Ephesians 6:5-9 • Work Matters
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(This transcript was prepared using software tools and has not been reviewed for complete accuracy.)
Let me ask that You would stand as we honor God's Word and consider Ephesians chapter 6 verses 5-9.
Now, the students are going to think the first word is particularly appropriate.
"Slaves," but there is more to say than that.
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is slave or free.
Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is above, he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him."
Let's pray together.
>>> Father, thank You for young people that You have trained up in this church.
Thank You for hearts set on You.
May their paths continue to follow after You, recognizing that what You are calling them to do is to be ambassadors for Christ in every walk and occupation, in every career, in every relationship.
They have this tremendous opportunity to be working as unto the Lord and not them only but all of us here in every phase and position in life, we are before Your face and therefore have opportunity in every moment to glorify our Savior.
Teach us how, even in the workplace, how we might be those who glorify Jesus.
We pray in Christ's name.
Amen.
>>> Please be seated.
So the National Football League reports that according to the preponderance of evidence Tom Brady, last year's Super Bowl winning quarterback, knew that his staff had deflated the footballs, giving him an advantage in the frigid weather of the Super Bowl.
And you and I know it's being contested, but what if it is true?
I mean, what a sad thing that would be: that a man who seemingly has everything this life could offer, fame and fortune and credibility and numerous Super Bowl rings, would be willing to take it all to cheat just to get one more win.
Why?
Maybe an answer comes from an interview some years ago in 2005 when Tom Brady was being interviewed by CBS News.
At that time, he had three Super Bowl rings, a twenty million dollar home surrounded by a moat, a supermodel wife, and, of course, all the acclaim that s--, could seemingly be given to an athlete.
But he responded in the interview this way: "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's got to be something else out there for me?
I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey, man.
This is what it is.
I've reached my goal, my dream, my life.'
But, me, I think: There has got to be more than this.
I mean, this isn't, this can't be all there is."
The interviewer asks, "Well, what's the answer."
Brady replied, "I wish I knew.
I wish I knew."
How sad to have so much and still believe that because that doesn't satisfy, what the answer must be is just a little bit more: one more win, one more million, one more who knows what.
And cheat if you got to get it, because that's what will satisfy.
What he exemplifies, of course, if it turns out to be true is those old words by Augustine, "That our hearts are ever restless until they find their rest in God."
And what's true of our whe--, rest is true of our work: that our work doesn't even matter to us, not ultimately, unless it matters to God.
I mean, we pursue things; we pursue reputation and income and the promotion and find out after we have consumed it, it's like trying to be filled up on cotton candy.
Tastes good, looks like a lot, but you taste it and it just disappears.
The glory of the scriptures and the wonder of what God is communicating to us is His saying our work truly does matter to God.
When what we do is done for Him, it matters to God.
And that ultimately gives us a sense of the significance and the satisfaction of it.
As young people are planning this day what, you know, what's ahead, occupation, education, just remember that what honors God is ultimately what satisfies us is what Paul is saying here.
Reminding us, "Why does our work matter?"
Well, first because work is worship.
That's why it matters to God.
Our work is worship.
I mean, four times in this brief passage, the apostle is reminding us that when you work, you are working as unto Christ.
The end of verse 5, "Slaves," or even "bondservants, you are to obey your earthly masters as you would Christ."
Verse 6, "Work as bondservants of Christ."
Verse 7, "Rendering service as to the Lord."
Verse 9, "Masters, do the same, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven."
Over and over again, the work that you do, while it may seem to be for an employer or a company, an institution, ultimately what you are doing as a believer is you are serving the Lord.
You live before the face of God.
And if man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, then the work that we do is ultimately with the intention of glorifying God in how we do it and what we do.
Recognizing that, that what we do is before the face of God is saying every moment, every job, every mess is an occupation to--, is an opportunity to honor God and therefore work is worship.
It's actually what Paul is doing this entire book.
He reminded us from the very beginning that what his goal was was to say how do you live a godly life in a pagan society.
And as we have moved through this book of Ephesians, we said, wh--, okay, here's how you honor God in the church, but here's how you honor God in relationships; here's how you honor God in your generosity; here's how you honor God in your speech; here's how you honor God in your marriages; here's how you honor God in your parenting; here's how you honor God in honoring your parents; here's how, finally, you honor God in your work.
