Well, a couple of things before we begin. The
first is if you're playing along at home in your
growth groups, you'll know that we've got a booklet
and today we're actually going out of order.
It was meant to be wise with wealth. But we're
actually doing WISE with work, just because I
had to rewrite the Sermon on Wealth, and it's
nothing to do with the state of the economy or
anything, I just hadn't written one before. And
so I just thought I'd save myself a bit of time
and do it next week. So yeah, we're doing work
this week, so it will be a bit backwards. The
second thing to let you know about is that we've
got Q &A today, so if you want to phone in and
text in a question and remain anonymous, you
totally can, or you can do it the old -fashioned
way, put up your hand and let everyone know who
you are. But we're going to start now. I'm going
to pray. If you've got your Bible open, it'd
be great to have Proverbs there open in front
of you. Let's pray. Let's ask God for help as
we dig into His Word. Gracious Heavenly Father,
we thank you that you're a speaking God. We thank
you that you give us wisdom in your word and
we pray that you would help us to see the great
wisdom that is found in the work of Jesus Christ.
And we ask this in his name. Amen. Well, I first
started working in ministry in 2008. It seems
like a little while ago. But before that, I had
a variety of jobs. I was a barista at one point.
I was a marketing student. I was a footy umpire.
I did some work at the Jack Newton Junior Golf
Foundation as a marketing intern. And I had a
fancy title at the bank as a customer service
officer. which just means bank teller. And each
job was so different. One job, I'd be steaming
milk for someone. Other jobs, like footy umpire,
I had parents yelling at me because I didn't
pay their son the free kick. As a bank teller,
I got held up once, but I'll save that one for
another day. But despite the differences, and
I mean, they're very different jobs, aren't they?
Bank teller to barista to footy umpire. But despite
the differences, there's a lot of overlap. That's
what I found. There's a lot of overlap in the
tricky things of any workplace. How do you motivate
yourself? How do you handle office politics?
How do you handle those difficult co -workers?
And I'm sure it's the same for everybody here.
I mean, we've got all sorts of different jobs
in this room. We've got engineers. We've got
teachers. We've got scientists. We've got, I
mean, people who are retired. We've got stay
-at -home parents, the hardest job of all. And
yet all of us, I reckon, will say that the similarities
are there for those tricky things. I mean, the
office politics, if you're a stay -at -home parent,
can be really confusing. But yet here's the thing.
Some of us will get out of bed tomorrow, whatever
job we have, some of us will get out of bed tomorrow
really enthusiastically, won't we? We'll wake
up with a spring in our step, we're ready to
go. And some of us will be going to the same
sort of job, and we won't. We won't have that
enthusiasm to get out of bed and go to work.
We'll want to hit the snooze alarm, we'll want
to call in sick. Because even though the struggles
are similar, some of us will be keen to go and
others of us won't. And so I want to ask today,
what will shape how we turn up for work? What
will shape how we turn up for work? What will
make us turn up gladly, calmly, enthusiastically?
Now, I get it, external factors can help. really
good pay makes it easier to get out of bed and
go to work, doesn't it? You know, all the benefits,
you get the prime parking spot, you know, you
get the corner office with the great view, all
of that, it helps. And especially if it's a nice
work culture and everyone gets along, that helps
too. It's easy to go to work when things are
like that, where you feel valued, where everyone
gets along. But still, do you want your attitude,
your mindset, the way you turn up to be controlled
by other people or by circumstances? How do you
turn up well, even when it's hard? That's what
I want to ask today. Because if you can, you
can bring about positive change in your workplace.
If you can, you can actually likely attract more
customers or get promoted. If you can, you can
enjoy your work and find meaning when it really
sucks sometimes. And best of all, if you can,
you can be an honouring witness to the Lord Jesus.
So we need to talk about being wise at work,
understanding how to get the best out of yourself,
how to navigate the complexities and the stresses
of any workplace. And Proverbs 10 -25 in light
of the Gospel really helps us with that. And
here's the big thing we're going to see today
as we look at Proverbs. Seeing Jesus at work
reshapes how you show up to work. There's one
thing you take away from today, I hope it's that.
