Word of Salvation – Vol. 26 No. 43 – August 1981

 

You Are Actually Employed By The Lord Christ

 

Sermon by Rev. William F. Van Brussel on Colossians 3:22 – 4:1

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 1:13–20; Philemon 8-21

Psalter Hymnal: 41:2; 273:3; 282:3; 482:1,2; 467:3,4

 

The choice of this particular text was the result of a request the writer of this present sermon received from one of his local Fellowship-groups who had spent an evening’s discussion on the topic of “Work”. They had had some difficulties when it came to trying to apply the teachings of Scripture in this area to today’s actual working-situations.

Since we live in a complex society it certainly is helpful to try and understand what the Bible tells us concerning Christian attitudes towards our daily work and its problems. What strikes us at first sight when looking at the text is that it seems that ‘slavery’ was the accepted thing in the days when the New Testament letters were written. In our passage too, one does not notice any protest against the institution of slavery as such. The only thing one would find is – and here is a difference, of course – that BOTH, slaves and masters, are told that it is their duty to do their utmost in the position in which they find themselves. But we should not be too quick with our conclusion that the Bible merely accepts slavery without any further ado. Here comes to the fore the importance of Paul’s brief letter to Philemon who was living at Colossae.

You may remember the story: Philemon, Paul’s Christian friend, had been the master of Onesimus for some time, but the slave, Onesimus, had escaped taking some of Philemon’s belongings. Finally Onesimus had arrived in Rome. We do not exactly know how all these things fell into place, but Paul and Onesimus met while Paul was in prison in that city and this meeting had led to Onesimus’ conversion.

Onesimus was very fond of Paul and would have loved to stay in Rome to assist Paul in whatever way he could, but since he had become a Christian, he realised he owed Philemon something. It was his duty to return to Colossae.

Before he went, Paul wrote this letter which Onesimus could take and hand over in person to Philemon. In this letter, which we find to be packed with some most precious humour, Paul pointed out that, although Onesimus had been wrong by running away from his master, God had overruled and Onesimus now returned to his master as a brother.

Paul made it pretty obvious to Philemon that the previous conditions of their relationship belonged to the past and that from now onward there was a brother-to-brother relationship between the former master and his slave. But Paul said: This is none of my business; I leave it all to you how to go about it!! Clearly, this letter was meant to be a big help to Onesimus on his return at Colossae.

Paul’s letter to Philemon is not the text for this present sermon, but by way of introduction this letter shows that with the arrival of the Christian religion into this world even the day-to-day things could no longer remain as they were. Christ has not only come into this world to save sinners, He has most definitely also come to introduce the Kingdom of God and to make His believers aware that by the time they have come to Him for their salvation, there is an all of life embracing new programme waiting for them. Ever since Christ has come into our world and has accomplished His Ministry here, everything has become different. People who would think that Christianity has nothing to say about and nothing to do with, terrifying economic events and social injustices have been dreadfully misinformed about the nature of the Christian religion.

God tells us that He is fully concerned about the kind of justice we should create in the society to which we belong and have a responsibility. The Bible teaches that our life day by day will be transformed when once we follow Jesus. He brought into this world a religion that views all of life as a unity. This means for our society that a Christian believer, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and works, must be able to live his total life in the service of his Lord.

And that is what this text is about. J.B. Philips seems to have grasped the meaning quite well in his private translation of the New Testament where he rendered Paul’s message in this way while addressing both slaves and masters:

YOU ARE ACTUALLY EMPLOYED BY THE LORD CHRIST!

Jesus has brought to our world a vision of a salvation that shows people how to do their daily work in His Name. It brought about a totally new relationship between such men as Philemon and Onesimus, master and slave. Each one of the two was to, and wanted to, serve their new King in all their work and life. The Bible shows that Christianity can bring something into the world of work and labour that cannot be introduced in any other way. Paul’s readers were supposed to view their work, their daily labour, as a service to be offered to their Lord. Ordinary workers who believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, ought to see beyond their sales manager, their foreman or boss, also they ought to see beyond their pay-packet and their retirement-benefits, to the Lord Jesus Christ. They know that somehow their daily work passes His watching eye, whether the boss is around or not. This would not lead them to an attitude of constant fear but to an abiding sense of responsibility for what they are doing all day long as people belonging to Him.

This sermon does not have to tell you that if all Christian workers were really aware of this, a lot of things would run differently straight away. The whole atmosphere around the Christian worker would make the others sit up and watch. It goes without saying that this and other passages of the New Testament are most relevant to our present situation. No, not in the sense that we have slavery in our society, although one would be surprised by the number of people who do view their work and working conditions as plainly a slavery-situation. We must read this passage in the light of our current situation, of what is going on from day to day in the place where you spend your working hours, be it in a schoolroom or a shop, an office or a workshop.

And what we must be keenly aware of is that we cannot maintain the status quo in our daily working situation. If there is something that as Christians we know is wrong and it ought to be changed, then it should be changed. It should at least not be taken for granted or be looked upon as something you cannot do anything about, anyway.

