공동체와 양육

You and Your Kingdom Contribution (Gen. 41:37~52)

2019.03.31P. Cha

How we spend the 95% of our time outside church makes all the difference. At work, let us grow spiritually, bring God's shalom to people, and finish well with eternity in view, so that we make a kingdom contribution.

Invest the 95% of your time for eternity

Over a 70-year life, we spend about 23 years sleeping, 16 working, and only about half a year on church life. Apart from sleep, church takes about 5% of our time, and how we live the other 95% will make the difference. One day we will give an account to the Lord for how we lived at home and at work. A Sunday school teacher who lost her parents in the Korean War was treated like a king's daughter by her teacher, and she has taught for 35 years. Let us invest our short lives for eternal difference in people.

Work is where God shapes and uses you

Work is where God tests whether we believe His word, trust His promises, and love Him with all our hearts. He asks whether we can bless, forgive, and not be jealous when others advance. We learn to love difficult people, to hope when things look impossible, and to shine as Jesus' representatives. As God forms us at work, He also uses us to impact people. Joseph, after waiting 13 years, was summoned before Pharaoh and made prime minister at their first meeting, serving for 80 years.

God uses those who are spiritually mature (vv. 37-38)

Pharaoh, considered divine in Egypt, found no answer among his astrologers and magicians. Then he told his cabinet that he had never met a man like Joseph, in whom is the Spirit of God. God does not want us merely useful, but usable. Bobby Clinton's study of leaders such as Billy Graham and A.W. Tozer, in The Making of a Leader, shows that God shapes people in stages. Joseph, arrogant at 17, was molded through the pit, slavery, prison, and two forgotten years, until he learned to depend on God rather than manipulate. Our relationship with God matters most, even at work.

Bring the message of shalom to people

In Genesis 41:16, the Hebrew word translated "favorable answer" is shalom. Joseph told Pharaoh that the true God was speaking, and warned of seven good years, then famine. This was a message of truth, and so of shalom. God blessed Potiphar's house and the prison through Joseph, and we are blessed to be a blessing, as John Piper's Let the Nations Be Glad says. Think of the coffee grower who takes smaller margins, the English teacher who helps foreign students, and the dentist who waived his fee. God's kingdom is a kingdom of shalom that restores relationships with God and people.

Finish well with an eternal perspective (vv. 46-52)

Joseph was 30 when he entered Pharaoh's service and died at 110. He named his sons Manasseh, for God made him forget his hardships, and Ephraim, for God made him fruitful. Letting go of the pain of his brothers' treatment was key, and prosperity is also a test. Artie Kendall's message was not to become yesterday's man like Saul, who placed himself above God's word. We should be like Samuel and David, saying yes to God and stepping out of comfort. Chick-fil-A's mission is to glorify God as a faithful steward. One day we will hope to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Apply to Life

  • Let us live the 95% of our time outside church, at home and at work, as followers of Christ.
  • Let us put God first and cultivate our relationship with Him through His word, so that we are usable.
  • Let us let go of bitterness and pain, and receive God's healing grace.
  • Let us bring truth, kindness, and the message of shalom to the people around us at work.
  • Let us live with eternity in view, so that we may hear "Well done, good and faithful servant."

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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