lent one

quotidian rhythms

‘without work, all life goes rotten, but when

work is soulless, life stifles and dies.’

albert camus

quotidian rhythms

4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines. 9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:4–11

17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind. 18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me 19 —and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? 23 For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 2:17–23

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I love my job I hate working and do as little as possible I’m at the point of exhaustion; something is going to give I only do it because I have to I see my work as an act of worship to God I flip burgers; I haven’t made anything of my life I feel like a slave to my boss I pray every day for work; my greatest desire is to provide for my family I’m an executive, that means I’m an important person I live for the holidays I work so I can live Sometimes I feel like I live to work

join the conversation… Describe your attitude to work in one sentence.discuss… Employment and our type of employment can define who we are in our culture. When someone asks you what you ‘do’ what do you usually say? Does ‘work’ always have to be paid employment? Should we widen our definition of work to include all the unpaid roles and tasks we fulfil during the week, such as voluntary work, household chores, or parenting? Are these activities any less valuable than paid employment? Read and discuss the Apostle Paul’s advice to the Corinthians in light of your conversations (1 Corinthians 15:58). What makes our activities valuable according to Paul?

“Most of what Jesus said and did took place in a secular setting, in a workplace: in a farmer’s field, in a fishing boat, at a wedding feast, in a cemetery, at a public well asking a woman he didn’t know for a drink of water, on a country hillside that he turned into a huge picnic, in a court room, having supper in homes with acquaintances or friends. In our Gospels, Jesus occasionally shows up in synagogue or temple, but for the most part he spends his time in the workplace. Twenty-seven times in John’s Gospel Jesus is identified as a worker: “My Father is still working, and I also am working” (John 5:17). Work doesn’t take us away from God; it continues the work of God. God comes into view on the first page of our Scriptures as a worker. Once we identify God in his workplace working, it isn’t long before we find ourselves in our workplaces working in the name of God.” Eugene Peterson

the conversation

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consider… Do you feel your work-life balance is a little lopsided at present? Ask God for wisdom as to how you might go about regaining the right balance.

Recent studies have painted a grim picture of the average person’s working life: longer days, less holiday time, and later retirement—and that was back in the good ol’ 1990s. Today, with the rise of mobile technology, the flexible working hours that come with “home officing” and the pressure of competing on the global stage thanks to the internet, the opportunity to switch off when we do eventually leave the office has become almost impossible. Statistically some of us reading this right now are also pulling some very long hours. A report put out by the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) found that 13 per cent of New Zealanders work more than 50 hours a week compared with an average of 9 per cent for all other countries. And while we are some way off the systemic overwork culture of say Japan, where people regularly die from work-exhaustion, the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council still recommended that New Zealand impose a maximum number of work hours in a bid to reduce the high levels of health-and-safety risks that come with our culture’s drive to work longer and harder.

discuss… What do we gain from working like this? What do we lose? On a piece of paper draw two columns, in one column list the benefits of a thriving workforce i.e. economic, societal, and personal. In the other column list the disadvantages. What do we gain? What do we lose?

Work: what is it good for? The answer to that question depends on what we expect to gain from it. The writer of Ecclesiastes placed a high demand on his work. He expected that the activity of work would ultimately give his life meaning. In Ecclesiastes 2:4–11 the writer details his search for meaning in a variety of projects and works of

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all kinds. Even though the work brought him some degree of satisfaction in accomplishment, he felt his achievements meant very little in the end. He had some stark things to say about his work: (1) In the end someone else would inherit his work; (2) few people will remember who he was and the work he had achieved and lastly; (3) one day it will all turn back to dust. So what had he really gained? His conclusion is sobering: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless (fleeting), a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” So what do we gain from all this hard work? Jesus asks a similar question. (Mark 8:36). It might come as a surprise, then, that the Scriptures report that God actually designed us to work (Genesis 2:15). We are made in the image of God and God enjoys creating, arranging, and accomplishing tasks (Genesis 1:1–15, 31; Psalm 19). So, naturally, we are happiest when we too have a task to do. However, Ecclesiastes should serve as a warning to those of us who seek to gain something from work which it wasn’t designed to provide. The conundrum of the human spirit is that our built-in desire to work, to care, to produce, to create, and to do well, can become meaningless when work becomes an end in itself. Work in its rightful place, however, can add enormous value to our lives. Work, as one writer put it, “provides a context in which we can represent Jesus Christ by building relationships; by demonstrating character, conviction, and integrity; and by doing our work with care and quality.” Seen in this way, work is a gift given to us by God. So how might we take hold of the gift of work without it taking hold of us? The Bible has a few suggestions:

• Co-workers: We can become co-workers with God. We can use our energy, our creativity, and our work to contribute to God’s ongoing work in the restoration and transformation of the world (Genesis 2:19–20; John 5:17). • Personal Worship: We can use our work to offer personal worship to God (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 10:31). • Instrument of Service: We can make work an instrument with which to serve others (Colossians 3:12–17). • A Sign of Freedom: We can let our work be a sign of our freedom in Jesus Christ. We are not a slave to work; it is

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an instrument of the Gospel. We can choose to work knowing that our work contributes to the new creation. (1 Corinthians 7:17–24; Colossians 3:23–24).

There is one last thing to say about work: Rest is not an optional add-on but a core component to all activity. From a biblical standpoint, rest is not so much the absence of activity as it is the presence of God (Matthew 11:28–30; Mark 6:31). So, this week, as part of your working week, purposefully set aside a time to rest. Know that God is not upset you are not actively-working, but is thrilled you are actively-resting. So, come, sit, rest and be refreshed in the presence of God before you begin a new working week.

consider… How might the Sabbath (a day of rest from our work) be a witness to the Gospel within a culture obsessed with work?

A Prayer at Mid-dayThe day has been breathless, Lord. I stop now for a few moments and I wonder:Is the signature of the holy over the rush of the day? Or have I bolted ahead, anxiouslytrying to solve problems that do not belong to me?Holy Spirit of God, please show me:How to work relaxedHow to make each task an offering of faithHow to view interruptions as doors to serviceHow to see each person as my teacher in things eternalIn the name of him who always worked unhurried. Amen.

Richard Foster (Richard Foster Prayers from the Heart)

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www.stpauls.org.nz© St Paul’s Church and Jon Hoskin · 2015