Active Theology

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34, NIV)

Have you ever had an incredible meal set before you, a meal you had been waiting for, but you had filled up on too much food beforehand to actually enjoy it? 

What if this is how we arrive at work at the beginning of the week? We’re so full of appetizers that we don’t actually get to enjoy the main thing.

In this time together, I want to talk about work.

Maybe you’re like me and you’ve seen or even entertained an idea that is not only being perpetuated, but celebrated today. One symptom of this idea today is called ‘Quiet Quitting’ where employees continue to put in the minimum amount of effort to keep their jobs and don’t go the extra mile for their employer. This might mean not speaking up in meetings, not volunteering for tasks, and refusing to work overtime. Another expression of this idea: the sooner I stop working or retire, the better. You’re not doing it right if you’re not retiring at 30, 40, 50, and so forth. A book that is an outcry of this very idea is one that was on the New York Times bestseller list for four years which is ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ by Timothy Ferriss. 

So, what’s the big idea? 

The idea that is being perpetuated and celebrated is that rest is the reward and work is the resource to get to that reward. If we work hard enough and long enough, then we can finally get what our soul desires: rest. That’s not what Jesus said in this passage. He said that work is the reward. Doing the work that God has designed for us and called us to is the fulfillment that our soul really needs. It’s the main course that we wanted all along that will nourish us. 

What does that mean for rest? That makes rest a resource. Rest is just a resource to help you get you to the reward of work. 

The beginning of the Bible helps us better understand what Jesus is saying in John 4:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15, NIV) 

Think about this for a moment. The world was without sin, sickness, disease, pain, and what did God assign Adam to do? Work. 

What about in Heaven or the new earth? Surely there won’t be any work there… 

“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (Revelation 22:3, NIV) *Emphasis mine

What did Adam do in the Garden? Work. What will we be doing in heaven? Work. What did the Hebrew people do when they got to the promised land? They worked. 

What we really want in our body is to fill up on appetizers and we don’t have an appetite for the main course. The lie we can easily believe is to see Heaven, the new Earth, the promised land, and retirement as a reprieve from work and a place where we can finally rest. Whereas, Jesus teaches us the thing that actually nourishes us, fulfills us, and gives us supernatural rest is doing the work of the One who sent us. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to have a Kingdom paradigm shift in my mind and in my soul today. Help me understand that the work you’ve called me to today, this week, and in my life is the food that I desperately need. Help me to use rest as a resource so I can claim the reward You’ve given me in work. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Song: “No Body” by Chris Renzema

Andrew is the Experience Pastor at Velocity Church.