Whatever you do

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. (Colossians 3:23-24)

Those Christians who work in the helping professions may be tempted to look at those who do creative or constructive work and experience a certain envy. It must feel good to get to the end of the day or the end of your life and have a body of work that you can point to and say "This is what I made", whether it be paintings, books, bridges or furniture. The work of someone who deals with people and their problems can be very rewarding, but the results are more intangible and often ephemeral. And despite the worker's best efforts, often they don't see any result.

The Christian artist or artisan, on the other hand, may envy those in the helping profession because their work seems to be given a higher value than their own by other Christians. This is especially so if what they themselves produce isn't overtly Christian in its message. Many artists, musicians and writers complain that their fellow Christians look with suspicion on anything they produce that is 'secular', or dismiss it as trivial. Those who produce practical goods, whether that's houses, cup cakes or scientific research, may also feel that their work is undervalued compared to that of people who deal more directly with people. 

In the end though, the worth of any work is the value that God places upon it, and his measure of success is how well we collaborate with him. Any work can be done either for his glory or for our own. We have been put in the world as stewards, and our role is to use the gifts he has given us to tend and nurture it in co-operation with him. A broken world needs healers, but it also needs those who sustain it, and others who show us what it could be like. Whatever we do, if we know that the result depends on God both for success and for value, we can work without anxiety and when it's done, rest peacefully.

Christ the divider

This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. (Luke 2:34b-35)

Simeon had waited his whole life to see the promised Messiah. Then one day an unassuming young couple brought their baby into the temple court, and he knew that the moment he had been waiting for had come. This was the child the Holy Spirit had told him about. He was full of joy and thanksgiving.

Yet as he gazed at the baby in Mary’s arms, he also spoke a sombre and prophetic warning. This child would divide people. He would reveal the state of people’s hearts and bring out their real attitude towards God. Those who were truly seeking reconciliation and peace with God would welcome him, but others would hate him and all those who associated with him.

It is worth pondering this through Advent as we look forward to celebrating Christ’s birth at Christmas and wait for his promised return. Christmas has become synonymous with ‘peace and goodwill’. For a few days each year many people seem willing to forget their differences and come together in acts of generosity and kindness. We should rejoice that this is so. 

But speaking the name of Jesus, even at Christmas, still produces animosity and division and shows where people’s hearts are focused. Sometimes Christians provoke a negative response by their own attitude, demanding, for instance, that others “keep Christ in Christmas.” But we should not be surprised that even the most gentle and respectful introduction of Christ’s name produces a mixed response (see 1 Peter 3:15). Simeon’s words are still true and will remain true until Jesus returns. 

For all the saints?

In the church calendar October 31 was traditionally All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day on November 1. It was a time for remembering the dead, both the saints and martyrs (”the hallowed” or holy ones)and loved ones who had died. It may have been timed to coincide with an older pagan festival which marked the onset of winter, although originally All Saints day was in May.

Many ancient cultures believed that on one day of the year the souls of the dead visit this world. Food and drink would be provided to welcome these visitors. Others believed that the unhappy souls of those who had died wandered the earth, or that evil spirits might try to gate-crash the party, so rituals were devised, such as wearing costumes and masks, to ward them off.

In Europe in the Middle Ages, children would go door to door collecting specially baked “soul cakes” in exchange for saying prayers for the dead. During the Reformation the idea of praying for dead souls was dismissed along with the concept of purgatory, but that did little to dampen popular enthusiasm for ancient practices. In England in the 1960’s, “mummers” with blackened faces still came to the door offering to drive evil spirits from the house by humming, for a small donation. Trick or treat is nothing new!

Many Christians see Halloween as a pagan festival that has more to do with Satan than with Christ. Others reject the commercialism or are concerned about the safety of children, physically or spiritually. But how might we find creative ways to remember and reflect on the lives of those who went before us? Rather than condemning our neighbours for their fascination with death, how might we demonstrate in a positive way that Christ has overcome death and Satan?

Blinded by prejudice

But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
 (Deuteronomy 29:4)

Two sorts of people never change their mind - those suffering from delusions caused by mental illness, and the prejudiced. Mental illness can often be treated, but prejudice has no treatment. 

A person whose mind is open to the truth may have very strongly held beliefs based on false information, but once they have better information, they are willing to change their beliefs. No amount of new information will change the mind of the prejudiced because they have already “prejudged” whatever they see and hear.

Perhaps this is what scripture is describing when it speaks of God ‘hardening the heart’ of Pharaoh (Exodus 7.3), or blinding the eyes and shutting the ears of those who have rejected the truth (Isaiah 6:10, John 12:38). To us that may sound unfair. Doesn’t God want people to change their minds? Yes, he does.

Their unbelief is not caused by God, that is their own choice. But once someone has made up their minds not to see or hear anything that contradicts what they believe, only God can change that. Nothing else will. God doesn’t literally close their minds, but only he can soften their hearts and open their eyes and ears. In a sense, it becomes his choice.

This has implications for evangelism. When we share the gospel, we also need to pray that God will open our listener’s ears and eyes and hearts. But it also has implications for ourselves. None of us is free of prejudice of some kind. We need to pray that God would show us where we are blind and deaf to the truth, and that he would heal us.