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Get to Work! - Nehemiah 3

Taught on | Keywords: build, complain, hard, job, lazy, lead, leader, passion, people, purpose, witness, work, worker

For American adults, over 70 percent of time awake is spent in the workplace. That means the workplace is the greatest mission field of our day. But for some, a wall exists between Sunday and Monday separating their spiritual life from their work life. In this message, Nate Heitzig teaches from Nehemiah 2-3 and gleans biblical principles on how to work with purpose, people, and passion.

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11/14/2021
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Get to Work!
Nehemiah 3
Nate Heitzig
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For American adults, over 70 percent of time awake is spent in the workplace. That means the workplace is the greatest mission field of our day. But for some, a wall exists between Sunday and Monday separating their spiritual life from their work life. In this message, Nate Heitzig teaches from Nehemiah 2-3 and gleans biblical principles on how to work with purpose, people, and passion.
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Hustle and Grind: The Theology of Work

Hustle and Grind: The Theology of Work

Some people worship at the altar of their career, striving for success and security while sacrificing their own rest and well-being. Others can't be bothered to break away from their gaming or binge-watching habits on the couch. Work has provided a God-given purpose and dignity to human life even before the fall, yet God also modeled our need for rest when He "ended His work which He had done, and…rested" (Genesis 2:2). In this teaching series, Skip Heitzig explores what God's Word has to say about worship and work, rest and laziness.

Study Guide

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Connect Group Guide: November 14, 2021
Speaker: Nate Heitzig
Teaching: “Get to Work!”
Text: Nehemiah 3

Main Point
For American adults, over 70 percent of time awake is spent in the workplace. Because of this, our workplace is the greatest mission field of our day. But for many Christians, a wall exists between Sunday and Monday separating their spiritual life from their work life, but all of life is spiritual—including work. A recent study found 70 percent of Christians have never been taught the theology of work, and Americans are leaving their jobs in record numbers in what some are calling the Great Resignation. In this message from Nehemiah 2-3, Nate Heitzig gleaned biblical principles on how to work with purpose, people, and passion.

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” —Colossians 3:17

Talk about It
  1. Who in your life exemplifies passion, purpose, and excellence in how they work? Share what you learn from them and what they mean to you.
  2. Discuss how you value the people you work or serve alongside. What are some of your closest work relationships, and how can you add value to their lives? The people we work alongside are just as important as the work we are called to.
  3. Have you noticed yourself slipping into eye-service or discontentment, or struggling with passion in the workplace, in your relationships, or at home? Discuss why it is vital for Jesus followers to work diligently and with passion.
“If the worker is who they should be then the work will be what it should be.” —Pastor Nate

Make It Practical
  • Build up your spiritual strength. Spiritual defeat can be the cause of spiritual laziness. Spend more time working on your spiritual life than on your physical looks or desires. This will increase your influence in your workplace and on the people around you. Read Nehemiah 2:4-5.
  • Work with purpose. Nehemiah had a purpose in building walls—not wealth, power, or popularity, but to exalt the name of the Lord. Since God provides everything we need, we ultimately work for Him—to make Him famous and visible to others.
  • Be faithful in the job you have. We must remember that it is not the size of the job (large or small) but the work we do as unto the Lord that matters, and God will bless it. Our work is a witness. A hard worker is one of the best witnesses in the workplace.
Pray
Lord, as we go to our daily work, help us to take pleasure in it. Show us clearly what our duty is; help us to be faithful in doing it. Give us strength to do, patience to bear, and by our true love for You, make unlovely things shine in the light of Your great love. Amen.

“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing.” —Philippians 2:13-14

Cross references: Exodus 36:2; Nehemiah 2:17; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Romans 12:11; 1 Corinthians 1:26; Philippians 2:13-15; Colossians 3:17, 22-23; Revelation 4:11

Transcript

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Get to Work! - Nehemiah 3 - Nate Heitzig

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Welcome to Calvary Church, with Skip Heitzig. We're so glad you've joined us for Hustle and Grind-- The Theology of Work. In this teaching series, Pastor Skip explores what God's word has to say about worship and work, rest, and laziness.

Turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 3. We're going to be in a message this evening that I've titled, Get to Work. And we're in this series right now, Hustle and Grind. And we're looking at a Biblical perspective on work and rest.

And last week, we really got a crash course in the theology of work. And this is a series we've been looking forward to for a while. It's one that we planned actually a couple of years ago. And it's something we don't talk about a lot in church. That is work and rest.

And we're going to be taking again six weeks, as Pastor Skip shared last week. We looked at last week that work is good. This week we're going to look at how to work. Next week, we're going to look at working unto idolatry, working too much. Any workaholics in the house? You find yourself working way too much?

And then after that, we'll do three weeks on rest. We'll look at the fact that rest is good. God commands us to rest. We'll talk about how to rest Biblically, and then we'll talk about the other extreme, resting until laziness, resting too much.

I asked if there is any workaholics. And people are usually pretty free to admit that they're workaholics. No one wants to admit that they're lazy, though, and rest too much. So I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands for that one.

But did you know that over 70% of our time spent awake is spent in the workplace? 70% of your time spent awake, if you work a normal 9:00 to 5:00 job, like most people, with some overtime, 70% of your time awake is spent in the workplace. And yet, our training and teaching tends to focus on areas where we spend much less time.

