Rev. Mangil Lee
The Jobs We Do(Labor Day)
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Sometimes ago I have seen the sentence from the weekly magazine adventisement. " The Greatest News for the Human Race in 2004 Years!" The news was this: "Science gives you longer life." The ad said that in the days of the Roman Empire the average length of life was twenty-three years. In the United States it had climbed to forth years by 1800....to forty-nine by 2000. And now the average life-spand here is over sixty-seven years, and life expectancy is still increasing. In another paragraph these word were printed; " This tremendous increase in life expectancy give us many more years to enjoy the blessings of the earth'' Whether we will enjoy the blessings of earth depends upon our finding meaning in the jobs that we do. The tragedy of these times is that so many millions of people have list the sense of dignity of the day''s work. They see no real meaning in their jobs. A job is just something that has to be done to keep soul and body together. Apart from the
weekly pay envelope or the monthly check there is no meaning in it. Some hold the same idea of work as did one hitchhiker who said to another. " That''s right, just sit there and let me work my finger to the bone. But surly if you and I are going to find joy in life and satisfaction in the days of our years, We must see meaning and purpose in our work. To the Greeks work was something to be left to slaves or mechanics.
Aristotle''s perfect man "will not soil his hands." Therefore, the
Greeks made little achievement in natural sciences as contrasted with their achievement in philosophy or mathematics. The Hebrews regarded work as a divine command from which no man was exempted. All through the Scripures, work is a divine ordinance. Paul said, "If any will not work, neither let him eat"(2 Thess.3:10). Work is neither a curse nor a punishment, but an integral part of God''s orginal
intention in the creation of the world. Our Lord glorified work. He
was a village carpenter. So,work is a law of God for human life. AT THE OUTSET LET US REALIZE THAT EVERY JOB HAS ITS OWN SET OF DIFFICULTIES AND ITS OWN SET OF SATISFACTIONS. Sometimes the job that we have seems to be made up only of unpleasent aspects. The detail and the routine almost get us down. Then we think of something else''s job, and we see in it only pleasantness. We forget that every job is made up of both aspects. THIS LEADS US TO ANOTHER CONSIDERATION,NAMELY, IN ORDER OUR WORK MAY HAVE MORE MEANING, WE SHOULD TRY AND SEE HOW OUR LITTLE JOBS ARE PART OF A LARGER SETTING,A NOBLER SCHEME. When we see what we are doing as part of the great scheme of thinf=gs, we become conscious that we are making a contribution to the common work of the world. Of course we must recognize that some work seems to be more worthwhile than other, and that some is not worthwhile at all. So me does not serve mankind. There are jobs which good men are ashamed to enter and which orthes leave because they are not worthwhile. All of us want to fell that what we are
doing is worthwhile, that our efforts are being directed toward some achievement no matter how modest. We dislike coming to the end of our days and felling that all we have done is carry bricks up a hill and then carry thm down again, That we
have merly gone through the motions. Life is unbearable unless it has real meaning, and the way for it to have meaning is for us to be engaged in work which we know is contributing to some larger whole. We need to enlarge our idea of VOCATION and see that the world is one, secular and sacred,
and that the chief way to serve the Lord is in our daiy work.
The salvation of the world will come not merely by the efforts of missionaries and church workers, but by the efforts of all who are deeply committed. Thus, there can be in reeality one vocation but many professions. Some people can contribute to
the conversion of the world by working in banks, in hospitals, in mills, in grocery stores. If we could but see in our work its larger meaning, then our jobs would take on new significance.
The work of a bricklayer a Hotel room can be important if it helps to recreate the lives of those who occupy that room so that they may devote themselves to some high goal.
We want to do work that will last. The psalmist in Psa. 90;17
speaks of this desire when he prays the words which form our text: " Establish thou the work of our hands, O Lord." To live on this level is to" try to write a poem which will enrich the experience of person still unborn, to build a garden wall that will grow in beauty with the years, to produce a law that will help to insure future justice." Amen.
