next.
Slide you will see oh what it is the ChatGPT resume of Joseph if
you put. You tell ChatGPT to read.
Genesis 37 through 50. And create a resume for Joseph.
You might not. Be able to see this oops wrong
sheet. Joseph's professional summary
is. Visionary and resilient leader
with. Expertise in crisis management,
Economic planning. And organizational governance
rose from enslavement. And imprisonment to become the
second highest official in Egypt sealed in interpreting complex.
Data and fell. Across in.
Future outcomes with a proven record of saving nations.
From disaster. Renowned for integrity,
diplomacy and the ability to live in high pressure
environments, she was. Not wrong.
Joseph did become all of that. But what I want you to notice is
the in between Joseph. Started with a clear vision,
clearer than most. Of us have as in our youth, of
where God was taking him. I don't think proud teasing his
brothers, Joseph saw. His brother's betrayal saw
enslavement. Saw doing his work with
integrity and getting. Put in prison for it.
In case you don't know the story, his boss's wife wanted
him to sleep with her and he refused.
And that. She said he.
Tried to rape her when he went to jail for.
Years and so. Joseph ends up second in command
with a very. Unpopular economic plan because
he was saving for an upcoming family.
They didn't know or believe that and when it all has said and
done when he was. Getting called.
By favor to explain his dream, which is where it started with
this new job. Joseph Humbly.
Says I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he
desires. He had gone from.
Trying to take control of a call and vision.
To through hardship actually. Hardship at work, learning how
to be the man God knew he could be, so that he could serve not
just a small group, but so he could serve nations all around
him. When you.
Have a call. It can become.
A driving. Force and so ask.
Yourself. Am I?
Called my God to do excellence at whatever I'm doing right now.
Or am I? Driven to prove myself and show
myself. The difference is not in the
tasks the. Difference may not be.
In how much time? You spend, you're gonna still
stay up late when you're. Calm, but when you are driven,
it is to prove. Either to yourself or sometimes
to someone else. Someone that spoke.
A word over. You that did not feel like a
belief or a blessing and you're still working to prove yourself
to them. Joseph had to work out both his
pride but his need to prove himself to these brothers.
Now guess what? Joseph is a older man.
The daddy dies, the brothers are scared, and Joseph knew how in
his. Call to live into the.
Reality. And in Genesis 50, the dads
died. They're like, oh man, now he's
coming for us. Now he's going to get even.
Because. They had not yet made peace with
their past, but it seemed that Joseph and the Lord had.
Because, Joseph tells his brothers, don't be afraid.
Am I in the place of God? You intended.
To harm me. But God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
So then. Don't.
Be afraid I will provide for. You and your children.
And he reassured them, and so kindly.
To them. He had adjusted his drivenness
to live into. His.
Calmness. Many were blessed.
But he. Also.
Made. Peace.
Within his family and in the conflict there.
I do not know what made. Your we could work.
Hard. But the song that the worship
team LED us in? Highlands is the.
Song that I listened to for the last 3 1/2 years on the way to
work. And on the way home because of
hardship. To work, I cried.
Still I'm not. Finished.
Processing of the truth. Be told.
But in that. Did You Know?
I want to be like. Joseph and say that.
While someone else may intend harm to me.
God intends good. For me and so I do not have to
be controlled by the others. Intentions.
It's. Ultimately, even in a hard.
Space of work who is God and. Who am I as his child?
And so. Joseph.
Became a quick. Prayer of mine.
I was going into a meeting and I knew it was going to be rough.
Here was my prayer. Oh, Lord help me, Joseph,
because you. Don't always have.
Time at work, but. Embedded was the growth Joseph
had done in the model he. Provided for me.
So when you're falsely accused, underappreciated, sold into a
terrible job, have. People playing all kinds of.
Weird games or stop? Doing nothing.
He wasn't doing nothing. He became a leader in prison
even. Remember that God is not done.
With the thing he called you to, I also want to say.
That we can learn. From Daniel, who was called to
be a servant of the living God, I actually ended up.
I got so. Enthralled with how ChatGPT
could resume everybody. I'm not going to give them all
to you, but it's an exercise. You got to tell them the
scripture, otherwise you get weird stuff.
You want to confine it within the boundaries.
Won't make it all weird. But I like to.
Watch that. Here's what I want.
To say we love Daniel as a teenager because he ate.
Clean. Food and stood up.
But you. Know what really happened?
Is that Daniel was. Captured.
He was. Exiled and he.
Chose to stay faithful to God. When no.
One else was watching. Can I tell you that when you
immigrate now, I only immigrated?
From the States to Canada. But when you immigrate, the
rules are different and you have to.
Figure out well. Why do?
Christians. Here, do that and.
Christians here do this. Huh.
