Vocation and Identity

Vocation and Identity - Working Hard at Work Worth Doing. Message by Vinny Tan at The Red Door Community Church.

Episode Transcript

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As the steadfast love of the Lordnever ceases, and his unending
mercies are new every morning.
So too is our invitation to activelyparticipate in the multi-layered
redemptive narrative of Godrescuing his people so that you
and I can commune with him as one.
And together with His Holy Spirit, webring restoration, clarity and purpose to

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a desolate, hurting and suffering world.
As has been mentioned this morning,today is a hinge message if you
like, on identity and vocation.
If you've been chur, if you've beenaround church for a long time, they
are two words laced with meaning.
But in contemporary Christianity, they areat increasing risk of being misunderstood.

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How do we as followers of Jesus'sway work hard at work worth doing?
How does that industriousness joy,rest and rhythm permeate our lives?
Despite it being extremelychallenging and sometimes
downright heartbreaking at times?

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What is work worth doing?
What does hard work look like?
And the answer may not beas obvious as one may think.
And so today my intention is toreflect in part on the author and
some characters within the book ofPhilippians, where we've been for the
last three months, and also to help uslaunch as a springboard for our next

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series, which is on the way of Jesus.
But it doesn't really matter whatsermon I provide or what teaching
you receive, because the toolswill always remain the same.
To understand who we are andwhere we come from, the tools are
always going to be the Bible, aunified story that leads to Jesus.

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Secondly.
You and I are gifted to each other,the community of faith, and we have
this specific community of faith Reddoor, so that we are able to learn
together, not just to follow theway of Jesus through the Bible, but
through the actions of you and me.

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The way of Jesus.
It is the core at thedefinition of a Christian.
And so if we are called to follow Jesusnaturally, questions arise about how
do you and I think, speak, love, act,show, show up and be about the father's
business because these things form thefoundation on which we build our life.

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What is very important this morning isthat we begin to create understanding that
funnily enough, in something which canprobably only be learned by experience
being a disciple of Jesus is in starkcontrast to being a disciple of church.
We are building identity,vocation, and profession.

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Sometimes combined in a jumbled,convoluted mess is built on manmade
and flesh led floating bubbles ofinevitable fallibility and comparison.
So if following Jesus is what you and Idecide to do, then it is an incumbent on
us as mature believers to think deeplyand to consider deeply about the areas

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of life that must be appropriatelyventilated in light of the life changing
redemptive nature of the gospel.
A part of that life is what you andI do with our waking hours, whether
that's a profession or whether thereis a buy or try vocational aspect
to your life, whatever that may be.

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And so the starting point for us thismorning I would suggest are some loose,
evolving, defined terms just to geta flexible frame around our thinking.
And so, as I was diving deep into whatthe definition of identity was, the
best definition that I got, at leastfor our purposes today is what makes
you you, which isn't particularlyhelpful, uh, at least at this moment.

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Because if you like, I have had theprivilege of doing, have followed
Jesus for an amount of time.
The catalog of Sunday School Lessonsand Youth Group meetings in your mind
would suggest that this message willland on the thrust of our identity being
in Christ, his death and resurrection,transforming us in nature and purpose,

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and adopted as citizens of King.
As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The answer to all ofthat, of course, is yes.
But before jumping to that conclusion,one of the things about following the way
of Jesus is that the process is sometimesjust as important as the outcome.

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I hope that makes sense, and so I wouldsubmit for your consideration this
morning to ask ourselves with honesty.
What are the other elements or rawmaterials have we allowed to make us, us?
What have you allowed in, inother words, to what extent have
we all have, we all had a handin constructing our own identity?

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I.
What is the reliability and permanenceof these sources of raw materials that
we have used due in part or in full toculture, societal norms or insecurities
to self construct our own identity?
And how does this skewing of our ownidentity actually impact our behavior

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and our presence in the world?
Uh, the late Great Tim Keller talksregularly about adopted Christ-like
identity being part of a gift.
It's a gift.
You cannot earn it.
You cannot achieve it.
It is given freely.
It is so interesting to look at aposture where if someone believes

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that they have made themselvesthe smug, self-made satisfaction.
And how you act is very, very differentto gratitude for the giver as a gracious
recipient of one's identity, I hopethat comparison is made quite clear

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and based on those two attitudes,what then spills out are
revealing statements and behaviorsabout how you spend your time.
How do you spend your money?
How do you show up inspheres of influence?
Noting that, as we've shared on Mother'sDay anxiety or fear of the future, is
actually presenting a false gospel onthe basis that God does not go before.