Every dimension of life is an opportunity for glorifying God and that at the end means work itself is worship.
Now, the reason we may reject this passage is because of that first word I teased about.
Does this really apply to us when the apostle's talking about slaves and masters?
And if we're thinking in American society of only our history, American chattel slavery, then clearly we can be distressed that the apostle might seem to be endorsing or at least not criticizing that kind of slavery in what he's talking about here.
Now, we have to be honest and say in the Roman world, there was certainly cruel slavery.
And the apostle would never endorse that.
He's not endorsing it here.
But you would have to recognize that in the ancient world, a bondservant was a variety of things that we don't recognize in our society: an apprentice, an indentured servant, a serf on a field, a farm worker.
There were those who were mindful of estates.
There were treasurers of cities.
All of them had that bondservant label.
And the apostle is basically just recognizing the society in which he lived.
We have trouble identifying with it.
Recognize in the ancient society there were very few people who had money at all.
Most people, just city or rural areas, lived on subsistence wages, if even that much.
I mean, if you lived in a rural area, you basically lived on a serf life existence on the fields of the one man who had a lot of money and owned the estate.
If you were in a rural area, you performed menial tasks, either as an indentured servant or an enemy who was now made a slave as a servant, or perhaps you were just doing carpentry work, subsistence work, a shopkeeper.
Very few people had money.
Very few people had respect.
Very few people had power.
And the world that's being turned upside-down by the apostle is he is speaking to both ends of the social ladder, to those who are slaves and those who are masters and everybody in between, and saying, "You all live before the face of God.
And the work that you are doing is to be done as to Christ.
It is the Lord Christ that you serve.
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
And in saying that, he is at the very same moment ennobling the life of the servant and holding accountable the life of the master.
Both have to live as though they are serving God in everything they do, in their relationships, in the way they treat each other.
That is what they are being held accountable to do.
If work is worship and all are accountable, ultimately that means that each is in every moment bringing glory to God or devaluing their relationship with God.
We ultimately recognize that we are being called to be priests before God, that that means everybody in the church has this responsibility of worshipping God in what they do.
That is made so clear in a passage I want you to look at.
If you'll look at 1 Corinthians 12 where the apostle Paul is going through the church and saying this in very clear terms, 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 20.
In your Grace bibles there, that's page 959.
Paul, looking at all the different people in the church, says, 1 Corinthians 12:20, "As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor can the head say to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'
On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable."
And the conclusion, verse 25, "That there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another."
No division in the body.
We're the ones that typically say, "Well, now, that's the holy job; that's not the holy job."
Whereas the apostle is saying, "Everybody, all the different members, have different callings but one purpose, which is to bring glory to God as the body works together."
When the reformers of the protestant reformation began to understand that, that just as there was a wall that used to divide the people from the priests in the ancient churches, they actually began to say, "That can't be right; if there is no division in the body, then there is a priesthood of believers that includes everybody in the church."
And that wasn't just made up.
I mean, that's actually reflecting the words of scripture, not only Paul, the apostle Peter, 1 Peter 2:9, speaking to everybody in the church, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
You are a royal priesthood.
The apostle John makes the very same point in Revelation in the first chapter in the sixth verse, saying, "Christ has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God."
There's not just one priest; there's not just one pastor.
There is a kingdom of priests, everyone living before the face of God, everyone saying, "My job is to bring honor and glory and dignity to the name of Christ, that the fame of Jesus, the name of Jesus, the honor of Jesus, might be known to all about me."
That actually is my calling, in occupation as well as in what happens in a Sunday morning service.
Martin Luther explained the impact of what it would mean to think that every person was a priest in the life of the church.
He said it this way: "If we could only accustom ourselves to this view, the entire world would be full of service to God, not only the churches but the home, the workshop, the field.
A poor maid would have the joy in her tar--, heart to say this: 'Now I'm cooking or making the bed or sweeping the house: Who has commanded me?
My master or my mistress?
But who has given them authority?
God has.
Very well, then.
I'm not serving them alone but God.
My service is equal to cooking for God.'"
Well, that would be intimidating.