And so Daniel? Is working out what.
Does it? Mean on his home, without his.
Parents without his. Community and he ultimately
becomes a civil. Servant.
Now what I love about Daniel 12 chapters.
You could go home this afternoon read the whole book.
Is that in the book? Of Daniel, we get him as a
teenager and we get him when he's approaching 80 and there's
a. Lot of sign.
Of time in between so Daniel also learned how to do.
The mundane. Because we don't.
Get told all the mundane parts of life.
He had moments where he was a. Great leader, National.
And he had moments. Where he was forgotten.
And only the widowed Queen Mother remembered who he was.
And. What he?
Could do in God's name. When he was getting set up.
Here's why. Daniel 6/4.
And five the only. Way they could set him up was
here. The last verse, first five.
Finally, his men said we will never find any faces for charges
against this man Daniel, unless it has something to do with the
law of his God, because he was trustworthy.
He was not. Corrupt.
Nor he was negligent. Now.
Here is the tempting issue. When you have a frustrating work
situation. You want a ghost?
What is it? Silent quitting you're.
Still there? You're still.
Pulling a paycheck, but you're not pulling your load anymore?
Oh, you're going to talk to me? That way you're going to make
all the coffees this hour. I'll make one to your every four
or. Five and y'all.
Bosses can be hard and. Sometimes it's because they're.
Overwhelmed or they're not adequately trained, but.
Who are you working for? That person.
Are you working as a servant of the living God?
Daniel was literally having to. Work for the people.
That had captured him and put him and taken him.
Away, but he did it well. And so excellence at work.
Even in the mundane and faithfulness to.
God is what I take. So when I was like, oh Lord, I
thought you called me to do this beautiful thing.
And this isn't what. I can quite like it.
My prayer has become. Quick little Oh Lord.
Help me Daniel this. Help me do this well and with
integrity and thoroughness, so you are honoured.
And so. What I want to?
Say is when you think about that call in your life, there are.
Principles. Figuring out how to live.
Well, in our work lives that bring God honour.
And so let's talk about some of these principles.
First of all, I think that we can get anything to teachers,
please. We can get distracted cause.
Christians talk about call. And now we all.
Want the megaphone call what I being?
Like that is megaphone calls for where Moses had a burning Bush.
Right, Saul? Could become Paul had a blind.
Light and we're like, well, God wants me.
Peanut butter. In the sky, clarity.
Please because. I want a burning Bush, otherwise
I must not be important right now.
Oh, and then maybe God starts to.
Give us nudges and urges and encouragements about what we
might be called to and. We pull out our phone.
All right. Text me the place.
Text. Me the point to meet you.
I'll be there, Lord. Yeah, God's never been that
specific. Or rarely.
Rarely. In that specific, you know,
Abraham had to move and didn't even know where he was moving
to. So the call God can be a
megaphone. It's almost never.
Going to be like texting the exact location on your phone.
But often it is like a magnet. And it is where you keep.
Feeling drawn crass, but I think.
It works I. Almost made the image one of the
toilet. When you need to go to the
washroom, you cannot help but find some place to go.
And when the Lord. Put something on your heart to
do you. Cannot help but be drawn to do
it and so you might be earning your compensation.
In some other way. But the call of God keeps
drawing you too in the whole. You know there's 300.
Employees and the two. That are connected.
To your. Call seem to.
Find you. You haven't told anybody and
somebody. Asks you to do something.
And it's kind of related and so. I want to say.
That is also. A biblical call.
And then let me give you examples.
Nehemiah heard and started crying.
He didn't know for sure. It was a call of God and the
King's like why are you reaping? And he ended up becoming a
governor to rebuild. Jerusalem.
You know one would. Almost.
Even say Andrew so Peter. Is his brother and he had a big
fish too much I'm oh I'm. Unclean Jesus calls him.
To come be the fishers and men. But you know why, Andrew?
His brother got. There first and Andrew he heard
there was a new teacher in town and.
He started circling. Him and saying hey, come here.
Brother, let's go listen. Hey, come here my colleagues.
I want you to come here. Andrew's.
Called God. Star Jesus started as gentle.
And beautiful just because. He was drawn and attracted to
Jesus's good teaching. Call in your own life.
Does not have to look one way, so let's start at.
One call, we all. Have.
We are called out. The word in the New Testament
Greek for church is. Ekklesia.
Anybody who has Spanish? Speglacia is straight from this
OK. So it's.
Called. Out now I want to be clear in
the new. Testament when it's talking.
About churches all but three or four times.
It's talking about a. Specific group of people.
And so you are called to be among.
God's people. In a.
Personal being known kind of a way.
And so we are first called. Is to be with.
His people now we are also called.
In First Corinthians chapter 3. To build a.