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Therefore, we are anxious, but weknow that is untrue and we know
that to be untrue since time began.
And the core part of ouridentity as children of God
is not something that changes.
And this is in stark contrast to myconfession to you this morning, and

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that I have exhaustingly and laborintensively over my years crafted
a perceived identity based on howI interact through my electronic
footprint or my face-to-face footprint.
Including again, that subtledifference with a self-confessed over
reliance on good things and Christimage bearers to shape my identity.

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I'll go through that in a second.
Spouses, families, friends.
Work, church.
These things have all influenced andshaped my identity, and whilst good
and whilst beautiful, what it means isthat I've spent a significant amount
of my life being influenced by theseflimsy, fallible, raw materials.

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Of course, God is infallible.
And what this actually does is thatit provides you and I with a much
more stable base for us as childrenof God adopted into sonship, to
then tame the wild and the wasterepresented as early as Genesis one.

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And that's the thing about havinga secure identity is that scripture
is laden with God the father, andJesus being secure in that identity.
As we can see in Exodusthree 14 and John 10 30.
Uh, the verse is just upthere on the, on the screen.

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And what this does is that it givesconfidence in mission and vision and
the vocation engaged to breathe lifeinto the mission and vision given.
So I'll just recount there.
Exodus three 14 is a moment where God,the father, says to Moses, I am who
I am, which is a pretty clear, uh,identity, clarity and following on

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from John 10 30, I'm the father of one.
So that's identity vocation.
The Latin derivation of the word vocationis actually a summons, but the question
that we have to ask ourselves as we sithere this morning is a summons to what?
How does the Bible written years andyears ago, provide this information

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to me in the manner that I want?
How does the Bible providethe information to me?
In my attitude of consumption, whichwe need to repent of, the answer is
quite clear that all roads, all roadslead to and through Jesus, and shadows
of Jesus now shadows preempting hisarrival and shadows, celebrating his

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death, resurrection, and ascension.
I will talk about shadows in a minute,but when you approach the Bible, because
it's 43% narrative, 33% poetry, and24% discourse, there's plenty of room
for creative thought to allow theliving word to become alive enough.
But there is a word of caution,which I want to introduce this

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morning, is that whatever youare looking for, you will find.
So if you are looking for atheological dictionary, you'll find it.
If you're looking for a moral handbookto persecute others, you will find it.
If you're looking for a way toexonerate yourself, you'll find it.
If you're looking to be offended or ifyou're looking to offend, if you are

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looking to justify a six month alcoholfuel party, you can find that too.
I'll talk about Esther a little bit later.
That isn't the intention.
That was never the intention
because the Bible is a unifiedstory that leads to Jesus.

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If there is one thing that you aretrying to find wedged between the pages
of the strange narrative devices of aculture, we are still learning about it.
Is this because God is love andJesus is the personification of
love, we are always looking for love.
But it is a love that is bespokeand unique for all of God's

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people different to you and me.
And what that means is that you areunlikely to find straight answers
all the time for every topic underthe sun, relevant to your 21st
century Australian specific context.
That's not how the Bible works.
So as you think about vocation, it'sfoolish for me to attempt to cherry
pick scriptures to help you crafta remote working from home policy.

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It is foolish of me to try and findthe ideal curriculum vitae for the
job that you believe you deservefrom within the pages of the Bible.
Nor will you and I actually beable to get complete clarity on
what each of us needs to do toguarantee a meaningful profession.
But what I've noticed is that thereare some breadcrumbs that if we follow

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and begin walking, rather than findingthe right answers, we begin as a
robust, mature community of faith.
To ask the right questions.
Now, I'm not the first person tofind this out, and there are plenty
of heroes of our faith that I'vebeen inspired and encouraged by.
And so as you sit there this morning andyou think maybe this message is for me

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or someone that I love, how does Jesuslovingly approach identity and vocation?
How do shadows of Jesus, who I define asminor, but significant characters in the
Bible, how do they act in anticipationof him or in celebration of him?
And how do they adopt thisposture of work as a gift?

