Ephesians 6v5-9

Work for the Lord

Dorothy Sayers was a well-known author from the early 20th century. Crime

writer. Play writer. But she was also a Christian. And she wrote an essay titled:

why work?

And in this essay she wrote the following:

“In nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to

understand and respect the so called secular vocation.

(What does that mean?)

The church has allowed work and religion to become separate

departments. And therefore the church is astonished that work in the

world has been turned to purely selfish and destructive ends. And also is

astonished that many have become uninterested in religion. But is this

astonishing?

(She doesn’t think so)

How can anyone remain interested in a religion or a faith which has no

concern for nine tenths of his or her life?”

You see what she’s saying. 9 tenths of the average person’s life is spent in the

work place. And so how can anyone be interested in Christianity if it only

shows concern for the little 1 tenth on a Sunday morning or an early morning

quiet time.

And yes those might be very significant occasions in the week. We need to

have them in place. But I think Dorothy Sayers might be right. Not enough

concern for 9 tenths of a person’s life. This has been a major failure in the

church. And this morning I hope our passage will protect us from that mistake.

We looking at a passage addressed to slaves and masters. And its got lots to

teach us about how the gospel should affect our work.

But before we dive in I need to say a few things about slavery. Here we’ve got

instructions for slaves. And many people have a problem with that. Doesn’t

this show that the Bible allows slavery or even supports it? Why doesn’t the

Bible condemn it?

And that question becomes even more important in Africa. One of the biggest

obstacles to the gospel in Africa is that people feel that Christianity has

enslaved them. In many places Christianity arrived along with Colonialism. And

the abuses that many black Africans experienced due to Colonialism. And the

enslavement of many black people often gets associated with the Christian

message. It’s a massive obstacle in our country.

And its true. There were people. Before slavery was abolished. People who

owned slaves. And supported slavery. Who considered themselves Christians.

And Who’d point to the Bible and say: look here. The Bible gives instructions

about slavery. It’s fine for us to have slaves.

And so this is a very important question. Does the Bible support slavery?

Three comments to that question. Firstly,

You just need to read these verses to see Paul isn’t trying to summarize what

God’s perspective is on slavery. He’s not saying here: This is what God thinks

about slavery. Its good or its bad. No. Instead he’s saying: tomorrow morning.

From Monday to Sunday. This is the real world. This is the institution in which

you’ll be living. And so how you gona live in this institution in a way that is

Christian. How’s your life gona stand out because of the gospel. And so he’s

not critiquing slavery here. He’s not saying its good or its bad. He’s just saying

this is the reality. Slavery might be bad. It might not agree with the gospel. But

how can you live within it in a way that is Christian?

Second comment. if you go back and look at the history. 200 years ago. Its

pretty well known. Who was it who led the fight to abolish slavery?

It was people like William Wilberforce. James Ramsay. John Wesley. Christians.

Evangelicals. Strong gospel people who believed the Bible.

And so the question is: if the Christians 200 years ago felt compelled by the

gospel to rise up and fight slavery. Why didn’t the early Christians who

believed the same gospel who read the same Bible. Why didn’t they feel the

same need? And the answer is because slavery in Bible times was very

different.

Firstly it wasn’t based on race. People weren’t enslaved because of their

nationality or the colour of their skin.

Secondly, it wasn’t permanent. It was about 10 or 15 years long.

Thirdly it wasn’t based on kidnapping. So you couldn’t just go and kidnap them

and make them your slave. Often people would sell themselves into slavery to

pay their debts or to try and provide for their family. Some people deliberately

chose to be slaves to have their needs met by their masters.

And fourthly, slaves had rights. A slave could take his master to court. He could

lay a complaint against his master.

So it was very different from the slavery we often think of from a few hundred

years ago.. In fact, the commentators point out that in Bible times, even many

doctors and lawyers and politicians were slaves to someone else.