The workplace is the greatest mission field of our day and age. I really believe this. The workplace is the greatest opportunity that we have to be a reflection of Jesus Christ and to change lives.

And yet we don't train business people how to effectively integrate their faith into the workplace. The wall between Sunday and Monday still exists in a very real fashion for most people. Most business people don't understand that all of life is spiritual.

Sometimes, we want to relegate our lives and have compartments, and say, well, this part of my life is spiritual, when I'm at church, maybe how I engage with my family and raise my kids. But work in business is separate. We want to compartmentalize our life into these little areas.

But all of life is spiritual-- not just Sunday, not just when you're at church-- all of life. A recent study found that 50% of Christians have never heard a sermon on work, 50% of Christians. 70% have never been taught the theology of work, and 70% have never heard a sermon on vocation.

So why do we focus on the fringes rather than at the center, where most people spend most of their time, the workplace? I'm sure you've all heard the quintessential quotes in the idioms on work. Thomas Edison said, there's no substitute for hard work.

We're all used to hearing the idioms-- early to bed, early to rise; burn the candle at both ends; work your fingers to the bone; the early bird gets the worm; or perhaps the lesser known quote by the esteemed American philosopher Homer Simpson, kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream?

[LAUGHTER]

After a while, all the idioms, all the quotes on work-- and we hear these a lot. You know, last week, my dad talked about that famous line that every dad tells their kid at some point. Get a job. And we're so used to hearing these little pithy sayings about work.

And eventually, these quotes can become so monotonous, and we can even get to the point where it makes us want to do the opposite of work, which is nothing, and just be lazy, and just stay home. You know, right now our country is experiencing this more than ever before. We're in the midst of what some people are calling the great resignation.

It's a huge problem right now for our culture. People are having a hard time finding workers. People are quitting. People are expecting outlandish things when they try to apply for a job. Americans are leaving their jobs in record numbers.

As a matter of fact, it's reported that 4.4 million people are quitting their job each month, 4.4 million people each month right now in the United States. That's up from 3.5% million people a month pre-pandemic. You know, I think the key to enjoying work is by not focusing on the work itself. And we're going to explain what this means tonight.

But the key is to not focus on work itself, but rather to focus on the one that you're serving. And I don't mean your boss. I don't mean the employees or the people who shop at your business or your patrons. I mean Jesus Christ, to focus not on the work itself, but focus on the one that you're doing the work for.

Colossians 3:17 says, Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let me tell you something tonight before we go any further. It doesn't matter what job you're doing. I don't care where you work. I don't care what your role is at your job.

I don't care how long you've been doing it or how short you've been doing it. I don't care if you hate your job, or you love your job. Whatever job you're doing, do it unto the Lord. Doesn't matter how boring or miserable it is. As long as you're doing it, do it well.

As Christians, we understand that part of the base idea of being a believer is that we should show our faith in Christ through everything that we do. And that includes through our work. We know from last week's message, Get a Job, that work is good. But today in our message, titled, Get to Work, we're going to look at how we as Christians are supposed to work.

As important as faith is, faith can only take you so far until you have to do something to enact your faith. We're going to look at the story of Nehemiah, who had a great amount of faith. He was a man of prayer. He was a man of very devout faith, and he had faith that Jerusalem would get rebuilt. But as important as that is, it would have done nothing unless the people and him were dedicated to the work that it took to accomplish the goal.

Again, we're going to be a Nehemiah 3. And we're going to look at our first point, work with purpose. But before we dive into our text, we need to understand something. Nehemiah was a man of prayer, but he was a man who was willing to do the work.

And the reason I think this is important is because some Christians can get so hyper spiritual, they get bottlenecked with prayer and faith, and they never take any action beyond that. It's that common phrase. Some people are so heavenly-minded, you can't be earthly good.

I don't like that phrase, because I think we should be heavenly-minded. But I think some Christians want to blame everything on their faith. And so they never get anything done. They never take that next step. They never take that next venture into what God has for them, because they're always focused not on actually doing, but just on this hyper spiritual idea, that, well, until God tells me verbatim what to do, I'm not going to do anything.

Nehemiah was concerned about one thing and one thing only. And that was the glory of God. We find here in our text, in Nehemiah chapter 3, that Nehemiah has been on a journey. In chapter 1 and chapter 2, Nehemiah feels this calling from the Lord to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. His heart is in anguish, because his homeland has been destroyed. The walls of Jerusalem have fallen.

And he recognizes that it's a reproach not just upon the Israelites, but upon God. And so he has this call from God to go back and restore the walls and the gates of Jerusalem. And so he leaves his job working for the king, and he goes to Jerusalem with purpose, ready to work.

Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 17, the chapter before the one we're in tonight says, Let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. Nehemiah had a true purpose in building these walls. And it wasn't wealth. It wasn't power. It wasn't popularity. Nehemiah wanted to go do this work, because he wanted to exalt the name of the Lord among all nations.

All those around Jerusalem took pleasure in mocking and persecuting the Jews. The Jews were almost like a pun for the people of that day, pointing out their failures, pointing out their destroyed cities. I'm sure the Jews even felt abandoned. After all, if God loved Jerusalem so much, then why were the walls and the gates burned down to the ground? If God had made a covenant with his people, then why weren't his people thriving in the way that they expected to thrive?