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How do these shadows use their resources,whether that is money, position, or
authority, as a way to love others, andhow do we observe these patterns today?
And how do we hold each otherlovingly to account to pursue
this together as a community?
And how does a life live with Jesus?
Inform and shape the way in whichwe view work, career, and what are

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some non-negotiable behaviors toensure that no matter what, we remain
bearers of the presence of God asmembers of his royal priesthood.
And so today what I'd love to be ableto do with you together is to tease
out a few stories, um, little characterstudies in this grand sweeping tapestry.
Now, given the time that I have, theyare by no means exhaustive, but my hope

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and how I'm sort of running the slidesas well is that today's enough just to
pique your interest, to allow you andyour loved ones to engage in some further
research or conversations during the week.
The reason again, and I want tobe clear, is because of our own
individual bespoke creativity anddiversity, there is no formula.

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This has made sense.
The deeper I prepared for thisweek as every single person Jesus
interacts with has a unique anddistinct character, and that's why
Jesus didn't preach in formulas.
But he told stories and the use ofthe narrative device is so critical
because it allows you and I to insertourselves into the narrative and

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uncover and unpack the truth thatis in there individually for you.
But the device can be easily hijacked,and it's so important that as
red door people, we hold the wordsacrosanct and we are always prepared.
As one Peter three 15 says, to give ananswer to everyone who asks you for the
reason of the hope that you have, butto do it with gentleness and respect.

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Those are the key words there, andall scripture again, as Timothy 3 10
17 says, is useful for teaching andrebuking correcting and training.
So with this in mind, where do we start?
Well, if we want to actually seethe blueprint of the intention of
work, which is a lot different to themodernized western view of work, we

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probably have to start at the beginning.
But before we do, so, wouldyou join with me as we pray?
Father, we thank you for yourgreat love for us, and we thank

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you that you have made us alivewith Christ even when we were dead.
Thank you that it is by gracethat we have been saved.
And that you have raised us upwith Christ and together we are
able to express kindness to others.
Thank you Lord, that you have providedus with the opportunity to be your
handy work created in Jesus to dogood works, which you have actually

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prepared us in advance for us to do so.
So Father, as we sithere together, may you.
Make us so aware of your presence.
May the peace that surpasses allunderstanding rest on this place
that we would understand how to workhard at work worth doing, would you

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be with us as we learn and hoveraround the word of God together?
Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
So at the very beginning of the Bible,weave, within the story of chaotic
disorder, there is a garden where inthe center of the garden, life and

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creative power is available to God,breathe and image bearing humanity.
The key verse in this part ofour walkthrough, the Bible is
actually found in Genesis two, two.
And again, just to clarify, I'm notgoing to read all the scriptures
out because of time, but again, theyare there for your own consumption.

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Um, with thanks to Dr. Tim Mackey,the term in Hebrew given to the Earth
being formless and empty, which wesee in Genesis one, is Tohu wa Bohu.
In English, it is betterdescribed as wild and waste.
And so in the Bible, what youwill see is that this word is
commonly used to refer to anythinginvolving desert and wasteland,

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desert of sand, desert of water.
The entire thing is tohu, ba, bohu.
And so what are we seeing Goddoing in Genesis chapter two,
verse two, there is a detailed listof work which he has been doing.
In Genesis chapter one,
the heart and essence of God's work inGenesis chapter one, and the practical

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application for you and I this morningis this God the creator, takes the
wild and the waste takes what isdisorderly, chaotic, dark, and raw,
and he creatively generates beauty.
Structure and order, whichresults in benefit to others.

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You'll see that in the creationof the world into the garden.
The key here for us is to appreciate thatGod is always in the business of making
something which will benefit others.
And what this thing suggests isthat if we are to follow Jesus and
be about the father's business,our work and our vocation.

