Preparing to Receive God in Our Work

Scripture — Luke 3:7–14 (NRSV)

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

Devotion

When I was in high school, I attended a church camp every summer. The experience of being gathered with hundreds of other Christians, spending a week deepening relationships and learning about the Christian faith, and engaging in a variety of silly activities was profoundly meaningful to me. At my last summer camp, the speaker invited anyone who wanted to make a renewed commitment to Christ to come down and be prayed over. I felt moved by the Spirit to respond to this invitation, and headed down front where I received prayer from the youth leaders with me.

At this point in my life, I was already a faithful Christian on fire for God. I mean, I played the guitar in a Christian hardcore band! So my response to the speaker’s invitation wasn’t to turn away from a life of sin, but a desire to move deeper into God’s call on my life. I can vividly remember thinking that this would lead me down the path toward ordination or mission work. However, that didn’t pan out; fast-forward 20 years, and I’ve spent most of my adult life working as an assistant-turned-director in higher education.

There have been times in my life when I have wondered whether I genuinely felt the Spirit’s promptings to go down and receive prayer that day at summer camp, or whether I have been faithful to that experience in choosing the profession that I did. If God wasn’t preparing me for the work of ministry or missions, what was he preparing me for?

As I have worked to understand what God was doing, then and now, Luke’s recounting of John the Baptist’s words to the gathered crowds has brought me comfort. Just before the passage above, Luke introduces John by quoting Isaiah 40:3–5. John is the voice crying out in the wilderness, calling God’s people to prepare to receive the salvation of the coming Lord. God’s on the move, so get ready!

We might think John’s message would call the people to leave their lives and join him in the desert. If God’s coming, then not much else matters, especially our daily work! But John does the opposite. John exhorts the crowds to share extra clothes and food with those who have none, tax collectors to collect only the required amount, and soldiers to stop practices of intimidation and extortion. In two out of three of John’s commands, he addresses workers in their jobs and instructs them how to work in light of God’s coming kingdom. According to John, preparing to receive God’s salvation takes place in the day-to-day relationships of work and community life, cultivated through practices of generosity and hospitality that care for the poor and vulnerable.

John’s words present work as the arena where God’s people prepare themselves to welcome God. He makes no distinction between holy or secular work; all work must be recalibrated to the economy of God’s kingdom. Any workplace policy, custom, or behavior that builds a future on the backs of others must be rejected, replaced by practices of mutual care, honesty, and contentment.

The opening of Luke 3 helps me reinterpret my experience at summer camp. God was calling me to move deeper into my identity as a disciple of Jesus, which would be worked out in my life of daily administrative work and leadership. God is still on the move, and I need to be ready. And that will look like creating systems, processes, and a culture that is not built on the backs of others who are more vulnerable than me, but are radically generous even when the future is uncertain.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: John the Baptist Teaches Workplace Ethics (Luke 3:8-14).