A sermon based on Genesis 1:1 - 2:3

Work and rest are two of the most essential ingredients that make up our human life. We do both, in differing proportions, from the day we are born till the day we die. So what does God’s Word have to teach us about these two?

I. Work and Rest are both God’s idea

We learn that lesson from the very first chapters of Genesis. The first five words tell us, “In the beginning God created,” and in the second and third verses of chapter two we read that, “On the seventh day…God rested from all His work and God blessed the seventh day and made it holy…”

God wove the pattern or the rhythm of work and rest into the very fabric of the universe He created. We see in Genesis 2 how the Lord created a garden in Eden and placed man in it. Verse 15 says: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Part of that work involved management and care for all the animals. God even gave Adam the job of naming the animals. Verse 19 says, “Whatever the man named each living creature, that was its name.” Giving a name in Biblical culture involved much more than simply sticking a label on someone or something. It had the force of giving identity, character, and purpose. Giving a name infused the creature or being with all that the name signified and called forth those characteristics from it.

With the creation of Eve, woman, out of a bone from man’s side, God intended for man and woman to be an inseparable team working side by side to administer and care for God’s world on His behalf – reflecting the divine and heavenly nature here on earth.

In Exodus, when God revealed His law to the nation of Israel, He gave the Sabbath commandment with the clear understanding that people would need to rest on the seventh day because they were working the other six. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed." (Exodus 23:12).

God planned for us to work, and He planned for us to rest, and He created the Sabbath for that purpose. God did not create the Sabbath to be a burden on our backs, but a protection for them. Jesus helped us understand the purpose of the Sabbath Law in Mark 2:27, when the Pharisees charged Him and His disciples with breaking that Law by plucking ears of grain to eat as they walked through a field on the Sabbath. He stated that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus also continued to heal and minister to the sick on the Sabbath in spite of the opposition and anger of the Pharisees. In Mark 3:4 Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.

So work and rest are God’s plan and pattern for us. But human need and suffering always moves the heart of God to respond – even on the Sabbath – and so it should be also with us.

II. How we do our work and use our rest says much about who we are

When God initially ordained work as a major aspect of our life back there in the Garden of Eden, it was intended to be a life-giving, invigorating, energizing, and fully satisfying experience – as when an artist paints a portrait, or a musician composes a thrilling piece of music. The rest was not to be a weariness break or relief from exhaustion, but more like a rest in a musical score – a pause in the flow of the melody or the symphony between one note and the next.

But our sin and rebellion radically altered the way the universe works. That which was intended to only bless, now became a burden and toil. And one of the consequences was, as God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.” (Genesis 3: 17-19).

That is the way it has been ever since, whether our work has been as slaves under the whip, making bricks without straw for Pharaoh, or the company executive burning the candle at both ends to meet or exceed the expectations of the stock holders and board of directors while trying to balance the needs and demands of wife, husband, family, church, service club and health.

This world is always going to put varying degrees of pressures upon us. Sometimes we will have work environments that are largely favorable and pleasant, and other times we will have to endure circumstances and colleagues and bosses or supervisors that serve to push every single button we have in spite of us rendering honorable and efficient service. And of course none of us lives only in one of the two extremes, so we will no doubt experience something of both.

God’s word to us is that no matter what the nature or environment of our work might be, we are to remember that the ultimate One we are accountable to is God and not another man or woman. And so this Scripture is applicable as much to the so-called “blue collar worker” as it is to the company CEO, or to the child at school, as to the parent in the home: "Slaves [substitute: employees, students, etc.] obey your earthly master with respect and honor, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 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. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. And masters (employers) treat your slaves (employees) in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him." (Ephesians 6:5-9).

That perspective and mindset that made it possible for Joseph, a prisoner in Egypt, having been treated unjustly and been abused by his brothers, having been falsely accused of attempted rape by the wife of Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard, to entrust himself to God and render the best service even in the dungeon so that God later elevated him to the position of Prime Minister of all Egypt.