And so Nehemiah goes home with a purpose. Glorify God by working hard and rebuilding the walls. Let's look at the first verse in our text, Nehemiah chapter 3, verse 1. It says, Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and he built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and they consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.

We see here in the first verse, it says that Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the sheep gate. Now, why is this important? In any understanding of work, it's important to realize that leaders are the ones who have to set the example. And I love that this starts out with a mission. They have a plan. They want to go out. They want to build the wall. They want to restore the city of Jerusalem.

And who's the person on the front line who's doing the work? The high priest. The priests are there doing the work, setting the example. If there was anyone in Jerusalem who should have been working hard, it was the priest. Why? Because their entire livelihood was built up on serving the God of Israel.

And I submit to you that if anyone today should be showing Christian attitude and showing purpose and hard work and should be showing these principles we're talking about, it should be us. It should be Christians. But far too often, Christians are known and can be known in the workplace as the lazy ones or the ones who aren't doing the hard work. And sometimes, it's incredible how Christians can pawn off their laziness in their bad work upon the scripture.

But if anyone should be setting an example, if anyone should be working with purpose, it's you and me. And sadly, I see people every day that claim to be Christians, but act worse than some people who don't even know Christ. And this is especially true in the workplace.

The problem is that the church can become its own worst enemy. As believers, we're called to be an example and to set an example to those. But oftentimes, I find believers griping and bickering and complaining and unwittingly falling into one of the most effective satanic traps, his strategy of divide and conquer.

We are in danger, Christian, of wasting our energy on insignificant things like quarreling, fault-finding, and disputing. We're in danger of forgetting that God is at work in us, while we spend ourselves in foolish debate and senseless controversy. When you're in the workplace, your purpose, your goal, should be to glorify God, not bicker with people about vaccine mandates or politics or what's happening in the news or find these ways to divide.

Our purpose in the workplace is to do all that we do unto the glory of God, so that the unbelieving world, when they look at our lives in the workplace, they see the hard work. They see the example we're setting. And they say, man, there's something different about those Christians. There's something different about the way they approach work. There's something different about the way that they conduct themselves.

We are on the front lines, and we need to be showing the love of Christ to others. When you're at work as a Christian, you are there to reflect Christ. Sure, you're there to get a job done. Sure, you're there to collect a paycheck and provide for your family. But as a Christian, the chief purpose you have in the workplace is to reflect Jesus Christ. This should be our motive in our jobs.

You know, today in the church, the world either ignores us or mocks us. When you look at the news, when you look at what people say about Christians, they either ignore us and don't care about what we're doing at all. Or they're mocking us and telling us that our views are destructive or hurtful. There's no middle ground. No one really likes what we're doing, by and large.

And at times, I'll admit it can get pretty discouraging, can't it? To hear what's happening in the news, hear the things that are said, it can feel like going to a job can be a drain, like, oh my gosh, especially now, with where we're seeing the country head. And it feels like you're being persecuted for different views and different ideas and ideologies.

This is why it's so important for Christians to work with purpose. Because if you don't work with purpose, if you don't realize that above all, your job in the workplace is to reflect Christ. And as long as you're doing that, you're succeeding.

If you don't start with that purpose, it's hard to find motivation. It's hard to wake up in the morning. It's hard to go to your job. It's hard to do a good job and be motivated to succeed and be motivated to do what you're supposed to do.

It's easier to complain. It's easier to quit. But when you have purpose, when you recognize every day that you put on your uniform, that you go to your job, no matter what it is, and you say, look, I'm going to experience some hatred today. I might experience some mockery today. I might experience some an indifference.

But at the end of the day, my purpose is to reflect Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, my purpose is to be a witness for him. That changes the way that you conduct yourself. It changes the way you work.

Let me tell you, it changes the way that people view you at work. It changes the way that they talk about you at work. It changes the way that they promote you or choose not to promote you.

We need to be diligent to the work that's set before us, to the purpose of the work that we are doing. No matter what job you're doing as a Christian, the purpose of your work is to glorify God. Romans 12:11 says, Not lagging in diligence, but fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord. The King James Version phrases that as saying, not slothful in business. Martin Luther said, don't be lazy as to what you ought to do.

Now, this really is speaking primarily to our service to the Lord. But as a believer, we can extract some application of this and apply it to anything that we do as a believer. No matter what you do as a believer, service to the Lord, your 9:00 to 5:00 job, the way you raise your family, the way that you treat your spouse, don't lag in diligence. Be fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord.

Now, every dad should get this, right? Because quitters never win, and winners never quit. That's right. Come on, somebody. I need some dads to help me preach this message to the next generation. Because it's OK to fall down, as long as you get back up and try again, right?

We never quit. We keep pushing. It's hard. It can be difficult, but we keep pushing. We keep pursuing. Because spiritual laziness is the cause of spiritual defeat.

And if you're experiencing some spiritual defeat in your life, chances are you can root it to some spiritual laziness in your life. You can root it to a lack of purpose. You can root it to that lack of understanding of what you were put on this earth to do, why you have your job in the first place, why you have your family in the first place. When you start with purpose, when you start with that understanding that I have a purpose on this earth, and it's more than just a paycheck I collect, from a non-believer or a believer, my purpose on this earth is to be a reflection of Jesus Christ, that spiritual fortitude.