But then thirdly, even though slavery in Bible times was very different. It

wasn’t as bad. Even though Christians were’nt commanded to rise up and fight

it. Still I want you to see there’s enough in the New Testament for slavery to

slowly wilt away and die.

FF Bruce - one of the leading Bible scholars of the 20th century. This is what he

says:

When you read the New Testament, he says:

The New Testament brings you into an atmosphere in which the institution of

slavery can only wilt and die.

The principles. The attitudes. The gospel message. It might not explicitly

condemn slavery. But it does makes it impossible for it to survive.

You just think of passages like Galatians 3 verse 28. “Here there’s neither Jew

nor Greek, Slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Or 1 Timothy 1 verse 10. It should be up on the screen. Paul lists a whole lot of

things that are contrary to the gospel.

He says: the law is for these people. For Unrighteous people. For those who kill

their parents, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and

liars and perjurers – and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine

that conforms to the glorious gospel”

And so there you have it. clearly the gospel and slavery don’t go together. They

disagree. And so the gospel when its truly understood and applied. It will lead

to the abolishment of slavery.

And so the Bible doesn’t condone slavery. The gospel is about freedom.

Bu that’s not what our passage is about this morning. Our passage today says:

slavery is a reality. Its something you gona face tomorrow morning after

church. And so how you gona live within this institution in a way that is

Christian?

And so that leads us to us today. What about us?

None of us are slaves. And so how does this passage apply to us?

Well some of you might be saying: that’s obvious. I might not officially be a

slave. But I sure feel like a slave in the day to day grind of work.

Studd Turcole wrote a book on work. He surveyed many people’s attitudes to

work in America. And this is what he said in his introduction:

“This book being about work, is by its very nature about violence. To the spirit

as well as to the body. Its about ulcers and accidents. Its about nervous

breakdowns and kicking the dog. Its about above all daily humiliation. To

survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great

many of us.”

And I think that’s true. for Many of us. Work does feel like a daily grind. A

frustration. Its often unrewarding and harsh. It feels like slavery.

Some of us probably feel like that all the time. Im sure all of us feel like that

some of the time.

And we might not have slave masters over us. But that’s pretty much how we

view our boss or our employer or our lecturer. They driving us to work. And so

you might say: this is obvious. Of course I need to hear God’s Word for slaves.

That’s me. I feel like a slave.

And furthermore. something Tim Keller points out is that…it’s a fact that in the

early church. The church was full of slaves. They flooded into the church. They

were attracted to this message. And the reason why is because in the Christian

gospel they found something that affected their daily life. From Monday to

Sunday.

In spite of the humiliation. The frustration. And the unrewarding harsh

environment of being a slave. Just imagine. If you think youir work’s bad. Just

imagine being a slave. But these slaves found that the gospel spoke into their

situation. And gave them meaning. motivation. Something to keep them going.

And so that’s why we must read these verses. if these instructions could even

help slaves to be motivated. How much more could it help us. in the so called

“slavery” of our daily work.

And so lets look. Ephesians 6 verse 5. The main command for slaves is to obey.

Slaves obey your earthly masters. But of course its possible to obey simply out

of obligation. outward obedience. There’s no motivation.

And maybe that’s how you go through much of your work life. Obeying your

teacher or your boss or your employer. But just doing it out of obligation. Just

going through the motions. Your heart’s not in it.

Well God doesn’t want you to work like that. He wants you to be motivated.

Just look at these verses. Notice how many times they refer to the attitude of

your heart.

Verse 5. “Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with

sincerity of heart”

Verse 6. Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye’s on you, but

like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Verse 7. Serve wholeheartedly … as serving the Lord

And so over and over again. Paul repeats this. In our jobs. In our studies. in the

daily grind of work.

We should be motivated from the heart.

And that’s not meant to discourage you. you working people. Now you feel

even worse about your work. You feel guilty cause you haven’t been

motivated. No. This is meant to give you hope. God wants you to be

motivated. He wants to motivate you.