Look at the unions, what they can accomplish. What would happen, if Christians started supporting each other; if they sought to introduce new rules in their working situation, because there are too many things which they, as convinced Christians, cannot possibly accept as normal, let alone participate in? One thing in particular was mentioned in that discussion in the Fellowship Group. It was a question like this: What should a Christian employee do, when his boss leaves work early on Friday-afternoon and says to you, “When there is a phone-call for me, tell them that I am not available, but don’t say to them that I have gone home early!”

Well, what must a Christian man or woman, who knows he is working for the Lord in any situation do? Usually the answer would be: You’d better take it easy, for if you say, “No”, you will be sacked in no time. You cannot just say what you think or believe! Well, who says that? If we do all we can to serve our Lord in all that we do, do we forget in a situation like that, that He is present at all times and that He won’t let us down when we obey Him? Is there not a better way?

Would it be so hazardous in a situation as mentioned above to say to the superior concerned; “You know that I am a Christian. I always do what you tell me, but you make things awfully hard for me by wanting me to tell lies. I don’t want to tell lies. I would love to receive an opportunity, some time to be decided by you, whenever it suits you, to discuss with you what I mean. I don’t want to be a nuisance, but I think it is only fair for you to try and understand what bothers me as a Christian in a situation like this”. We have no reason to be scared, for Jesus has made it very plain that He wants us to be honest, to obey Him always in the first place. When we seek to do that, we can trust Him for His surprising help. Actually, we should not be surprised at all when we find Him helping us in difficult situations. We are entitled to expect things from Him Who has gone all the way to save us from our sin. HE will never back out! And we know that! But, do we believe it? Does this hold water for us in the practical situation of our daily job?

Just look at the text once again in the light of this practical example. OBEY YOUR EARTHLY MASTERS IN EVERYTHING… Verse 22. In everything? Of course, but that means: in everything that is LAWFUL, in everything that is in harmony with the Will of God. As soon as we are faced with a command to do what God does not want us to do, we must simply say what Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin according to Acts 5:29: WE MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN! That is the rule in any situation where the authorities tell us to do something that is wrong.

DO IT, NOT ONLY WHEN THEIR EYE IS ON YOU AND TO WIN THEIR FAVOUR…… O yes, we know that that happens all the time, everywhere. There are numerous people who try to do as little as they can manage and meanwhile they keep watching the clock…. They take things as easy as they possibly can, and often we find that they are being backed up by the union.

(Verse 23)

WHATEVER YOU DO, WORK AT IT WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AS WORKING FOR THE LORD, NOT FOR MEN. A Christian is for ever engaged in the business of promoting the Cause of Christ, working for the Lord, not for men. It must become so obvious that we love the Lord, also at work, that an unbeliever starts wondering: “If the Christian religion does this for a working man, it must be wonderful; perhaps I should have second thoughts about it and find out!”

(Verse 24)

SINCE YOU KNOW THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE AN INHERITANCE FROM THE LORD AS A REWARD. Yes, look at that fact, too. You may get into trouble; we cannot claim Jesus to be there on the spot and to put us right instantly. Our obedience to Him may lead us into a time of hardship for the time being, but even then Christ would not let us down! And this is not only because there is this inheritance for us in heaven, although that is ultimately the most important thing, the reward of obedience to our King! No, Jesus Christ also has the means down here in this world to come to our aid when we get stuck as the direct result of our obedience to Him.

By the way, it is interesting to read this verse as addressed to slaves who, of course, would never have had the rights of a son. An inheritance, that was not on, for a slave. Yet, here they are told: don’t forget, you are children of God now, no matter what your position is on earth there is an inheritance for you, something you are entitled to receive. Your name is mentioned in the Will of Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of God!

(Verse 25)

ANYONE WHO DOES WRONG WILL BE REPAID FOR HIS WRONG, AND THERE IS NO FAVOURITISM. Did you notice that what this verse 25 says holds for both, the master and the slave?

No, God has no favourites! MASTERS, PROVIDE YOUR SLAVES WITH WHAT IS RIGHT AND FAIR, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT YOU ALSO HAVE A MASTER IN HEAVEN. Finally, masters should be aware that, although they are boss, in the final analysis they, too, have a Boss, the Master in heaven.

This reminds us of a beautiful story in Matthew 8 about the faith of that Centurion, a Roman army-officer, who pleaded with Christ for the healing of his servant. Although he was in a position of authority himself and could say to the one soldier, ‘go’, and he went and to the other, ‘do this’ and he would do it, he realised full well that for Jesus to come into his house was quite different. He said, “LORD, I DO NOT DESERVE TO HAVE YOU COME UNDER MY ROOF. BUT JUST SAY THE WORD, AND MY SERVANT WILL BE HEALED!”

When employers would read this passage and take it to heart, they also might have to revise one or two things in their approach to those working under them.

Congregation, if we would read our Bible in today’s setting, and believed all that it says, we would have much more courage of faith in our daily living and act more to the honour of our Lord. We would also find more satisfaction, because by remembering this passage we know tomorrow, when we go to do our daily work again, that we go to work for the Lord! What a difference that makes! Then everything looks different, no everything IS different altogether.

Christianly new!

Amen.