Psalm 121 is probably one of the most well known and best loved psalms in the whole of the Bible, dealing with the topic of God’s providence and protection, how God helps us and leads us and guards us. We may well feel that life as a Christian should be problem-free, but the psalm reminds us that there are many hazards on this pilgrim journey (three in particular are mentioned). Jesus too warned us not to expect a problem-free life (John 16:33) and Paul reminded us that ‘everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.’ (2 Tim 3:12)  Nonetheless, the psalm is more concerned with the help God provides than the hazards we face en route.

The three pitfalls mentioned in the psalm are particularly relevant for travellers: slipping on stones during the journey, facing sunstroke from the hot midday sun or ‘moonstroke’ (pressures from fatigue or emotional stress). Whatever the problem, however, our help comes from God, the Maker of heaven and earth. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever face problems, but it does mean we don’t have to face the problems on our own. The mountains – with their idolatrous shrines – were reminders that it’s always easier to seek refuge and help from God-substitutes, but no amount of temporary relief in the form of plasters to cover our wounds or therapy for our worn emotions or strategies for finding happiness and health that fail to deal with God will ultimately help us. We need to be convinced of God’s ability and willingness to help us, something that we tend to doubt all too easily when difficult times come.

God was with the travellers as they set out on their pilgrimage; He accompanied them every step of the way and would still be with them when they arrived in Jerusalem. The same is true for us on our journey through life. Ps 139:1-3 tells us ‘You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways’ and goes on to remind us that there is nowhere we can go to flee from God’s presence. (Ps 139:7-12) Jesus promised His disciples ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matt 28:20) and that He would never leave us or forsake us. (Heb 13:5)As Eugene Peterson says, ‘no injury, no illness, no accident, no distress will have evil power over us, that is, will be able to separate us from God’s purpose in us.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, P 28)  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Ps 46:1)

Goldthorpe has been in the news lately, featuring in the controversial series about benefits on Channel 4 this week. Such portrayals are inevitably negative, focussing on the poverty in the area and the problems that crime, drugs and alcohol cause. This view of Goldthorpe has been summarised by a local resident using the acrostic ‘Goldthorpe‘:

Grim

Ordinary

Litter-strewn

Dirty

Trashy

Horrible

Outdated

Rotten

Poor

Evil…

As Christians, however, we refuse to believe this is the only definition of the place to which God has called us. We believe that God is still interested in Goldthorpe, still caring for Goldthorpe and still working in this place. Not all residents are on benefits; not all those who are cause problems or are criminals. Moreover, we believe that God’s heart is for each one of us to come back to Him. We see by faith what Goldthorpe can become when God is at work, changing hearts, changing behaviour. We yearn for all to come to know Him and for His kingdom to come in this place.

‘Your Kingdom’s coming, salvation day
A time of breakthrough is on its way
Only our God is strong to save
Only our God is strong to save

We believe for the day
When the prodigal heart
Will run home to the One
Who has loved from the start.’ (‘Kingdom Coming‘, Worship Central)

We believe that God is in Goldthorpe:

Gracious

Omnipotent

Loving

Divine

Tender-hearted

Holy

Our Father

Righteous

Purposeful and Passionate

Ecumenical and Enthusiastic

‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’ (Heb 4:12)

Jeremy Camp’s new album ‘I Will Follow’ (received gratefully as one of my birthday presents this week) starts with the song ‘Living Word’. More and more as I grow in God, I realise that my own thoughts and feelings are frequently at odds with what God’s Word tell me and that faith involves the conscious, calculated (and at times, even cold) decision to stand on the truth found in the living word of God rather than my own thoughts and feelings.

‘I will stand on the truth
In the living word of God
‘Cause every time it moves my soul and shapes my every thought
It’s alive in me, the very breath I breathe
I’m holding on with all I’ve got to the living word,
The living word of God
The living word of God

I can’t survive on bread alone
I hunger and I thirst for your words that give me hope.’ (‘Living Word’, Jeremy Camp)

Many people are workaholics. They live for their work, largely because they receive worth and significance from this. Christians need to understand that our worth and value come from who we are, not from what we do. Our identity is secure in God and is not dependent on our work; we work as a response to God and because He has given us talents and skills that can bring Him glory, not in order to earn His favour.  We need to embrace the freedom of who we are in God so that we are not constantly working and striving in order to gain God’s favour. Jesus praised the birds of the air who did not sow or reap or store food away in barns and the lilies of the field who did not labour or spin (Matt 6:26-28), reminding us that God knows our needs and looks after us, praising those creatures for living as God intended them to, namely by trusting God.