[Laughter]
What if you believed you were preparing the meal for God today?
But the reality is if every moment is an opportunity to reflect service to God and direct glory to Him, then this priesthood of believers that we are, this kingdom of priests, this nation of those who are called to serve Him together, that are actually serving Him with an awareness of that every person is to bring glory to God in every occupation of every day.
What would that mean if every person was a priest?
It would mean every position, every position, is a pulpit, every home the Holy of Holies, every office an altar on which we are presenting ourselves to glorify God.
That would mean that every task is a testimony, every mess a mission, every education choice, every occupational choice, is lived before the face of God and an opportunity to proclaim Him.
That what we are doing in every moment is saying, whether it's dishes or diapers or drafting tables or drug counseling or district managers, all of that is part of our messaging of who we are in Christ and what I want you to know about Him.
Every moment, every occupation, every career: all our work is lived before the face of God and therefore is part of our witness of eternal things to others.
Work is worship.
Pastor Michael Wittmer wrote of the implications.
He said this: "I have three brothers who work in various businesses.
I'm a pastor."
And so he said, "One day, a man told my dad, 'Well, you must be happy to know that at least one of your sons is doing something of eternal significance.'
What an awful thing to say.
Aren't businesspeople doing God's work?
Didn't my father serve the Lord just as much when he plowed snow and filled potholes for the street department?
We need each other to do our callings as unto the Lord.
The pastor needs my father to clear the roads in the winter and repair them in the summer, so that he and the people can get to church.
They both, pastor and people, need businesspeople such as my brothers to create jobs, or there would be no money to have a church or to pay the pastor or to support the missionaries.
Religious callings are unique and indispensable, but they are not better.
All work is worship."
When we see that, we recognize I drive to work today to worship God; I go to campus today to take the ministry of Christ.
This is not secondary.
This is not beyond God's concern.
I go on holy ground wherever I go because I'm a priest of God called to be His ambassador for the purposes that He has given me in this place, in this moment.
My pastor can't go where I'm going.
I'm going to be God's witness in that place.
All work is worship.
What are implications of that?
If all work is worship, it means that Sunday is for Monday.
Now, I know that sounds simple, but it's actually a stark reminder of the age in which we live.
Recognize in Old Testament times the worship was done at the end of the week, right, on Saturday.
So you mess up during the week, you don't do every--, and you compensate at the end of the week by offering sacrifices on Saturday.
But through the work of Jesus Christ, the sacrificing is done.
The one sacrifice has been made for all.
We don't show up on Sunday to compensate for what we did during the past week.
We come to Sunday to prepare for what comes in the coming week.
Sunday is for Monday.
If that's the case, you have a ripe challenge that you can give to me.
Right?
You can say, "Pastor, if that's true, if Sunday is for Monday, give us something to work with."
Right?
"We came for a purpose.
If you're to be preparing us, give us something to work with."
Of course, I have a challenge for you, too.
I can always say, "Well, then on Monday, don't forget what you heard on Sunday."
Right?
It works both ways, because Sunday is preparing for Monday.
And if that's the case, if Sunday is preparing for Monday, then we should see, the apostle Paul is saying, I am preparing you.
I mean, just in the most kind of concrete ways, recognize that this letter written by the apostle Paul was meant to be read in the church on Sunday so the people would be prepared for their work on Monday.
And so he's going to write things that are preparing people for their work.
If I am going to give you something to work with, we just got to cover it.
So you ready?
Here we go.
I mean, what do you have to work with?
Well, there is instruction to workers.
Okay?
Verse 5 at the beginning, verse 5 the beginning, "Slaves, servants, bondservants, obey your earthly matter--, masters with fear and trembling."
Well, that wasn't a very good start.
The fear and trembling is a colloquialism for giving people proper respect.
It's actually the language the apostle Paul uses in Philippians 2:12, remember: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do his good purpose."
In order to fulfill the work of God in you, you need to treat God with proper respect.
And part of working for God is to treat employers, the masters, with proper respect.
Why?
So that they'll listen to your testimony, so they'll believe that your life is different; your pattern is different; your ethics are different.
Because you are respecting them in the way that those who would respect God are called to do.
