Employment and Unemployment

This morning we begin a new series called God’s Word on Today’s Concerns and today we’re looking at what the Bible says about Employment and Unemployment. It’s worth mentioning at this point as we’re celebrating the centenary of Scouting at JPC that putting the Bible into practice was important to the founder of the Scouts, Baden-Powell. When creating the Scouting method, he was adamant that there was a place for God within it. In his book Scouting for Boys, he said:

We aim for the practice of Christianity in their everyday life and dealings, and not merely the profession of theology on Sundays…

So do turn first to Genesis 1:26-2:2.

Introduction

“Carry on working into your seventies – if you can find employment.” “State pension age to rise to 66 years in 2016.” Those were headlines from the last couple of weeks. If you’re in paid employment then you could be working longer – longer hours and for a longer period of time.

In June the unemployment rate stood at almost 8.0% – that’s 2.51 million people, up by 196,000 on 2009. According to the Budget unemployment is forecast to peak this year at 8.1%. It’s then predicted to fall over the next 4 years, reaching 6.1% in 2015 but that’s all uncertain, especially with the proposed cuts in the public sector. One third of those who are unemployed are long term unemployed. Graduates are finding it hard to get work. A study found that up to 290,000 graduate jobs could be lost in the public sector by 2014. Tyne and Wear, Birmingham and Leeds have seen the largest increases in graduate unemployment this year. We need to pray for those in authority to have wisdom on these matters.

And the retired population of the UK is living longer. By 2034, 23% of the population is projected to be over retirement age compared to 18% aged under16. The fastest population increase has been in the number of those aged 85 and over. Perhaps there’ll need to be a Scout & Guide movement for that age group!

So how are we to think and act Christianly about work, unemployment and
even retirement? Some of us no doubt are wrestling with issues at work or about work and other priorities. Others of us are perhaps struggling with unemployment or retirement. So what does God say in his Word about work, both paid and unpaid and about not working? First

1. What does the Bible say about work?

Well, in one sense, the Bible says that we will carry on working. For work in the Bible is not just paid work but all kinds of work: church work, Scout work, holiday club work, housework, looking after the family, academic work etc. Even if we make it to retirement the work God has created us to do does not stop when we leave paid employment. John Calvin's work ethic meant that he didn’t like to waste a minute of his time. Even on his death-bed, his friends pleaded with him to refrain from his labours. He replied: "What! Would you have the Lord find me idle when he comes?" While we're on this matter of what is work, it also needs to be said that Christian work is not just work for the church or for the JPC sponsored 4th Newcastle Scout Troop. We need to re- emphasise today what was reclaimed at the Reformation that the Lord calls each one of us into our various spheres of work whether that be in paid work, or in unpaid work as a parent, grandparent or in service of the community. Colossians 3:23-24:

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Author Tony Campolo said that when his wife was at home full-time with their children and someone would ask, "And what is it that you do?" she would say, "I am socializing two homo sapiens into the dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition so that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the kind of eschatological utopia that God willed from the beginning of creation." Then she would ask, "And what do you do?"

You see the Bible says we were created by God, in part, to work. Go to Genesis 1&2, which are about how God made and meant the world to be. Genesis 2:1:

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing: so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

So God is a worker. Now look at Genesis 1:26-27:

26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…" 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

So if God is a worker and he created us in his own image, v15 of chapter 2 should come as no surprise:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

God created us supremely for a relationship with him, and then for a relationship with others in marriage, family and community (that’s Genesis 2:18-25) but also to work. Work is part of the original perfect created order. It is part of God's intended purposes for us.

