Date:   08/31/08

Text:   Psalm 127

Title:   Working Hard

Theme: All of life is a gift from God.

Introduction:

  During the Industrial Revolution of the 1800's, the average worker worked 12 hours a day and 7 days a week just to meet his basic needs. On September 5 of 1882, was the first parade organized by workers in NY city. The purpose was to honor the workers of America and to voice their concerns about labor conditions. 12 years later, the US congress declared that the first Monday in September as Labor Day, celebrating the value and dignity of work. Now, this is being treated as the last long weekend holiday before the Fall.

  In a sense, we are all workers. We labor long hours to secure a house, to provide security for ourselves and families. This psalm is about the builder who builds the house, the watchman who watches over the city, and the laborer who works long hours to meet the basic needs of life. It is about house, security and family. The Psalmist asked the question: What is the meaning behind them? After we have accomplished what we set out to do, we ask, is this what life is all about? Is there more than meet the eyes? There is a sense of vanity, right?

  Who is this psalmist? In verse 2 is the word, “his beloved”. This term appeared in 2 Sam 12:25. Many bible scholars think that this is King Solomon's hidden signature. It's like Thomas Kincade, the famous Texas painter who puts his wife's initial, N, in his paintings. One will have to look hard to find it. In this psalm, the psalmist is telling us to recognize that all we have in life is from God.

I.   God affirms the dignity of work.

  In vs. 1,2 “ 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;….” It is about building the house, keeping it safe and secure. It is about working hard, long hours to make the ends meet. It affirms the place of work in life. I want to make two observations:

1 •  The creation ordinance. Sometimes we hear Christians say that we work because of man's fallen condition. If Adam had not sinned, then we would not be working. This is faulty thinking. You see, when God created Adam and Eve, even before their disobedience, he gave them assignments. First, they were to conquer and rule over the created world. Secondly, Adam was given the task of naming the animals. These were all hard work. So, in God's creation, or in God's economy, work is good. Labor is part of the human existence.

2 •  Man's fallen condition. However, when the first man and woman disobeyed God, things began to change. Man and woman would still work, but now, there was a price tag. In Genesis 3:17, “ Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘ You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The word pain is the word toil used here. There is still work, but now there is pain and sweat. There is an element of vanity in one's labor. Even though we all want that dream job; good pay, good hours, no stress, no pain and no sweat, it's hard to come by, right? To work hard, with pain and sweat, is the norm in this broken world.

There is dignity in work, there is pain and sweat in work. What does this mean to us? I have some suggestions. First, all work is sacred. Sometimes we hear people say, “I am only a secretary, or a janitor, or…..” In the Chinese tradition, we have this pecking order: ???? . During the last 60 years, there have been some changes in this order. But the underlying principle is still in place. We look at the person according to his profession. We define the person by what he does for a living. No, this is not so in God's sight. There is no high or low class job. All jobs are valuable and with dignity. We need to look at all professions as callings from God. The senior pastor position is no better than the custodian. The president of this country is no better than the butlers in the white house kitchen. Without a president, the country will be in chaos. However, without the white house kitchen team, who will cook for the president and his guests? All professions are callings and equally important and with value.

Secondly, it is about how we treat other workers. If all professions are equal and with dignity, how about the persons behind the jobs? I want to share with you two incidents. One occurred when I was in china. I had the opportunity to eat out with some believers. I felt bad for the servers. In most of the places, I seldom heard the customers, including Christians, say, thank you. Very often we treated them as a non entity, bring me this, bring me that, just some one there to serve us. At one restaurant, when I asked the waiter where his home town was, and how many hours a day he worked, he was so surprised that I would show interest in him.

The second incident was in Houston . Several months ago, at about 9:30am, I was waiting for my carry out in a restaurant. On a nearby table, there were 4 ladies having their breakfast. After they left, the waitress cleaned the table. She turned to the manager and murmured, “only one penny.” They put one penny on the table for tips. This scene left a deep impression on my mind. I felt bad for the waitress. Several weeks later, when one of our colleagues went to that restaurant, I asked her to give some money to the manager for that waitress. Please be polite and kind to those who serve us. Let us treat them with respect and dignity.

All work is noble. All workers are to be treated with love, kindness, respect and dignity. Now, let's move on.

II.   God affirms the meaning of work.

  Then what? After working for 20 years, our children are grown and you have more or less all that you have wanted, then what? I think of the time when some elderly persons/couples had to sell their house to move into a nursing home. Looking at all that have accumulated throughout their life, they probably will ask, what is all that for? We cheered when Mike Phelps got his 8 th gold medal, but what will happen to him 10 years down the road? How many of us remember Mark Spitz, Mary Lou and Nadia, the darlings of the previous Olympics?

  Solomon, basically was saying, without God, all our houses, security, accomplishments and family will add up to nothing. God is the one who provides us with houses, security and family. Yes, we work hard, but it is all from him, it is all his grace. If we leave him out of the picture, at the end of the day, it mounts up to nothing. Solomon knew this well. He was the king that had those reckless building projects. He built the temple for God, but he also built several palaces for himself. He spent at least 20 years in the various building projects. Then what? Later, his family and marriage became a mess. The temple was ruined. You see, when he left God out, all his accomplishments mounted to zip. No wonder at his old age, he said, “ 1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, …..” (Ecc 12:1). And here he wrote, “ 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;…” Remember God, recognize all this is from him. Your work, your accomplishment, your family is all from God. Without him, we are nothing.

