Overcommitted To Work

Before we get into it this morning, I wanted to take sort of a pastoral moment to touch on a significant cultural event - the assassination of Charlie Kirk. As many of you know, he was shot 11 days ago while speaking on a college campus, and I think his funeral is actually later today. And it sort of lit the world on fire with all of the headlines, and Brian - who was here preaching last week, he did touch on it a little, but because he is the pastor of the entire network, and not just this church - he really left the pastoral piece for the lead pastors, and I wasn’t up here last week - and so I just wanted to say two quick things. First, while I didn’t know his content real well - I’d seen a couple of video clips, but I know he was really popular with the younger generation - and I know he was really polarizing. He stated things bluntly and some people loved it, and some people were really outraged by it. But if we can put aside the politics for a moment, a young man with a wife and two kids was killed. And you don’t have to agree with his politics or his positions to agree that it was a tragedy. I didn’t realize he was younger than me. He was 31 years old with two little kids, and so I know personally that hit me hard. When I think about my babies growing up without me. And the scriptures teach us to laugh with those who laugh and grieve with those who grieve, and I found that really easy to do this past week or so. And I know many of you have been praying for his family as they gather to celebrate his life later today - and if you’re one of those who has ben grieving, and holding space for that, or maybe struggling with all of that because maybe you disagreed with him on some politics - don’t hesitate to reach out. We are here for you in this time.

The second thing I wanted to say, was that I’ve had a number of folks come to me very concerned about the rise in violence against people who give voice to disagreement. I’m certainly not high profile, but a few folks asked and so I just wanted to clarify - I’m not a political activist, you’re not going to hear my opinions - all you’re going to hear from me in this place is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I believe, at the absolute core of who I am - that the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth dying for. And so while I’m not against safety teams and security measures, and I’m sure we’ll look into all that - I also want you all to hear my commitment that I will never alter God’s truth out of fear. I am here to give you God’s word, because his word is full of such good news for you all and I’m excited for you to have it. And I would eagerly lay down my life if that was God’s will for me. I surrendered my life to Jesus a long time ago. Paul in 1 Thessalonians says that Christians do not grieve like others grieve, because we have hope, and that hope is Jesus. And so I just wanted to clarify and reassure you all - Fear has no place in our motivation. No effect on the truth. Jesus said, “do not fear the world for I have overcome the world” and I for one believe him. 

And on that note, let’s get into God’s word. Today we are going to be in John, chapter 21, if you want to find that in your bibles. If you didn’t bring a bible - that’s okay, we’ve got a whole shelf of them on the back wall if you like have physical pages to turn. I like to have a physical bible when I’m up here. Or if you’d like, you can always look it up on your phone. John chapter 21. Now, if you’re joining us for the first time this week - welcome, I’m so glad you’re here. We are in the middle of a series called OVERcommitted - where we have been exploring the imbalance of pressures that so many of us feel in our lives. And one thing that’s REALLY tricky about this series is that the stuff we are talking about is GOOD stuff. We’ve talked about success, and helping people in need, and today we’re going to talk about work - and all of these things are good things to have in your life. These are not sins we want you to avoid, but what we are finding in the teachings of Jesus is that a lot of us are OVER committed. There is an imbalance to our life and it’s causing us to burn out. Take last week for example - talking about helping other people. If you walked out last week thinking, “I will not help people in need anymore” - you got the wrong message! God wants us to help others, but he does NOT want us to burn ourselves out pouring good efforts into a black hole. What we want to do with this series is create a rule and rhythm to your life that is honoring to God and the way he teaches us to live - and I think by the end of today, you will have a lot of tools in the toolbelt to get that done.

Also, and I hope I don’t have to say this - but just in case people get mixed up. Today we are talking about being “overcommitted to work” - but that does not mean only people who are getting a paycheck should listen. Some of us have full time jobs where they pay us. Some of us have part time payment, but we’re still doing full time jobs. Some of us have full time jobs with no payment. If you talked to me last week - some of you know this already. My wife, who stays home with our five energetic children every day, went on a girls weekend. She left on Friday and came back on Sunday night. And hear me - I’m so glad she got to go and have time with her sisters. That’s amazing and I wanted that for her. [pause]. On the other hand…[pause]. I got to be “full time dad” to five tornadoes for 46 hours. And I know it was 46 hours because I counted them! Don’t tell ME you need a paycheck to work hard - mad respect to my stay at home moms. Some of us are retired, but we still have a lot of work in our lives. So this morning when I say work, please don’t limit it to activities that are payment-in-exchange-for-effort. That’s not what I’m talking about. Work is the impact you have in this world. The things you do with your day. 