Foundation that is Jesus. And it says that our work.
Will ultimately be tested and will be shown for what it is
because the day will bring it to light.
It will be revealed with the fire and the fire will test the
quality of. Each person's work OK.
Now, this is not to be scary. It doesn't change.
Your turn on salvation. But what it does?
Say, is that Jesus who knows your heart sees the work that
you? Are doing.
In his name, when it feels mundane, Nobody.
Is getting excited You're not. Getting called to cool
networking events you aren't going to even.
Sure you want this job on resume when?
You do that. Work in Jesus.
Name it can have. Eternal worth because it is.
Founded and. Built.
On him and then. Our target kind of passage.
To today is. Colossians 3 is a lot of
scripture. Here's what I would say when you
are going to live. Called by God, you need to
adjust. What you're thinking about and
so in Colossians 3, one through 4 says since then you have been
raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earth with things, for
you died and your life is not hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life appears, then you will also
appear in glory. So.
If you want to know. What the Lord is calling you to
be? Think about the Lord and His.
Ways and his Kingdom. That doesn't sound so so hard,
but it is because. There are many.
Things. Demanding our attention and.
So sometimes we reset. What is my?
Heart on what is my mind on we can do this when Joseph was.
Having Potiphar's wife. Asked him.
To sleep with her. He could have done it in.
His life. He probably wouldn't have spent
12 years in jail and his life might have felt a little bit
easier, but his heart? And mind.
Were set on God, and so He did what was right.
And that is how. The Lord had been positioned.
To actually favour and when Daniel was about to become food
for lions. He decide he did not give up his
time of prayer. It was so reliable that that's
how they ensmeared him and. Yet that's because his heart and
his. Mind were reset at.
Prayer 3. Times a day on Jesus or on God
for him. All right.
Now. Develop holy pathos again.
You're like, well, we already know.
This I want us. To look.
Very quickly. In verse 5, put to death.
It for whatever belongs to earthly nature, sexual
immorality and purity. Lust, evil desires and greed,
which is endometry OK. I think.
One of the reasons. We sometimes stumble when Our
Calling. Is we're so scared as Christians
of being. Greedy or showing some kind of
love of money that we do not know how to follow.
Jesus's. Words to be as wise as serpent.
And innocent as does. He kind of lost patience, he
goes. Man.
And people who are following me are.
Wiser with this stuff than you are.
So green is the problem. Earning money is not.
In fact, the Lord will probably those of you that are humble
apart and. Also.
Aren't greedy, the Lord will bless.
You so that you can bless others, the Lord will.
Give you enough to be more. Than generous and so.
Deal with your heart issues around money and learn how to be
responsible and good stewards all the way back to the first
verses we looked at in. Creation.
God is calling. Us to Seward this birth.
And he's calling us to Seward our resources in ways and the
kind of work that we do. Now all the other parts of the
list, it keeps on going because of this, the wrath of God, these
the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in.
These ways in the life. You once lived, but now you must
also rid yourself of all things, such things as these.
Anger. Rage.
Malice. Slander and filthy language.
From your lips. Y'all I learned more filthy.
Language at work than any other place.
In my life, did you know teachers can?
Trash talk and I was like nobody else in my work.
Life talks this way and needs to talk and.
I come home and in here all day. Well, maybe sometimes I see
other. Kids too, let's be honest.
But but I was like what is that? So I'm just saying do not lie to
each other since you have taken off your old self with its
practices and have put on the new self.
Which is being. Renewed in knowledge in the
image. Of its creator here.
There is no Gentile or Jews, circumcised or uncircumcised,
for bearing sticky and slave of fruit.
For Christ is all. And is.
In all y'all. We know there's some things.
That we're supposed to literally take off and be.
Done. But we don't.
We're like, oh baby. I mean just.
Say something cold. It's cold.
Without that habit. Put it off but.
Here's the. Thing it's a.
Biblical truth everywhere. We can never just take off.
When we take off, we're always told to put.
Something else on and so. Paul writes.
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved.
Clothe. Yourselves with compassion,
kindness. Humility, gentleness, and
patience. Did you notice how did Joseph?
And Daniel build. Gentleness and kindness and
humility and. Patience.
I hate. To say it, but.
It wasn't a cushy. Easy jobs.
The character to be. The man that God wanted them to
be to. Live all the call in their lives
came from hardship how did they learn to put.
Off and keep off. And put it on.
They learned it in hardship now. True story.
I was trying to think about my own work life and.
Work history and. Besides being an educator and.
Here, I'm about to take my job and it's not as a mom.
A mom got a dishwater washer. On my ad.
This is actual. Employment pay.
I was. A dishwasher for 9 or 10.
Years now along the way, I. Added to the dishwashing.