Many Christian men spend more time shaving, brushing their teeth, and pumping iron for physical growth than they do on spiritual growth. I'm not going to let you off, women. Many Christian women spend more time putting on makeup than they do putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. And unlike the outside, you can actually fix the inside if you try.

It doesn't matter how many times you paint the barn. It's still a barn. But Jesus wants to turn your barn into the temple of the living God, where the Most High can dwell. He wants to pimp your ride. He wants to do a complete home makeover on your life. He wants to turn your fixer-upper into an MTV crib.

[LAUGHTER]

But it takes purpose. And it takes work. And it takes diligence. And it takes discipline.

And then there's those who use their Christianity as a cloak for poor workmanship. And this is something that drives me nuts-- general laziness. Have you ever heard a Christian try to hyper-spiritualize their bad work? I have, and it usually sounds something like this.

They don't do a good job. Or what they're doing isn't the work that they're supposed to do. And their response is usually something like, well, it's all going to burn anyways. OK, so that's an excuse to not do a good job? Or well, I'm doing it unto the Lord, so it doesn't matter what people think about what I'm doing.

OK, you're using a truth scripturally to excuse you not doing good work, that people can look that you're a Christian and say, yeah, you're doing good work and glorify your Father in Heaven. We want a hyper-spiritualize and sometimes right off our laziness and our poor workmanship. But as believers, we should be the best at what we do.

Christians shouldn't be the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to the workforce. We should be the top. Every employer in the city, when they see that you come in, and you say that you're a Christian, they should say, I want to hire this person. Because I know that as a believer, they're going to be honest. They're going to have integrity. They're going to show up on time.

They're going to work as hard as they possibly can. They're not going to be prideful or try to be shady about what they're doing. But they're going to be honest, and they're going to do what they say they're going to do, when they say they're going to do it. The world should look at Christians and say, man, how can I get more of those people in my workforce? We should be the best students, the best secretaries, the best delivery men, the best farmers, the best salesmen, the best whatever.

Colossians 3:23 says, Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly as unto the Lord. And as you look at the Old Testament and the building of the temple, you see how there was an anointing from God on the craftsmanship of what they did. Did you realize that there can be an anointing from God upon the work that you do with your hands?

We tend to think of an anointing of God coming from the things that we say. We're street witnessing. We're talking to someone about the gospel, and God anoints us. But God anoints the work of your hands, your craftsmanship, the labor that you do. There can be an anointing upon that, and the work that you do can actually be a testimony to an unbelieving world. God can use the work that you do to bring others to Christ.

Exodus 36:2 says, And every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord has put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred to come and do the work. I'm appalled at the shabby, second-rate work that's all too often done in the realm of arts by believers. Does that drive anyone else nuts? Like, Christian movies and Christian music sometimes, it's just a cheap imitation and a copy of what the world has to offer.

This is why I'm so passionate about Christians in creative arts. Have you noticed that oftentimes, we refer to Christian artists by the secular counterpart that they sound like? Well, what kind of music are they? Well, they're like the Christian version of Adele or the Christian version of Coldplay. What does that even mean? No, no, Coldplay is Coldplay. Adele is Adele.

We should be doing original things that sound original, things that the world wants to imitate. Don't get me started on Christian movies. How many bad Christian movies are there out there? I mean, the message is great. Don't get me wrong.

But you watch the acting. You watch the production. You watch the movie. You're like, I can't sit through another minute of this. Which again, it should be the opposite. The art that Christians are making should be such top notch, top level, incredible, intricate, thought out, well-planned, that the world looks at the art that Christians are doing and says, man, how do we be like them?

We decry Hollywood and all the junk that they're making us watch, all the junk that they're forcing down our throats. And I agree a lot of it's trash. We shouldn't be consuming it. We shouldn't be indoctrinating our kids with it.

But let me tell you, the answer isn't to boycott Hollywood. The answer is to make better written word, to make better movies, to make more compelling art, to make higher production value, more thought-out media than what we are currently doing.

It's why I love things like The Chosen. Look, The Chosen is a good show whether you believe the message or not. It's just good. It's good TV. It's well done. It's well thought out. It's well filmed. We need more Christian art like that.

Why should Christian movies and music be looked down upon by the world? We should be the ones being imitated, not vice versas. People should be saying, oh, Coldplay sounds like that Christian band, whatever. Oh, Adele sounds like that Christian singer, whoever. Christian should be the ones setting the standard. We should be working with purpose.

Number two, we should be working with people. Throughout this entire chapter, chapter 3, we see a huge number of names and groups of people. And we observe a profound truth. God uses in his work all kinds of people. And as you get to work, you're inevitably going to work with people. And all of those people are going to work differently.

Some people that you work with are going to work really hard. They're going to be great workers. Some aren't going to work at all. You'll get along with some. Others are going to drive you nuts. But regardless of who you work with, you are called to work hard, and you are called to be an example to all.

Let's look at Nehemiah chapter 3, verses 2 through 8 as we continue this. Verse 2 says, Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. Also the sons of Hassenaah who built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.