Seeing Jesus at work reshapes how you show up
to work. And there's three different ways that
it will shape how you show up at work. There
may be well more, but three that we're going
to look at today. Firstly, when you're seeing
Jesus at work and you're showing up to work differently,
you'll possess a good work ethic. You'll possess
a good work ethic. Secondly, you'll promote a
calm workplace. You'll promote a calm workplace.
And thirdly, You'll plan out your work well.
You'll plan out your work well. So let's have
a look at the first one. You'll possess a good
work ethic. We see this all over Proverbs. Here's
a couple of verses that highlight it. The soul
of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while
the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Or like vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the
eyes, oh, that hurts, you know, that's the idea.
So is the sluggard to those who send him. See,
a good work ethic helps you so much and helps
your workplace so much. It's hard to get a raise,
hard to get a promotion, hard to get new customers,
hard to get anything if there's a poor work ethic.
So to have a good work ethic, well, things will
go well, generally speaking. But also, it's so
important to work with people who have that same
good work ethic, isn't it? Relying on a sluggard
is painful and irritating. They're not the sort
of person you delegate work to, are they? It's
good to know that. It's like, as the proverb
says, vinegar and smoke. I remember one workplace,
one church I worked in, there was a ministry
apprentice there and when he first started he
had a poor work ethic. He came late and left
early. When we were there he would goof off all
the time. He didn't add much value to the staff
team and it stung all of us. There was a lot
of vinegar and a lot of smoke going on. And sadly
for him at the end of his apprenticeship there
was no role. afterward for him. And it was very
sad and very disappointing. How do you motivate
someone like that? How do you motivate yourself
if you're feeling like that? Maybe you're going
the whole, oh, I tried working really hard in
my workplace. I saw this great carrot and it
just was a real disappointment. I'm not going
to bother. I'm going to do the whole quiet quitting
thing now. Just do the bare minimum. How do you
motivate yourself or someone else when you're
in that headspace? Well, it comes, especially
if you've got Christians there, it comes from
a deep love for one another. When you're free
from fear, when you're free from selfishness,
when you want to love other people, that makes
you work hard, doesn't it? Especially when you
see Jesus at work for you. I remember with this
apprentice, as his love for Jesus grew, his work
got better. His work ethic changed and it started
to improve. Sadly, it didn't improve enough for
him to have a job at the end, but it improved
because he could see how much Jesus loved him.
He could see how much Jesus had worked for him
and it changed his heart and it changed his mindset
and he had a new work ethic. When you get stuck
like that, go back to Jesus. See the work He
has done for you. Now, we've got to be careful
not to all or nothing this as well, by the way.
Because it's easy to start, you know, looking
at it and going, all right, well, I'm going to
do the whole judging thing, and I'm going to
go around and, oh, they're sluggard, and they're
not, and they're diligent, and oh, well, I'm
diligent, and oh, there's another sluggard there.
It's very easy to just start to classify yourself
and others, to pigeonhole people, to get too
simplistic, to go from being discerning to very
judgmental. Now wisdom is understanding how the
world works and it's trying to unearth the intricacies
and the nuances of how the world works and trying
to understand where the balance lies and that
there are differences and times and places and
contexts. So if you carefully read proverbs,
you'll see there's intricacies and nuances everywhere
that emerge. It's about being curious. When is
it laziness? When is it, you know, working too
hard? When is it getting the balance right? Here's
a great verse that sort of helps speak into that.
The slugger does not plough in the autumn. He
will seek at harvest. and have nothing. So it's
not saying, like, let's all be workaholics and
run ourselves into the ground. The sluggard doesn't
attune to the rhythms of life. They over -rest
and especially they rest at the wrong times.
We've got to remember God is not anti -rest,
is he? He's the God of Sabbath. We need rest.
The way of wisdom is to get the balance right.