Some. Catering help and setting up the
pretty. Tables and serving the food.
But I was a dishwasher for 10 years in my life.
I started when I was 13 and all the way through grad school I
had some kind of dishwashing job do.
You all know how people treat servers and dishwashers.
Some of you have a job. How do you How do you think
they're treated now? I knew who I was, but they.
Didn't I had a sense of where I was headed.
But they didn't, and there's some things.
I learned now some of it. I learned when to spice.
And SASS because there were times where boundaries.
Needed to be. Made but I.
Learned a lot more. About gentleness and humility, I
learned a. Lot more about.
Patience because I have these lower jobs or lower jobs and
thus if. You want to.
Learn or certain to bear with each other and forgive one
another if any of you has a grievance against someone.
OK, again, the standard isn't. Forgiven them because.
They're so forgivable, but. Forgive as the.
Lord has forgiven you. And over.
All these virtues put on love, which binds them all.
Together in perfect unity. If you want this, put on
character that we're called. To put on then.
Walk with. Jesus at work.
And be honest about where and why that's hard in your
Christian community. And let us.
Pray with you and. For you because these are.
Beautiful. Words we all would like.
That life and these kinds of relationships.
But guess what? We don't want.
Joseph's 12. Years in prison.
I don't want it for you, to be honest.
We don't. Want Daniel's Mundane?
Of his 70. Four years that are covered.
In the Bible we get 3 or 4 highlights.
Everything else was sort of a. Mundane.
Civil. Servant, but the character of
God was woman in him. So that he could be who God had
called him to be. And so.
In all that we do. Is we are developed.
Putting off and putting on holy habits we are.
Servants for the High King of Heaven and.
Earth, we pray. Every week as a.
Church I you may pray every day, the Lord's Prayer we say your
Kingdom come, so when we work. In humble jobs.
When we are not treated. With the respect that many.
Of you should have, we can still be.
Living out the. Call of God in our lives because
we are. Serving the High King of Heaven
and Earth. Not just.
The people that are. Here and don't.
See. All of who we are and the beauty
of our call. Or maybe we don't.
Even see how this. Role.
Connects to our call. True story, a family friend was.
My mom's age and. She was telling me that she had
gone to university and her college and at the time.
Of the women's. College.
They suggested she. Study.
Her men and she didn't know what to study.
Nobody else in her family had gone to college.
So she did it Well, not she went on to.
Get an MBA, she went on to. Become a vice president of
Equifax, which is kind. Of a big company in the States
she went on to have a daily not daily weekly television spot in
the morning today show she was quite impressive but you know
what she wanted me to know is that God did not waste her home
EC degree because her. Husband was a missionary.
To the United Nations. And guess.
What they were entertaining. Diplomats for the Kingdom of
God. All the time.
And she knew how to do. It well.
Because she had had that degree, there is.
Nothing that God is putting you in that He.
Cannot redeem, He cannot use for his honor and glory.
And So what I want to say, brothers and sisters, is that
more than being called to a specific kind of job, you are
called to be. Blessed children.
Of God, and he will call you. Into the things that draw you.
And he will call you and clarify.
Some specifics. As you develop knowing him.
As you develop holy habits. And as you learn.
How to be a beautiful servant to the King of Heaven and earth.
And so I want to tell you a quick story about this man,
Mifflin Gibbs. He was having a crisis of
belief. Now you can tell him a picture
that was more. Than a minute ago, so I'll just
go ahead and tell you his daddy was a creature.
And he got involved. In abolitionist work in the US,
but it was it was hard, what he thought was.
Good and holy. Was running all kinds of
opposition and he was talking. If you know any U.S. history
might have heard the name Frederick Douglass.
He was an important. Abolitionist.
And his business manager, he was talking to the business manager,
kind of wanted some sympathy. Apparently she didn't give.
Any sympathy but what she said is?
Yeah, it's hard. And go and do something great.
Go and do great things. So Origin it is.
Not easy to be at EVC. It is not easy.
In Vancouver, to love Jesus and to be in the workplace and go
and do great things because your body is the temple of God, the
foundation. Verses from First Corinthians.
Earlier in the passage. If you want all these scriptures
later, just e-mail me. I'm happy to share because this
is a topical. Study and we've gone fast.
But it ended. It talked about building the
foundation of Jesus. The passage has We are the
temple. Of the Spirit of.
Jesus. And so where you go, God is
there. And if you like, I don't know
what it. Is.
We'll go and learn how to be loving and patient.
And kind and gentle and true. And if you can.
Learn how to mix and speak the truth.
And love and be truthful and peaceful and kind all together
God's. Going to do something?
Powerful because most people can't speak the truth.
And be kind and so or I can. Go and do great things.