  Let's put it this way. You are a believer and I am not. We work in the same company. We both work hard and both have great accomplishments. I would say, it is my hard work that has taken me to where I am today. You would say, God helps me to get to where I am today. Superficially, we are the same, but our attitudes are miles apart. Or take two Olympic athletes: Eric Lidell in 1924, and Usain Bolt in 2008. In 1824, Eric said, “God make me run fast.” In 2008, Bolt said, “I am number one, I am the best.” Superficially, they are the same, but inwardly speaking, their attitudes are miles apart. We look at external accomplishments, but God looks at our hearts.

  In our study of the book of Nehemiah, we see how this truth is being applied. Nehemiah and his people worked hard, day and night, they rebuilt the city wall. They also put guards to protect, to keep watch over the city. At the same time, Nehemiah also focused on prayers. For he knew, without God, all their efforts would amount to nothing. Without God, they would not be able to overcome their enemies.

  And do you know what is one consequence of recognizing all is from God? Even in the midst of toils, the lord will enable us to sleep. In the midst of hard work, there is peace and rest. Certainly more than a good night's sleep. We have to be careful not to stretch this verse too far. Or like someone once said to Swindoll, “Chuck, today's sermon application was great, but you may have over fertilized it.”

  When I was in Michigan a few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning around 5 I went with my friend on a boat to fish. When we were about 5 miles off shore, the waves were about 4-5 feet high. To an experienced fisherman, this is nothing; it hardly affect his movement on the boat. But not for me. I could hardly move and not to mention being sea sick. At that moment, I thought about how Jesus was asleep in a small boat in the midst of a storm. The waves must have been high, and the experienced fishermen were fearful of the storm, yet Jesus was sound asleep. The psalmist was telling us, when we recognized that even in the midst of all these hardships, when God is with us, he can give us true rest. Isn't this what Jesus claimed, “ 28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."(Matt 11:28). Jesus did not say, come to me and I'll make your work less difficult and less stressful. No, the work will still be hard, there will still be long hours and with pain and sweat, but, when you come, I'll give you rest. It is more than just a good night's rest, it is about inner peace. And it also tells us that as long as we live in this broken world, there will be hard work, worry, sweat and pain. Yet we all look forward to the day, when we see Christ face to face. On that day, we'll enter eternal rest. No more toils, sweat and pain.

  On this labor day weekend, shall we once again acknowledge that all we have is from God. Without God, there is nothing we can accomplish. In Jesus' words, “apart from me, you can do nothing.” It's all God's grace. If it is God's work, then we do our part and trust the rest to Him. This is the secret to rest and a worry-free life. Come to him and experience the rest he has promised us.

III.   God's gift of family.

  In vs.1 and 2, the psalmist reminds us that all we have is from God. He then used the family as an example. Vs.3-5, “ 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” I'll make two observations.

1 •  Children are gifts from God. The family is a gift from God. Children are a gift from God. Since it is a gift, we understand that God in his sovereignty gives children to some families, and withhold this gift in some other families. We may not know why, but we accept this as God's will. Some children make us laugh, right? When Sean was born, my sister asked me how I felt. I remember telling her it was a bundle of joy. Like our other children, he was precious to us. However, on the other hand, we also see children who are not healthy, bring great burdens to the parents. Some children can also bring pain to their parents. Calvin said, “Some children made their parents cry.” Whether or not our children make us laugh or cry, whether or not they are healthy, they are gifts from God. Being gifts from God, then we don't decide which gift to receive and which gift to reject.

2 •  Parents are to care for their children. If children are gifts from God, what then is our responsibility? Several days ago, 4 children, ages 1-7 were found left alone in a filthy NW Houston apartment. This is wrong. Recently I heard about a certain family. Whenever the child did something wrong, the father would be screaming at him, “you idiot.” Repeatedly. It occurred daily. Can you imagine what this would do to this child's mental health. This is abuse, ruining and killing a child's spirit.

As parents, we have the responsibility to care for and protect our children when they are young. I have seen parents caring for their grown up children that are not healthy. Your love and patience have touched me greatly. There are also natural and evil forces trying to pull our children away from us and God. As parents, it is our responsibility to provide both physical and spiritual protection. We are to teach them God's law from young, so they know what is pleasing and displeasing to God. We are to encourage and build them up. Then what?

  Vs. 4,5, “ 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” What are arrows used for? In the context of the ancient world, arrows are for protection. The psalmist is saying, when you are young, you give birth to your children. You then nurture, provide and protect them. Now that you are old, your children are here to protect you. From time to time, I wish I could have cared more for my parents. I always thank God for my brother and sisters to fill in for me, making up for I was not able to do.

  Recently I had a conversation with a cancer patient. She was telling me that she is preparing for her departure from this life. Her regret was that if she goes before her husband, who was not in good health, she could no longer care for him. However, the daughter had asked the father to move to her city so she could be close by to care for him. I see this in many families among us. Again, your love and care for your elderly parents have truly touched me .

  Lately one of my sons was kind of nosy about how I have prepared for my old age. I jokingly said that he was afraid that we may move in with them. On hearing that, a friend said to me, “you are blessed to have a son who is caring for you.”

  I think this is what these two verses are about. Children are gifts from God. Therefore, as parents we have the responsibility to take care of God's gift to us. When they are young, we are to provide and care for them physically and spiritually. We are to build them up and speak up for them. And when we are old, they will be there to protect and stand up for us.

Conclusion;

  In this psalm, we are reminded that if not for God, all our labor and effort are in vain, without any meaning.

In a different era, in a different country, Psalm 127 would have been paraphrased this way: unless chairman Moa builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless chairman Mao watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain….” Every accomplishment was credited to the Chairman. The one mistake was: the chairman was not God, he was playing God.

On this Labor Day weekend, as we enjoy our physical rest, celebrating the value and dignity of work, may we acknowledge that all we have is from God. It is all by his grace.