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Is and always should be another centered activity.
So as we step into Genesis two, thereare some interesting themes here of self
perpetuating growth and an invitation notjust to create, but for others to step
into their own role and responsibility.

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If we have a look at Genesis two 15,what we see is that the Lord God took
the man and put him in the gardento work it and take care of it.
The emphasis is on care.
Part of the early definition of work andperhaps why God the father was envisioning
humans that this work was worth doingwas because this is a dignified,

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beautiful vocation of taking potential.
In all of its shapes and sizesand bring order and beauty so
that others can benefit more thanjust me as a human surviving.
And so this extends and this themeextends to so many jobs, whether it is
law or medicine, or dentistry or creativearts, or whatever the case may be.

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I just wanna very quickly mention thiswhole idea of creative arts, if that's
what you enjoy, that the creative bent.
Where you actually love seeing thingscome to life, that creative Ben, where
you can create something out of nothing,that is a very, very clear vocational
clue in what you actually have beencreated to do in mirroring what God the

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Father has been doing since time began.
So not only do we observe this ideaof work and ruling over the land,
but there's this beautiful aspect aswe see here, of taking care of it.
Intentionally taking careof things, a healthy reason,
vigilance in the stewarding of thegarden as we go about our work.

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See, the whole point of the garden motifis so that there can be a surplus so that
others can eat a surplus of resources sothat others can find shade and clothing.
And as you can see, God, thebespoke Taylor weave some more
creative genius in Genesis 3 21.
As he takes furs and makes clothesfor Adam and Eve, it is the exact same

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vision when we talk about our work asred door people, and it's therefore
a little different to the acceptedWestern definition where in this
particular case, work is a divine gift.
Where humans, you and I imitate thecreativity, imitate the goodness, and

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imitate the intention of the creatorby working on and caring for whatever
patch of the garden that appears tobe in front of you for this season.
Now Genesis three takes a bitof a turn, and I wish I had some
more time to sort of unpack that.
But what I will say is this, is thatas you engage in your vocation, you

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are likely to have combinations ofgood seasons and not so good seasons.
The fact that you are workinghard doesn't necessarily mean
that you're in the wrong place.
But what it does mean is thatyou and I live in a world
that is compromised by sin.
Yeah.
And so if you are looking for somepractical things to extract out

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of the creation story, there are acouple of questions which I'd like
to present for your consideration.
Noting the definition of Tohu wa bohubeing wild and waste, where is that
wild and waste in your workplace?
Where does that exist?
You can probably already see it.
Where is the wild and waste inside of you?

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Where can you put your hand, eitherat work or somewhere else that
can bring order or do somethingbeautiful to benefit others?
How do you enter your workplace,not just with your salary in mind,
but how can you enter your workplacein a posture of loving and serving
others as a non-anxious presence?

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Knowing that God goes before.
Even though they may not actuallyunderstand what you're doing,
and if you're in a Genesis three seasonof, of your work or your vocation.
Where have things gone wronghere in the place where I work?

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And is there any way that what Jesus hasdone for us can somehow be part of solving
a problem or mediating an argument orseeking peace or finding a way to solve
a problem so that more people can benefitfrom this garden, that God has put in
charge for us to curate and take care of.

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But of course the story complicatesitself because we have autonomy
and God commissions the humansto work and to flourish.
But we are always given a choice,and the choice which humanity made
in Genesis chapter three means thatwe have to wait for a wounded victor
to crush the head of the serpent aswe see predicted in Genesis three 15.

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So these shadows start to appear.
I hope that makes sense.
So because of human's decision,there are then shadows which
begin to anticipate the Messiah.
And so the second fact pattern that Iwant to be able to present after we've now
moved from the garden seeks to highlightanother aspect of vocation, which I think

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we often miss and forget in your life.
As there happened in mine, thereare various God ordained moments.
There are circumstances and there arepeople that life brings your way, which
actually help you begin to formulate whatyou have been put on this earth to do.

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Now, sometimes these momentsand these people, they appear in
array of beautiful, godly light.
Sometimes these moments and people appearin the opposite, A harsh sports coach.
A bad singing teacher, a clumsypastor, death, divorce, disability.

