What The Bible Has To Say About Work

From RBC Ministries's Discover The Word:
What The Bible Has To Say About Work
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IDEA: We can find significance in work if we realize that our jobs are the will of God for us.

TEXT: "Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him" (Ephesians 6:5-9).

PURPOSE: To help listeners feel the significance of their daily work.

We sometimes talk about "making a living." What is implied in that?
Is it possible to be glad you have a job but not see much significance in the job you have? For example, in a recession, people who get laid off are usually glad for any work they can get.

I. It is sometimes helpful to start with hard cases to establish principles.
Do you think it would be difficult to convince a physician or a nurse that their jobs are significant?
Do you think it would be more difficult to convince people flipping burgers in a fast food restaurant that their work is significant? Why?

II. When Paul talked about the significance of work for Christians, he made his strongest case when he wrote to slaves.
What do you know about slaves in the first century?
There were abut 60 million of them in the Roman Empire.
Roman citizens felt that work was beneath their dignity, so they turned most work over to slaves.
Slaves did all kinds of work: they served as teachers, scribes, physicians, manual laborers, farmers; they were also the garbage disposal system.
Slaves had no rights before the law. Aristotle referred to them as "living tools." He argued that a free man would not have a slave as a friend any more than he would make a friend out of a hammer or a saw.
The lot of the slave was not an easy one in the Roman society. Even though they did important work, they were still slaves.

III. Several times in the New Testament, Paul writes directly to slaves and gives them significance in their daily work.
Paul writes that "your job is the will of God for you."
When you think of the will of God, what does that mean?
If God had a missionary map in heaven, where do you think He would put the pins or markers? Why?
How does thinking about your job as "the will of God" give it significance?