Pastor Aaron Brown

A Labor Day Weekend Reflection on Work, Rest and The Purposes of Living

I grew up in a family of midwest, middle class grape farmers. My gradfather was the first Welche’s stakeholder in his county to pay off his farm using only the proceeds from his crop, and even though my father worked for a non-proffit we spent a lot of time on the family farm all year around preparing for the harvest. Hard work was a high value in our family because the changing seasons didn’t slow for the slothful. Spring and fall where particularly busy around the farm, but summer was like a deep, cleansing breath between the two seasons of relentless work. In the summer we spent a lot of time at our family cottage where five generations of our family (now six) have found rest and recreation. I remember one particular early summer day when I was 15 years old that my father picked me up from working the farm on the way to the cottage. After I recounted the seemingly endless list of tasks that we’d accomplished that week he said this to me: “I’m proud of you. We Browns work hard, and we play hard. It’s time to go get some rest after a good week of hard work.” That statement, and those values represented by our rhythms of life, have stuck with me for decades… We work hard and we play hard. This balance is so essential for living a healthy and meaningful life, and I’m thankful that we have time and space in our life to rest from work. However, the more I learn about the teachings of Jesus and the way of His Kingdom, the more I feel that there might be an even deeper life satisfaction to be found when we flip our priorities of work and rest around…

Don’t get me wrong, working hard and finding healthy work / life balance is important. Before the first Labor Day demonstration On September 5th, 1882, the average American employee worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. On that day 140 years ago, 10,000 citizens marched down Madison Avenue to demonstrate the need for labor rights reform, but it wasn’t until the Adamson Act passed on September 3, 1913 that the 8-hour work day was established. Looking back on these historical moments, it’s beautiful to see how our country has recognized the need for workers to not only be allowed to make a living, but also to have the time and energy to make a life worth living outside of their employment. However, we who follow Jesus know that we don’t just work to get what we want in this life. We work because we have been created to create and cultivate, and when we embrace this identity of craft and productivity, it brings honor to God. Our work can actually be worship. This is the truth that is part of the Christian faith tradition dating all the way back to Paul and Timothy’s letter to the Colossian church:

‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Apostle Paul & Timothy, Colossians 3:23-24

When we work with all of our hearts we aren’t just trying to please a human boss or build a life of comfort, we are embracing part of our God-reflecting identities that can bring us deep spiritual fulfillment and also bring glory to God. It is interesting that the Apostle Paul and his protege Timothy make this statement while addressing those who were living lives of indentured servitude… They are instructing them to let their work be worshipful even though it might not yield the worldly treasures or freedoms that many of us desire. Heartfelt work is good for the soul and pleasing to the Lord, and that in and of itself is a worthwhile reward. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism so beautifully states: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. Meaningful work can be a very beautiful part of that relational connection with God. However, the ideal rhythm of work and rest is part of an important personal experience with God that Jesus Himself addressed…

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” – Jesus, John 15:6-8

As Jesus states, we are branches designed to bear fruit. This metaphor definitely has implications for our professional lives and work habits, but it is also a truth that extends into our relationships, hobbies and spiritual lives: we are designed for holistic productivity and for fruitful lives that impact every dimension of our existence. If we take Him seriously, this idea of abiding in personal relationship with Jesus and then bearing fruit from a place of rest and relational fulfillment with God flips the script that we’ve become so familiar with in our capitalistic society. On a good day, we believe that work isn’t all there is, rest is important and that there should be some element of work-life balance present in our lives. However, we still see rest (and maybe even personal value) as something that is earned because of our efforts. This teaching of Jesus shows us a spiritual practice that is healthier and truer than this cultural value: Instead of working hard for reprieve and recognition, Jesus instructs us to rest hard in relationship with him so that we have what we need to produce the spiritual fruits of his Kingdom. Instead of looking forward to a time of rest from work, the Jesus way is an invitation to work from a place of rest and fulfillment in His unconditional love. When we prioritize connection to personal relationship with the God of the universe, and let that time with Him fill our souls with wholeness, then the power and priorities that we bring to our lives will not just be what we can muster naturally, but also what we have access to supernaturally as children of God and joint heirs with Christ. Just imagine starting every new day fully focused on God’s priorities and energized by the power and presence of the Jesus Himself. How would that change how we engage our work and relationships?

