"Christian Vocation: Employees and Employers" Midweek in Lent3 March 26, 2014 Ephesians 6:5-8; Ephesians 6:9
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, 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 as 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. Ephesians 6:5-8 Masters, treat your slaves 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 6:9 Our look at vocation is from the perspective that we are Christians. Our first vocation is being hearers of God. He speaks. We listen. We are recipients of His great love and mercy. He forgives us, He gives us life. We then live that life in service to others. That's vocation. But we're not just talking about occupations or careers. We're talking about how God has called us to eternal life and calls us to live here on earth to love and serve others. We do that in the many vocations He calls us to. This evening we see how we are in the world but not of the world. We have eternal life even as we live in this temporal place we call the world. We serve our family members and we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Holy Christian Church. We also serve those outside of the Church. We do this, simply, because God calls us to do this. There many occupations and careers people have. This makes the world go around. When you need food you go to the store. Imagine if no one wanted to work at the grocery store. What if no one wanted to be a farmer? When you are sick you go to the doctor. What would happen if no one wanted to serve in the medical field? We could list many occupations. Teachers, writers, trash collectors, lawyers, CPAs. Without people working in these and countless others, life as we know it would come to a standstill. That's why God works through all of these people, whether they know it or not, to make the world go around, so to speak. To serve people so that we may enjoy God's blessing of life on this earth. With us Christians, these are not just jobs. We don't just have a career or an occupation. We have vocation. We have a calling from God to serve others. Getting fulfillment out of your job, striving to be the best you can be, earning money, all of these are wonderful blessings God gives to us in the various jobs we Christians do. At the end of your life, though, these are meaningless without seeing what you do in your career as a vocation. Just as with husbands and wives and parents and children, we are called by God to serve those we are working for. Looking first, then, at the vocation of employee, we hear from the apostle Paul in Ephesians this exhortation: Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, 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 as 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. The first thing that jumps out at us here is that Paul is addressing slaves. The vocations we're looking at tonight are employees and employers, not slaves and masters. The heading for this vocation in the Catechism is "To Workers of All Kinds." We normally refer to them as employees. So how does Paul's addressing 'slaves' translate into the vocation of 'employee'? Presumably, the relationship between us as employees and our employers will not be one of slaves and masters. Consider, though, that the apostles in the New Testament were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak to those were in the position of beings slaves. To speak to them as ones who could and should carry out their God-given vocation, right where they were at! As slaves! We would think it best for them to get out of slavery. The apostles said, "Serve where you are. You are first and foremost a slave of Christ Jesus, so serve your master in the same way." How this affects us as employees is that we ought to see ourselves not primarily as employees but as servants, even slaves. We ought to see that when we go to work we do so as slaves of Christ, those called by God to serve others without respect to our own status or dignity or place in society. Not that those things are wrong. God does indeed give us places in society and dignity. Consider, though, how Jesus viewed Himself: as a servant, not as a master. He is the Lord of all. If anyone is the true Master, it is He, and yet He came to be the servant of all. When you consider what you have received in Christ Jesus it puts your whole life in perspective. You have received forgiveness. You have been saved. You have been given a place at the Table of the Lord of all in His eternal Kingdom. And this all because He has come not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for you. Having eternal life as a gift, you now have freedom to serve. You are blessed to be able to put others before yourself and to serve them. Certainly if Paul can call upon slaves to serve their masters in the same way they would obey Christ, you can hear this call of God to you as an employee to serve your employer as you would Christ. Really, it is Christ you are serving when you serve your employer. We are not to carry out our duties as employees in order to gain favor, but, as Paul says, "doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men." This is easy when you have a great employer. It's hard when your employer does not treat you in respect and not in fairness. Here again we consider how Christ Himself lived. He willingly suffered. Rather than demanding what everyone owed Him He humbly served them. We are not to be good employees because we have a great employer but because of Christ. Because in serving our employer faithfully we are serving Christ. Some Christians carry out the vocation of employer. How do you serve in this godly vocation? Paul says, "Masters, treat your slaves in the same way." You are not an employer for yourself but in order to serve. Christ is who you are serving when you carry out your responsibilities as an employer. Paul goes on to say, "Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven." Knowing that you are serving your Lord Jesus Christ makes it possible for you to treat your employees with dignity and respect and fairness. It enables you to see that as the one in charge you are there to serve. To run the company in such a way that it is for the good of others. Part of this is treating your employees in the way you would wish to be treated rather than in a harsh way. Paul also gives the reminder that with God "there is no favoritism." There is no room for thinking you are better than your employees. Christ truly is above us and yet He came to serve. You are no better than those who are under you and it's vital to keep that perspective. Treat them in a way befitting of Christ and His love for you and for them. In summary, it would do us well to consider that the Bible doesn't sugarcoat things the way we might wish them to. In this section on employees and employers it would be easy to miss the broader calling of God to simply be a servant of all. When the Bible addresses slavery it doesn't call on the Christian Church do away with it but rather calls upon Christians who are slaves or masters to live and serve in such a way where they are serving others because they themselves have been served by the Lord. Whether or not you are an employee, whether or not you are an employer, you are a slave of Christ. You are called by God to eternal life and called to serve those in your life. Serve in such a way where you see that every person in your life is one you serve as you would serve Christ. Serve in such a way where you place your hope in the great reward you will receive when you are called into the eternal glories of heaven. It won't be through your own merits or wonderful service, but rather through the merits of the one who is Lord and came to be your servant. What a blessing it is, then, to serve others as you have been served by Him. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
