Our Labor for the Lord

Psalm 127: 1 Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

On September 5, 1882 the first official Labor Day celebration was held in New York City. Twelve years later it was made a federal holiday. Once a year as a nation we stop working to acknowledge all the contributions of workers to the fabric of this nation. When we drive along highways, realize that someone paved that lane you are in. Before them, someone cleared the area so a highway could be paved. Before them, someone explored the unknown wilderness so that one day someone could clear the area; so that someone could pave the highway. Work builds upon work. As it goes in the world, so it also stands in the eternal. Except there should be no day off...

For the believer, every day should be Labor Day. We cannot take a day off to celebrate, hold a parade to honor ourselves, or relax in some level of achievement. Because our enemy does not rest in his pursuit:

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1Peter 5: 8 (NIV)

Alert not asleep! Our work requires diligence and steadfastness. What work? Looking at our key verse for today we see the Psalmist differentiates between two types of work. The first is a personal work the act of building our house, our walk, our lives in Jesus Christ. The second is a corporate work the act of building the Kingdom of God.

The personal work of building who we are in Christ is an ongoing process. Sometimes we confuse salvation as strictly an event instead of also as the progression Scripture teaches:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2: 12-13 (NIV)

We are not supposed to be saved and then sit down. We are not supposed to be saved and then act like we are happy to just have our hellfire insurance policy. God wants to fulfill His good purpose through us. Our salvation needs to be worked out. How? With fear and trembling! The New Living Translation says with "deep reverence and fear." It seems sometimes that we have turned God into a sugar coated tooth fairy who grants our wishes if we would only ask. And instead of fearing God, we fear nearly everything else you can think of. We fear speaking in public, heights, enclosed places, water, going outside, our boss, failure, rejection and any number of countless other temporal issues. But God brings this issue back to the eternal:

"Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he's the one to fear. Luke 12: 4-5 (NLT)

Thank God we are saved by His grace and mercy but how do we forget where we came from? How do we forget the sin that so easily entangled us and separated us from God? How do we not fear the terror of His majesty as Job asked? How did we lose the fear of God?

Because we do not view the life we are building in Christ as the labor it should be. We are spiritually lazy builders. Always have been. In the days of Nehemiah the Prophet we see a story of the building process we all face today. Nehemiah had a vision from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which had been completely destroyed. Similarly, our lives were lying in ruins when Jesus reached down into the miry pit we were in and pulled us back up. Once Nehemiah asserted the plans to rebuild, he had the enemy come against him in the form of Sanballet and Tobiah. Similarly, once we give our lives to the Lord, the enemy will send Sanballets and Tobiahs into our way as well to stop the building process. But the similarities do not end there:

At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. Nehemiah 4: 6 (NLT)

A lot of times we too will build quickly once we are saved on fire for God because we are still close to the point where He saved us from. But then soon the enemy comes against us and we can find our labor becoming slowed:

Then the people of Judah began to complain, "The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves." Nehemiah 4: 10 (NLT)

Aren't we the same way beloved? Soon into our walk we will start to complain. We will start feeling tired hey no one said this walk was going to be work! We will realize that God wants ALL of the rubble of our former life removed, not just what we want to give Him. He wants all of those hidden areas. He wants our secret hates. Our secret prejudices. Our secret lusts. God understands this part of the key verse means that if we are holding things back from the Master, then He is not the one building the house we are. And God forbid we try to usurp the role of the builder. Jesus taught about this very concept:

"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash." Matthew 7: 24-27 (NLT)

Note the two distinct things Jesus says we must do. Listen and follow. Sometimes in the life of the over-churched we got the listening part down real well but the following becomes more difficult. The result is we begin building our foundation on the shifting sands of this world that offer no stability. Our life sways then like a shaky building, teetering based upon which way the wind blows. One false doctrine after another we can fall for because we are not building on the Rock. Because when the Sanballets and Tobiahs of the world came against us, we complained about all of the rubble that used to be our lives and the job of cleaning it up just seemed to daunting. But do you want to know what the enemy says when we start wavering like this? Let's go back to the story of Nehemiah:

Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, "Before they know what's happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work." Nehemiah 4: 11 (NLT)

And that is exactly what the devil does to Christians who fail to take their labor for God seriously. He ends their work. Before we know what is happening we are back in the bar. We are back into pornography. We are back to the vomit we thought we had left behind when Jesus saved us. But that event was supposed to lead to a progression. Here was how Nehemiah answered the challenge:

But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. Nehemiah 4: 16-17 (NLT)

We are the laborers in the Kingdom of Almighty God beloved. We too need to shoulder the burden of the work with one hand while holding the weapon He has given us in the other the Word of God. It is the Word that cuts through the lies of the enemy. It is the Word that reminds us of the promises and power of God. It is the Word that needs to be the foundation upon which we build. Not the world and the solutions of man. Not our friends and therapists. Not medication and group therapy. But what are we building with today? What are we holding in our hand as we shoulder our burden? Your work this Labor Day and every day after is founded upon what God has already said. We just have to read it, believe it, and put it into practice in the building of our house; in the building of our lives.

Lastly the key verse also deals with the building of the city or the church. The Kingdom of God is still being built by the people God has called to the work:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2: 10 (NIV)

As we build our lives we are also called beyond ourselves beloved. Christianity is not meant to be a closed off country club. There is an entire world that is bobsledding to the same hell you were heading to before God saved you. But modern Christianity can become so me-centric. We serve in ministry to be seen by men. To be applauded by men. Or even to be paid by men. Your labor is not unto men but unto God! And to each He has given some talent. Something that can be invested into the Kingdom as Jesus taught:

"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last--dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. Matthew 25: 14-15 (NLT)

In proportion to the abilities we have, God has given us something we are to invest for His kingdom. Maybe the person with five bags of silver is like a Pastor or Missionary. Maybe the person with two bags of silver is like a Ministry Leader. Maybe the person with one bag of silver is like a new Christian, still unsure of themselves. The amount we are given, we have no control over but what we do with it, is entirely up to us:

"The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money. Matthew 25: 16-18 (NLT)

We need to realize that God always has more for us. More to do. More responsibilities to handle. There is always another level that God wants us to go to for His glory in building His kingdom. The answer in this parable to the servant with five bags of silver highlights this principle:

"The master was full of praise. 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together! Matthew 25: 21 (NLT)

But what are you doing with the silver He has entrusted to you? Are you investing it in His kingdom so one day you too will hear "well done, my good and faithful servant..." Or have you dug a hole in the ground and hidden what God has given you?

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen watch in vain beloved. Unless you are building on the solid rock that is His Word, you build in vain, on sand that will shift one day and fall with a mighty crash. Your labor for the Lord is both personal and collective. It must be ongoing and take no holiday for the hour is late and the laborers are few. I will leave you this Labor Day, with the Word of God...

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1Corinthians 15: 58 (NIV)

Reverend Anthony Wade August 30, 2011