20 September 2014 by Dr Yeo Teck Thiam –
In the time that I have from leaving office and the workplace, I thought about many values held with esteem and significance in this world, goals that often propelled working men and women in their vocations and purpose for life.
Certainly, people look to a glorious career, to achieve notable success, and to make a name for their selves. These are things and goals worthy of pursuit in this life.
Yet if the hope for life has regards for these values, it does not make much sense why Jesus came to offer us new life. There is also a cross to bear in the call. It is an emblem of suffering and shame. These are hardly stuffs that make up glory, honor and power for life.
On the other hand, we know that few people realize lofty positions in life. So I also wonder if our lives are failures when we have no such achievements. Is life destined to be mediocre for most of us?
We have a dilemma, for there are certainly differences that we sense are important.
Sometimes these aspirations are also piously renounced in church. But if we look at people’s lives, we may find this is not exactly how people live as they preach. So we also want to know truth from what people preach or do.
If we do not know the difference, we may be living for the wrong things or seeking the wrong places. Then at the end of the road, we may regret spending our lives for wrong things.
On career, education and church work
I say this especially with regard to education, career and church work. So I want to begin through seeing these in real lives, and in biblical history. This hindsight has value, for we also know Scripture gives this for our instruction.
Jesus had many followers. We may hear mostly about the 12 disciples, or the patriarchs and prophets. Yet, there were the women who helped in Jesus’ ministry doing mundane and menial work. They had no apostolic tasks. Would we consider them unimportant?
Yet these women had the great honor of being first to see the risen Jesus. Our Lord took the trouble to appear to the women first!
Those that offered hospitality and homes for Jesus in His travels were likewise commended. We remember Martha and Mary whose house in Bethany was one of Jesus’ favorite places when He was in Jerusalem. We cannot hope for a greater Guest of Honor in our house.
God honors housewives and maids. Jesus honors ordinary people doing menial work or showing love. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet to demonstrate this. So I sense that it does not really matter what work I do, so long as it is what Jesus wants me to do. The Lord wants me to show the love of God, rather than fret over doing great things for Him.
I also realized that when Jesus was born, this was joyfully announced to shepherds who were watching their flocks by night. The glory of the Lord shone around them. Yet God did not send angels to the chief priests to tell them, so that they could proclaim the good news in the Temple in Jerusalem.
We see this also in education and career. God called Peter, James and John but they were fishermen and unschooled. My amazement is why God must work in such ways when there are better men and easier choices.
The disciples were privileged to learn directly from Jesus because they were perhaps not so smart. On the other hand, it seems God would have Paul use the brains gifted to him, to learn by himself.
Paul was a Jew from Tarsus, a city on the coast of Turkey. He was brought up in Jerusalem and studied law at the feet of Gamaliel, the renowned scholar in the time of Jesus. Without a doubt he was outstanding for Paul testified that he excelled beyond his peers.1 Evidently, God gave Paul a harder schooling schedule. So we can decide which situation we prefer in life.
The Roll Call in Honor
It would have been noted that in speaking of Jesus appearing to the women, I used the word “honor”. This is because honor comes through our work and status. It was the prestige bestowed by Jesus to the women.
So honor is the reward given for a position or work. It may be from men and it may be given by God. So in this sense, it is a reward for whatever we do or gained from work and status.
In worldly view, honor comes from being chairman, leader, preacher, and so on. When we take the “first” position, and do such “work” in society, people honor us. But it is a worldly view. It is worldly because such reward is an honor from men, not from God.
It is why Jesus said that when you pray, do not be like hypocrites who love standing in front of the synagogue and at street corners to pray, to be seen by men. Jesus said they already had received their “reward”. These men were seeking honor for what they were doing. So Jesus said they had already received this reward of “honor” from men.2
But there would be no honor given by God. This is because these were not done for God. Honor from God comes when we do things for God. That God sees for Himself.
So the women and servants of God are honored in helping humbly and caring for others. Our society can say they did nothing remarkable. Still, we say these are honorable folks because the honor from God cannot be taken away.