John, chapter 21, opens up like this, [read v.1-4]. Now I have to stop for a second because there is so much that goes into this scene, and if you don’t know the backdrop you’re going to miss the significance. Peter says, “I’m going fishing” which is no big deal - my kid says that to me all the time. In fact, I couldn’t resist - we’ve got to put a picture of my kids up there. We went on vacation this past summer, up to my parents place, and I swear that kid spent two thirds of his vacation on that dock with a fishing pole in hand. Peter says, “I’m going fishing” - but what I want you to realize is that this is chapter 21! It’s the last chapter of the story. In my bible, it has a little title that says “epilogue.” This is the end of book. If you go back to chapter 1, when Jesus met Peter - he was a fisherman, working on the sea of galilee. And do you remember this, it’s a pretty famous story. Jesus tells Peter, “come follow me, and I will make you - what?” (Fishers of Men). If you’ve never heard that - don’t worry about it, some of us got it from sunday school when we were babies. Fishers of Men - you guys know how to do this fishing thing, but we are going to go fishing for men - we’re going to catch people, and bring them into the kingdom of God. So the fact that Peter is going back to his old job at the end of the story is significant. 

The second big piece to this - do you remember the last thing Peter said to Jesus? Just a couple chapters back - chapter 18, the last thing Peter said to Jesus was, “I will never deny you. Even if I have to die, I will never deny you.” Anybody remember what he did right after he said that? He denied Jesus! How many times? Three times - that’s going to be important in a second. Peter, the fisherman, denied Jesus three times. That’s chapter 18. Chapter 19 - Jesus is arrested and crucified. Chapter 20 - Jesus is resurrected. I know a lot of you know these stories, but just in case this is your first time hearing it - it’s a really important series of events. After the resurrection, there’s this story right at the end of chapter 20, where Jesus appears to the disciples. And there’s this whole story about one of the disciples Thomas. Thomas doubted that Jesus rose, and so Jesus shows up when all the disciples are gathered and he’s like, “I’m right here man” put your finger into the nail wounds. There’s a big hole in my side, go ahead and touch it.” And just picture this with me, all the disciples are gathering around Jesus. “Woah, can I really stick my finger through the hole in your arm - woah, gross - that’s crazy!” But I bet Peter hung back. The last thing he said to Jesus was, “I will never deny you.” And he knows that Jesus knows what he did. Can you imagine if you had to look into the resurrected Jesus’ face? To look into his eyes after you abandoned him. While that whole thing was going on with Thomas - I bet Peter was in the corner with his head down. Please don’t notice me, please don’t notice me.

And so when we open up chapter 21, three sentences later, and Peter says, “I’m going fishing” - there’s weight to these words. Jesus gave him a job to do - I want you to be a fisher of men. And Peter says, “obviously I screwed up. I’m not worthy. I’m going to go back to my old job.” And they catch nothing. It says in verse 3, [read v.3]. All night these guys catch NOTHING. But then, [read v.4-6]. Here’s what I want you to see with this - in your life, in your job, if you encounter Jesus and then go back as if everything is the same? You will waste your life. But direction from Jesus gives our life purpose.

Let me dig into this a little bit. There are so many people in our world who make jokes about wishing they could go back in life. “Don’t grow up - it’s a trap.” “Adulting is too hard. There’s this mentality where people wish they could go backwards. They want to be children with no responsibilities. And I have a theory that the reason we have so many miserable adults in this world is that so many people are living life without purpose. But what if we came into our world with a sense of purpose, understanding that our Lord and savior has given us a job to do. I like having responsibilities - where people depend on me. Because then you can make decisions, work hard, earn, contribute to the world, even try to make your neighborhood a little better. The world is hard and overwhelming, but that’s okay - because I’ve been learning, and growing and getting better at stuff this whole time. And so have you. You have the ability to look in the mirror and say, “I survived when the world was hard and overwhelming.” When you infuse your life with the meaning and purpose that Jesus gives you, you have a reason to get back up when the world knocks you down. It is possible to waste your entire life wishing that you could be less, when God has made you for more. Peter made a mistake, did a terrible thing, and thought he was out, but watch what happens next. 

They get direction from Jesus, cast the nets on the other side - miraculous haul of fish. And then, [read v.7-9]. This is why we love Peter. He’s just such an enthusiastic goofball. Someone tells him it’s Jesus, so he puts his shirt back on and jumps into the water (which…makes no sense, why you putting clothes ON before jumping into the water?) and he leaves all the work for his buddies. But when they all get there - they find breakfast waiting for them - fish cooking on the charcoal fire. And this is the second thing I want you to catch this morning. Jesus gave them direction which put purpose into their work. But then, when they get into shore - Jesus already has fish on the grill. And so what we see is that Jesus doesn’t need your success in order to provide. Jesus can use your life, Jesus can use your work - and Jesus can also use your failure. 