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The light and clarity of what thatmoment, however dark or however
bright was for appears later.
And as we will see in this, um, oldTestament story, which I'll unpack
sometimes it appears at the last minute.
We begin to think now, if I may,about God being the unseen visible,

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which means whilst you may not seeGod, you can see the effect of God.
Um, there was a Lion Kingreference earlier this
morning, so I'll go with that.
There is a point where Rafiki says toSimba, when he's having an identity
crisis, you need to look harder.

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And so if we look harder, if we lookbeyond our circumstance, what we
find that although God may not appearpresent, and I have felt that perceived
abandonment many, many times, eventoday, if I let my thoughts run away
from me, I feel aspects of abandonmentin my work and my personal world.
But we have to hope andbelieve that God is engineering

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circumstances behind the scenes.
So if I may, I want to open up, uh,11 chapters of the Book of Esther.
I'm gonna do so in about fiveminutes, so please bear with
me, uh, during this time, right?
So after the garden, God's chosenpeople, they are scattered.
And so what they are doing is they'retrying to gather stories to help

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them remind themselves of what westand for, who do we stand for?
And so the salient points of.
Esther's story are as follows, the Kingof Persia has a 187 day party on day 187.
He demands that his wife, queenVashti, show off her beauty.
She refuses the King DeposesVashti and gets some wise counsel.

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And what the Wise Council is, islet's hold a beauty pageant so
that you can find a new queen.
This is when Esther and Mordecai,two Jewish people entered the scene.
Esther is a Jewish orphan.
Orphan looked after by Uncle Mordecai.
They are both of Jewish descentand they are part of God's

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chosen people, albeit displaced.
Stay with me.
Esther decides to hide her Jewish identityenters the beauty pageant and wins.
It's all here.
The king is so obsessed with Esther.
He elevates her to becomethe new queen of Persia.

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The problem, however, is thatthe Jewish people are in danger.
Coincidence, number one.
Uncle Mordecai just happens tooverhear one night at the city at
the King's Gate, two Royal guardsplotting to murder the king.
After hearing this, he informs Esther,who then informs the king and Mordecai

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gets credit for saving the king's life.
A lucky moment note for thepodcast, I've got the inverted
commas using my hands there.
Mordecai just happened to be standingthere at the exact moment that the two
guards at the King's Gate decide toshare their plans about killing the king.
What the best place to have asecret meeting mom would think?

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This moment is recorded in the King'srecords park that the anti-hero arrives.
His name is Haman.
The king elevates Haman to the highestposition in the kingdom and demands
that everyone kneel before Haman.
Uncle Mordecai refusesHaman is filled with rage.

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Haman finds out that Uncle Mordecaiis Jewish and persuades the king
to enact a decree to destroy.
Every single Jewish person.
What that then means is that Mordecaiand Esther are now the only hope for the
Jewish people, and so they have a plan.

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Esther will reveal her identityto the king and plead with
him to reverse the decree.
Here's a difficultthing about Persian law.
You can't approach the king withoutbeing summoned, and if you do
approach the king without beingsummoned, that is punishable by death.
So the fate of the Jewish people ishere, and Mordecai begins to bargain with
himself and says to Esther, look, evenif you stay silent, as we can see here

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in Esther four 13 to 16, um, you know,deliverance will come from another place.
And then Mordecai mentions this,which has been used for years.
Who knows, maybe you have becomeQueen for such a time as this.
And then Esther responds andsays, if I perish, I perish.

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Which is an incredible line ofknowing the value of your identity,
what you are put on earth to do.
Okay, so far.
Okay.
Esther hosts the King and Haman at abanquet and says to the king, I have
a favor to ask the following day.
So about the end of thebanquet, Haman leaves the first

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banquet drunk Predictably, andsees Mordecai in the street.
And because coincidentally, hesees Mordecai in the street, he's
so furious that he orders thattomorrow Mordecai be murdered.
You can see how he wishes to do that.
I won't reveal that here.
So we get to the night before.

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Mordecai is about to be murdered.
Coincidence number 55,the king can't sleep.
Coincidence.
56. He then beckons his guards to read outthe Royal Chronicles as bedtime reading.
So he can asleep.

