What looks like bad work to you? It can be a very personal thing – I was surprised when I told people about leading Redeem the Commute, and they said, “I’m glad someone is doing it, but especially glad it’s not me.”
I watched a TV show lately about a tow truck driver – it showed him going about his work in the middle of the night, doing a job many wouldn’t want. But he said he’d tried multiple jobs, hated them all – and then found the towing business and it just fit. He’d found his passion for work, even though other people would hate it working those late nights, alone, at risk and dealing with mechanical work.
There are definitely bad jobs out there – some are really awful, which became apparent with media coverage, for example, of the textile industry in Bangladesh.
Some jobs aren’t terrible themselves, they are just a bad fit.
And there are some good jobs that we see in the wrong light – something about us means they are less than they should be. We might think they’ll be much more than they are, or we might think too highly of ourselves to do certain kinds of work, even though they are good.
Question: What’s the worst job you ever had? What made it so bad? Was it bad for everyone, or just you?
Acknowledgements: Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour and Work & Rest
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Last week, we talked about priorities, and that putting God and his kingdom first pours into other areas of life.
This passage follows on from there, since it begins with “therefore I tell you.” It’s like Jesus is saying IF you choose God, light and heaven, it has consequences for your life.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)
Now, to clear up a few misconceptions, Jesus has nothing against material things – they matter! He made them and although our world is broken, he intends to redeem the material world, not just our spirits. Jesus cares about the body & world – he made them both. But he wants to worry about it, not for us to worry about it.
He has nothing against making plans - watch a bird build a nest! They are not lazy, they work hard, but they are reliant on what is provided for them in nature. Worry has no place there.
We all need purpose in life – we are made to be seekers - not aimless.
We can live for any number of aims, though. Career, power, perfection, love, etc. Jesus reduces all our possible ambitions/purposes to two options: selfish security or heavenly kingdom.
Having goals, plans and material things isn’t the problem. Worry is the problem – when these things become sources of anxiety that cut to the core of who we are.
Question: What’s the difference between prudent planning, and anxious worry? How does that show up in your life?