But because of man's rebellion against God, because of Adam and Eve's decision that they could live without reference to God in Genesis 3, God put a curse on work. Look at Genesis 3:17-19:

17To Adam God said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

So work would become harder and more time consuming. There would be long hours. There would be painful toil. There would be thorns and thistles. Work would be less satisfying and more frustrating. This side of heaven work will not be perfect. Only in heaven will there be perfect work. Of course some work won’t exist in heaven such as medical work and police work for there’ll be no pain, death or sin. So what will Christians do in heaven? Eternity is a long time. Of course, we’ll enjoy being with God, thanking and praising Him for all he is and has done on our behalf and we’ll delight in renewing acquaintances with loved ones and meeting the heroes of the faith, but will there be any jobs to do? Well "No eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has prepared for us" (1 Corinthians 2:9) but perhaps in many ways heaven will mirror God's "very good" creation in Eden. There Adam was given work to do. It wasn’t burdensome, but enjoyable and rewarding. It was a responsible job, for God had made him the steward of his creation. What responsibility will be given us in eternity? Well the Bible only reveals that "His servants shall serve Him" (Revelation 22:3) and that he who has been "faithful over a few things, the Lord will make him ruler over many things" (Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:23).

But let’s be clear - we can't earn our way to heaven. The good news is that the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, in his work on the cross. Who needs to hear that glorious hope this morning and put your trust in Jesus as Saviour and Lord? Perhaps you're weighed down with guilt about work or about not working. Well earlier in Matthew’s Gospel (11:28-30) Jesus says:

28Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

David Bloom came to Jesus, who then began to change his attitude to his work and his family. David was a popular TV news reporter in the USA. At the age of 39 he died of a pulmonary embolism while covering the war in Iraq. He left a wife and three daughters. Bloom's very last report from Iraq was not for publication, because it was an email to his wife. The message was read at his memorial service: "I hope and pray all the troops get out of this in one piece. But I am at peace. Here I am, at the peak of professional success but it's nothing compared to my relationship with you and the girls and Jesus."

Jesus makes a difference to the working lives of those who submit to him as Lord, just as he does to those who are facing unemployment or retirement.
Unemployment is one of the most stressful events anyone will ever go through. People often experience a wide variety of emotions ranging from guilt and sadness to anger and depression. So how are we to react biblically? Well if God created us in part to work then we are to be proactive in seeking work. One graduate wrote this after receiving many letters of rejection:

Thank you for your letter. After careful consideration I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me employment with your firm. This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates it is impossible for me to accept all refusals. Despite your firm’s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet with my needs at this time. Therefore, I will initiate employment with your firm immediately following graduation. I look forward to seeing you then.

And there are folks at JPC who can help you seek work, advise you financially and support you in prayer, which is the antidote to anxiety (Philippians 4:4-7). Christian entrepreneurs are needed to create wealth and jobs ethically. (One reason this nation and others are facing economic difficulties and employment issues is because of a turning away from God’s ways, a capitalism that is immoral rather than moral.) Growing churches should be providing work. But what should be our attitude in such a difficult situation? Well God’s Word says we need to learn the secret the Apostle Paul learnt – so secondly

2. The secret of being content in any and every situation (Philippians 4:10-13)

What was Paul’s situation? Paul was ‘in chains’ for his preaching of the gospel and facing possible death. He might well have been tempted to feel that God had let him down or abandoned him just as we might when facing unemployment or some other kind of loss. He had many reasons to be anxious. But what was his attitude in his situation? In a word: ‘content’. V11-12:

11…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

How was he able to be like this in any and every situation? What is the secret he has learned? What is the secret of being content we are to learn? V13:

I can do everything through him [through Christ] who gives me strength.

