(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better — and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Conversation Starter:
How does Jesus’ mission relate to your job?
Intro:
Emmanuel, God with us, sent in the form of His only Son Jesus, is on a mission. And today you’ll hear Jesus clearly state what that mission is. And that’s nice Bible reading, but how does it relate to your job?
Hey Hopeful, welcome to another chance to, together, walk through Scripture together in a keepin-it-real kinda way. There’s nothing quite like just sitting at the feet of the King of the Universe, listening for a bit, and talking about it.
And I do hope you’ll give me a chance in our Bottom Line segment today to add one nugget beyond the obvious in terms of how Jesus relates to your job.
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Our NT segment today is Luke 19 we hear the end of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and the part of Luke where there’s a lot about what it takes to enter the Kingdom of God and the identity of those therein.
Passage: Luke 19
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 48
Words: ~1026
Hey, one quickie on that whole bit about Jesus saying Jerusalem had rejected peace, and by that, He means the peace that saving faith in the Messiah brings. And there’s a modern-day lesson in this. Listen closely.
We know that Jesus’ prophecy came about about 35 years later — complete destruction of the temple, oppression of the Jewish people, and they scattered, running for their lives. Here’s how Bible scholar Darrell Bock describes it:
A first-century Auschwitz awaits it. Unlike the twentieth-century version, where repulsive ethnic hatred brought death, the Jewish nation of the first century brought catastrophe on itself. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus blamed the nationalists, the Zealots, for the nation’s demise, but Jesus has a different answer. By rejecting him, Israel has chosen the way of judgment. It has missed the day and the moment.(1)
We now have that. And our day and moment, though, is we can still choose Jesus before we die.
ORIGINAL TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
In our OT segment today we wrap up the book of 1 Chronicles which, as you know, was part of 1-2 Chronicles as one work. But as the torch passes from David to Solomon, it’s a good time to reflect on what the Chronicler is communicating…which we’ll do after our reading.
Passage: 1 Chronicles 29
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 30
Words: ~590
The Persian period, in which Chronicles was compiled, was a time of half-fulfilled hopes. The Jews had been allowed to return from Babylonian exile but without a king. They had been allowed to rebuild the temple, but the “second temple” paled in comparison with the first. The Chronicler reaffirmed for that generation (and ours) that despite the ambiguities of history God is in control and involved in the lives of His people. First Chronicles overlooks the moral defeats and highlights the victories of David to draw attention to God’s sovereignty in his life. God succeeded in using David to fulfill His purposes for him. Chronicles challenges today’s Christians to trace the high points of God’s working in their own lives. Our hope is that the One who began a good work in us will complete it (Phil 1:6).(2)
First Chronicles recognizes that the greatest accomplishment of David’s dynasty was spiritual—the organization and support of temple worship. Worship continues to be the center of Christian life. Worship empowers believers for lives of Christian service.(2)
Obviously that has something to do with our work, too.
Wisdom SEGMENT:
Passage: Proverbs 13:11
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 1
Words: ~16
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Jesus said He came to seek and save the lost. So what does that have to do with our work?
Today’s lesson is one of using a biblical principle analogically. To be clear, I’m not making a theological point from the text, though I pray before God and you that what I’ll say is consistent with Scripture.
We’ve read recently that the mark of being a growing Jesus follower, a disciple or learner as the Bible calls it, is expressed in service. We serve Jesus by serving others. This is true spiritually as we help our brothers and sisters in Christ do the same, but it’s also done in terms of our being on co-mission with God. That co-mission is just what it sounds like…The Great Co-Mission. Go, baptize, disciple.
Think about what you do at work. Sales and marketing people go, introduce or baptize people into a new product or service, and disciple or teach them in the way to be successful with that product or service. Or maybe you work for government and don’t think about work in terms of getting “customers,” per se…but you still serve. You go help or serve people by administering governance with justice, sometimes guiding them to or baptizing them in the way to be right with their civic duty or guiding or discipling them how to get help from government services.
In other work, the proactivity of going, the introduction or reaching activity, the guidance or teaching or leading activity is being on target, having a goal or purpose. But the crazy thing is here, we’re not fitting God into a work paradigm…we’re seeing that a successful work paradigm is modeled after God and His mission to seek and save the lost.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Darrell L. Bock, Luke, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), Lk 19:28–44.
(2) David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 276.