Our Work: Our Calling

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 2Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. (Genesis 1:31-Genesis 2:1, 2)


Last Sunday I talked about bringing order out of chaos and that the first step in that process is making distinctions. Light and darkness, night and day, earth and sky, man and woman, Creator and Created. Today let’s talk about one more distinction made in this passage of Genesis, the distinction between work and rest. In this passage both are good, both are important.

But there was a time in the history of Christianity that one was exalted above the other. In fact I grew up in a culture where the good life, or success, whatever you may call it, is defined by the absence of work. The ideal life is to be able to command others to do the work. It is an exalted position to sit on a rocking chair and speak with a condescending voice to the servant, “O Inday, and tsinelas ko. Inday, isang basong tubig. Inday ilagay mo to sa pridyeder.”

In fact I have observed in Boracay that even the poorest visitor gets a perverse pleasure in being able to throw things at the street. There is an expectation that somebody gets paid to pick up litter that one throws away. For a few days in the island, every visitor is a master. Others have to do the dirty work.

During the time of Rizal the priestly vocation was considered higher than the vocation of the ordinary workingman. The command of the priest was considered the command of God. But Rizal in his letter to the women of Malolos criticized this attitude. He said,

Napagkilala din ninyo na ang utos ñg Dios ay iba sa utos ñg Parí, na ang kabanalan ay hindi ang matagal na luhod, mahabang dasal, malalaking kuentas, libaguing kalmin, kundí ang mabuting asal, malinis na loob at matuid na isip.

You know that the commandment of God is not the same as the commandment of the priest, that religion is not a matter of how long you kneel or how much you pray. It is not a matter of how large is your scapular or your religious medal. Rather it is a matter of proper conduct, clean conscience and a righteous mind.

Rizal was struggling with a belief system that considers prayer more important than work. It was believed that work was a curse and burden to be avoided if it exceeded what was enough for a modest life. The life of a priest and a nun was most suited for that kind of ethic or belief-system.

With Martin Luther there began a new understanding of Christianity.

1. It was a Christianity that understood that every believer is a priest unto God. But how does this priesthood offer its sacrifices to God? Not only in times of worship and prayer. But where everything we do is worship and prayer.

In Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

The body and all it does becomes an instrument for worship, whether it is done in church, or at home or in the workplace. These are various expressions of worship.
Work for the Christian, is not a curse but a blessing. It is the means by which we glorify God. Speaking to slaves who cannot receive earthly reward for their labor Paul said,

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:22-24).

Our work then is a means of glorifying God. Idleness does not glorify God. In his letter to the Thessalonians he discouraged Christians from making themselves a burden to other believers.

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labour we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed. Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

2. There is another thing that we owe to the Reformers. It is a different attitude towards time and money. The Reformers believed that the idle person who spends one day sitting at home spends more than what he spent for his needs that day. He has also spent the money he should be receiving from his wages.

Furthermore, if he was a businessman he lost the opportunity for his money to beget more money. If you murder a hen you also murder all her chicks for a thousand generation. If you murder a thousand pesos, you lose the potential of those thousand pesos to yield more money.

More than greed is involved here. Excess wealth in the pursuit of honest labor is distinguishab le from avarice. To the Reformers economic gain is a sign of God’s grace.

The Roman Catholic who goes to the priest and seeks to be absolved of his sins finds assurance in the words of absolution. But the Biblical believer who knows from the promises of the Bible such as John 1:12, and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit that he is a child of God (Romans 8:16), finds external assurance elsewhere. One of those external signs is the material blessing of God upon our lives.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Reformers to the life of the ordinary believer is their belief in calling. Most of you are in awe whenever pastors talk about their calling. But there is a calling in which all of us can participate. It is the calling to live our lives in the world, and to be used by God so that our lives can bless others. John Wesley said, “Earn as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Invest as much as you can. Give as much as you can.” This summarizes the Protestant work ethic.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Cor 10:31.

In a sense, therefore there is no ordinary believer. All are priests unto God. All share in the calling of giving glory to God through his or her vocation. The priest performs it at the altar, the minister at the pulpit. The farmer’s altar and pulpit is his rice field; the carpenter and mason, the house they are building, the clerk, his or her desk. For others it is the call center, the factory, the store.

As heirs of the Reformation, we have every reason to take pride in the work of our hands. Paul did so. He said, “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing. You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions. In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ “ (Acts 20:33-36).

We have as much responsibility, then, not only to share the Gospel with our neighbors, but also to share our blessing with the needy. But we can only share what we possess. That is why it is not enough for a Christian to say,”Makakaon lag makabisti ok na.” If can feed ourselves; if we can clothe ourselves, it is enough. It is enough if we live in a world where everyone has equal opportunity to feed themselves and to clothe themselves. But we live in a very unequal world. Some are too ill, some are too weak, some are too discouraged. It is the height of selfishness for us to say that.

• If you are a laborer then pray that the Lord will give you a job that will provide more for you and your family.
• If you are an employee then seek to be promoted.
• If you are a businessman, then pray that the Lord will bless your business so you can hire more people, and be a blessing to the church and its mission. You have a calling to prosper so you can be a blessing.

In 2003 Sonia and I arrived to assume our responsibilities at Faith Village. We did not like what we saw. The place was unkempt, garbage was everywhere. There were only two workers who spent most of the day sitting down and watching over the property.

Today Faith Retreat looks neat and trim. We don’t have the money to landscape but we make us of what we have to create beauty and a restful atmosphere. But the grass is always mown and our calachuchi trees provide color in the summer peak season.
Furthermore we employ nine workers now. And out of our proceeds we send fifty elementary school Ati children and provide scholarship to two college young people. We pay the wages of two preschool teachers. We provide training for the teachers.
With the help of Mission of Mercy and Alan’s church we educate and feed a hundred Ati children every day five days a week.

No, never consider work as a burden. It is a privilege given by God. It is a calling.