Haggai 1:15b–2:9, Ephesians 2:8-10

Ever since our (former) dog ‘Gabrielle’ came into our home – about five years ago – I have been interested in reading about the characteristics of various dog breeds. It is really very amazing to me to see how certain dog behaviors are stamped into the little minds of these furry creatures. As you may remember, this interest developed because I was always trying to figure out why our dog behaved like she did!  (Why was she such a knucklehead?) 

And looking up the two breeds that went into her gene pool (Staffordshire Bull Terrier and Labrador Retriever) it started to become clear to me – she didn’t have a choice! All the things she loved, and loved passionately – swimming, (the colder the better), attacking anything on four feet (especially other dogs), finding her way around the woods, as well as her stubbornness, her incredible loyalty and courage (she was fearless) – all that stuff was like that old commercial about the spaghetti sauce where they guy would look into the pot and declare: – “It’s in there!!” 

Our entire family very much appreciated your many cards and words of love and encouragement to us after Gabby’s rather abrupt departure last August. She certainly went out in character – chasing a rabbit, which happened to run into the street.  And that was a sad night. 

But some of you have heard that we have a new arrival in our home. She’s a six-month-old “Doberman - Retriever” mix named “Sierra”. Once again, it is a fascinating thing to see the genetics at work here, mixed with a unique personality. 

As a Pit Bull/ Lab mix, Gabby would go fetch a ball, no matter where you would throw it.  But then you practically had to hit her with a stick to make her let go of it! She was conflicted by here genes! Sierra also retrieves, but gladly lets go so you can throw again…and again… and again! She is also much more social with other dogs (thank goodness) and in spite of the Doberman reputation, she is a very gentle dog. So much so that even Dianna doesn’t mind taking her for a walk! Which is pretty amazing. 

Swimming, retrieving, hunting, protecting, herding, tracking – all of these, and more, are basic canine behaviors. Not all dogs do the same things, and they all do what they do through the filter of their own personalities. But what these dogs are doing, to them, is working! 

What I learned from Gabby (and I’m trying to apply this knowledge to Sierra) is that to train a dog you really have to know at least basically what they are ‘hard-wired’ to do. Because you can be pretty certain that they are trying to do something. Dianna likes to say that “they are doing their ‘doggy jobs’”. Knowing what those jobs are can help everyone co-exist more comfortably. Especially when we realize that what they see as their job may not be what we want them to do! 

Now I hope that you’re not going to go home offended today, having realized that “Pastor Steve is comparing us to dogs!” (I’m not, really; but if it seems that way, just remember that I love dogs, too!)  You just can’t help but see the similarity between this dog/ instinct thing, and the way that God has given us specific abilities and gifts for service, for work. Especially those of us who are believers. Just as animals do certain things by design, so do we humans!  And even more so as believers. There is a plan! 

In general, as humans, we’ve been created to work. The sixth commandment calls us to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. It reminds us that we should have at least one day of our week in which we turn our attention to non-temporal things. We should set aside a day to remember God, and nurture our relationship with God and things related to our walk with God.  But you know the ‘rationale’ for that commandment makes another important statement as well. Deuteronomy 5:13 begins with this: “Six days you shall do your work…” and on the seventh we rest. 

This, of course, in a mysterious way, is a reflection of our having been created in the image of God. We read in Genesis 1 & 2, the account of God’s creation of the universe in ‘six days’. Let’s not get hung up here on literal days or ages, but look at the bigger picture. Six days God creates, and on the seventh, he rests.  Look at it conversely- one day we rest, but six days, we work! 

My point here is not about the rest; it is about the work. The work we do is divinely ordained. Not necessarily the specific jobs, but the fact we are doing something. That’s God’s design for us. 

We look at the history of Israel and see this illustrated.  1 Chronicles tells of King Solomon’s organization of workers for the purpose of building the great Temple to the Lord. He sent workers all over the world. He sent 30,000 workers to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000. He had 70,000 who ‘bore burdens’ (i.e., manual laborers). He had 80,000 wood cutters (let’s not even think about the environmental impact there!). He placed 3,300 officers over them. 

In 1 Chronicles 28: 11 – 12 we read that Solomon was following the plan given to him by his father, King David.  David passed these plans on to Solomon. In verse 12, where it refers “the plans that David had in mind”, the literal translation is “the plans of the Spirit that was with him.”  I.e., this work was God’s plan.  God wanted the people to work. He had jobs for them! 

So far we’ve been talking about general work. That there is dignity in our working, it is God ordained. In our work we are reflecting the image of God just as we do in our Sabbath keeping. In the Scriptures, however, there is more than this. We find that there is another ‘category’ of work, which we might say is work that is directly for the glory of God. 

