I Can't Wait for Monday
by David Oliver
I don't know who you are this morning. Maybe you are a visitor wondering what on earth is going on, maybe you are feeling great, poised and ready for action. You might be a mum in the home wondering how to make sense and put spiritual value on what you do. Perhaps you are a student at school, college, or university, wondering if there is any point wasting your time on education that seems so far sometimes from Godly purpose and Godly meaning. Perhaps you are a working man or woman frustrated or complacent or longing for something, almost anything, but not sure what. Maybe - and most likely - you are aware that a new sound is coming from heaven and it's a sound that will break the charismatic caste system wide open, a sound for every man, woman, and child in the kingdom of God, and it sounds such that if we have ears to hear, it is getting louder and closer. Wherever you are, with God's help I believe this is for you this morning.
We are asking the question: Where is the River of God? I don't know, but I think it is fairly safe to say it isn't where it was. I don't know exactly where it is but I think I have a reasonable idea, biblically, of where it is going. (Ezekiel 47-- dream etc). I want to say clearly this morning I believe the new wineskin is going to take us to the sea to the unchurched world. Church meetings and gatherings will not be the primary focus of this wineskin. The church all over the world right now is undergoing a new millennium change or reformation. And that reformation will - if we will receive it - turn us inside out so that we become the church, the called out ones, the gathered ones in the workplace - whatever and wherever that workplace is, paid and unpaid homes, colleges, schools, or offices. So this new wineskin is not about defining how we meet, it's about being the church in the place of work. It's about the way we think, think about God, think about what He calls church and think about His world of work. As one person put it recently, it's about 'churching it' in every area of life that we represent here this morning.
Could we repeat three lines together this morning:
• God loves work.
• Work is spiritual.
• God wants me to find Him at work. And in doing so, to un-tether this elusive thing we so often call destiny.
Where are our wings?
Last time I preached here on work we laid a few foundations. Let me please recap on two:
1) Work is not secular. We discovered that there is a stronghold in Western Christianity which views church work as spiritual or sacred and other work as secular. This serpentine deception is a heavy chain and, of course, there is no such distinction biblically. Call it secular long enough (which we have) and that is what it will become (which it has). Work is Godly, spiritual, eternal - if you want more depth or substance the book is here.
2) The charismatic caste system has taught us that staff paid by the church are full time, the rest of us by inference are not. How many here work full time for God? Listen, I love these brothers - they are amongst my closest friends and I honour their sacrificial response to following the leading of the Spirit, but they will tell you if you ask them - and please do - that they are not more full time than every one of us in this auditorium should be. It's you and me I'm after, not them. This heresy puts a horrible burden on them, which we can easily compound, but it puts a paralyzing framework of belief on the rest of us in the church. The phrase full time is used once in scripture in Romans 13:6. It describes a taxman who is said to work full time and who incidentally is described as God's servant. SAY IT PLEASE-----I AM FULL TIME.
The last words of a dying man
When my father died I remember the experience vividly, and I will never forget the things we talked about in those last days. In the same way in the New Testament the last words of the first martyr, Stephen, would have a profound impact. Stephen was almost certainly some kind of business administrator, and just before he died the Holy Spirit anointed him to preach a message summarizing God's dealings with our world.
The early church would never forget those words, and it is one of the few messages we have recorded in full in scripture. It is in these anointed last words of the first martyr that God shows us for all time - how He sees history and shows how much He loves, values and works through men and women in the world of work. He also shows, beyond doubt, that work is Godly, work is significant, work is spiritual, work carries destiny, and working men and women in God change history. Putting it in the terms of our introduction - God's river hits the sea in the place of work
In this message Stephen focuses on three main characters. I wonder if you can remember who they are: Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.
Abraham is the father of the faith for both Jews and Gentiles. You don't get much more spiritual or significant than that. But he accomplished that role as a traveling farmer, a businessman, a landowner, a cattle rancher, and an investor in silver and gold. Every tribe, tongue, and nation will one day stand before the throne of God - every tribe and tongue on the planet, and it will be because of God's promise to a working man.
