Ephesians 6:5-8, How Then Shall We Work?

Ephesians 6:5-8
How Then Shall We Work?

            Our topic today is “work”.  Someone has observed that there are three kinds of workers. For example, when a piano is to be moved, the first kind gets behind and pushes, the second pulls and guides, and the third grabs the piano stool.

"The hardest thing about milking cows," observed a farmer, " is that they never stay milked."

The Bible says that God works.  Genesis 2:3 says, “By the 7^th day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the 7^th day He rested from all His work.”  Listen to what Jesus says in John 5:17, “My Father is always at work, to this very day, and I too am working.”  When God created Adam in the garden God gave him a job.  Genesis 2:15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”  In Genesis 3:17 God cursed the ground and consigned Adam to hard labor the rest of his life, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”  The Apostle Paul was a tentmaker when he needed to support himself during his ministry.  He said to the Ephesian leaders in Acts 20:34, “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.”

 

            Where are we going with this?  We are saying this today:  Our employment matters.  How we work in the work place as Christians is of utmost importance to our Lord.  Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.”  Part of the good works we are supposed to do involves being good employees.   

 

            This brings up a question, which is the title of our sermon today:  How then shall we work?  What kind of workers should we be?  I want to pull out 4 things from this passage today.

 

 

#1:  We are to Respect our Boss  (v5)

            First, we are to Respect our Boss.  How then shall we work?  The first answer is we are to respect our boss.  Notice it is stated in verse 5, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” 

 

What does this mean?  This means that we do what our bosses want us to.  None of this, “It’s not my job” nonsense; enough of passing the buck and blame-shifting and throwing others under the bus.  When Paul says, “obey them”, that’s what it means.  Take up the responsibility and beyond.  Do what they say.  We have to be ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to make the company succeed, and, even to make our boss look good.  Honor him or her sincerely from your heart.  Respect them. 

 

Why is this important?  Other than the simple fact it is commanded, 1 Timothy 6:1 says it is important because of our witness for Christ, “…”  Our reputation as employees reflects directly upon the name of God and the reputation of the Bible. 

 

Illustration:  Let’ start with a question this morning:  What would people have said about Jesus based on how He did business as a carpenter? 

 

How did Jesus’ work as a carpenter affect His credibility when He started preaching?  Did his reputation as a carpenter help or hurt His testimony when He went public?  Certainly He had many customers.  Certainly many of His customers heard Him preach.  Did people say, “Hey, I remember Jesus, He made a good product.  He was honest.  He went above and beyond for me as a customer.  He gave me a good price.  I think I’ll listen to what He’s talking about.”  Or, did people say, “Jesus?!  I’m not going to listen to Him.  He built me a table that fell apart after a year and He over-charged me.  I couldn’t trust Him as a carpenter, I’m certainly not going to trust anything He’s preaching!” 

 

I think that it is safe to say that the career Jesus was probably the best carpenter who ever lived.  After all, if you are the Creator of the world, certainly you can build a table, or, build a solid home.  And, I think it’s safe to assume that the final Judge of heaven and earth conducted Himself with perfect integrity and generosity during his career as a carpenter.  I think Jesus ensured the customer was satisfied every time.  Quality came first.  He gave fair pricing.  Lifetime warranties.  Probably nobody ever returned anything because His work was perfect.  He probably donated a lot of work too, refusing to charge people who were struggling.  Happy to do side jobs for people that were in a jam.  Because Joseph, His earthly father, was a carpenter, Jesus brought great honor to Joseph by doing excellent work and building a reputation for perfect integrity.

 

We also need to refrain from criticizing.  It doesn’t matter whether you really could do your bosses job better than him, don’t tell that to others and stop telling it to yourself.  Stop arm-chair managing.  Jesus said, “Before you pull the speck out of your bosses eye, pull the 2x4 out of your own eye.”  Don’t allow yourself to be bitter, Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

 

 

#2:  The appearance of our work is to be how we Really work (v6)

            Secondly, the appearance of our work is to be how we Really work.  Notice verse 6, “Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but, like slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart.”  Turn over to Colossians 3:22, “Slaves obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.” 

 

What he is saying here is we are not to be hypocrites.  We must not pretend to be a hard worker when the boss is around only to prove we are slackers when he’s gone. 

 

Illustration:  Hogan’s Heroes.  Colonial Klink has become my all-time favorite character.  In one episode he is reclined at his desk asleep when the stern General Berkhalter walks in unannounced.  After watching Klink sleeping soundly for a moment he slams the door.  Immediately Klink jerks forward awake and starts feverishly filling out some paperwork on his desk as though he were hard at work. 