It's to get that true work -life balance. It's
a bit like this. So there's the sluggard, there's
the workaholic, and we want to be the one in
the middle. We want to be diligent. Have you
got that balance right? How? How do you get the
balance right? It's by seeing Jesus at work.
How did he work? Well, Jesus slept in the boat
because he was tired after lots of ministry,
didn't he? It's okay to have a break. It's okay
to rest. There's a time and a place to rest and
rest well. And he told his disciples to come
away and rest a while because he could see they
needed rest. But there were times where he'd
see the crowds and he'd have compassion on them,
and he'd push through even though he was exhausted.
See, Jesus pivoted between hard work and healing
rest, trying to work out when was the appropriate
time for each. And the way we work it out is
a bit of trial and error, but it's especially
by looking at the Lord Jesus and seeing what
he did. so that we can get the balance right.
So is that what you do? Are you leaning toward
the sluggard? Are you leaning toward the workaholic?
Do you get the balance right as the diligent
does in Proverbs? See, being wise at work, it's
about getting that balance. But there's other
ways in which we need to be wise at work, and
here's another one. We need to promote a calm
workplace. We need to promote a calm workplace.
Very hard to do that if you're a workaholic.
So that's, again, why you need a bit of rest.
But how do we promote a calm workplace? Well,
here's some ideas from Proverbs. It's an honour
for a man to keep aloof from strife. But every
fool will be quarrelling. It's like fools are
there just looking for something to fight about.
Or a dishonest man spreads strife and a whisperer
separates close friends. They love to just, oh,
did you hear what they said? Just something to
cause another fight. Or look at these ones. Do
not make friends with a hot -tempered person.
Do not associate with one easily angered, or
you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.
or whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is
like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
Don't you love that imagery? You know, there's
the dog walking past, I'm just going to yank
his ears. That sounds like something my kids
would do and they will get bitten. But being
wise at work means you don't do that. Again,
it's balance. You know, there is a time and a
place to call it out and to speak up and... But
you don't pick fights unnecessarily. You don't
lie. You don't engage in office gossip. You don't
get irate or associate with those who do, or
you don't meddle with things that aren't anything
to do with you. The wise are calm. They're regulated.
They pick their battles. The wise, they engage
in office gossip, but only in the positive office
gossip. Did you hear about the great job that
Fred did the other day? Wow, he was fantastic.
They don't do the other one. They do the positive
one. They are stable and straightforward. They're
a wonderful presence, even when the rest of the
workplace is chaos. When I was a relief teller
at Bendigo Bank, there were very few Christians
where I worked in Sydney. But there was one,
a wonderful Christian man who was another teller
at Homebush Branch. I think his name was Joss,
but he was amazing. It wasn't the easiest branch
to work in. The manager and the supervisor there
were constantly at war with one another, mainly
over how cold the air conditioning was. But ironically,
it got very heated over the temperature of the
air conditioning. But, you know, there was lots
of other things, a very cramped branch. There
was even a robbery. But Joss, he was positive
and upbeat. He didn't gossip. He didn't put others
down. You know, one of the supervisors, she was
always there telling me, oh, the manager, he's
been such a jerk this week, Brendan, you don't
even know. And she would just vent and vent and
vent. But not Joss. He just focused on his work.
He often diffused situations with humour, kindness
and tact. And when he was there, he was a great
place to work. When I was covering for him, it
was at best unpleasant. He really made a difference
to that workplace. What about you? When you turn
up to work and it's a disastrous place to be,
Everyone's panicking about everything, it's toxic,
everything's going wrong. It's easy to get caught
up and get swept into it, isn't it? It doesn't
matter whether it's a hospital, it doesn't matter
whether it's a classroom, it doesn't matter whether
it's parenting, it doesn't matter whether it's
ministry or a bank. If you aren't careful, you
can become like tissue paper in a cyclone, just
blown around by everything else that's going
on. You know what makes you like a ten -ton anchor
in those sort of environments? Seeing Jesus at
work. You're there and your boss is barking at
you and getting angry. Just look past him. Look
past him. It's Jesus. He's behind him. Actually,
he's on the throne. He's sitting there, he's
ruling over, you know, my boss is doing all that,
but I see the bigger picture. Jesus is in charge.
