Meaning for Life
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Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast,
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
(1 Corinthians 15:58)
Why
do you awaken every morning?
A 1993 survey of freshmen at
UCLA revealed 75 percent of them identified “being financially well off” as
their main goal in work. Given recent unethical behavior among corporate
executives, however, and in light of the shabby state of our economy, many of
those same folk reportedly are seeking something different: meaning in their
work.
Companies
are trying all sorts of maneuvers, including placing employees on “teams” to
encourage a united mentality. Some are supporting volunteerism by their
employees. Their aim, of course, is to supply their workers’ daily lives with
an injection of purpose.
So
what about you? Why do you go to work? To pay the bills? To pass the time? To
make a name for yourself?
Because
of, and only because of, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, your life and
work have meaning. But they only have meaning as you spend yourself for his
glory – no matter where he calls you.
St.
Paul, in concluding the magnificent 15th chapter in his first
epistle to the Corinthians, teaches us that the Resurrection has consequences.
The apostle has dealt with a number of problems in the Corinthian church, and
here he has answered the false suggestion apparently circulating in Corinth
that Jesus did not rise from the dead. Not only does St. Paul offer the proof of
living witnesses to the Resurrection, he also demonstrates the theological
necessity of the Resurrection. “Corruption cannot inherit incorruption,” he
writes; and because the law reveals your sin, which brings about death,
Christ’s fulfillment of the law for you has removed your sin and abolished the
reign of death over you.
But
he begins the concluding verse, 58, with that word of such great consequence:
“therefore.” The Resurrection matters! For Paul, Jesus’ Resurrection is no idle
truth. The fact that Jesus lives matters right here, right now for those who
believe on Christ as their Redeemer.
For
those who do not believe on the victorious Lord Jesus as Savior, the
Resurrection means he will return to judge them. That Day will be terrible and
great, and they cannot abide it.
For
those who do look to Jesus for forgiving mercy, the Resurrection isn’t just a
doctrine to put on the shelf of your soul. It does not merely relate to your
future, as important as that is.
“Therefore.”
The Resurrection matters to you and to the Lord right this moment.
The
Resurrection assures you, Paul also instructs in verse 58, that your work in
the Lord has abiding value.
The
apostle writes that we are to bear in mind that our work in the Lord is not in
vain – or empty and pointless. Ah, but think of those systems of belief in our
world that know nothing but nothingness. Darwinism seeks to eliminate God,
making you and this world mere products of chance, not the creation of a
purposeful Maker. Eastern religions promote various forms of reincarnation,
making life a never-ending cycle of pointlessness. And of course the idol of
pleasure, so dominant in our own country, always disappoints and confuses its
adherents, giving them nothing enduring for which to live.
The
Scriptures indicate that paganism, and the pagan mind, are “empty” and
“worthless.” The mind of a person who is not born of the Spirit, who does not
know the living God, cannot rightly make sense of this life. All of pagan
thought, therefore, is ultimately worthless in terms of eternal truth and
abiding value, for it refuses to submit to the Author of truth.
But
because Jesus, the true Lord, lives, your life has a goal. This universe has
meaning. You will face judgment at the hour of your death, and that sure judgment
informs every moment of your existence. For this very reason St. Paul asserts
that your labor is not in vain “in the Lord.”
Now,
notice that Paul does not define “labor.” He isn’t simply speaking of
missionary work or of pastoring a church or of teaching Sunday School, as
valuable as such work is. You see, Paul understood that the earth is the
Lord’s, and the fullness thereof. This same apostle taught us to do whatever we
do “heartily, as unto the Lord and not unto men.” In fact, the very first assignment
God gave man was to tend the Garden – not to write a Sunday School lesson.
Originally, and in the biblical model, creation and spiritual service were
intertwined. They must be today as well.
So
Paul calls on you – baker, teacher, lawyer, farmer – to labor in the Lord. And
the word he employs for “labor” indicates intense effort, so that you don’t
spare anything in serving your Savior. Honestly, such intense labor that holds
nothing back seems hard to offer up given the discouragements you and I face.
What if they don’t believe? What if I’m rejected? What if they don’t seem to
respond?
Give
your all anyway, regardless of the job. The living God has called you to it,
and He assures you by His resurrected Son that your works will follow you
eternally.
The
Resurrection therefore requires you to offer to the Lord your continual,
devoted labor.
Paul
says you must be immovable and steadfast, not giving way. Indeed, you are to
overflow at all times in your service to the Lord. This means that your singing
Sunday morning and your filing Monday morning must be offered to God not as a
bud but as the full flower; not as a trickle but as a flowing river. If your
work will follow you to eternity, and if you can have an eternal impact on the
architect next to you (as he sees you design your buildings with beauty and
with symmetry and with purpose and with reverence), then you must abound in
God’s work, never flinching.
Do
you ever become exasperated at how quickly your work seems to crumble? I think
of my grandmother, who so faithfully sewed patches on the knees of my jeans as
a child. She always warned me gently to take care how I played in them, because
it surely would discourage her to have to repair the same patch every single
day.
If
you labor apart from Jesus Christ, and if he is not central in your life, then
this is precisely what happens to your work. You have served your own wallet,
your own name – but your labor has no abiding value. Life truly would be
depressing and frustrating.
If
you expend yourself out of love for the Savior, who lives and rules forever,
rest assured: your work in His Name will last forever.
You
might well like the song, “I’ll Fly Away.” If you do, I don’t mean to insult
you in any way.
But
know this: Easter isn’t just about “the bye and bye.” It’s about right now. In
a world hungry for meaning, go to work tomorrow for the glory of Christ.
Whatever he has called you to do, offer it to him.
We speak of “glorifying God
and enjoying Him forever.”
Because
of Easter, “forever” begins right now.