I missed church 2 weeks ago. We had a late evening the night before, and as is typical in my house, the laundry wasn’t caught up. That was our big excuse anyway. Many weekends we have a good excuse for missing- sick child, sick parent, and less frequently, a random baby shower to prep for. I will even admit here, for all of cyberspace to read that there truly have been times we didn’t go to church because someone had no clean underwear. I won’t mention who that someone is because he might get mad and not make me any more crackers or pasta. But on this particular Sunday, we were honestly just being lazy, slothful if you were. I always hate the twinge of guilt and regret that God sends me through the sweet words of a 6 yr old, “Mommy, I wish we went to church today.” Can you hear the sound of my soul ripping?

At a friendly cookout THIS past Saturday, a friend from church mentioned the sermon from the previous week, and how it was one of the most convicting she had heard in a long time. I love our pastor, and on more than plenty of occasions I have too been convicted by his presentation of scripture. To be honest, though, I figured it was just because it applied in her mind to something she was going through. Then she said it was about work, and it changed the way she went about the whole week thereafter.

My ears perked up a little.

Work is not one of my favorite words. It brings a connotation of not being able to rest, and I LOVE rest. Not proud of it necessarily, but I am honest enough to admit it as truth. My friend briefly went on to describe the general theme he spoke on, and right then and there, I decided I needed to hear it for myself. Our church has a page of past sermons on its website, in case you or your child is ill, are out of clean skivvies or as in our case, you just feel particularly slothful one Sunday morning.

I jumped online this morning on the drive to work. (one of the redeeming qualities of my iphone) and listened to the sermon.

Wow.

No, really. WOW.

I would highly recommend anyone reading this blog who didn’t hear it already take the 40 minutes or so and listen. I think you will find it as thought provoking and convicting as my friend and I did. It is truly that good. I may tie my 11 yr old down to a chair and make him listen. Better yet, I will remove all of his current song selections from his ipod and load it on there. Because I am just mean enough to do something like that. Bwaahahaha.

Sorry.

To give you a taste, I will share my favorite quote from the sermon:
I am not a transcriptionist, so I hereby give myself artistic freedom to NOT type every single word…but I will try my hardest to keep the integrity and meaning intact.

From Gordon Dahl (sp?)
“Most middle class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship. As a result, their meanings and values are distorted, their relationships disintegrate faster than they can keep them in repair, and their lifestyles resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot.”
That was powerful to me. And, I think it explains so many things that have always seemed unexplainable. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY, REALLY like my job, but I don’t worship it by any means. My problem isn’t so much what is spoken of above, but the opposite. As I mentioned, I LOVE rest…

So, what does the Bible say about that?
And about how we should look at work?

Listen for yourself… my opening paragraph to this post will seem relevant after listening...hopefully.

sermon
(click on the sermon titled “Is Work a Curse?”)