While he's barking away, look back. Oh yeah,
I'm forgiven, I'm loved. I'm, you know, I've
looked forward, okay, I've got a hope in Jesus
that's secure and eternal. Okay, it sucks, my
boss is barking at me, but yeah, I'm getting
some perspective here. I don't need to let it
hit me as hard as it might because I'm seeing
the bigger picture. See, seeing Jesus doing His
work, seeing what He's done for us on the cross,
seeing Him at work ruling over everything now,
it calms and stabilises us in our work so that
we bring our best self to work. Is that what
you do? Do you see Jesus when everything else
is chaotic. It's just like, you know, when Jesus
is out on the boat and the storm comes up. What
do the disciples, they see the storm. It's going
off. It's scary. What should they have done?
They should have seen Jesus raining over everything
as Lord of all. That's what we need to see when
it's stormy and chaotic at work. That's how we
be wise in our workplaces. But there's one other
way to be wise at work that I want to share with
you today. Here's our last one. Plan out your
work well. Plan out your work well. Have a look
at these proverbs. A wise man is full of strength
and a man of knowledge enhances his might. For
by wise guidance you can wage your war and in
abundance of counsellors there is victory. So
if you're wise you try and get big resources.
You get people alongside you who can help because
that's where the victory lies. Or the plans of
the diligent lead surely to abundance but everyone
who is hasty comes only to poverty. So whatever
work you do It goes so much better if you plan
and if you plan well. The wise general, that's
a type of work, isn't it? He's going to war,
he plans. He recruits troops, he upgrades weapons,
he strategises with his best commanders. They
work hard in planning, they take their time to
plan well because it will guarantee victory.
And it's the same with any job. You know, parents
need to talk with one another. Maybe they need
to talk with people, you know, older folk who've
raised kids before, or talk with their friends,
because in abundance of counsellors, there is
victory. You know, recruit more help. Maybe,
you know, talk to a psychologist, talk to whatever.
But it's about developing skills. It's about
getting the help you need. Doctors discuss a
tricky case, don't they? Yeah, what do you think?
Oh, I think he's got the chicken pox well, you
know, and they diagnose well before they treat
it. You know, if you fail to plan, you plan to
fail. It's important to plan well. And if you
plan well, you'll be strategic, you'll prioritise
well, you'll break things into right steps. Again,
that's part of wisdom. Have a look at these proverbs.
Prepare your work outside, get everything ready
for yourself in the field and after that build
your house. So why do you have to go out and
get your field ready? Because that's your source
of income. Get that sorted before you get your
comfy McMansion done. If not, you'll misjudge
and you won't have the money to pay for your
house. So get your source of income sorted. I
mean, that's great wisdom, isn't it? Or do you
see a man skillful in his work? He will stand
before kings. He will not stand before obscure
men. Now, what's implied here is to get to the
top, to get ahead, you've got to sharpen your
skills now. Plan well. Get good at the thing
you do. It's really fun watching my littlest
kids play with Lego or blocks or kinetics because
they do the opposite of this. There's no plan.
There's just do. They don't hear advice well.
You know, son, you should try it. No dad, I'm
doing it fine. Don't worry. It's all good. There's
no strategy. They don't recruit help. They just
do what feels right in the moment. And then they
get very frustrated that it doesn't work when
it all comes tumbling down or the Lego pieces
end up everywhere. Yeah, they get a bit older
and it starts to shift a little bit. They start
to plan and collaborate a bit more. And actually,
I see it a lot in Ethan, because he builds these
amazing Lego structures now, which is cool, and
one day he'll be on Lego Masters, and that'll
be good fun. But the point is that planning and
that cooperative strategising, it pays off, doesn't
it? Now, we all get this wrong. None of us plans
our work as we should. We're all like my littleies
at some times. You know, we don't get the counsel
we need. We underestimate things. We're reactive.