Let me show you what I mean. Some of you know I’ve been taking a class on history to transfer my credentials to this church. This church is part of the Wesleyan tradition - and so I’ve been learning Wesleyan history and what I have learned is that the story of the Wesleyan church is a story of Jesus building something beautiful out of broken human efforts. There was this one guy, Adam Crooks. First guy to plant a Wesleyan church in the south (we have always been strongly anti-slavery as a group). He planted a church, ten years before the civil war, served for four years - over 500 people came to know Jesus. He was jailed, poisoned twice AND they tried to assassinate him. Four years later they drove him out of town. He became the leader of the Wesleyan church for a hot second, but he died young because he was so beat up by those four years in ministry. He stood strong against slavery and he failed. An abysmal failure. But wait, do we still have slaves in America anymore? I don’t think it’s insulting to call him a failure. Because history (and Jesus) made him a hero. Or maybe we need a story closer to home. I was at a dinner recently, literally this happened two weeks ago - local community leaders thing for Byron Center, and I’m the new guy on the committee. And during the dinner one of the guys said, “Hey, did you say you’re from Center Church? I knew a guy from that church. His name Pete something.” (For those who don’t know, Pete was a part of this church years ago. He might be the foremost evangelist this church has ever had. He was rough around the edges, but everybody loved him - and he passed away the day before we dedicated this worship space. He’s been gone for years, I’ve never even met the man - and yet here I am telling his story, because the ripples of his life are still felt.) Jesus doesn’t need your victory, your success, in order to provide meaning and purpose to your work.

It keeps going, in verse 13 [read v.13-17]. How many times did Jesus ask him? And how many times did Peter deny Jesus, fail him? (three). Jesus is erasing failure with love. And what I want you to see is that this reconciliation is not just about making Peter feel better, it’s about pouring purpose back into his life. Peter says, “Yes I love you” and what does Jesus say? Feed my sheep. Take care of my sheep. If you’re not familiar shepherd and sheep language is like church-talk for a pastor taking care of his church. Jesus is saying, “there are people who believe in me, and I expect you to look out for them.” Peter was trying to go backwards. I’ll go back to my old job - and Jesus is saying, No. You are going to take care of my church. And if you know your history - Peter goes on to be the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and then later Peter is considered the first Pope. Reconciliation with Jesus isn’t just about making you feel better about your sin. Reconciliation with Jesus is designed to set you up for a new life full of purpose. Peter was trying to backtrack, and so many of us do the same. Let me go back to when I was a kid, let me go back to being a fisherman. And please hear me, I have no shade in my heart for being a fisherman - unless you’re supposed to be the Pope. We say let me go back -  My old job, my purposeless, meaningless life. But Jesus is pushing Peter, and every single one of us - forward into a new life full of meaning.

So you see the good news that we find in this story of Jesus and Peter on the beach is that you do not have to bring purpose to your work. Success does not have to bring purpose to your work. The amount of money on your paycheck the amount of hours you clock in a week - these are not the things that bring purpose to your life or work. You cannot get your purpose FROM your work, but rather God brings purpose to your work. If you live this life desperately trying to scramble and inject purpose and meaning into it all by yourself - it’ll never be enough. You’ll always be putting in too much effort for too little reward. Completely overcommitted and burnt out. But if you can look at your life through God’s eyes, even your failures can be seen as having purpose and meaning. God brings purpose into your work.

Let me see if I can explain it like this. You might think that in a message called “overcommitted to work” that my message to you might be, “hey, be less committed to your work - put Jesus first instead of your job.” But that’s not what I’m aiming at today. What I’m trying to express is that your job and Jesus are not competitors. But if you try to get meaning and purpose and fulfillment in life out of your work, you have it upside down. If you try to make work the source of your happiness and purpose - whether that’s being an awesome mom to your kids, or the world’s best real estate agent or being the greatest teacher in your building or this county’s best contractor if you lean on it for purpose it will crumple under the weight. But if you get your sense of purpose from God, if you can realize that Jesus has forgiven you and that forgiveness has set you up for a new life - not moving backwards like Peter was trying to do, but remember Jesus was pushing him to a NEW life… then rather than trying to get purpose FROM work, you bring God’s purpose TO your work.

Do you see how that goes? So what does that look like for you? Martin Luther has this great quote where he says, “The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” So take a second and think about that. How can you honor God with your work? Stop trying to get your fulfillment FROM your work but instead get your fulfillment FROM God and bring that TO your work. What if you walked into work tomorrow morning and said, “I’m not here to earn a paycheck, I’m here to honor God.” I mean, don’t say that out loud - your boss might make some adjustments to the payroll. But if you are, I don’t know - a dentist. How can you honor God tomorrow morning? Or if you’re a heavy machine operator? Or a teacher or if you’re retired? How can you live tomorrow in a way that honors God knowing that you have already received your purpose from Jesus? For a lot of us it means we work hard. We work with honesty and integrity even when the boss isn’t looking. You think it’s hard for you - what about me? My boss is always watching. Ugh. We perform our jobs with honesty to the best of our ability - because we don’t get purpose OUT of it, we bring God’s purpose TO it. 