 

Make sure the boss has full confidence that you work just as hard when he’s not there as you do when he is there.

 

            Illustration:  I read a Forbes article titled, “Who Wastes the Most Time at Work?” from last year.  It was a follow up article to one written previously where the time employees wasted at work was found to be frightening.  The follow up article said, “We’re even worse off than before.”  Because of the surge of social media there has been a surge in workplace distractions.  And it is the younger generations, the GenXers and Millennials who are the worse.  The bottom line is this:  the top bracket of time wasters waste an average of 2 hours per day while on the clock.  That translates into 520 hours each year wasted – while on the clock.  This is

 

Sincere servants of Christ do not pretend to be hard and honest workers.  They are hard and honest workers. 

 

All the great men of the faith were great employees.  Anybody remember Joseph?  Sold into slavery by his own brothers.  Ends up in Egypt.  Ends up the most powerful man in Egypt.  Why?  Because of how trustworthy he was.  Turn to Genesis 39:1-6 with me…

 

Joseph reminds me of Proverbs 22:29 which says this, “Do you see a man skilled in his work?  He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.”

 

If we had a camera on us all the time, or someone did some digging into our work habits, what would they find?  That’s what they did to Daniel.  Daniel also was a great man of the faith, and, a great employee.  Turn with me to Daniel 6:3-4 and let’s listen to what it says, “….”

 

Let us make sure that what our boss sees in us is in fact what he’s getting.  Let us be faithful, trustworthy, deserving of our bosses complete confidence.  Because if we only work hard when he is around, we are essentially lying to him.  We are giving him the impression that this is how we work even though it isn’t really.  Friends, it is the same thing as telling a lie with our mouths.  Let the appearance of our work be how we really do work. 

 

 

#3:  Regard the Boss just like you would Regard Jesus Christ (v5,6,7)

            So, we are asking ourselves the question:  How then shall we work?  We are to respect our bosses, we are to work hard in reality and not just in appearances, and thirdly, we are to Regard our Boss just like we would Regard Jesus Christ.  Watch how Paul puts it in verse 7, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men”.  Of course, Paul was saying the same thing in verse 5 and 6 already.  Notice again verse 5, “…JUST AS you would obey Christ.”  Then in verse 6, “…but, LIKE slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart.”  In other words, Paul wants us to work for our boss as though our boss were in fact Jesus Christ.  Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”  “Oh, Pastor, my boss is the furthest thing from Jesus Christ!”  That is not the point.  Whether or not they are like Christ, we are to treat them as though they are.

 

            At the heart of this command is our attitude towards authority.  God looks closely at how we respond to authority.  In Romans 13:1 says this, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  Then listen to verse 2, “Consequently he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted and those who do so will bring Judgment on themselves.”  Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.”  Colossians 3:25 says this regarding how we act as employees, “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism with God.”  The heart of this matter is our attitude towards authority.  God wants us to treat our workplace authority with the same respect we would treat God.

 

            Here is the perspective we need to have:  The better we are at treating them as though they were Christ, the better we will show them what Christ is like.  Let us not let our reputation as employees tarnish the reputation of Jesus Christ.  Let them look favorably upon our Lord because of the high opinion they have of us in the workplace. 

 

 

#4:  Remember your Reward as you work (v8)

            Lastly, as you work, remember your reward.  Notice verse 8, “because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for the good he does, whether slave or free.”  Colossians 3:24 says, “since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

 

            You know, it’s not very important to me that we have a million programs for every conceivable need in people’s lives.  It’s not so important to me either that we have everyone serving so much at EFC that it could be considered a 2^nd job.  It is however important that how all of us conduct ourselves in our marriages, in our parenting, and in our workplace that matters most.  What is the character and the commitment by which we live by?

 

            Here is an important point.  We talk about doing good works as Christians.  One very important good work is how good we work at work.  This has nothing to do with serving at church.  It is serving your boss and your co-workers at work.  And according to the Bible, this will bring you reward from Jesus Christ. 

 

            Sometimes people dream of becoming a missionary or starting some organization to help suffering people or just doing something great for Christ.  But doing something great for Christ means we are great employees.

 

 

Conclusion:

You know, some people once asked Jesus what was the works that God required of them to be saved.  Jesus said, “The work that God requires is this:  to believe in His Son.”  You see, the work that we do as Christians doesn’t save us.  It is because we are saved.  And we are saved not because of what works we have done, but, because of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.  His work saves us.  His payment with His own blood paid our debt.  If  you are a Christian, then work as though you are working for Christ Himself.  That’s how He is going to judge it someday.  If you are not a Christian, then do not trust in what you do to save your soul.  Look to the only one who can save your soul from death.  Jesus Christ.