And next to them, Meremoth, the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them, Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. Hey, if you ever want to find crappy kid names for your kids, this is a good place to go.

Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs. But their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of the Lord. Moreover, Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Beso-- I'm probably mispronunciating all these, by the way, so give me some grace-- repaired the Old Gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.

And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mitzpah, repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River. Next to him, Uzziel repaired the residents of the-- Wait. Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs. And they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. I'm going to stop there, because it's a lot of names to read.

But what I want to point out from this chunk of text, what's important here is a series of words, if you look through that, nine times in these seven verses, it says, next to them. This person was working, and next to them, this person was working. And next to them, this person was working. And next to them, this person was working.

It wasn't one person doing the job. It was a group effort, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, standing side by side. They were doing the work together. Why is this important?

God's plan for you isn't to work alone, but it's to work with others. He doesn't want you to isolate. He wants you to integrate. He wants you to work with other people. He wants you to do things with other people.

They are all working here in Nehemiah chapter 3 side by side and in unison. Almost think of it like a cartoon. Like the dwarves in Snow White, they're all whistling while they work. They're working in harmony. They're working together.

The chapter mentions rulers and priests in verse 1, 12, and 19. Men and women in verse 12, professional craftsmen in verse 8 and 32, and even people from outside the city are working along with the Israelites. God wants every person to be a part of his work, regardless of your age, your education, your money. He simply wants you to put your hand to the plow and do the work.

Look back at verse 8. It says, Next to him, Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs. And they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

Why do I bring that up? Well, because it's quite an interesting work crew, isn't it? If you're building your house, you want to get someone who makes perfume? Do you want to get a goldsmith to come and build your house?

It's an interesting ragtag crew that's here building these walls, goldsmiths and perfumers. These are people who are used to doing very light, delicate work. You have to imagine at nighttime, their muscles ached more than the other people. Their hands probably blistered more than others. If anyone could say, hey, that's not my job, it would have been the priests and the perfumers.

Look at verse 12 with me. We see another interesting group of workers. And next to him was Shallum the son of Halohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters made repairs. I love this verse.

I love this verse, because there's this belief that's popular today among deconstructionists, that says that the Bible is misogynistic, that the Bible is sexist, that the Bible oppresses women and holds women down, and that every Christian must be the same. But let me tell you. That could not be further from the truth.

The Bible is not just full of great men. The Bible is full of incredible women that God used to accomplish his mission. The Bible doesn't silence. Women the Bible elevates women. The Bible doesn't objectify women. The Bible gives them purpose.

You have to understand how unique this was in this time period. The culture in the rest of the known world in both the Old and New Testament times stripped women of their rights and viewed them more as property rather than as people. But God uses women to do things at times that are even greater than their male counterparts.

Miriam, in Exodus, saves the life of her brother Moses and continues to lead people in worship and then remains at Moses aside throughout most of Exodus, doing ministry alongside Moses. Deborah was a judge called by God, a position that was previously only held by men. But she gets called by God, and she confronts Sisera, a cruel Canaanite king. Esther has more courage than most men you read about in scripture, and she saved all of Israel.

Jesus had numerous interactions with women and elevated the calling of women throughout his ministry and was seen first by women at his resurrection. Jesus presented women as models of faith to his listeners in a culture where women were neither seen or heard. Priscilla and Lydia were both influential leaders in the early church in Acts. And now here in Nehemiah 3, young women are working with their hands, building the walls alongside the men.

When people tell you that the Bible is oppressive or condescending towards women, understand that the culture that the Judeo-Christian worldview created for women's rights was a brick through the window of modern-day culture. The Bible elevated the role that women can play, elevated the role that women serve. Women, don't ever let anyone tell you that you don't have a place in the work of God. Don't ever let anyone tell you that your only place is being a stay-at-home mom or watching the kids or caring for the home.

God has a unique plan and a purpose for your life. And he wants to use you to do truly incredible things. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. When God wants to do a great work, he gets a hold of a man. When God wants to do an especially great work, he gets a hold of a woman.

And I can testify that in my life. Growing up, my dad was very busy. He preached a lot, traveled a lot. My mom was the chief one who truly, I would say, taught me the scripture and the word of God through her actions and through what I saw and through the way that she raised me and through the way that she was hands-on.

Yes, my dad was there, but not as much as my mom was. My wife has such a gift for empathy and compassion more than I ever could. She is such a gift to me. When I see people simply through what they do, she sees them for who they are.

God has a unique calling upon a woman's life. He has a unique plan for a woman's life. He has a unique plan for your life. And he wants you to do the work.

Look back at verse 5. We see another group of people. Verse 5 says, Next to them the Tekoites made repairs. These are people who didn't live in Jerusalem. But their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of the Lord.

Tekoa was a town about 11 miles from Jerusalem. So in that day and age, walking or riding a horse, it was a bit of a distance. They weren't locals. They didn't live in Jerusalem. They weren't responsible to help build the city, but they did. They chose to be a part of it. They wanted to help their neighbors.

But we see these nobles. It says the Tekoites did the work, but the nobles just sat there and watched. They didn't put their shoulders to the task. Why was that? Why were they lazy? Why were they so lax?

I think perhaps it could be that they thought the work was beneath them. They see that as manual labor, and they think, I don't need to do that. The workers will do that. The people will do that.