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What's the part that is read out?
The part that is read out isthe history of the account
of Mordecai saving his life,
something that the king hadtotally forgotten the next morning.
As Haman enters to get ready toexecute Mordecai, the King reverses

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circumstances and actually asksHaman to honor Mordecai publicly.
And that day, Esther revealsto the king that she's Jewish.
Haman has plotted to murderher and all of her people.
And as the story goes on, what thenhappens is that the Jews are then given
an opportunity to defend themselves.

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They're victorious, and Mordecaiand Esther are able to celebrate
because Mordecai isn't elevatedto a position beside the king.
Okay.
Lot to unpack there.
I've whizzed through that.
But there are a couple of learningsfor you and me as we just get
a bit of a grip on that story.

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When God seems absent, when hispeople are in exile, when death
or destruction appears, evidence,has God abandoned his people?
Has God forgotten his promises?
Has God forgotten about you?
Has God abandoned you?

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My encouragement as we see in thisstory is that God always is at work,
even in the mess and the questionablemoral ambiguity of human history.
He uses the faithfulness of flawedpeople to accomplish his purposes.
The essence of Esther is that itcalls us to trust God's providence

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even when we can't see it.
And even when things get really bad, atleast to our human eyes, to remember that
God is committed to redeeming his world.
So specific to vocation, Esther'sstory is an invitation for you
and I to observe God's activity.

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And there are signs ofGod's activity everywhere.
And as you would've seen, um, I'vehighlighted some of the odd coincidences.
Ines to force us to see God's purpose atwork behind the scenes and circumstances
that we could have never dreamt ofengineering in our own strength.

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So as you sit here, whatmoments have shaped you?
Maybe it's the death of a loved one.
Maybe it's the oasis ofa life-giving friendship.
Maybe it's the trauma of church hurt.
What are the moments right now?
That you can call to mind and what arethe moments that you can observe how

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God lovingly has redeemed those momentsand can make beautiful things out of the
dust of our own feeble human offerings.
I have two more character studies to go.

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So we're seeing a theme here.
Um.
I'd like to talk a little bit about Paul,if I may, because this character study
focuses on another aspect of vocation.
So let's recap.
We've talked about the garden creationstory about a vocation being for others.
This is evidence in the creativityof the garden to notice individually

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the coincidences and ironic reversalsin your own life in Esther and here.
It actually takes a villageof people to help support you.
And in achieving your vocation,what you are actually doing is to
support them and set them up toachieve their God ordained purpose.

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I hope that makes sense.
Similar to the theme of thegarden, it creates self-sustaining
and self-perpetuating life.
So to it is in the story ofPaul, where his vocation inspires
others to achieve their vocation.
Um, Paul has quickly grown to be a bitof a, a role model and a hero of mine
as I sort of look at his life, and he'shad such a significant change as we

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write the book of Philippians becauseActs nine 15 confirms that the Lord has
appointed him as the chosen instrumentto proclaim the Lord's name, de Gentiles.
Remembering now, post Jesusshadows of Jesus now are able to
preach the gospel to everyone.
And this summons shows a completechange in Paul's identity, a complete

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change in Paul's vocation, and acomplete change in Paul's character.
Now, given his life has so manyexamples, I'm just gonna highlight one
minute specific example, which is hisrelationship with the town of Damascus.
This is where he was on his waywhen he had an encounter with Jesus.

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So before.
He's a highly trained Pharisee whosupervised the stoning of Stephen.
As we see in Acts seven 60, hebreathes out murderous threats
towards all Christians in Acts nineone, and then in Acts nine, two.
He asks for permission to imprisonanyone in Damascus that believes

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in Jesus by dragging them 326kilometers back to Jerusalem.
As you see in Acts nine, two,
then Jesus gives him a mission.
Jesus gives him a vocation.
Jesus gives him a new identityduring his visit to Damascus.

