This is a sermon preview for the fourth week of our Watchword 2024 series.
Visit FBCM’s Church Center Channel to view video live stream (live) or audio version of the sermon (published the week after).
There he [Paul] met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
- from Acts 18:1-4; 24-28
Persecutions, bold preaching, and mighty acts of God all fill the book of Acts. So does ordinary work: making a living, teaching the ignorant, and providing everyday hospitality.
It can be easy to miss the latter, but they exist in the midst of the former. Priscilla and Aquila are tentmakers like Paul. Their everyday life involves making a living. Why would the Bible include this? Isn’t most of what we fill our days with trivial? Maybe, unless God is real and truly cares for our whole lives.
As Timothy Keller wrote in his book on the Christian Life and work:
“Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavors, even the best, will come to naught. Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God's calling, can matter forever.”
― Timothy Keller, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work
Acts of mercy, as the church, as individuals, are part of all our callings – whatever our job might be.
When we provide water to the thirsty,
When we sit and talk with the lonely,
When we come alongside those who lost homes during disaster relief,
When we educate the ignorant,
That is an act of mercy. It is a good endeavor.
And the same is true in our “day (or night!) jobs”:
Stay-at-home parents who nurture their children and tend to their homes,
Mechanics who repair cars, so people can get where they need to go,
Teachers who not only provide lessons, but counsel and support and keep an eye out for vulnerable children,
Businesspeople who treat their coworkers with care, who work in a way that demonstrates their virtue and character
All do a blessed thing.
It is blessed, not just because their works may lead to conversations about the Gospel (as wonderful as that may be), but because the Gospel transforms all of life so that those important areas might be sanctified.
Work, then, can be more than a paycheck. Life can be more than the consuming of goods, or the enjoying of some select experiences. Life, including life together, can be life to the full.
What we see in the book of Acts is people doing tremendous things not because they’re uniquely impressive people, with unique and impressive jobs, but because they serve a good and holy God.
This God is with fishermen, tent-makers, slaves and widows, Jews, and Gentiles. He is God — with us and for us. In him, the ultimate work is finished. And because of his power and love, our work, however big or small, can glorify him.
Reflection Questions
Have you ever thought about how our work, as individuals, and as churches, connects with God’s calling (outside of those called as a pastor or missionary?) How does your faith connect with what you do from day to day?
What acts of mercy is God calling our church to pursue? How can we serve others through our labors together, so that we might serve (and not just be served)?
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