And isnt that something you want? Or Is it just me who hates those days when

I feel unmotivated and uninspired. I hate those days!

If I think of the happiest times in my life. Its been when my 8-5 daily study or

work. Was a place where I felt motivated. That’s what we all want.

And here we see God wants that for us too.

And so the question is how?

How can we have this? If even slaves could find this motivation. How much

more so should we. How can we find it?

And you can see the answer repeated three times in these verses.

Verse 5. Slaves obey your earthly masters, with respect and fear and sincerity

of heart, as you would obey Christ

Verse 6. Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but

as slaves of Christ

Verse 7. Serve wholeheartedly, as serving the Lord.

The key to wholehearted obedience is to do it as for the Lord.

Now you might have noticed. When I quoted verse 7, I read it slightly

differently from the NIV. The NIV says “serve wholeheartedly, as if serving the

Lord.

But you need to know, the word “if” isn’t actually there. Literally it just says,

“serve wholeheartedly as serving the Lord”. And that makes it a lot stronger. In

other words, you mustn’t just pretend as if you serving the Lord. This isn’t just

pretend. This is real. The real Person you serving when you go to work each

day is the Lord.

And so dyou see how that transforms your perspective on work. It destroys

two divisions we often setup in our minds. Firstly it destroys the division

between the sacred and the secular.

Often people think that in order to serve God they need to work in the church.

become a pastor or a missionary. Or at least they need to do some ministry in

the church, like teaching Sunday school or helping at the sound desk or singing

in the music team. And those are all important. We need more people to do

those things. But often people think that’s the only area in which to serve God.

And then from Monday to Friday we might be able to serve God if we get an

opportunity to share the gospel or if we attend a work prayer meeting. But the

rest of our working hours. The majority of our life. The 9 tenths. We not

serving God. We just getting through our work.

Well These verses destroy that division.

And this was one of the great discoveries of the Reformation.

You know the reformation. Martin Luther. John Calvin. Breaking out of the dark

ages.

Often when we think of the reformation we think of salvation by grace alone

through faith alone in Christ alone.

That was the one great discovery: We not saved by works.

But another great discovery was what we see here. Its often called the

priesthood of all believers.

During the dark ages it was thought that in order to serve God you needed to

become a monk or a nun or a priest.

And so that’s what Martin Luther did. He became a monk. But as he studied his

bible and read passages like this in Ephesians, he realized that all people are

called to serve God. All Christians are priests. Whatever our job or occupation.

And so later in his life he could write these words: “the milkmaid has as

honourable a calling as the preacher and priest.”

And so I hope that’s an encouragement to you. Christianity isn’t a faith that

remains unconcerned for 9 tenths of your life. as you go out into work on

Monday morning. Whatever your job is. God is deeply concerned about that

work. Ur called by Him to do it. You must do it for Him.

But secondly, this truth doesn’t only destroy the division between the sacred

and the secular. It breaks down the hierarchy in the workplace. You see we

often classify people according to their jobs. So on the one hand you’ve

doctors and professors and lawyers and accountants. They well educated,

sophisticated, with well paid.

And then on the other hand uv got gardeners and the maids and the factory

workers. Often less educated. Lower skilled work. Lower pay.

And what this truth does is to completely level the playing fields between

these different groups.

And you can even see it here with slaves and masters. One of the amazing

things here is that Paul starts by speaking to slaves.

There were many other documents in those days dealing with slaves and

masters. They were called household codes. They gave instructions about how

slaves should be treated. But never in all these household codes were the

slaves addressed themselves. These codes always just addressed the masters.

They didn’t feel the need to address the slaves. After all, Slaves just do what

they told.

Well not according to Paul. He addresses the slaves. And He addresses them

first. And in fact he addresses them more than he does the masters.

You see he’s treating them with dignity.

And then when he does finally get to the masters. Look at what he says to

them. Verse 9. This is amazing. Completely unique at that time. Verse 9. “and

masters, treat your slaves in the same way.”