I have one major challenge for you and then we’re done. First, I want you to discern your calling. If you don’t know - that’s just fancy church talk for “figure out what God wants you to do with your life.” Discern your calling. For Peter it was so easy, right? Jesus just straight up told him - you’re going to be a fisher of men. Peter I want you to feed my sheep. But for the rest of us - we have to figure it out. Now you might be wondering - how do I discern my calling? Well, actually it’s really easy - you ask. Take some time this week. Ask the question: God, What are you calling me to in my life? What do you want me to do with this new life you have given me? And then wait - wait to see what God gives you. There’s a church in Kansas City called the Kansas City Underground and actually that is their membership question. They tell people, “Go ask the holy spirit what he wants you to do and wait for an answer.” Although they ask it a little differently - it’s not, “God what do you want me to do?” It’s “God, who do you want me to reach?” And the stories coming out of that church are incredible. There was a guy who owned a bike shop, he had a talent and a passion for fixing bikes. And he sat with God and said, “God, who do you want me to reach?” And God put it on his heart to start up a homeless ministry - where he would take bike parts from his job and use it to repair bikes for homeless people for free, because mobility is one of the greatest struggles for people living on the streets. There was another lady who was a real estate lady. She sold houses and flipped houses or something. And she came before God and said, “God who do you want me to reach?” And God gave her a vision for a halfway house to help women getting out of prison. And then she was selling this house and the seller said, “actually, I want to give you this house for whatever you got going on - and so she turned that house into a ministry of helping people.” There was another guy, I can’t remember what his day job was - but he coached his kid’s soccer team. And he asked God, God who do you want me to reach? And God said, these parents. And so he set up a thing where he got people from his small group at church to come and cheer for his soccer team. And the parents were like, “who are these people cheering for my children?” And the guy was like, oh - they’re from my church - and after a couple months three of the families came to know Jesus. And so that’s my challenge to you this week. Ask God this week - what have you called me to do with my life? Who have you called me to reach? Because I don’t get my purpose from my job, or my kids or my volunteering or whatever work I fill my day with - I get my purpose from you, and I want to bring that purpose wherever you send me.

And so in just a moment, I’m going to ask Jack and Anna to come forward. Now as we mentioned earlier - today is Jack’s Sunday - and just in case some of you don’t know who he is or why his ministry is so significant I wanted to give a little review. Jack came to us a little over two years ago as our resident. The resident program was designed to give him hands on experience while he finished his schooling. However, soon after he arrived, our former pastor, Pastor John had some significant stuff happen in his life, with his daughter requiring some surgeries right after being born. At the same time, our nearby sister church - New Life was going through a whole big thing with their pastor as well. So in very short order Jack had an enormous amount of work dumped on him - far more than a resident usually does. He was baptized in fire, and he rose to the challenge and developed a reputation as a Jack of all trades - he can preach, he can do the tech stuff, he’s good with kids, and now we know he can even sing. When I arrived we were able to scale back his responsibilities to let him focus on just the students - a program he doubled in a year and a half. It has been such a joy to have him on staff and to watch you grow as a leader - we got to celebrate when you guys got married last year, your ordination, and now we celebrate you as you move on to your next adventure. And I promise we’re only a little bit mad at you, (laugh) - truly it was our privilege to be a part of your training and your story.

We knew after he was fully ordained back in June that he was destined for full time ministry - but it was our joy to keep him around for as long as we could. [why don’t you guys come on up?]

Jack, I think you might have the hardest temptation of all. All of us are tempted to try and pull our meaning and purpose from our work - but even for you and I, leaders in the church, our meaning does not come from our job. Our purpose comes from God, and we bring that purpose to our work. If you remember that, you will be a blessing to Forrest Grove and any other ministry you are a part of. 

We have some gifts here for you, and I hope you all will stick around for cake in the lobby afterwards - but I’d like to invite Jack and Anna to stand here, and I’ll invite you all to either come and lay hands on them with me, or if you’d like to stay in your seat you can just extend a hand out towards them, and when I’m done praying Katie’s going to send us out with a blessing.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you pour your abundant blessing on Jack and Anna and the ministry they will do together. Watch over their steps wherever they go, that no matter where life leads them they would walk in your ways, under the shadow of your wing. We are so thankful for the time we’ve had and the many ways Jack has blessed our church. We pray that you bless him in his going and bless us in our sending. We believe he is ready for the ministry ahead, and we ask that you go with him. We commission him to serve you in all things, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Please continue to build your kingdom and stay close to all of us - we love you, Amen.