When we flip the script from working for the reward of rest or personal value, to resting in the unconditional love and total healing of our relationship with Christ, it gives us a different power source to draw on and different goals for our productivity. Instead of relying on our own capacity for productivity, creativity, and impact in this world we are going to the vine (Jesus) to get the life and power only available from Him. We were designed to abide in times of rest, refreshment, and renewal with Christ so that our daily lives would be a full representation of the reconciling love that God desires to pour out on this world through his people. Instead of working for the weekend, we are working from a place of wholeness that allows us to work toward bringing hope and healing into a broken world in the name of Jesus. I don’t know about you, but that scratches an itch that I feel deep in my soul to live a life worth remembering… a life where my work makes a real difference in the lives of others and echoes on into eternity through impacting their eternal souls. After all, people are the only thing that last forever, so the most meaningful work we can do is allow our lives to impact the lives of others.

So, on this Labor Day, I am thankful to live in a country that rewards work and provides ways for us to not just make a living but to build lives worth living. However, I wonder what it would look like if the people of God’s Kingdom flipped the script… What if we started to work from a place of rest and reconnection with the God of the universe, and towards the goal of His Kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven? When we put abiding in Christ and working for His Kingdom in the right order then we will bear fruit not just of this natural world, but of the supernatural power and authority that we were designed to represent as ambassadors of God’s Kingdom. This kind of change has the potential to bring about a new level thriving in our families and communities and to unleash God’s Kingdom of reconciliation idnto the world around us.

We each have daily and weekly routines to protect our health and prepare us for productivity. We sleep every night, we eat everyday, we care for our bodies and minds, we spend time with people we love and doing hobbies that focus us and energize us. In the same way, we need regular routines that connect us to relationship with Jesus and allow us to experience God personally on a regular basis. What are your routines of abiding with Christ and resting well so that you can bear fruit from a place of true power? What new habits do you need to start as a new season of opportunity and responsibility settles in? Here are some ideas…

Daily:

• Set aside an hour everyday just to abide with Christ. This might look like formal prayer and study, or it might be a silent walk in nature. Do it works for you.
• Start everyday with reading or listening to a passage from the Bible. I like to listen to several chapters of the New Testament while I do my morning workout to focus my mind on God’s agendas for my day.
• Turn your car radio off on your way home from work and just practice praying out loud and then listening for Holy Spirit to speak to you.
• Spend time in the evening journaling out your prayers, and then listening for any response that may come from God.

Weekly:

• In the same way that we need an hour everyday dedicated to abiding with Christ, we need a day every week set aside for Sabbath. A day of surrendering to God’s provision and dedicating ourselves to rest and rejuvenation. Do you Sabbath? One day a week we are invited to live like Heaven has come to earth, to enjoy relationships, rest well and trust in the provision of God.
• Memorize a new scripture every week. Give yourself the goal to read it everyday and be able to recite it after a week.
• Commit to fellowship with other healthy and like-minded believers every week. We have come to see this as an option for religious entertainment, rather than what it is: a necessity for living life as part of a local faith family. It is impossible to live out a communalist faith system as an isolated individual. Who is your faith family?

Monthly:

• Once we’re in the habit of abiding with Christ daily, and Sabbath thing weekly, another great rhythem is to practice silence and solitude monthly. It can take a lot of planning and sacrifice, but what would it look like to spend a day in complete silence and solitude? Dedicating this kind of time to our relationship with God can take us to new levels of understanding who He is and who we are because of our relationship with him.
• Another great monthly, or even weekly, practice is fasting. As we train our souls to long for God like our bodies long for food, we find a new dependence on Him and new ways to experience Him in our lives. Try fasting!

Yearly:

• The idea of pilgrimage has been all but lost in most modern cultures. However, for those in Ancient Near East, there were many reasons to travel back to Jerusalem for festivals, feasts, and holy days. These annual traditions helped ground the followers of Yahweh in their community, their traditions, and the relationship with the God of the universe. What does pilgrimage look like for you and your family? It could be an annual family camp, mens or women’s retreats, a conference, or even a backpacking trip would like-minded believers. Annual traditions of pilgrimage can be so helpful in providing the rest and reconnection we need to abide and bear fruit.

These are just a few ideas to get your imagination going. As we started a new season in many ways, may you find new, or renewed, methods of abiding with Christ so that your work can come from a true place of rest, purpose, and supernatural power so that the world may know that hope and healing is available in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What are you habits of abiding? Share with us in the comments so we can all continue to grow together.