We misstep. We get the wrong priorities at times.
But we all know it's so much better when we plan
well, isn't it? Even when it doesn't guarantee
victory, it's so much better when we've planned
well. And the most unexpected things can happen
that derail even the best laid plans. And so
we want to keep reassessing, being flexible,
working it out. And it can be so frustrating
though, can't it? You plan well, you're at work,
you've planned some projects so well, you've
listened to everybody, and then out of the blue
it gets ruined by unexpected factors. I mean,
that can be just disheartening, can't it? What
do you do then? Well, part of planning well is
not just planning yourself, it's remembering
Proverbs 19, 21. Many are the plans in the mind
of a man, but is the purpose of the Lord that
will stand. See, I get it, it's disheartening,
it's frustrating when you plan well and it doesn't
work out, but what do we need to see? We need
to see Jesus at work. We need to see that he's
in control of all this. He's working out his
good plans and purposes. I mean, we see that
most clearly at the cross, don't we? See, at
the cross, it's the most horrible thing. For
the disciples, it came out of left field. But
it was God's plan for the salvation of the world.
It was the most wonderful thing that was happening,
even though the disciples couldn't see it. So
when we aren't wise, when we don't plan well,
or when we are and our plans just disintegrate
because of factors outside of our control, true
wisdom is seeing that things are still going
according to God's plan. That God's purposes
and plans will always stand. And when we see
that, it calms us so that we're loving, patient
and thoughtful even in the chaos. So plan well,
but trust God's plans as you do. See, whatever
job you do, the key to being wise at work is
one thing. I hope you've seen it today. Seeing
Jesus at work reshapes how you show up to work.
And if you do that, it will reshape you in a
variety of ways. We looked at three. You'll possess
a good work ethic. You know, you'll try and please
Jesus with a balanced life, not being a sluggard,
not being a workaholic, just being diligently
working for Jesus. It'll promote a calm workplace
because you'll see Jesus reigning, you'll see
what He's done for you. Your value won't be tied
to your work, it'll be tied to Jesus' work for
you. And you'll plan out your work well. Yeah,
you'll be diligent, you'll be thoughtful, you'll
be responsible, but... As well, you'll know that
your plans land within God's plans and that He's
in control of everything. And even when your
plans disintegrate, He's working out His good
plans and purposes. Now, what's all this mean
for us? Well, if you're here today and you're
not yet a Christian, I hope there are some useful
things about work that you've gleaned from today.
And if you read Proverbs, I'm sure there are
other good things you could glean too. But here's
the hard truth that I want to leave you with
if you're not yet a Christian. I don't know if
you've ever thought about it, but without Jesus,
your work is actually pointless. Your work is
pointless. Yes, go read Proverbs, but can I encourage
you to go read another great wisdom book in the
Bible that speaks into this, and that's the book
of Ecclesiastes. There you've got Solomon searching
for the meaning of life. He's got resources,
he's got wisdom, and his conclusion about all
of it, what's the meaning of life? He says, it's
all meaningless. Here's what he says regarding
work. Remember, this is Solomon. He's done a
lot. But he says, yet when I surveyed all that
my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless. A chasing after the
wind, nothing was gained under the sun. The reason
he says that is because we all die. And what's
the point of our work if we all die? It's pointless.
It just keeps us alive a bit longer. It just
makes our lives a bit comfier. But ultimately,
you know, it's like two people in a plane crash.
Your work might... help you, you know, be in
business class or economy class, but at the end
of the day, if the plane crashes, it doesn't
matter which one you're in, does it? It makes
no real difference to anything. So if you're
cluey at work, yes, life will be nicer and better,
but it will still be pointless. Unless Jesus
is your King. Because Jesus is saying to you
today, I can give you more to life than this
life. This life isn't all there is. I can give
you something with purpose, something meaningful.