The Jobs We Do(Labor Day)
---------------------------
Sometimes ago I have seen the sentence from the weekly magazine adventisement. " The Greatest News for the Human Race in 2004 Years!" The news was this: "Science gives you longer life." The ad said that in the days of the Roman Empire the average length of life was twenty-three years. In the United States it had climbed to forth years by 1800....to forty-nine by 2000. And now the average life-spand here is over sixty-seven years, and life expectancy is still increasing. In another paragraph these word were printed; " This tremendous increase in life expectancy give us many more years to enjoy the blessings of the earth'' Whether we will enjoy the blessings of earth depends upon our finding meaning in the jobs that we do. The tragedy of these times is that so many millions of people have list the sense of dignity of the day''s work. They see no real meaning in their jobs. A job is just something that has to be done to keep soul and body together. Apart from the
weekly pay envelope or the monthly check there is no meaning in it. Some hold the same idea of work as did one hitchhiker who said to another. " That''s right, just sit there and let me work my finger to the bone. But surly if you and I are going to find joy in life and satisfaction in the days of our years, We must see meaning and purpose in our work. To the Greeks work was something to be left to slaves or mechanics.
Aristotle''s perfect man "will not soil his hands." Therefore, the
Greeks made little achievement in natural sciences as contrasted with their achievement in philosophy or mathematics. The Hebrews regarded work as a divine command from which no man was exempted. All through the Scripures, work is a divine ordinance. Paul said, "If any will not work, neither let him eat"(2 Thess.3:10). Work is neither a curse nor a punishment, but an integral part of God''s orginal
intention in the creation of the world. Our Lord glorified work. He
was a village carpenter. So,work is a law of God for human life. AT THE OUTSET LET US REALIZE THAT EVERY JOB HAS ITS OWN SET OF DIFFICULTIES AND ITS OWN SET OF SATISFACTIONS. Sometimes the job that we have seems to be made up only of unpleasent aspects. The detail and the routine almost get us down. Then we think of something else''s job, and we see in it only pleasantness. We forget that every job is made up of both aspects. THIS LEADS US TO ANOTHER CONSIDERATION,NAMELY, IN ORDER OUR WORK MAY HAVE MORE MEANING, WE SHOULD TRY AND SEE HOW OUR LITTLE JOBS ARE PART OF A LARGER SETTING,A NOBLER SCHEME. When we see what we are doing as part of the great scheme of thinf=gs, we become conscious that we are making a contribution to the common work of the world. Of course we must recognize that some work seems to be more worthwhile than other, and that some is not worthwhile at all. So me does not serve mankind. There are jobs which good men are ashamed to enter and which orthes leave because they are not worthwhile. All of us want to fell that what we are
doing is worthwhile, that our efforts are being directed toward some achievement no matter how modest. We dislike coming to the end of our days and felling that all we have done is carry bricks up a hill and then carry thm down again, That we
have merly gone through the motions. Life is unbearable unless it has real meaning, and the way for it to have meaning is for us to be engaged in work which we know is contributing to some larger whole. We need to enlarge our idea of VOCATION and see that the world is one, secular and sacred,
and that the chief way to serve the Lord is in our daiy work.
The salvation of the world will come not merely by the efforts of missionaries and church workers, but by the efforts of all who are deeply committed. Thus, there can be in reeality one vocation but many professions. Some people can contribute to
the conversion of the world by working in banks, in hospitals, in mills, in grocery stores. If we could but see in our work its larger meaning, then our jobs would take on new significance.
The work of a bricklayer a Hotel room can be important if it helps to recreate the lives of those who occupy that room so that they may devote themselves to some high goal.
We want to do work that will last. The psalmist in Psa. 90;17
speaks of this desire when he prays the words which form our text: " Establish thou the work of our hands, O Lord." To live on this level is to" try to write a poem which will enrich the experience of person still unborn, to build a garden wall that will grow in beauty with the years, to produce a law that will help to insure future justice." Amen.