That's why Paul immediately follows after the fear and trembling, verse 5, "Do this with a sincere heart, as you would Christ."
Work with integrity, as though you were serving Christ Himself.
Now, I know your boss is not always going to see like Christ, but you are representing Christ to that person.
And therefore, to him, to her, to employees around you, you are working for Christ's names sake.
That means, verse 6, there's an implication.
As you work, it's "not to be by the way of eye-service," not working just when the boss is looking or ignoring what might not be seen or painting over things so they can't be seen.
You know, Kathy and I are in that process, because just yesterday our son-in-law graduated from his university in St. Louis, and so as a consequence, the house that we had in St. Louis we're now ready to sell because my daughter and her husband, they're moving away.
And as we are going through that process of inspections, we found out that the person who inspected the home when it was sold to us a few years ago did not inspect the electrical system.
He marked that he had.
There was no one who could see that he didn't.
And the consequence is now an inspector sees now, he says, "How in the world did this get passed?
Your family has lived in danger for years.
This needs to be corrected immediately."
Because no one would see it, the job was sloughed over, not only endangering us but should that man have been a believer, dishonoring to God.
We don't serve mainly, chiefly for eye service.
We are to serve in such a way that we are honoring God in what we do, doing a job in such a way that people would say, "Even when I didn't see it, you operated with integrity."
As, "Not as people-pleasers," the end of verse 6, "but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart."
Important words: You are doing the will of God in your work.
It's first reminding us the way in which you are--, I are made, the way in which we are gifted is according to the will of God.
Already we've said, in the body of Christ, some are eyes, some are ears, some are feet: We are made differently.
And if that is the case, we recognize that God has given us different callings to pursue.
And we honor God when we honor the gifts He has given us.
If you are made to be an artist, it honors God to do your art.
If you are made to be a preacher, it honors God to preach.
If you are made to make money, and there are people, I'm just amazed at times that certain people have a gift for that: to say if God has gifted you to do that, that is your calling.
I remember the words of Eric Liddell.
So many of you knew that "Chariots of Fire" hero from the movie who, remember, he didn't run on Sabbath because he felt that was dishonoring the Lord.
But he ran in another race.
And one of the reasons he said is, "God made me fast and when I run, I feel His pleasure."
But that wasn't all he said.
He added to that, "And to win is to honor God."
Now, I don't think he's saying just because you win the race that's what honors God.
He's saying, "When I apply the skills God has given me," you know, if you're being driven, you know, to, into some profession just by other peoples' expectations rather than the honest evaluation: How has God made me?
To recognize part of doing God's will is pursuing the you that's you, to actually apply your gifts, your talents, your skills, your calling, your desire and say, "That honors God.
It was His will to make me this way.
If I am honoring Him in what I do, then that means I'm fulfilling His giftedness in the way that I pursue my profession."
And that's part of my worship.
Now, to do the will of God means that we also do not use our gifts to do things contrary to the will of God.
To recognize that there are patterns and products that would dishonor the name of Christ, which is the name by which we are called Christians.
And so if our pattern is to slough off or to operate without integrity, to take advantage of people, to serve their compulsions or their vanities: All of that is not the will of God.
You can use gifts well and actually do what is not according to the scriptures.
But if what we are doing is honest work, it is holy work.
And if what we are doing is according to the giftedness that God has given us, then we are the priests of that place to which God has called us.
It is honorable and holy work and we come here on Sunday to prepare for that work of Monday through Friday.
Sunday is for Monday for workers but not workers only.
I don't want you to miss the fact that the ninth verse is not directed just to employees but to employers.
Very specific words: "Masters, do the same to them."
Now, do you recognize how radical just that little phrase is in Roman society?
Where masters had absolute control, the power of life and death, not just of the wage.
That the apostle says, "Now, listen, as your slave is to give you respect, as your slave is to operate with integrity in your house, as your slave is to serve you according to the will of God, you are to do the same to them."
Treat them with respect.
Operate with integrity.
Fairness and justice is required of the master.
I mean, you can just kind of see masters kind of saying, "What are you talking about?
I have absolute right here.
I don't have to do."
No, you don't.
Because your Master is God, the same as the God of the one that you now have charge of.
So do not threaten.