This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:26. It says, for you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. We just need to realize, and one thing we need have an understanding of, is we take our role and our purpose as Christians in the workplace, is that some people, no matter how hard we try or what we do, just won't do anything. Some people just won't work.

And it's frustrating, isn't it? When you have a coworker who just never does their share of the work, somebody who you work with, and they're just never active. They're never working. And it can be frustrating , and you can have this inclination to defame them or talk poor about them or to say things to your boss about them, or do this or do that. But remember, our role as believers, first and foremost in the workplace, is to be a reflection of Christ.

And you're going to work with people you don't like. You're going to work with people that don't want to work. It's going to happen. Charles Spurgeon said, if you plan to be lazy, there are plenty of vocations in which you'll be unwanted. But above all, you are not wanted in the Christian ministry.

Modern tekoite, in our day and age, I would view this as a person who wants the benefits of a job, but not the work. And we see this a lot in our day and age. They want the benefits. They want the paycheck.

They want the paid vacation, the paid time off. They want a break room that has ping pong tables and bean bags. But they don't want to do the work. They don't want to apply themselves. They don't want to be diligent.

I read about a classified ad in the San Francisco Chronicle that said this-- Wanted-- executive age 22 to 80. Job entails sitting with feet on a desk from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM, watching other people work. Must be willing to play golf every other afternoon. Salary starts at $2,000 a week.

But this footnote's with it. AT the end of it, it said, We don't really have this job open. We just thought you'd like to see in print what everyone else is applying and asking for.

[LAUGHTER]
Look at verse 9 and 12. There's a word I want to point out in there. Verse 9, it says, And next to them, Rephaiah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. Go down to verse 12. It says, And next to him was Shallum the son of Halohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem. He and his daughters made repair.

We see here two leaders in Jerusalem., well-established leaders in this community. Nobles of Tekoa were yawning, while the nobles of Jerusalem were sweating. Again, Christian, as ambassadors of Christ, we're to be an example.

I don't care if other people at your job aren't working hard, you work hard. You be an example to them. When people look at your life, don't let them look at your life as one of the nobles of Tekoa. Let them look at your life and view one of the nobles of Jerusalem, a hard worker.

No matter how high up you get, no matter what your role is, let it be known that you're a hard worker, that you're willing to get your hands dirty, that you're willing to do the work that is needed. When it comes to the work of the Lord, there is no place for self-appointed critics, but there's always place for workers. There's always a place for people willing to do the job.

I want to point out one more person in this chapter in particular. Look at verse 20 with me. Go down. Nehemiah chapter 3, verse 20 says, After him Baruch the son of Zabbai carefully repaired the other section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

I point this out, because it says there that he carefully repaired the outer section. And I say this because just as there are some people who, no matter what you do, won't work, there are some people who will always work harder than others. And this guy Baruch is the only worker of whom it is said, the work was done carefully.

Now, that doesn't mean that everyone else who did the work did a bad job, and it had to be repaired or redone. But it does make a point to show that this guy was different. And he did his work in a different way.

The word in Hebrew for a carefully means to burn or to glow. It speaks of passion. It speaks of fervent spirit. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

Once we find the work that Jesus has called as to, we must do it zealously. We must do it carefully. We must be aglow. We must be bright. We need to learn how to burn and glow in all that we do.

And this leads us right into our last point. Third and finally, we need to work with passion. Work with purpose, work with people, and finally, work with passion. In this passage, there are 38 different workers that are named. And as I said before, you can pick any one of those names, if you want to give your kid a terrible time in grade school.

And over 42 different groups are identified. It's a massive amount of people. And there's many, many, many, many other people who aren't named. But each and every worker, whether named or unnamed, was given a specific task and was equally as important.

Nehemiah was a leader who had purpose and had passion to fulfill his purpose. This is so important. Once you find your purpose-- and as we recognize, each and every believer, our purpose in the workplace is to be a reflection and to shine a light to Jesus Christ. It's important that we do it with passion, with excitement, with joy.

Let me frame this for you in a very easy way to understand. I have a son who's 11 years old, and he has a set of chores to do. And oftentimes, I'll ask him to do chores that are above and beyond with his normal chore list is.

Now, when I ask Him to go out and clean the dog poops, I get one of two responses-- either, OK, Dad-- which never happens.

[LAUGHTER]

Or I get, (LARGE SIGH) oh, do I have to? Yes, son, go clean the dog poop. Doors slamming, things breaking-- I see him outside crying as he picks up the dog poops. You can do the work, or you can do the work passionately.

We are called to do the work that God has set before us, not just to get it done, not just to get it out of the way and get on to the next thing and get on to more important things that we want to do. But we are called to do the work that we are in passionately, with joy, with a fervent spirit, aglow, bright. Colossians 3:22 phrases it this way. Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

The Message translation puts it this way. Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters, and don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from your heart for your real master, for God. The principle here is that we are to work with passion from our hearts, not just when your boss is watching.

Have you ever noticed, when the boss walks down the hall, everyone works 10 times harder?

[LAUGHTER]

Not always on your toes, looking to look the best-- well, I want to look good when the boss is around. Then when he's gone, I can just slack. That's half service. Because you're doing it with half a heart.