In the same way! What does he mean in the same way?

Well he’s not saying that masters must obey their slaves. He’s not breaking

down that authority structure. He’s simply saying: masters, you need to realize

that you too are slaves. You might have a more impressive looking position.

But actually you also just a servant of the Lord. Look at the rest of verse 9. Do

not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their master and yours

is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with Him.”

And so dyou see how this affects how we treat people. Its so tempting to look

down on those with a lower paying profession. You’ll see it everywhere. You’ll

see it in the world.

I’m afraid I’v seen it in our church. Quite often.

I’v seen it in myself. Quick to acknowledge and to greet and to show respect to

the high paying professional. But easily just ignoring the common labourer.

Friends that should not be seen in the Christian church.

The playing field is level before Jesus.

We all simply servants of the Lord.

And so for the rest of our time this morning. I want you to see how this truth

that we serving the Lord can motivate you in your work place. Whatever your

job. It can motivate you in three ways.

Firstly, it’ll give you reverence

Secondly, it’ll give you recognition

Thirdly, it’ll give you reward.

If you think about it these are very common motivations. If ur the boss or

manager of a company. These are things you’ll use to motivate your workers.

Firstly, You’ll want them to have reverence or respect for you as their boss. So

that they’ll follow your lead.

Secondly, You’ll want them to feel recognized. That the work they doing gets

acknowledged.

And thirdly you’ll want them to be rewarded. You’ll pay them well.

Three keys to a happy workforce. reverence, recognition and reward.

Well Jesus can give you these things. And to a far greater extent than any

earthly boss.

So firstly a sense of reverence. Look at verse 5 again.

“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of

heart, just as you would obey Christ.”

And so as Christians we should go to work each day with a sense of fear and

respect.

And I suppose there will be some of us who do go to work with these

emotions. But the source of our fear might not be right.

For example we might have a fear of our employer or boss. We might work for

someone who’s really intimidating or scary. He threatens you. He motivates

you with fear.

Or we might have a fear of failure. If we don’t work hard enough we might lose

our jobs. We might drop out of varsity. We might disappoint our parents. We

motivated by fear.

But that’s not the kind of fear Paul’s talking about here. This fear comes from a

different source. It comes from a reverence for Christ. Just look back to chapter

5 verse 21. That first verse Dave read for us.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The Greek word for reverence here is exactly the same word as the word for

fear.

And so this should be the source of our fear. Not a fear of our boss. Not a fear

of failure. But a fear of Christ.

And we need to think about what this means. Because often fear has got

negative connotations in our minds. We often associate it with insecurity and

anxiety. And that’s how you will feel if you afraid of failure or afraid of your

boss. But the fear of Christ is different.

It is real fear. Its trembling. Its awe. Its even terror. When John has a vision of

Jesus in Revelation. He falls at His feet as though dead. He’s afraid. Because

this is the great King. The Holy judge of sinful people.

But at the same time it’s a secure fear. Because this same King is the same One

Who loved you so much that He died for you and washed you with His blood.

So that you’r accepted and dearly loved by Him.

And so it is possible to be full of fear for Jesus and at the same time to have a

sense of peace in His presence. To tremble with joy.

Psalm 2 verse 11 captures this when it says, “serve the Lord with fear and

rejoice with trembling”

We don’t often associate fear with rejoicing. But those things do come

together when we serve Jesus. We serve him with fear. We rejoice with

trembling.

And so this is the fear that should motivate us each morning as we go to work.

And if we can capture it, it’ll motivate us to work hard. We won’t be lazy.

But at the same time it’ll also protect us from working too hard. We won’t

drive ourselves into the ground. Because we so anxious about what our boss

thinks. Or by a fear of failure. We’ll just do our best. Because Jesus knows what

we capable of. And He’s the One we serving. He’s the one we fear.

So that’s reverence.

Secondly, recognitioni.

