Stephen
Terry, Director
The Christian and Work
Commentary
for the December 12, 2020 Sabbath School Lesson
"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 people, because you know that the
Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or
free." Ephesians 8:5-9, NIV
During my senior year
of college, I was awarded a matching North Pacific Union Work Study Grant where
they matched every dollar I earned from doing student work study at the college
to help fund my education. Since college tuition is expensive, the extra
financial help was greatly appreciated, and it meant I would have employment
for my senior year. During that time, I worked as an assistant in the English
Department, grading essays. I also worked on the paint crew, and when the
weather turned cold and inclement, shutting down much of the painting work, I
went to work in the college laundry. I was thankful for this change as the
laundry was a nice, warm place to work through the winter.
For most of my work experience, many of my fellow workers were foreign students
as they were usually just as poor as I was and needed the financial boost to
make it through. There were also a few from wealthier families who were only
working because their families wanted them to get work experience. Some of
those I worked with shared with me their perspective that one should just spend
the smallest amount of effort necessary to get the job done in the time
allotted. While this may have spared them extra energy they preferred to use
elsewhere, it made the shift rather dull and monotonous. It got to where I
dreaded my shift in the laundry, because the dull routine allowed me plenty of
time to consider what I would rather be doing. But it could also be dangerous
to get lost in thought. We did the laundry for area hospitals, and once while
putting the dirty linens into the washer, I felt a jab and discovered a
hypodermic syringe mixed in with the sheets. Management at once drove me to the
doctor to get a hepatitis shot and gave me the rest of the day off. I tried to
stay more alert after that.
One of the nice things about working in the laundry is that when we had special
Weeks of Prayer at the college church, it would be piped in over the laundry
sound system. I was fortunate enough to be there when Morris Venden was
speaking. One of his sermons caused me to wonder how Jesus would do my job. Would
he just do the minimum he had to just to get by? Or would his work ethic
require him to do more than the minimum? I realized that he certainly did more
than that in coming to the earth and dying on a rude, wooden cross. He did not
seem to hold anything back for later, but instead to give all he had for our
salvation. I tried to envision what that would look like as a laundry worker
and resolved at my next shift to do things differently. Instead of
lethargically going through the motions of the job, I went at it with gusto. At
first those working with me thought I was crazy and demanded an explanation. I
said I was just trying to figure out how Jesus would have done this job.
Eventually their speed picked up as well, and we finished well ahead of our usual
time. This surprised the manager, and he assigned us for the rest of the shift
to help the ladies who were unloading the dryers and folding the clean and dry
items. While some thought this was just extra work they would not have had to
do, I found it fun to do something different, and the ladies working the dryers
were a fun lot to work with. Strangely, even though I had worked harder, I felt
more refreshed and alert at the end of my shift and decided working with the
dedication and energy of Jesus was a better way to go.
After a few months of
this, I was drawing close to graduation, and I was called into the manager's
office. Not sure what to expect, I was surprised when I was offered the
opportunity to take over as manager. The current manager was retiring, and
because the extra effort I was putting into the job had attracted attention as
a possible candidate to replace him they felt I was a good choice. However, by
then, I had already accepted a call to pastor a three-church district in the
Midwest, so I was unable to accept the offer. I was saddened to hear that only
a year later the College Laundry closed for good. I had some great memories
there and some good people likely lost their jobs. A year later, I was also out
of a job as my wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and I needed to
resign my pastoral position to care for her. Sometimes I wonder what would have
happened had I accepted the job managing the laundry. Had I turned down an
opening God had provided? I will likely never know the answer this side of
heaven, but I still wonder.
Whatever would have happened, perhaps the takeaway is that God will take and
magnify whatever we give him. If we cruise through life only doing what is
necessary, we may find that we only receive the same in support. But if we give
ourselves in service to others to the best of our ability, God may do the same
for us. Doors of opportunity may open unexpectedly. But even if they do not, we
will feel better about ourselves and be more of a blessing in this life. I am
not speaking only of those blessed with good looks, wealth, and excellent
health. No matter our circumstances, we all may gain by working as Jesus
worked. I retired on disability 13 years ago, but since then I have written and
published five books and hundreds of Sabbath School Lesson Commentaries, just
like this one. I have also maintained a global ministry outreach reaching into
over 150 countries. All of this being done by a disabled person with an aged
and worn laptop computer and an internet connection. No one sends me financial
support for this work, yet God continues to grow the ministry. I feel like I am
experiencing the words of Zechariah, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."[i]
There is another
spirit that I have met while reaching out to others. Daily I receive requests
from others for money so they, too, can have a ministry. They claim they would
win many to Jesus if they only had the money to buy the audio-visual equipment
to do so. Once I thought that maybe God was wanting me to raise money from
donors to help such ministries, and I even set up a 501c3 corporation to do so.
But no funds came in for such work, and I realized this was not my calling.
When I tell them that this ministry has no budget for such things, they accuse
me of not being a Christian. I share with them the story of Paul who worked as
a tentmaker to fund the needs of his missionary activities. I assure them that
if they work to support themselves with the spirit of Christ, God will bless
them and open doors for them as he has for me and many others. Since what they
have seen is wealthy westerners who travel at great expense with loads of
equipment to present the gospel in their impoverished villages, they are unable
to divorce the gospel from the need to get money to have a ministry. I am
thankful for organizations like Gospel Outreach. Instead of mounting expensive,
western-led evangelistic campaigns, they pay local salaries to indigenous
workers to travel by foot, bicycle, motorbike, and even horse to share the
gospel among their own people. For those inclined to send money to spread the
gospel, this is an organization I would recommend receive those gifts. Their
website can be reached at goaim.org.
Each of us will spend our lives here, and the years will go by no matter what
we do. The march of years is unstoppable. When we draw near the close, will we come
to the realization that we have just been existing, with little to show beyond
survival at the end? What will be the measure of our lives? Whom have we
helped? Have we asked ourselves how Jesus would have approached our lives if
given the opportunity? Would he have worked 30-40 years and at the end retire
without anyone even knowing if Christ was a part of his life? Could our daily
priorities and what we do on behalf of others speak more loudly about our
relationship to God than our words ever could? How will you, dear reader, bring
Christ into your daily life, your work, and your relationships? What seeds of
kindness, compassion and benevolence will you have sown that will continue
growing when you are no longer around to tend them? May God grant us all the
opportunity to work with the heart of Jesus.