The apostle is just reminding those who are employers, "Listen, you have to care for those who are in your care.
You have to be concerned: Is my wage just and fair?
Do the benefits take care of families?
Is the health benefit that I'm providing appropriate for the families that God has given to my care?"
All of these are sometimes extremely hard decisions as one is balancing profit and the welfare of employees, but at the same time, you know, the apostle is saying, "I know you have to maintain the business.
At the same time, you cannot do it just for self gain.
You are being required to consider those who work for you, because God is there.
God, even as you is, He is your God.
They are your brothers and sisters in Christ.
They are fellow image bearers of the eternal God.
If that is the case, you have the responsibility to see that love and justice and mercy and compassion are the concerns of your business as well as its profit.
All of those we are being required to consider just because the apostle tells us to do that.
And the implications are immense.
Reminding us not only that Sunday is for Monday but the reason that it is is because Monday is forever.
Now, I know you're going to think, "Well, some of my Mondays sure seem like forever, you know."
And maybe Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, too.
I know.
But the apostle is reminding us of the eternal significance of the jobs that we do.
Verse 6s and 7 again: Even those who are workers are to serve not as "eye-service or people pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will."
I'm serving God with a good will toward others, which means their welfare, particularly their spiritual welfare, remains my aim even as I'm serving others.
So that I have to think: Is what I'm doing not only good for career, for advancement, for business; is it spiritually good?
Is there good will in what I am doing for the sake of others?
Now, this takes us to terribly challenging decisions.
I'm going to ask you to look at one more portion of scripture.
This is one of I think the most difficult scriptures in the Bible as God is reminding us of our work responsibilities: 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter tap--, chapter 2 and verse 18.
In your Grace bibles there, that's page 1015.
What would it mean to be concerned for the good of others?
It means that we recognize that the reason Monday is eternal is our work is part of our testimony of eternal things.
And because we are concerned for eternal things, there are sacrificial callings upon us in our work.
First Peter 2 and verse 18, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect."
Well, we've heard that before.
"Not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?
But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example."
Verse 24, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed."
That our testimony is not just to those who are good and kind and nice to us but to those who are in spiritual need.
Now, think about that.
If there are souls in spiritual need, they typically indwell people who are not very nice.
Right?
Souls in spiritual need typically indwell people who are not very nice.
And the apostle is saying eternal things are now trumping our temporary ease.
I'd rather work for somebody who's nice.
I'd rather get around somebody who's treating me badly.
I need to get away from somebody who's unfair, unjust.
I recognize your calling to your family may mean if somebody is treating you unjustly, you may need other occupations, but we're never to ignore the fact that there are spiritually needy people for eternal reasons around us in our workplace.
It may not be a boss; it may be a co-laborer.
And we are called to be, with good will, concerned for eternal things.
Monday is forever.
Our witness, our testimony is one of the reasons that God has placed us in workplaces that are sometimes very difficult.
And even the apostle recognized that when he called us to do, did you hear it?
A gracious thing.
Something not earned or deserved, to be a witness to those who need the Savior.
Why?
Because Christ sacrificed for us and we now live for Him.
Not only is the intention of our forever Monday work to be testimony: It's to actually be transformative.
I want you to remember in this book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul is reminding us from the first chapter, the twenty-second, twenty-third verse, that we are the body of Christ of which He is the head and by which He is transforming all in all; that the apostle is expecting God to use us by the Holy Spirit to transform the world around us, not just our homes, not just our church but Peoria and state and world to be affected by the ministry of the church.
And when we see that, we recognize our jobs are our callings of all different sorts we may never have imagined.
One of my favorite students ever at Covenant Seminary was named Paul Kagle.
He went to seminary to learn to preach; he never finished, because he had a terrible stuttering problem.
He could not preach.
And I could not find a way to help him.
He left after a couple of years.
And when he did, he still believed it was his calling to spread the gospel.
And I must tell you something: He was gifted in making money.
He was a businessman like few I've ever known.
And what he began to do was to establish a business that would hire seminarians while they were training for the pastorate.
Dozens and dozens of ministers are now a consequence of the jobs he provided as a businessman who said, "My job is still transformation.
They need me in a different way.
I'm going to serve, use my gifts a different way."
