Sermonette: From worship to the workplace

In 1977, country singer Johnny Paycheck recorded the hit single “Take This Job and Shove It.” The chorus of that song began and ended with these well-known words: “Take this job and shove it, I ain’t working here no more.” Apparently, that song really struck a nerve with people, becoming his best-selling record, with over 2 million copies sold and inspiring a movie with the same title.

Attitudes towards our work certainly haven’t changed for the better since then. Americans are growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs. Today, less than half of all Americans say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61 percent just twenty years ago.

But certainly that is not what God has in mind for his children. Listen to the words of Ecclesiastes 5:18-19, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God.”

The Bible is clear that God intends for His children to find satisfaction and happiness in their work. But exactly how are we to do that? I think the first, and foremost, way we can find satisfaction in our work is to look at our motivation for working. Yes we need to earn money to pay the bills and put food on the table. But in the life of the believer, we must understand that ultimately, we look to God as the one who supplies for our needs. Think of the Lord’s prayer. We ask God to “give us this day our daily bread.” In other words, we ask God to supply us with what we need. And he does. Now, this doesn’t mean we don’t work. Of course we work. But instead of looking at my job as my way of supplying for the needs of my family, I understand that God has given me the ability and opportunity to work where I work in order to meet the needs that I have. And for that I am grateful.

Maybe the way we handle the tendency to be dissatisfied with our work is to change the reason for why we work. Maybe if we understood that our work could actually be a way of worshipping God, then we would become satisfied in whatever work we have in order that we might bring praise to God.

I’ll close with some words from Colossians 3:15-17: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”