And we all know what that looks like. Can you remember, anyone in here, back to high school when you would have gym class? Anyone remember that, gym class? Do they still have gym class? It's not the same as what it used to be. You used to have to run multiple miles and do push-ups until you threw up. Gym class used to be tough.

But I remember back in gym class, whenever you would have to do push-ups or jumping jacks or sit-ups, every kid did the same thing. Do you remember what they did? Because the gym teacher would always walk down a line where all the kids were doing push-ups and look at the form of each and every kid. And so when the gym teacher walked past you doing push-ups, these were the kind of push-ups you did-- touching your nose.

You're doing a good job. Then you're looking out of the corner of your eye. And when he gets a little further, your knee goes down a little bit-- just one knee, because he can't see it as long as this knee is facing him. And then you do little pumps like that.

[LAUGHTER]

And then jumping jacks, whenever the gym teacher is there, it's full extension jumping jacks. But when the gym teacher is gone, it's like a little.

[LAUGHTER]

I did 20! Or sit-ups-- sit-ups were the worst. The gym teacher comes. You're doing a full sit-up. But when he's gone, it's like a little-- What are you doing? You're not even doing anything.

[LAUGHTER]

Right? That's half service. Why? Because your heart's not in it. Or at work, the boss is coming down the hall, and you start typing furiously with a studious look on your face. Little does he realize that you're playing a video game. You're playing Candy Crush, or you're playing some Facebook game.

Or you're working at a grocery store, and the manager is walking by. And you immediately start stocking the shelves. When he leaves, your phone's back out. That's doing it with half a heart. That's eye service. That's doing the minimum to get by.

Do your best. Do it with passion. Do it with joy. Do it with excitement, recognizing that your real boss, Christians, isn't some guy with a corner office. It's Jesus. And even though the boss with the corner office might only see you sometimes, Jesus is with you all the time. And you're doing your work for him, not for the guy in the office.

You're working for Him, to please Him, that it could be a reflection of your love and your service and your dedication to Him. Philippians chapter 2, verse 13 to 14 says, For it is God Who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disrupting.

This gets back to why you and I are here, in the first place. As I said before, we've been created to bring pleasure to God. Scripture tells us, For your pleasure, You have created all things. Not to please ourselves or even to please others primarily, but to please him who has chosen me.

And so Paul warns us of those things that can hinder this cultivation, things that can stop us from bringing pleasure to the Lord, from bringing pleasure to the One who's done so much for us. He says, do all things without complaining.

This is the attitude of the person who's constantly complaining about everything they have to do. Have you ever met people like this? It doesn't matter what job they have. There's something they hate about it.

Oh, how's your new job? Well, the pay's good, but I hate my boss. Or the boss is great, but I hate the hours. Or the hours are great, the boss is great, the pay's good, but the customers are the worst. And they're always complaining. Nothing's ever good enough. Every job is just a series of complaints and frustrations.

Rather than just keeping their head down and working with their whole heart, they've chosen to take a path of complaining, griping, and always being dissatisfied. They aren't doing it as unto the Lord, but as unto themselves. See, when you're doing the work as unto yourself, you want to get all your needs met. You want to be happy.

When you're doing your work as unto the Lord, you're sacrificial. You say, look, I don't care if there's things I don't like, because. I'm doing the work as unto the Lord. I'm doing it to please Him. I'm doing it to honor Him. And I'm doing it to be a reflection to my coworkers and to my neighbors of the love that I have for Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:15 completes the thought by saying, That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights to the world. Christian, this world is crooked. This world is perverse. And everything, including the work that you do, should shine a light to Jesus.

In other words, there should be nothing in our lives of which anyone can take hold and blame us. Your work ethic shouldn't cause people to do that. The things you say when you're at work, the way you treat your coworkers, no one should be able to take any of that to defame the name of Jesus Christ.

In other words, the world, your boss, your co-workers, your friends, your spouse, shouldn't look at you and say, they are always complaining. They are always arguing. That Christian, man, they're just causing strife in the office. All they want to do is come in here and argue politics.

All they want to come in here is start a fight. And they just want to argue their points and their rights. And they just want to do all this stuff. We shouldn't be known as rabble-rousers. We should be known as peacemakers, pointing to Jesus Christ, pointing to the passion that He has given us. It doesn't matter how small we feel the work is. If we do it unto the Lord, He's going to bless it.

They should be looking at our lives and saying, man, that Christian. They are working so hard, and they're so positive, no matter what job they're doing. The people in Jerusalem finished their task, because they took passion in the job that they had, not the job they thought they should have.

And this is where I want to close. This is where I want to bring it to a close. Because I find every one of us has aspirations.

Maybe you're in the job that you've dreamed of since you were a little kid. But chances are maybe not. Maybe you're striving to that. You're pushing to the job that you want, the job that you think you should have. Each one has a place to fill and a job to do.

Can I say something to the younger people in here and those who struggle with contentment in their workplace? Right now, whatever job you have, wherever you work, work as hard in the position you're in now as you would in the dream position that you're striving for. Work just as hard.

If that means you're sitting in a stable shoveling horse poop, shovel that poop just as hard as you would if you were sitting in the corner office with your feet up. Do it just as hard. Work just as diligently. Persevere just as much.

Maybe you're begging for more opportunity, platform, or leadership. But God will never give you more if you squander what you already have. Don't focus on what others have. Focused on what you've been given.