Joseph's prophetic ministry began in animal husbandry, took him into service in prison management and finally into the highest government office - from which he managed global food supplies at a time of global shortage. His supernatural gifting in the workplace was a key ingredient in the outcome.
Moses was an academic, a nomadic farmer, managing his father-in-law's flocks before finally becoming a national political leader.
LET'S NOTICE A FEW THINGS IN PASSING
• These men were not official priests, Levites or pastors or church staff
• They were not paid by the church of the day
• God used these three working men to change the course of world history for the Jews, the Gentiles & the church
• In each case God used their working environment to shape them and through them - in their place of work - He opened up doors of function and destiny in the Kingdom of God.
God loves work - God loves me at work - God wants to be working with me at work.
Does God still use the world of work to extend the kingdom?
In the book [published by this speaker] we look at 24 of God's heroes or models from scripture who were working men or women. We look at at least 12 authors or contributors of scripture, who were working men and women.
In Hebrews 11, which is the chapter on the heroes of the faith, sixteen people out of the seventeen mentioned, were working men and women. That, brothers and sisters, should inspire us, liberate us, and encourage us.
In the past two decades much of our focus, our measure of value, and most of our resources have centered on church gatherings and church activity. But the Bible is not a book centered on the church in gatherings - it includes that and so should we. The Bible is a book about men and women at work, written in part by men and women at work, and written for men and women at work. Let me illustrate, over Christmas Gill pointed out to me something fascinating about the birth of Jesus. Where did Almighty God choose to reveal His Son's birth? He chose working men and women from both ends of the working system. He sent angels to lowest income agricultural workers, the shepherds. He also sent supernatural revelation to high-income flexi-time consultants in the form of the wise men.
In the book of Acts alone, God uses a value added retailer, a paid soldier, a high end fashion dealer, an international finance minister, a prison warden, and two people in manufacturing together with five apostles who worked a mixture of part and full time in paid employment. This was given to us as the New Testament model for church planting. As we move as Salt and Light into Europe, we would do well to remember this model as nations like France treat our kind of approach as a cult, and resist the cultural upheaval that history has taught them they are likely to encounter.
Having said all that, I have some questions to ask you this morning in relation to five well known scriptures.
1) Habakkuk 2:14--- For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. How many believe that? Let me ask you how will that be done? Will it be done through church meetings? There is only one way that can be done, and that is through working men and women.
2) Ephesians 1:23 - The church is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all . How will His body fill all in all? Is it possible to fill all in all in church gatherings? So then stay with me, how are we going to fill all in all? In the place of work.
3) If Ephesians 4:4, 11-12 fold ministries are to equip the saints for works / service - where will those works of service be?
4) If Ephesians 2:10 is right and God has good works which He prepared in advance for us to do - where will those good works be done?
5) In Matthew 5:16 Jesus says, 'let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and so glorify my Father in heaven’ - where will those good works be?
Brothers and sisters, I want us to see clearly today those good works, those good deeds, those works of service, filling all in all, God's glory covering the earth - cannot possibly be in church meetings. They can only possibly take shape in one place and that, ladies and gentlemen, is our place of work wherever that may be. Paid or unpaid - servant or free, ladies in the home, young people in school, college or university, the rest of us in our market, our factory, our office, our hospital, our court room. Wherever God has placed us on his earth, His plan and His will is for us is to fill that place with His presence and glory. And in that place, God has works of service, and good works already prepared for us to do. Like the lover in Song of Solomon, Father is waiting with His Spirit at our workplaces on Monday morning - longing for a loving intimacy that will engage the workplace whatever that is for you. As faith begins to rise in us, as our eyes open to the longing in God's heart to put value in our work place, to put significance for everyone of us in the work place - we may just begin to see our work as God sees it created for us from the beginning, and the most spiritual activity we can engage in if it's done for Him, with Him, through Him and for Him. Work is wonderful, Godly, and eternal.
Daniel, a real example for us in a real world.