I can give you hope that transcends death. Now
I don't know anyone else who can say that and
back it up like the Lord Jesus can. Because his
work was to die for our sins and rise again as
Lord of all. If you're feeling like your work
is pointless and you don't know Jesus, come have
a coffee with me. Come have a chat with me now.
And let's get together and see if Jesus' work
can give your life and your work hope and purpose.
But if you're here today and you are a Christian,
I hope you've seen how we ought to turn up differently
to our workplaces. Actually, Christians have
been doing that for thousands of years, even
as slaves. Have a look at this in Colossians
3. Slaves. So, you know, this is not your typical,
you know, workplace Australia, you've got like
rights and all that sort of stuff. This is not
that. Slaves obey your earthly masters in everything
and do it, not only when their eye is on you
and to curry their favour, but with sincerity
of heart and reverence for the Lord. In a hard
circumstance where your freedoms aren't great,
hey, turn up well. Turn up in a way that honours
Jesus. Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart as working for the Lord, not for human
masters. Since you know you have the bigger picture,
you will receive an inheritance from the Lord
as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
What makes the difference in a hard workplace?
It's seeing the org chart. You know the org chart
with all the ranking and who's structured and
the hierarchy and that? Remember, see past your
boss. Okay, CEO, doesn't matter. There's another
CEO sitting at the top of the universe. That's
Christ himself. That's your true CEO. That's
who you serve when you go to work. No matter
how bad or how good your boss is, that's who
you serve. I serve Jesus in any workplace by
working well and by being a witness to Him. I
needn't worry or fear because ultimately He will
look after me both now and into eternity. I trust
Him. Now don't mishear me. There are injustices
and Christians need to stand up and speak about
that. There is Christian liberty. There are horrid
workplaces and we're not slaves. If you want
to leave, leave. If you want to stay, stay. Use
your wisdom to work out what's best and then
make a wise choice. Prayerfully, trusting God's
plans. But wherever you work, whatever you do,
Your circumstances don't have to dictate how
you turn up. Money, validation, a supportive
employer, even coffee, they may shape how you
turn up. But seeing Jesus clearly, that will
make the greatest difference to how you turn
up to work. Is Jesus shaping how you turn up
to work? Will he shape how you turn up to work
tomorrow? Let me finish with this. It's Monday
morning. You're sitting in traffic on the Captain
Cook Highway. Your mind wanders back to last
week. Friday, the boss was angry. One of your
co -workers stabs you in the back. There's a
bunch of deadlines due. This wave of dread washes
over you. Don't just push through. Don't turn
up to work and be passive aggressive. Don't turn
up to work and just be straight aggressive. Do
something different. See that Jesus saved you
by his work. That he died for your sins on the
cross that in God's sight you were holy and righteous
and blameless because of what Jesus has done
See that because of that you have a hope that
eternity is yours See that Jesus is reigning
over everything now that he's in charge See that
Not the only thing that's all to life is work
see that there's more to life More to life than
work, more to life than this life, even. See
those things and then thank Jesus for them as
you're driving to work. You know, I better keep
my eyes open as I'm thanking and praying. You
know, I'm driving the car, but thank and pray
to him. Maybe recall some verses in your mind.
Oh, what did Jesus say in Romans 12? I live peaceably
with all, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says
the Lord. Okay, so it's not my job to get back
at my boss and my cowork. You know, if your enemy
is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him
something to drink. Okay, cool, don't be overcome
by evil, but overcome evil with good. Yeah, okay,
I remember those ones. Oh yeah, Titus too. I'm
there to adorn the doctrine of God our saviour.
That's a pretty amazing privilege I get to do
in my workplace. So pray about those things as
you drive to work. And by the time you get there,
you'll be in such a different headspace, won't
you? Do those things, and it will change how
you turn up to work. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
in our complex and fallen world, it can be so
hard turning up to work well. But help us to
see Jesus work for us. Help us to see Jesus at
work now, reigning over everything. Help us to
see Jesus that we might turn up to work differently,
no matter how good or how tough our workplaces
may be. Help us to stand out as different people
because we know your love, your power, and your
truth. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.