Digging Deeper: What is Work?
6 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Luke 6:1-11 (NLT)
WHAT IS WORK?
This week in Luke 6, we studied how Jesus and the disciples were accused of “work” on the Sabbath, which was not allowed because the Sabbath was meant for rest.
The two cited examples are a simple act of eating grain kernels and a miracle healing, both of which seem noble and good. So, what exactly is work? What exactly is rest? Why did the Pharisees get so bent out of shape?
The average American works between 90,000 and 100,000 hours in their lifetime. That is roughly 10 to 13 years’ worth of work. If we are going to spend that much time working, it would benefit us to find work we enjoy doing.
I met with a young leader, whom I greatly respect and admire, and we discussed her potential next career move. She eventually said she just wanted to find a job where she could “help others.” That sentiment reflects a deep calling on each of our souls as godly creations. In fact, Paul says work is one of the ways we are provided for in order to serve others (Ephesians 4:28). This is surely work worth doing.
The first human to work is described in Genesis 2:15, when God places Adam in the Garden of Eden and tells him to “work it and keep it.” It is noteworthy that work existed before sin entered the world. You see, work is not the 9-to-5, 40-hour-a-week construct that modern society has made it. God created work, and He intended it for good, meaningful purposes.
Adam was not tending the garden to pay a mortgage or put food on the table. He was cultivating God’s perfect creation and working for the purpose of honoring the Creator. We were made for this kind of work.
We were also created for rest. Yes, you need roughly seven to nine hours of sleep each night to function well (early-season West Coast trips for the Braves can make this difficult), but we also need defined periods of non-work. Studies suggest that, in addition to good nightly rest, we need roughly 15 to 21 days of vacation per year, along with weekly periods of intentional relaxation for our brains to decompress.
Some suggest breaking up time off into a series of long weekends and taking daily “unplugged” time away from screens and technology. Others recommend longer vacations, noting that peak psychological happiness often occurs around the eighth day of a vacation, according to one study. Either way, rest is important.
God Himself is the first worker we encounter in the Bible, as the opening of Genesis describes His work of creation (Genesis 1). He is also the first to rest, as He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1) at the conclusion of creation. If God works and rests, and we are made in His image, it is clearly important for us to find a balance between the two.
Through this lens, it becomes clear that when Jesus was accused of “working” on the Sabbath by the pontifical Pharisees, they had completely missed the point. Feeding your friends and helping others is not the kind of work we should abstain from, even on the Sabbath.
So by all means, take your Sabbath and rest. Book a long vacation, and spend time away from screens and technology to decompress. We need rest, but we are also meant to work. In fact, Paul says that whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Holding both in balance, modeled after the example Jesus set for us, will always be our best guide for how to live.
Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.