We have a holy calling as we are seeking to transform our world in the place that God has called us.
That's true of masters; that's true of moms.
I tell the story about Kathy one time changing a particularly messy diaper and saying to my mom who was standing nearby, "These hands have played Mozart."
[Laughter]
And my mom saying, "And now maybe they're raising Mozart."
Eternal callings, world transformation.
Some of you may be raising the next Billy Graham or Bill Gates, huge influence on the spiritual world, the business world, the developing world.
In this church, maybe you're raising the next Ruby Thompson or Helen Modjeska or Lindy Arnold, people who have had such vast influence on the lives of people in this church.
They may be in your house right now.
And their ministry is yours.
What you're doing is forever.
If you're thinking before the face of God I'm making these choices, these decisions, as I go to college, as I think about what careers I'm pursuing: These are things that touch on eternity for myself and others.
This is not secondary.
It's not an afterthought.
I'm living for the glory of God.
This is my worship is to work in accord with the calling that He has given me and the gifts He has granted me to have.
For ultimately you recognize that it's not just that we have testimony and we have transformation: I hope you recognize all that we are called in our different ways is to provide for the support of what God calls each of us to be doing.
I mean, I know no preacher, no preacher worth his true calling wants to tell you to give lots of money as a charlatan or a panhandler, you know: Praise the Lord and pass the plate.
But I do you no service if I do not remind you what this passage itself says in verse 8: "You must know that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is slave or free."
I don't think the Lord is promising in kind: That's the charlatan preachers, right?
"If you give money, you'll get more money."
He is saying, "If you give out of your heart to the purposes of God, then your heart's greatest desire is going to be satisfied."
What is that desire for a believer?
It is that the kingdom of God advance, that the fame of Jesus be known, that your Savior would be known and embraced by more and more people.
And God is saying as you support the work of Christ by your job, by your occupation, you are fulfilling a holy calling of God, spreading His fame through the people in the church.
I want to show just one example and then I'll comment on it.
Watch what you as a church are supporting as we look on the video here.
>>> My neighbor heard about my blindness.
He came to my husband and told us that he had been treated for cataracts by doctors from Serge at Kibuye Hospital.
He said, "You should take your wife there."
>>> Fides came to us totally blind from cataracts in both eyes.
We scheduled her for surgery the same week, and we did one eye.
[Music playing]
>>> After the surgery, the doctor took off the bandage.
He asked me to open my eyes, but I refused.
I was afraid that the surgery had not worked.
He again said, "Open your eyes."
And I opened my eyes.
And I was able to see everything.
I could see my child.
I could see her hand.
I could see her clothes.
And I was jumping with joy.
I could see perfectly.
[Music playing]
>>> When I see folks who haven't seen for years see again the next day, that keeps me going, because there's a lot of tough stuff here.
We can't help everybody, but when we get to help those people and know that their lives have been transformed through a ten, fifteen minute surgery, that's really cool.
I tell people all the time I have the best job in the world.
I mean, it can't get any better.
[Chuckles]
You know, I get to help blind people see again every day.
[Music playing]
>>> The way Doctor John took care of me makes me think of Jesus and how He healed the blind man and gave him sight.
Doctor John shows love to the poor, the rich, the unclean.
He models the ministry of Jesus.
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>>> We're blessed to have the mentorship we have at Serge, an organization that is going to just keep the gospel fresh in our lives, make it practical, and keep preaching the gospel to us, you know, to keep us fresh and walking with the Lord.
>>> It is a special opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus here in Burundi, trying to share God's love and let them know that God loves them and we care about them.
You know, our God is different: He chose to suffer with us.
That does keep me going, because if I didn't know that, I don't know if I could keep going.
So I just keep reminding myself: Our God chose to become flesh and suffer with us.
And I think that sometimes it's harder for me to see other people suffer, so I think that's one of the key things that keeps me going.
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>>> Work is worship.
By it, we testify and transform and support.
The Carrigan's' out of this church go to join that ministry.
And there are scores of people in this church who are thinking about it and have done it and you make it happen.
Your work is holy work.
Testify of Christ.
Transform the world.
Support the name of Jesus.
What a joy, what a privilege He gives us.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God, as unto Christ.
This is our joy.