Another thing that motivates us to work is if we feel that our work is being

recognized. But if we feel that no one sees what we doing, then we very

quickly lose heart.

But if we realize we serving Christ, then of course everything we do is seen by

Him. He sees what we do in secret. And so we will be just as motivated when

we working privately on our own as when the boss is standing over our

shoulder. Look at verse 6.

“Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but like

slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.”

And so this is a good test of your motivation.

Think about how hard you work when your boss is in the room watching you

work. Or if you a student think about your lecturer or your teacher. They in the

room. They watching you. Imagine your work ethic in that environment.

Now compare that with when they out the room. You all alone. And you

working on something that you wont need to hand in. No-one’s gona see what

you’ve done.

What happens to your work ethic when ur alone?

When the teacher goes out the class.

If there’s an obvious change, then that reveals who you really serving. The

word that’s used here in the Greek is literally “eye slave”. That’s what you are.

If ur work ethic changes. Ur a slave to people’s eyes.

And the only way to escape that is to work for Christ.

So that’s recognition.

And then thirdly, reward.

This is probably what motivates most people to work. The reward. How much

we gona get paid. And I know we do need to earn money. We do need to

provide for our families. But that should never be our main motivation for

work.

Look at verse 7.

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you

know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether

he is slave or free.”

And so you might feel unrewarded in your work. You not getting paid what you

deserve. But that’s not a good enough reason to lose heart. To stop being

motivated. To try and pay your employers back by giving them shoddy work.

You should still be able to work wholeheartedly because you doing it all for

Jesus. And He’ll reward you for every good deed.

And so can you see how this motivates you for whatever job you might have.

You might have a terrible boss. You’ve got no respect for him. You can still

treat him out of fear and respect out of reverence for Christ.

Or you might have a job where your work’s not being recognized. No one

seems to value or see what you doing. You can still be motivated because Jesus

is watching.

You might have a very unrewarding job. You underpaid. But you will be

rewarded by Jesus.

You can find reverence, recognition and reward from Jesus.

And so let me close with a quote from John Stott.

He says: “Our great need is the clear-sightedness to see Jesus Christ and to set

Him before us. It is possible for the housewife to cook a meal as if Jesus Christ

were going to eat it, for doctors to treat patients, for shop assistants to serve

customers, accountants to audit books and secretaries to type letters as if in

each case they were serving Jesus Christ… …the same must be true of Christian

miners, factory workers, dustmen, road sweepers and public toilet

attendants.”

It doesn’t matter what your job is. Even if ur a slave. You can still do it with all

your heart. As serving the lord.

Lets pray

i You can also apply this to your studies. Are you just working for recognition? Are you just working so you can get good marks in your exams?

There’s another John White. Not our John White. John White is quite a popular name. But this other John White was a Christian Psychiatrist. And he wrote a book with a chapter in it called deliverance from drudgery.

That’s what we want. Deliverance from drudgery.

And in this chapter John White talks about when he was still studying to be a Psychiatrist. And he was under such pressure to get good marks so he could move the next level that it kind of pushed him into this unhealthy cycle. of Procrastinate. Cram.

Procrastinate. Cram.

Because he was so focused on recognition and doing well in the exams. He’d work really hard for his exams. He’d kill himself. But then he’d be so exhausted he’d just be finished. So he just had to take a break. He couldn’t work. And so he’d procrastinate. Procrastinate. And the work would build up. And then he’d have to cram again. And kill himself for the next exam.

And then it dawned on him that this was happening. And he read this passage. And he suddenly thought to himself What if I stop working for the marks and the recognition? And What if he started working for the Lord. and simply so I can be a good Psychiatrist who pleases the Lord.

And he said it completely transformed the way he studied.

And so he started doing that. And what dyou think happened?

Well in the short term his marks were worse. He wasn’t pushing himself so hard. But in the long run his marks were better. Because he was well rested. And mostly because he wasn’t just working to get good marks. But because he wanted to be a good Psychiatrist who pleased the Lord.