He could face contentedly any and every circumstance the Lord put him in because his relationship with the Lord gave him the strength to do so. He found his contentment in the Lord (and all the things he knew he had, thanks to being in relationship with the Lord), not in circumstances. He knew he had blessings to count which were always true (eg, righteousness through faith in Christ, his future in heaven, the Lord’s nearness and loving, sovereign control over all circumstances (4:4f)). And he knew that even apparently bad circumstances were under God’s control – for his good and for the good of the cause of the gospel. Looking at life from this God-centred perspective, a) we are where we are because God has allowed that in his plan; b) God will bring good out of what we’re going through if we’re trusting in him (even if we currently don’t see how); c) what we don’t have is either not necessary for us or not good for us. Yet we can still be so discontented. Why? Well we can so easily buy into the myth that all you need is retail therapy or is found within yourself. But Paul is clear. We are not self-sufficient but Christ sufficient. No matter what challenges lie ahead, Jesus Christ is big enough to meet them. To be content in need or in plenty, in unemployment and employment is not the product of human skill. The secret isn’t us, it’s Jesus in us!

Note that Paul says he had learned to be content. Christian contentment is not something we have overnight. He had learned the secret test by test. And it takes discipline. For example, we must decide not to covet - like Paul who didn't covet the Philippians' gifts. He’d also learned to be content because he’d learned to trust. He was content because God is trustworthy. Philippians 4:19:

My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Do we believe that? But Christian contentment doesn’t mean being idle. No, we’re to avoid idleness as we live in the light of Jesus’ return, which is my third and final heading.

3. Avoid idleness (2 Thessalonians 3:1-18)

Here are some creative excuses by employees literally caught napping:

I wasn't sleeping, I was trying to pick up a contact lens without hands!" "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm!" "This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in the last time management course you sent me on."

We’re to avoid idleness whether you’re employed, unemployed or retired. In one sense there’s no such thing as retirement for Christians even though we may do less. The problem at Thessalonica was that some Christians wouldn’t work because they believed that 'the day of the Lord had already come' (2:2). V6, 11&12:

6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us… 11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

Now before we go any further we must be clear about what Paul’s not saying.

The end of v10 says: 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat.' So Paul's not talking here about unemployed people who want to work but can't. He's talking about people who could work and should work, but won't.

Their idleness and their 'busybodying' was having a negative effect on the church and on its witness. And that still applies today. If we’re idle at work then what kind of witness to Christ is that? So what does Paul tell us positively to do? In 1 Thessalonians 4:11&12 he's already said this on the same issue:

11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

We’re to make it our ambition to 'lead a quiet life': in other words, not to be so spiritually over-excited that we neglect quietly carrying out our daily responsibilities. We’re to 'mind our own business'. There's a temptation to get improperly involved in the affairs of others when we don't have work to do. And we’re to 'work with our own hands'. We’re to work whether manually or otherwise, for there's no hierarchy of labour. Why? So that our daily life may win the respect of outsiders. Someone said, 'Non-Christians can fear that we're some kind of cult that withdraws from the real world. So we need to show them that, far from withdrawing from the real world, the Lord Jesus sends us back into it to take our responsibilities more seriously than they do.'

One responsibility we have is to stand up for Christian values in our work. Martin Luther King said: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

And, we’re to work Paul says, 'so that you will not be dependent on anybody.' We are to work to be a giver not a getter and so help others, whether helping to release people for Christian work and ministry or helping those in need.

In 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul underlines these points further. In our daily lives and work we’re to obey the Word (v4&6), to spread the Word (v1), to pray and be strong in the Lord who 'is faithful’ (v3), to not be idle and not to associate with those who are (v6&11), to earn the bread you eat (v12), to follow Paul's example in working night and day if necessary to not be a burden to anyone (v7-10) and (v13) to 'never tire of doing what is right'. In the words of the Scout motto we’re to be prepared. What are we to be prepared for? For the second coming of the Lord Jesus by trusting in him and living and working for him.

God created us in part to work. But we weren’t created to work all the time. I’ve already said that he also created us for relationships so we mustn’t let work push those out, especially our relationship with God. But God also created us for rest. Genesis 2:2:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy...

This pattern of having one day's rest in seven was established by God from the start. When the Communists came to power in Russia they tried to make people work a 10 day week followed by 1 day off. It didn't work. God's design is one day off in seven. And rest is productive too. Without rest we won’t be as hard working and as productive as God wants us to be.