Read Daniel 1:5-20
The first thing we learn from Daniel's life is that he wasn't in the ideal environment. It wasn't his choice, and in many ways it was a sad start. Daniel was taken captive in his teenage years and sent to a foreign land, with a foreign language, foreign culture, foreign food and even a foreign name, which I suspect he was not keen on! I want to say to us all today, rich or poor, man or lady, slave or free, our upbringing, our background or our status doesn't have to be a barrier to God moving through us. The same is true of our parents' treatment of us, or our business success or failure.
Some of us today have missed God's destiny in our lives because we have ruled out His work in us on account of our background, our marriage, our history, our family. Maybe some of you are in a situation - work, home, cultural, or a location which is not your choice. Some of you ladies have ruled yourselves out because of your gender.
In the dark and lonely moments which I am sure Daniel had, he lost his parents - probably forever - and he could so easily have questioned the will of God. He could have blamed his parents; he could have blamed God, and become angry or bitter. He could have chosen despair and helplessness. He could so easily have questioned his ability to fulfill his destiny. ' God, how can I fulfill your destiny for my life in this place - in this circumstance?'
But not Daniel, he knew that his circumstance was not a hindrance to the kingdom of God, but that rather this was the very place in which the kingdom was going to be fulfilled and expressed. Daniel was not looking for somewhere else for his full time ministry. Daniel was not looking for the way out of his family, location, work or cultural circumstances - he was actively believing that the Kingdom of God was going to be extended by His God.
Daniel believed, and acted on the belief, that God was big enough to extend the Kingdom through him right there. Daniel understood God's value on his place of work - even though he had no choice. Whatever our circumstances we have the same choice. One film used this phrase, ' they saw themselves as victims and thus they became the victims'. Whatever your circumstances, family, parents, spouse, children, cultural, health - are we seeing ourselves as victims? Because if you and I are, that is what you and I will become.
If we settle the issue that our home, our study, or our place of work is the calling of God, we can reach out positively in faith for the anointing. If we see work as spiritual, as our prime place of function and destiny - then let us call on the Holy Spirit and believe that His power, His gifts, His anointing will fill us and our work supernaturally.
What can we learn from Daniel?
Daniel 1:8 tells us that Daniel resolved not to defile himself. That was his starting point, not his conclusion. His beginning and not the sum total. But it serves as an important starting point. I have no doubt God wants His disciples in the workplace, and the starting point is I will not defile myself.
What does that mean for you? I don't know, perhaps it has to do with money. Perhaps it has to do with friendships or relationships - perhaps it has to do with stealing or cheating from our employers. Perhaps employers or friends want us to do something that is not right. Some shady deal, and that Godly resolve needs to be our starting point.
For ladies in the home - what is your godly resolve? Attitude, the gender issue, settling the victim issue. Maybe it's none of these but it is settling the issue of God's value and the true spirituality of what you do. Do you see your work as pointless, or do you see and feel it as high service to Him? How you see it is what it will become.
But the problem for Christians is that that is where it stops. We might have a calendar, with a text on our desk - we don't laugh at dirty jokes, and people have learned not to blaspheme around us, and we occasionally get to share the gospel. But there is more and I want to say prophetically this morning God has more.
Daniel's resolve was not a case of hanging on till he found something spiritual. He wasn't holding on in the so called secular world, waiting to do something in the church.
Something wonderful was being released. His godly resolve was like the ignition key in the car turning. It was necessary to start the motor, but his faith in the God of work starts to press down on the throttle, and his expectation puts the gear stick in drive, and Daniel is away on a high speed drive with destiny which was going to impact every area of his working life and produce scripture in our hands this morning, 2600 years later.
Brothers and sisters, the God of Daniel is the same yesterday, today and forever. That same God loves you and loves you in your place of work. That same God wants you and I - everyone of us here - to walk in his ways, walking in His good deeds and discovering his works of service everyday in the places where we work. It doesn't matter where you and I work.