It's like the parable of the talents. You have the 10-talent guy and the 1-talent guy. And the 1-talent guy sees the 10 talents that the master has given him and says, well, he got 10 talents, and so I just hid mine, because I only have 1-- not recognizing that if we take that 1, and we work just as hard with that 1 as that guy with 10, God's going to honor that, and God's going to then give you more.

But if you squander the one that you have, God's not going to give an unfaithful servant more. So if you find that you're a complainer, and you're always complaining about the jobs that you have, and you're always complaining about the role that you have, start recognizing the purpose that you have within that role. Whatever your job is, whether it's pleasant or dull, challenging or easy. I don't care what it is or how long you plan on staying there. Do it with a whole heart and do it passionately.

Do you know why this is so important? Because our work is a witness. And a hard worker is one of the best witnesses in the workplace. You can pass out tracks. You can invite people to church. But when you passionately and with sincerity do a good job, people will look, and people will notice.

Charles Dickens was once asked what his secret to success was. And he said, whatever I have tried to do in life, I've tried to do it with my whole heart and to do it well. Whatever I devoted myself to, I devoted myself completely.

If all of this seems overwhelming, remember this. The calling of God is also the enabling. And before God can do a work through you, He has to do a work in you. And so maybe this is defeating or maybe even a bit discouraging for you. You say, man, I've got a lot of work to do.

Let God do that work in you. Let God come into your life and change those things. This principle is seen at work throughout the Bible in lives of men like Moses, David, the apostles, and others. God had a special plan and a purpose for each of them to fulfill. It took God 40 years to bring Moses to the place where he could use him, 40 years before he could be used in ministry to lead the children of Israel.

And as Moses was shepherding sheep in the desert, God was working in him to lead the children of Israel so he could one day shepherd the Israelites through the wilderness. Don't despise the days of small beginning. God might have you where you are now to prepare you for where He wants you to be later. If the worker is who they should be, then the work will be what it should be.

We live in the midst, church, of a perverse generation. People have a distorted view of God and a distorted view of Christians. We can waste no time. We must get to work and seize the opportunities that God has set before us.

Let's make it our mission. Let's make it our goal, when we go into the workplace this week, to show the world what a real Christian looks like, to show the world what real purpose looks like, to show the world what it looks like to work with people that you don't agree with or get along with, and to do it with passion, so we might win more to Jesus Christ. Amen?

Amen.

Lord, we thank You for Your word. We pray, Lord, that You would help us to be good workers, that You would help us to get to work, Lord, You'd help us to work with purpose, understanding that our role as a believer in the workplace is to shine a light to you, no matter whether we're in the job we like or not. We have an opportunity to make an impact as we work with purpose, as we work with people, and as we work with passion.

Lord, I pray that as we launch from here into our week in the workplace, that You would help us not to compartmentalize church and business, but You would help us to realize that they're one and the same, Lord, in all that we do. Everything we do should glorify You. In Jesus' name we pray.

Thank you so much for joining us for this message from Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig. We would love to know how this message impacted you. Share your story with us. Email mystory@calvarynm.church. And if you'd like to support this Bible teaching ministry with a financial gift, visit calvarynm.church/give.

[MUSIC PLAY8ING]

Additional Messages in this Series

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11/7/2021
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Get a Job
Genesis 1-2
Skip Heitzig
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11/28/2021
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When Work Becomes an Idol
Psalm 127:1-2
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
America is founded on hard work; we even dedicate a day (Labor Day) to celebrate workers. The American Dream suggests that wealth and success follow hard work, and Scripture commends work that’s well done (see Colossians 3:23-24). But something good can become bad if taken too far. Work is good; overwork is not. Being a worker is good, while being a workaholic is bad. Work can become an idol, interrupting the priority of God in our life. Psalm 127 is a poem of contrasting priorities—a life of vanity versus a life of value—and in it we find several warnings from its author, Solomon.
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12/5/2021
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Learning to Relax
Exodus 20:8-11
Skip Heitzig
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If ever there was a commandment tailor-made for the overcommitted and overworked, this is it! Here, God gives His people an order to rest and relax. It’s pretty amazing that we serve a God who put this on His top ten list of important things. Today and next week we will consider what it means to rest and why it is good to do so. Moreover, we’ll see why it is essential to our worship.
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12/12/2021
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The Sabbath Rest
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Skip Heitzig
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Though Christians are solidly under the new covenant, rooted in grace and not law, we enjoy the principle of taking a Sabbath rest from our work. We bring honor to God by worshipful rest. We also show respect to others in our lives by using our free time to build them up. Not only that but we need a break for our physical health and emotional health. Today, let’s consider not only God’s commandment for us to rest, but also the stewardship of our time in putting it into practice.
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1/9/2022
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A Sermon on Six Legs
Proverbs 6:6-11
Skip Heitzig
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Most people think of ants as a nuisance to be eliminated, but Solomon saw them as teachers to be emulated. Writing to his son (see Proverbs 6:1), Solomon warns him that though rest is good, too much of it can be bad. As we conclude our Hustle and Grind series, we focus on the comparison between the industrious ant and the inactive sluggard and why work and rest must be kept in careful balance.
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There are 5 additional messages in this series.
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