Our Lord Jesus Himself suffered while doing good works, and in so doing set us an example to follow. I don’t want to leave the impression that Jesus calls us to be a doormat in any situation. By all means let’s do what we can to change the situation or the environment for the better – not only for our own sakes but also for others – but do so not in arrogance or with rudeness but with genuine humility and love even for the problem causers.

Acknowledge the Lord as the One to whom you are ultimately accountable for how you do your work and how you use your time for rest. Keep regular Sabbaths with Him. Thank Him for the work circumstances and environments that bless and trust Him and lift primarily to Him the ones that cause pain. He’s been there before Himself and has promised to never abandon you.

But let’s also remember, He did not promise to remove all causes and sources of injustice and unrighteousness in this life. Some will have to wait for the New Heaven and the New Earth. In the interim, our witness to His love and grace in those settings could well be what opens or shuts the Kingdom Door to those who watch and observe.

III. Our work and rest in this life are but a pale shadow of what is to come in the next

In Matthew 25: 14-30 is Jesus’ well known Parable of the Talents about the man who called his servants to him prior to going on a journey. He entrusted to each differing sums of his wealth - $5000, $2000, and $1000 with the understanding that they would use their initiative and work with it and multiply it. When he returned, the first two had doubled his initial investment and his word to each of them is the same: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” The last servant however, had done nothing with his master’s investment – he had taken it and buried it. The angry response of the master was to take away what he had been given and give it to the one who had been the most industrious. He refers to this latter one as a “wicked, lazy, and worthless servant” and banishes him to the place of darkness and anguish.

What’s the lesson for us here? The story is at least making the point that the work we do or do not do in this life really does have rewards or consequences in the next. This brief life is in fact the trial run for eternity. It is here that we make the decisions and the choices that have eternal outcomes. It is also here that we begin to put into practice the skills and talents and abilities with which God has gifted us that will be magnified a zillion times over in the next.

The cartoon picture of heaven’s saints just sitting around on fluffy clouds plucking harps for all eternity belongs in the same trashy category as those that see God as some heavenly Santa Claus or the devil as little Hot Stuff with a pitchfork. As God begins to unfold to us His plan for the eternal ages, just imagine the new insights and understanding and opportunities to grow and develop there will continually be without the limitations of this earthly existence and without the weight and burden of sin to distort and spoil.

It may well be that those who started to use their culinary or artistic or musical or woodworking or mathematical talents here to benefit and bless others will continue to use them in infinitely enhanced proportions in the next. I can just see our brother P., to whom God has given such a love of history and for books, being enthralled as he has opportunity to enter heaven’s library and sit down to talk with Moses, Micah, or Methuselah about their earth time experience with the Lord.

Or our sister P., with her love for gardening and her ability to make it such a place of peace and beauty - I can just see our Lord taking her by the hand and showing her a garden of exquisite, radiant, almost translucent flowers, shrubs and trees He has prepared for her to care for. And for V., with her special love for horses, He has arranged a special surprise, to care for His white stallion and serve in heaven’s horse stables. And N., who is such a gracious and considerate hostess, attentive to the smallest details in serving a delicious meal - I can see the Lord bringing her to meet Martha of Bethany and joining her to prepare heavenly delights for the Lord’s banqueting table. And I see S. and C. and J., whom God has anointed with such special gifts of music, now working with the Psalmist David to compose and lead awe-inspiring worship for all God’s saints.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul quotes the Prophet Isaiah saying: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” Even our wildest dreams and imaginations fall far short of the life God has planned for us. What we know and experience here is but the pale shadow of what is yet to be. Here, we are like an infant in the womb trying to picture what life will be like on the outside.

By doing all your work as unto the Lord (that which no one else sees, as well as that which is seen and evaluated by others), using for Him the skills and abilities and talents with which He has blessed you, may you get to hear Him say on that soon-coming Day, “Well Done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the Joy of your Master.”

Shortened form of a sermon preached by Johann Neethling in August 2003 at Skamokawa United Methodist Church, WA.  Edited for presentation in online format.    Sermoncentral.com.    Content distributed by WorkLife.org > Used for non-profit teaching purposes only.