God is saying to us today - let the chains fall off, let the clutch go down, let the throttle engage, let the gears click in and let's ride the vehicle of my love, my destiny, my deeds, my works of service - whatever your place of work. Amen!
• Where is God when we are at work?
• What is he doing?
a) Loving
b) Organizing
c) Processing
Oh may God open our eyes to the wonder of his presence at work. Let me ask another question, is God more real in this meeting this morning, or at work on Monday? The answer depends totally on what we believe. But you know what Daniel believed! 'I will never leave you...' means never. 'Be constantly being filled with the Spirit' means first thing Monday morning and the rest of the week - not just in a one-off Sunday evening encounter.
My prayer today is that God will open our eyes to the wonder, the joy, the liberation of His presence in our place of work. If we can see it together, brothers and sisters, faith will start to burn in you and me and we will be desperate to get stuck in on Monday mornings! God loves Monday mornings.
We can even discover a new intimacy with God at work. Where did Adam have his richest place of fellowship with God?----The garden. What was the garden? It was his place of work. God loves work and loves us at work so much he wants to have intimacy with us and meet with us in the work place.
Ladies in the home - I believe God wants to change your name. Proverbs 31 calls you household managers, so feel free to give yourself a business card with your new title on it. Maureen & Jeanette with Rose working in twos and threes in each other's homes. The church at work in the home.
During your day, you can find intimacy with God. He's there and He wants you to know it. Let's reach out and meet Him, shall we, in our places of work?
Now God caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel. (Daniel 1:9)
Notice it says God caused it to happen! At work as in life, there are seasons. It's a struggle and a strain to keep asking God, 'what is my destiny, what is my calling?' It's a lot easier to say: what is God doing where I am? And then we can work with God at what he is doing. As we work in partnership with God let's expect God to cause things to happen and let's be on the look out for them.
Later on in the book of Daniel it's clear that he wasn't always in favor. Seasons change. It helps to keep an eye open for what God is doing and line up with that!!
To these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning and wisdom: and Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. (Daniel 1:17)
Notice the wonderful blend here of human knowledge and learning, and supernatural gifting and manifestation. In your college unit or work place God is interested and committed to helping us with research, reading, and study. And if we will believe it today and reach out for it today - as we apply ourselves to literature and learning - God will give us knowledge and understanding. Whatever your job today, models of best practice, strategies and insights move at a rapid pace, for example:
• It used to take 108 men five days to unload a ship, today it takes 8 men 1 day • It is believed that within 10 years 90% of white collar jobs will be destroyed or reconfigured beyond recognition. •
Business strategies used to be revised every 2-3 years, now every 2-3 months. God's people - if they would only see it - are incredibly well equipped for such a task. We have been taught the Word of God and its principles are firmly rooted in us. We have within us an eternal source of wisdom and understanding - and as we apply ourselves to literature and learning in our fields - God will give us knowledge and understanding. He will open our minds and help our memories. In England we have crash troops called the SAS. It takes 120 armed soldiers to take out 4 of our SAS troops, and it costs around £1 million to train each troop.
All the changes exploding around us in the world of work are calling for the crack troops of this generation. I believe we, the church, hold the people and hold the answers, hold the way forward and hold hope - just as Daniel and his friends did. We really could be the SAS of the working world, if we could see and believe in the training we already have. We are the prepared ones. We understand Biblical truths - which incidentally work in the world of work, and of all the people on the planet we are probably the best at it. Where is the new generation of men and women young and old, who will serve the kingdom of God in our state schools? Where is the new generation of nurses and doctors?
A manager from KPMG recently said to me - 'What we really want is your knowledge.' Brothers and sisters, God is interested in what you read and learn, and is very likely to supernaturally increase your knowledge and understanding. Chris Lever 15 years ago was a PR teacher in this hall. He heard heaven's sound and dared to believe in the favour of God. Dared to believe God could give knowledge and understanding. Today much to his surprise, he is programmer director at Europe's leading management school, Cranfield.
Ladies in the home - home may be your only place of work. I know lots of ladies who say they can't really read - but watch what happens when God gives you knowledge and understanding.