It is also about housewives who gave the best parts of their lives looking after children and bringing them up to be godly people. It is about parents who set examples to their children in how to behave as God wants, and living as what God tells us.
In this regard, Jesus reminded us that some who are first shall be last in God’s kingdom.3
To this end, I also do not look to the pursuit of teaching people, or “preaching” to others how to conduct themselves. My witness for Jesus is not merely “preaching” to others.
My witness for Jesus is to tell others the “real” result of Jesus transforming my life. It is better that I show Jesus living in me as my testimony. A picture of my life is worth more than a thousand words of “preaching”.
So I conclude my duties in God’s calling for me are not directly material. It is not really about being a church leader, an influential citizen, or a capable organizer. What God requires of His people is to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him, as the prophet Micah said.4
The Splendor of Achievements
There is also a splendor we must note from work and what we do. Splendor is seen in the houses people built, cars they bought, and land they owned. This is the crowning glory of a career and is seen from these achievements.
However, this earthly glory cannot shine. This is because it is not part of a person. It can only be seen in his achievements. This “glory” is therefore only seen in the splendor of our achievements and possessions. But it does not actually speak of the person’s worthiness, for he may be wicked, ruthless, a scoundrel or a dictator.
Yet this glory is eagerly pursued because without its splendor, there can be no worship. Men therefore want their work to have this splendor, to be majestic. Kings show their glory in their splendid clothing and kingdoms. They hope to be gods.
In fact, it is something that Satan offers as well. We remember the temptations that Jesus encountered in the desert. Satan offered Jesus the splendors of his kingdom of the world. Satan offered these in order to be worshipped.
For this purpose, God does not want us to pursue glory on earth. Jesus tells us not to seek such things, to be glorified and worshipped by others. We do not have to be teenage idols or be gods amongst men.
The Glory of God
For this reason also, God said He will not give His glory to another. Instead, God will make His glory to shine in us. We do not have to seek it. Glory from God hence has this important difference from splendor and honor.5
The glory of God is not like earthly pretensions. The glory of God comes from His holiness. God’s glory shines because of this holiness. So God’s shekina glory can be seen. It is brighter than the sun. Paul saw this on the road to Damascus. Peter, James and John saw this at the Lord’s Transfiguration. The Israelites saw it at Mount Sinai.
Satan can never offer such true glory. Men can never attain this by achievements. We can never have such glory of our own. It is because this glory is not about what we achieved. We cannot earn it. We also cannot buy it.
God places His glory into us when we live godly lives through righteousness. It is not about achievements but about godliness. That was why Moses’ face shone after meeting God. The glory of God was reflected in his face.6
So Jesus said we are His jewels in the City of God. It is because precious stones sparkle when the glory of God shines around. The glory of each person will differ for each one because righteousness is from how we walk with God on earth.7
Thus our jewel’s quality depends on how godly we are. It has nothing to do with careers and achievements. So the housewife and poor men like Lazarus may shine more gloriously than that of a pastor or church leader. The glory that God shines through us is not about doing “church” work.
Likewise, the lives of Pharisees and Sadducees are reminders. Those social elite laid down great career plans, strove hard for success and their honorable places in society. They were well rewarded in society, and their achievements were for others to see. Regrettably however, they rejected the hope Jesus offered in the Kingdom of God. So I reckon none of them saw the glory of God’s kingdom.
To sum up, I think it is quite clear to everyone that doing things as God calls us is not particularly “rewarding” in this life. On the other hand, our rewards and God’s retirement benefits are “out of this world”.
So to housewives, road sweepers, farmers, maids, and also to the rich, the famous, the powerful, Jesus calls to cast aside the perishable crown. Lift up your eyes and see the road where God is leading you home and to glory.
Scripture References
1Acts 26:4,24, Phil 3:4-6 2 Matt 6:1 3 Luke 13:30 4 Micah 6:18 5 Isaiah 42:8 6 Exodus 34:29 7 Revelation 21:19
NB: Scripture texts are from NIV.
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