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He begins to preach at oncethat Jesus is the son of God.
As seen in Acts nine 20, there is anastonishment and a bewilderment as Paul's
reputation is completely different towhat he's presenting as seen in Acts 9 22.
Here's my favorite part.
Paul's preaching immediately afterhis conversion is so disruptive to

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the status quo that there is a planto kill him, but his loyal followers.
Take him by night and lower himin a basket through an opening in
the wall and allow him to escape.
Uh, for those people who are.
As we all I think, would enjoy the Bibleas a unified story that leads to Jesus,

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I really love that the chosen vesselto set the Gentiles free by proclaiming
the good news of Jesus Christ had to bedelivered by basket in a similar way that
the chosen vessel to set God's people freein the Exodus was also set free by Baskin.
Just a little poetic moment from theever creative God of all creation.

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When Paul arrives in Jerusalem, freshfrom his escape, skepticism, abounds.
This is a guy who has beenbreathing out murderous threats,
but it's not Paul that testifies.
It's Barnabas.
Barnabas speaks on Paul's behalf.
Barnabas is an ally for Paul, andBarnabas is the one that opens

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relationships and doors so that Paulcan move about freely in Jerusalem.
So I'm hoping you're beginning to seea few things here because 25 to 30
years later, Paul writes from prison.
No doubt with the experience of manyyears of following his God-given vocation.
Colossians 3 23, whatever it is thatyou do, work at it with all your heart.

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The emphasis is mine as workingfor the Lord, not for human men.
Since you know you'll receive aninheritance from the Lord as a reward.
I'll talk about what the inheritanceactually means in the context of the
verse, and in Ephesians two, four to10, towards the end we see that we
are God's handiwork, creating ChristJesus to do good works, which God

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prepared in advance for us to do.
So once you actually think about thelife that Paul has lived and the 180
degree turn that has happened, theseverses begin to breathe new life
into what it means to actually fullyand meaningfully engage in work.
The concept of inheritance issomething actually quite important
here, where it's not actuallya financial inheritance, right?

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The word inheritance used when, um,Moses was setting the Israelites
free, or God the father through Moseswas helping set the Israelites free.
Was that the inheritance, was a gift, away of living, a new way of encountering,
um, through the Promised Land, right?
That there would be a way to work andown the land so that you could be free.
So it's different.

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It's not just money in your bank account.
I just wanna make that very clear,because again, if we're not careful,
our Western goggles can actuallydistort the intention of what an
inheritance means in this verse.
It's a way of living.
It's embracing a new, generousspirit to see work as a gift.

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So what do we learn from Paul?
A shadow of Jesus.
There are some themesthat can be identified.
We see a human, just a human calledby God turn from his ways and stay so
on mission that his legacy of settingup the gateway of the story of Christ

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through Europe remains to this day.
Not only this, but through Paul'svocation, what we also observe is
that he was able to inspire andactivate others to realize theirs.
That's really important to me.
Um, so using Philippians as an example,there are minor but significant characters
such as Lydia Epaphroditus, who are ableto support Paul by using their vocation.

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And calling.
And what is happening is that thereis a wave of momentum of other people
finding their gifting and calling andplace in the great grand tapestry that
God waves to restore humanity to his own.
Um, in management speak.
It is a masterclass in delegation.
We also observed the necessity for Paul tohave advocates, to have friends, to have

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a group of people that he can rely on.
Acts 9 29.
The basket people are called followers,but in addition to these followers, he
has Barnabas, and Barnabas is the onewho speaks on his behalf when he cannot.
Barnabas is the one that encourageshim when he cannot be encouraged.

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Barnabas is the one that encourages Paulstay on mission, and it's not just there.
There you'll be okay, but what can I do?
To use my connections and my peopleand my reputation to help open doors so
that you can move freely in Jerusalem.
I hope you can see that really clearimpact of what Barnabas's vocation is.

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Work has actually made moremeaningful because of the grace of
Jesus, and one of the things whichI'm learning that I need to be very
careful of is actually separatingmy weak life from my weekend life.
And I actually think that this definitionof work where we actually encompass it
into one big offering is actually aneasier and more gracious way of living

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in the rhythm, in the way of Jesus.
Because as I bring this to a close,my final study, of course, is Jesus.
John six shows an extremelyhurtful time in Jesus' life.
He is just fed the 5,000, and whathe then does is he speaks about

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eternal life identity only beingfound in him as a result of this.
As John 6 66 says, from thistime, many of his disciples turned
back and no longer followed him.
Just for clarity, this isn'tin reference to the 12.
It's in reference to the otherdisciples that followed him.