Of course it wasn't just wisdom and knowledge, it was also visions and dreams. The supernatural at work. It will not be visions and dreams for all of you. It will be whatever spiritual gifts God has given you for working in the work place. You have heard us say before: Jesus operated in these gifts and for every one time He operated in the church meeting context, he operated 5-10 times in other areas of life. Whatever your gifts God has given you and me, use those gifts wherever we are and whatever we are doing.
THE END RESULTS
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the others.
Could we dare to believe this morning that God would make us ten times better than all the others?
Back to the book of Daniel, for something powerful, releasing, hope inspiring, relevant is being recorded here for us some 2600 years later. A pregnant word for our generation of working men and women. That is that the God of heaven invests his working men with a righteous destiny wherever they are, whatever their working environment. The God of the kingdom within us can stir up and release knowledge, understanding, learning of all kinds, and blend that with a supernatural dimension - in Daniel's case dreams and visions of all kinds - for you and me this morning it may be something else.
This active faith filled believing spirit in Daniel had incredible impact on him, his colleagues, on the nation, on its kings and leaders, and on the international scene. It had cosmic implications and ultimately eternal implications. There are many here right now for whom those words or the concepts behind them resonate in your hearts today. We know this is how it should be, and deep down in the last few years a few have dared to dream that it really could be like that for me.
There is a sense in which every one of us in this room has more than Daniel and his pals had. If Daniel could do it with his pagan and probably Masonic boss, with occult practitioners as peers and managers, and without worldwide move of the Holy Spirit, then maybe just maybe we could.
It is time to settle the issue. Time is short and our lives are short. Why do I do what I do? Am I in it because it is easy? Am I in it because of the money it makes? Am I in it because years ago God took me there? Am I in it for myself, adding God to what I want to do? Or am I in it because I am confident it is where God has placed me for now? It is time to settle the fact. My work is not an accident, it is where God has called me, and it is where He has placed me. Lady working hard in the home, student factory worker, office worker, medical worker, entrepreneur. Are we doing whatever we are doing because we are disciples and this is where he has led us? If that is our primary motivation above all the others then we will bring pleasure to God and release His power. If we have settled the issue, if we know we are called of God, if our motives are pure, then we can legitimately expect God to anoint us, expect Him to move and our faith and expectation levels can grow.
I want to encourage us to find a place of faith - faith for our jobs, our homes, our study and our projects. I want to encourage us to see work as God sees it - a high calling, valid, valuable, and highly spiritual.
I want us to have the peace and joy that come with knowing that we are in the center of God's will - not just as a stop gap. I want to urge, encourage, and stir us to find faith at work. Daily faith, long term faith now. We have heard it said so many times, without faith it is impossible to please God. Can we find it? Can we feel the fresh wind of God blowing hope, anticipation and faith once more?
Faith to believe that this current outpouring of His Spirit wants to flow as the Ezekiel river into our homes, our hospitals, our classrooms, our offices, our factories, our shops, armed forces and consultancies. Faith for you teachers and medics. Faith for you students and household managers. Faith to believe that God can and, in fact has, planned to use me in the process. Faith to believe that I am where He has placed me. Faith to break out of my self-imposed prison and see work as God really sees it - a high calling and a pleasure to the heart of God. Faith to be the church at work.
Like Daniel - whatever my circumstances, whatever my past or present pain.
AFFIRM, COMMISSION, ENCOURAGE
Daniel three times a day got down on his knees and prayed giving thanks, praying and asking God for his help.
How many would like to pray an extra hour each day? It's easy. Find four areas each day and pray for 5 minutes in each, and do it like Daniel three times, e.g. ladies brushing hair, washing dishes, sweeping, making dinner, or over tea or coffee, in the bus, or car, over lunch, or snacks, or in the bathroom.
Remember God in everything you do
David is the author of Work, Prison or Place of Destiny? (Word Publishing & Authentic Publishing, UK), and is the associate director of the Marketing Guild in Great Britain and senior partner of 'Insight Marketing'.
