Title: Go to the Vineyard and Work
Text/ Matt:21:28, John 5:17
1. Introduction
April is a turning month. These days, the neighborhood around our church is noisy with the sound of plowing cultivators. Farmers are plowing paddy fields and fields that have hardened over the winter. All last week, from morning to evening, I plowed the vegetable garden of our church, raised the ridges, dug a hole, and planted corn, lettuce, perilla, and red pepper seedlings. Field work (war on weeds, watering, fertilizing, etc.) has just begun in earnest.
Everything in this world (physical work, mental work, spiritual practice) is very difficult. It was difficult to continue working in the fields for several days, but after sweating all over my body, I wash my body with warm water and I feel refreshed as if I could fly away. Even without side dishes, the taste of rice is very good. When you go to bed at night, you fall into a deep sleep without any disturbing dreams. I'm so happy. I am grateful that I have work to do, I am grateful for my health to work, and I am grateful that I can sleep peacefully after work. Then all of a sudden, he said, “Go to the vineyard and work!” The words of the Lord came to mind, and I thought to meditate on the words of the Christian on the topic of work (work).
2. Bible verses about work (job = toil = work = work = vocation = job)
Work is the purpose of realizing what is necessary for survival, what one wants, one wants to do, one wants to achieve in the field of one's life. spirit), spiritual (intangible mental activities such as studies, literature, art, politics, etc.), spiritual (prayer + praise + words, etc.) Any practice of faith) is an activity.
*Cursed is the land because of you, because you ate of the tree which I commanded you not to eat, and you must toil all the days of your life to eat of its fruit (Genesis 3:16-19). (Psalm 128:2) *We also knew that it is the gift of God that everyone eats and drinks and finds pleasure through hard work (Ecclesiastes 3:13) *Go and work in the vineyard today (Matthew 21:28) *My Father has never worked until now. My father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working (John 5:17) Toil and to do good (Ephesians 4:28) *Brothers, we do not eat without free bread, but toil and toil, working day and night, so that we do not put a burden on any of you... But if you do not want to work, do not eat.” But there are some among you who do not work at all, but only craftsmen. We command these people to work quietly in the Lord Jesus Christ, and eat their own bread (2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 )... you said.
3. The ontological structure of work (job=job=work=work=vocation=business=job)
first. Work is a blessing. After God finished the work of creating the heavens and the earth, He saw that it was very good! and rested on the seventh day (so on the seventh day he rested from all his work Genesis 2:2). And he entrusted Adam with the work of ruling and keeping this world (Genesis 1:28, 2:15, 2:19-20). From the beginning to the present, God has been at work. Therefore, Jesus said, My Father is working until now, and I am working (John 5:17). In the beginning there was work. Work is a blessing.
second. Work is a curse. Because of Adam's sin of eating the forbidden fruit, the earth was cursed and produced thorns and thistles. Adam had to work hard all his life to eat and live (Genesis 3:1-21). From that time on, people had to work to survive, and work became a curse.
The curse of work is a phenomenon that is common around us (poor working conditions, a vicious cycle of poverty, destruction of families, wages below the minimum cost of living, debts that cannot be repaid no matter how tight the belt is, the elderly without any measures, homelessness, companion suicide, etc.). Our society says, “I turned and saw all the abuses that are done under the sun. Oh, the oppressed weep, and they have no comforter. In the hand of those who oppress them there is power, but they have no comforter. There are too many people who agree with the evangelist's words, saying, "Blessed is one who is blessed, and better than these two, he who is not born and has not seen the evil that is done under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3). For these people, work is a curse.
third. So work is a blessing and a curse. Logically, it's a contradiction. But in the field of life we live in, it is true. As we all experience in real life, the same thing is a blessing to some and a curse to others. Even the same thing can be a blessing or a curse depending on the circumstances. Even if the same thing is considered a curse now, it is considered a blessing later.
The Bible says work is essentially a blessing. But from the time man disobeyed God, work became a curse. If you read this verse in reverse order, it is a curse to disobey God and to do it according to the will of man without God. But obeying God's Word and serving God can be said to be a blessing. A surprising and bizarre history takes place, in which the stone rejected by the builders becomes the headstone. The people of faith recorded in the chapter on faith in Hebrews 11 (especially in the case of Moses, Gideon, and Samson) are representative examples of this.