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It's, it's painful when you'reon mission and friends leave you,
it is really, really painful.
Like when there is disagreement.
The difficult thing with the contextof this verse is that the disciples
after feeding the 5,000, theywanted Jesus to be a magical genie.

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They were after a provider.
They were after.
The gifts,
they weren't after a saviorthat demands surrender, but in
return gives a new identity.
The gift as we talked of identity, thefree gift of being able out of that

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identity to work hard at work worth doing,unique bespoke to you and your character,
and your background and your story.
Because you are fearfully andwonderfully made and your life story
continues to be a tapestry that onlyyou have the ability to testify about.

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Jesus then asks his inner 12 inJohn 6 67, do you also wanna leave?
I thought about this.
You know, um, it would be completelynatural for someone to be like,
I command you not to leave.

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You're my people.
You're my 12.
I need you here.
But interestingly, Jesus knewthat his vision and his mission
was higher than these disciples.
Do you also wanna leave?
And so Peter, the inconsistent Peter inJohn 6 68, Lord, to whom shall we go?

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Because you have thewords of eternal life.
And so just because the Lord invitesyou as I suspect he is doing and has
done for years now, invites you to dosomething doesn't mean it's gonna be easy.
Doesn't mean it's going to be theeasiest thing you've ever done.

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And you know, I suppose just sort ofsharing a little bit, like working hard
at work worth doing in this currentclimate is actually very, very difficult
and it can be very, very lonely.
I. And my encouragement is to remindeach other that we need resources
and these resources, whether that isa reminder that God the Father, also
work the garden to provide for you.

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Whether it's an encouragement from someoneelse or whether it is just the ability as
we're doing now, to meditate on his loveand goodness, his consistency and his
ability to deliver sometimes at the lastmoment, our invitation to eternal life.
Our invitation is secure in the identityas children of God, but it's not just

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enjoying life with God into eternity.
And I think that's anothermisunderstanding which I
need to repent of as well.
What I've realized is as I'm growingin, in this, in this evolving
sort of understanding, is thatit includes living a life here.
Whilst we are alive, we're as aroyal pre suited believers, our
Jesus inspired footprint on theworld through our waking hours, is

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actually providing an opportunityfor heaven to come down to earth.
What it is doing is it allows others, evenfor a minute to glimpse and see Jesus.
Even for a minute to see, hopefullysome degree of compassion.

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But there is a mandate on you andI is that we are then called to
robustly and wholeheartedly engagein being about the father's business,
as it says in in Exodus, you know, howwill anyone know that we belong to you?
And similarly now as we are shadowsof Jesus Post Resurrection for you

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and for me and each other, how willthe world know that we belong to
each other if we don't act in a waywhich is consistent with that truth?
When we pray together,
father, we just take a moment this morningas the, as your word has washed over us.

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Just to consider
our relationship with you, to consideryour creativity, to consider how you
are always making things new from thewild and the waste to consider how you
are making, continue to make beautifulthings out of the dust of our feeble

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offerings to consider how coincidentally.
Or not.
Your grace is always present.
You are always working behind the scenes.
Thank you that you have given to us eachother because as you have given to us

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each other, we are able to then belittleJesus' to everyone to encourage to call.
To ensure that we all stay onmission together, and I thank you
for the example of your son Jesus.
'cause if it wasn't for hisvocation, for his mission, for
his gospel, we wouldn't be here tobe able to enjoy the inheritance.

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That is a new way of living.
The ability to execute justice,to love others, and to create
an environment where ultimately.
You are glorified.
So this morning, as temples of the HolySpirit, as bearers of your very presence,
would you begin just to work in us, toencourage us to inspire us than indeed we

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are able to work hard at work Worth doing.
Because that's what you have done.
That's what you have called us to do,and out of the gratitude of the gift of
our identity and salvation, may that besomething which we engage in together.
Thank you, Lord.