This morning’s Old Testament Lectionary reading is from the book of Haggai, chapter 2. Haggai was a ‘post exilic’ prophet, meaning that he was ministering to the people of Judah after their 70 year exile in Babylon. Their nation had been invaded, overrun, and mostly destroyed. Tens of thousands of people had been taken captive. Now they are slowly starting to come back to try and rebuild on the little that was left. 

Their attention eventually turns to the Temple. Solomon’s temple had been completely destroyed and burned. The stones themselves were now simply piles of rubble. And out of this mess, under the cheerleading of the prophet Haggai, this small Hebrew remnant builds a new Temple foundation. 

They began their work with great enthusiasm and energy, because they knew they were doing this to honor God. But before very long, they began to feel discouraged. Some of them remembered what the former Temple was like. Others would have heard about this great Temple from their parents and grandparents while they were living in exile. And whether they were first or second hand memories, there was no question…there was no comparison between the old and the new! 

They felt like giving up because their work meant nothing.

But Haggai, again, speaking for God, encourages them.

‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover! Haggai’s message – from the Lord – was that in spite of appearances, God was in their work. And something good, no, something great was going to come of it!  “Get to work!” God says. “I’m going to bless what you do!” 

Now let’s look in the New Testament… 

In the New Testament we find that this strain teaching gets even more specific. And we are taught in numerous places that God has a special plan for the work of believers in Christ. There is work for us to do as members of God’s household that (for the most part) is in addition to the general work that we do, the purpose of which is to earn a living. 

For example, in the book of Ephesians 2: 8 – 10 we read

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

The Message puts it like this:

[God] creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. 

God has a plan for our work. And not only does God have a plan for the work that we are to do, he has a plan to provide for the skills and the gifts and the resources necessary to complete our work. 

In 1 Corinthians 12 we read these familiar words:

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. ⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 

I started out today talking about dogs and instinct. And that works as an illustration, something to lead our minds in a certain direction. But there are some big differences between instincts and spiritual gifts! An animal’s work is mindless. A dog retrieves and I happen to believe that in doing that there is joy in that animal. But Sierra doesn’t have a clue about the significance of her work. She is unable to rise above the moment. 

But as believers we can. When Haggai stood over that tiny Temple foundation, knowing that many of the people had powerful images in their minds of what once was, he appealed to their hearts, to their faith and said, Keep going! God is in this.  Listen to the rest of his words: 

“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁹ The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” 

And, of course it was on this very spot that a little baby named Jesus was presented to the Lord some years later. It was in this place that Jesus taught and healed. This is where he was tried and sentenced to die… all of which was God’s plan to bless all the world and bring true peace. 

There is work yet to do! And God’s plan is that everyone in his household would have a part of that work. He has gifted you so that there is a place within the Body of Christ where you fit and, like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, you will prosper and bring a blessing not only to the church and ultimately to the world… but to yourself. It is what you’ve been designed to you. You have been created to work, and in Jesus Christ re-created to work. 

And whatever that job is, because it is God-given, we know that it is important, whether it seems that way or not from our own perspective. 

Dianna and I went to a Philadelphia Orchestra concert a week or so ago with some friends. This was a program of all classical music, Schumann, two Mozart pieces and a Hayden symphony. The orchestra was fine, as always, but on the ride home I commented about one player, and it turned out that everyone had noticed this same thing. 

There was a guy in the percussion section. I’m sure that he had to arrive at the same time as all the other orchestra members, that afternoon he probably took a shower and put on his tux, drove to work just like everyone else. But he didn’t come on stage until the final piece, and he didn’t play until the end of the final movement of the final piece (the fourth movement). And even then just a couple of times, he stood up, very professionally, and gently struck his triangle. That was it. 

We kind of joked about it in the car. “Did the other members resent that he got a check that night? Was it the same as the others?” But really, he was there doing his job, and it was important! The Composer wrote that part for a reason, and the piece would have been missing something without his contribution. (And we all know that as a member of this world-class orchestra, he is by definition a top of the line professional percussionist!) 

He did his part. His training, his practice, his gifts came together on this night when he contributed a small part; I’m sure that other nights and other compositions he is much more out front and challenged. But what happened that night it is very similar to our Spiritual Gifts and our spiritual work. 

We train, we focus, and sometimes we’re right out front… other times we’re more behind the scenes. But the important thing, the only important thing, really, is that we stick to the score, and follow the plan of the great Composer. 

***

Last week I shared with you our plans for a tremendously important celebration here next weekend. “A Celebration of Discipleship”. In all our services we’ll be giving you time to fill out a personal covenant with God stating your intention of how to expect to live out your discipleship in four specific areas. In your bulletins I’ve listed the questions that will be on that covenant, so you can start thinking about them. 

Again, these covenants will be confidential. They are not your covenant with FUMC, they are your covenant with God. Their purpose is to help you grow as disciples, and that is our mission, that is our mandate, given to us as a church built on Christ’s foundation. 

Our work is a significant part of our commitment to Christ. It’s the third question on this covenant. So, what’s your work plan for 2008?