Work is not intended to be a substitute for God, even though many people have made an idol out of their jobs. Our sense of security and significance come from the relationship we have with God, not what we do for Him. Many of us may feel that our everyday work is in vain (see Ps 127:1). We feel dogged by thoughts of inadequacy, haunted by the nagging feeling that our lives don’t really count for anything or amount to much. The unrelenting nature of work or the aching endlessness of no work dog us incessantly, yapping at us like a terrier, snapping at our souls, draining confidence from us. The only antidote to this is to immerse ourselves in the knowledge that God is our loving Father and we are secure in our identity as His children. We work from this desire to bless God with all we do, not from a nagging feeling that our work is required to earn His approval. As Dave reminded us from Zeph 3:17, God already cherishes us and delights over us. We don’t have to do anything to earn His love or favour!

The Bible commends work (Eccl 2:24-25, 2 Thess 3:7, 12) and condemns laziness (Prov 6:6-8), recognising no distinction between blue-collar work and white-collar work. In the Bible, we find accounts of of farmers, shepherds, architects, tax collectors, fishermen, carpenters, housewives, politicians, bakers, food tasters, civil servants, judges, seamstresses, blacksmiths, butchers, doorkeepers, sailors, innkeepers, horsemen, servants, midwives, poets, priests, prophets, artists, stonemasons, tentmakers and writers, to name just a few of the jobs! Jesus Himself worked as a carpenter for many years; His followers were ordinary people doing ordinary jobs: fishermen, a tax collector, a doctor, a tentmaker. There was no sense of a sacred/ secular divide such as grew up in the church over years; clearly, the range of jobs which can be embraced by people is wide, vast and varied, and no job is intrinsically ‘better’ than other.

The difference Christians can make in their workplace is not so much a difference necessarily in the actual work itself, but in the attitude they bring to that work and the way that they carry out that work. Rosemaria Escriva says: ‘Add a supernatural motive to your ordinary work and you will have sanctified it.’

The hymnwriter says:

‘Teach me, my God and King,
in all things thee to see,
and what I do in anything
to do it as for thee.

All may of thee partake;
nothing can be so mean,
which with this tincture, “for thy sake,”
will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause
makes drudgery divine:
who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
makes that and the action fine.’

Eph 6:5-6 and Col 3:22-24 point out the attitude of whole-hearted service which distinguishes the Christian’s work from any other. The key motivation for us as Christians in our attitude to work should be to seek God’s glory. This is manifested in the ‘way’ we work: with honesty (Titus 2:10), with consideration for others (Matt 7:12), striving for excellence in all we do, valuing consistency and persistence even in the ‘daily grind’ (Gal 6:9) and working joyfully, prayerfully and thankfully. (1 Thess 5:16-18) These attitudes are so different to the world’s way of working that we will soon have opportunities to explain to colleagues, employers and customers the reason why we have hope.

Work without God seems futile and pointless (see Ps 127:1). The antidote to such feelings and the path to a right view of everyday work lie in understanding that God is in control and cares about our everyday physical needs as well as our spiritual growth. (Matt 6:31-32) When God is at the centre of our everyday lives, then everyday work is simply another vehicle by which God can be glorified and we live with the perspective in which ‘our effort is at the periphery and God’s work is at the centre.’  (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, P 97)

It’s an often alarming fact that we will spend more time at work than at almost any other activity! Work is a necessary part of our lives for economic and practical reasons, but last night we looked at the fact that our work is also part of the offering of our whole lives which we make to God.

Work can mean paid employment, voluntary work, the things we do at home or simply the way we occupy our time. The Bible urges us to ‘Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.’ (Eph 5:15-16) The Message version says ‘Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness,’ going on to say ‘Make the most of every chance you get.’ Everyday work, if it’s happening every day and is occupying such a large proportion of our time, deserves to be considered well.

God works. God is a creative God (Gen 1:1), involved every day in saving, redeeming, restoring, renewing, healing and delivering. He shows us the value and significance of work, and the Genesis account gives us the Biblical order: six days of work and one day of rest (see Ex 20:10-11). God does not need to rest as we do, for He never gets tired (Ps 121:4), but He ordains a cycle of work and rest we do well to heed.

Work is not of itself sinful. The command for us to work came before the Fall. (Gen 2:15) As with all things, sin has corrupted work (see Gen 3:17-19), but life is never going to be one long paradise of sitting around in the Caribbean sipping cocktails, however much we may wistfully think this is the ideal life!

Work is more than a means to economic development or individual self-fulfilment. It is part of God’s plan for mankind, though it was never intended to be a substitute for God. Our worth does not depend on our work; we are loved and accepted by God freely, regardless of our work. Nonetheless, He has prepared good works for us to do (Eph 2:10) and our work has significance and importance not only in providing money for us but in enabling us to contribute to society and to interact with people in a helpful and creative way.