Keeping His Eye on Me

For the past month I have been following “40-Days of Prayer and Scripture” for a set of upcoming Emmaus Walks. Each day I study scripture appropriate for one of the talks or a team or an Emmaus event. This morning the prayer focus was Snacks and Receptions; the topic was “Unseen Servants.” If you’ve been on the walk to Emmaus, you know that snacks appear, disappear, and reappear as if by magic. Somewhere in the that Emmaus Never-Neverland live cookie-baking fairies ready to swoop in with over-laden trays of frosted, glazed, chip-filled delicacies…and the occasional bowl of fresh fruit.

Ephesians 6:5 – 9 was the suggested scripture to guide my thoughts and prayers today:

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service

OK…that stopped me short…eye-service…that’s was a new one…what in the world? I googled and pulled up the first definition that came up. From the Urban Dictionary (grace for the exclusive language please):

When an employee pretends to be working hard only when his boss is watching. Basically, he starts working only when the boss comes walking by.

Jim had the ultimate sinecure. As a call center worker for a company that more resembled the governmental bureaucracy than a competitive firm, he got to play Yahoo Checkers all day, and whenever his boss came by he switched to eyeservice mode, quickly pressing alt+tab and staring at a spreadsheet, while saying "Hmmm... we've logged 37% today and ... uhh... oh hello Sir, I hope you're having a splendid day!"

Boss: "Why I'm doing fine. Thank you. And how are those call logs coming along?"

Jim: "Oh, they're pretty good. My rankin...I mean my sorting algorithm works fine now."

Boss: "Great, well, I'll see you around then."

Jim: "See you around.... *alt+tab* (mumbling) ... darn it! I'm time ran out and my ranking went down to 1370.. "

Eye-service is looking busy for the ones you’re accountable to. But when they’re not around, it’s do your own thing…shop online, check your facebook, play Candy Crush. Some are masters at eye-service. Or so they think. Like the eerie 6th or 7th sense of a mom with preschoolers, the boss knows what’s going on.

A foreman found that his workers were afflicted with this disease of eyeservice; they worked only when he watched them. His own work would not allow him to remain with the crew throughout the day and while he was gone, the workers took an extended break.

But this particular foreman was the proud owner of a glass eye. He found that he could remove eye from socket and lay it on a stump where it could watch the men. He could leave and attend to his duties and the crew would continue working.

One day the foreman returned to the jobsite to find the men back to their old ways. He had placed the eye on the stump before he left, but one worker found a way to sneak around, come up from behind, and place his hat over the eye so that it no longer saw them.

This is eye-service. And it’s no modern day affliction. Paul warned the Ephesians to avoid it. To keep at their work, respecting and honoring their bosses as if they were working for Christ Himself. As if the work of their jobs had been handed to them by Jesus Himself…continuing on with verse 7

7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

And there were also words of warning to the bosses as well (v 9)

9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

I serve on the District Superintendency Committee--kind of like the DS's PPR Committee. It occurs to me that Paul’s advice for slave/master, employee/boss, applies those serving this committee. We are to do the work as if it came straight from Jesus’ hands AND we are to respect those who work for us as servants of Christ. We are to help our DS who watches over nearly 70 churches and 50-some pastors. Some of us actually answer to him, our “boss," with fear and trembling…or rather with the honor and respect his authority deserves. We value his administrative assistant as a worker for the district and support her attitude of honor and respect for the DS. We go home and serve the people of the churches with good will as to the Lord. They accept work as if receiving it from Christ’s hand.

It’s a circle of mutual respect…slave/master, employee/boss, parishioner/pastor, pastor/DS. Whatever the hat we’re wearing…and knowing those hats change with our relationships…whatever our role, we strive for our work to please Christ alone. We maintain a workplace ethic that doesn't make us look good before the boss. Our ethic acknowledges the power of Christ’s presence in our every part of our lives, especially the work part.

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First Things

MATTHEW 6:31 - 34

31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

What are my worries today? Meetings? Tasks such as getting the bulletin done? Writing a concise, coherent and inspired sermon? The upcoming Pastor Evaluation? All the above? Oh, there are so many things. Have I taken them to God? Ummm...yes. Honestly? Eventually yes.

I confess I don't go there first. I set my to-do list for things that must be done this week. Each day I write down every chore to be completed before going to bed that night. However, it seems I'm always adding to the list--there's always more that I could be/should be doing. It seems that I try to organize myself...that organization will ensure that I don't miss anything and will therefore eliminate any potential for worry.

In reality, it doesn't really work that way. Organization, checking things off the list, doesn't keep me from worrying.

I need to take these things to God first. He loves me. He cares for me. He wants the best for me. Do I believe this? Do I actually believe what I say? Yes, I do, but do practice what I preach? Do I let God have the things of my life that keep me anxious? The truth is I sit down with my lists. I sketch out all that needs to be done so that I won't forget anything...because if something is forgotten, calamity will occur. My organization prevents the awful from happening, therefore I must keep to my list.

And so I have to honestly ask, "How's that working for you, Anne?"

Why is so much of my life about preventing conflict? Why do I let myself think ahead to future days when there might be strife and struggle? Why do I play out various confrontation scenarios in my head, anticipating the ugly words and judgmental stares. Why? So that I'll be prepared? Rehearsed? Can I not let God prepare me?

If I seek God first, if I first seek the things of the Kingdom (righteousness, peace, joy, etc), I will have all that I need. If I give thanks for the conflicts and what could come from them, if I pray for my "enemies" and thank God for them, if I allow God to provide what I need each day...I will have peace. I will be able to let things go. Most important of all, I will be able to allow people to be who they are--cranks and critics they might be.

 

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We're All Priests

1 PETER 2:4 - 5

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I preached the later verses of this passage (1 Peter 2:9 - 10) just a few weeks ago...this idea from Martin Luther that we're all priests...that its not the pastor's job alone to be out sharing the gospel, to counsel the lost, to care for the sick, to bring people into the church. It's the responsibility of every believer because we all share the priesthood...in our own temples...the temple that is the body.

The idea of priesthood over individual temples, individual houses of worship--in other words, spiritual houses--begins with the foundation built on Christ. We don't build individual spiritual houses in order to become all-powerful rulers over our own kingdoms. We build these houses so that we can offer spiritual sacrifices to God. No longer do we approach an altar to offer the life of an animal, mixed with fragrant incense. No longer does this type of sacrifice please God or pay for our unfaithfulness and disobedience. A single sacrifice has been made to settle that score. One sacrifice, once for all.

As priests of this new priesthood, we offer God ourselves...our very lives. We are priests over our own temples to offer sacrifices of prayer; prayers of praise, of intercession, of thanks. We offer sacrifices of listening, of peaceful countenance, of hope. We offer sacrifices of intervention, of hospitality, of unconditional friendship. These are the pleasing sacrifices to God--sacrifices built on the life, on faith in the eternal life of Jesus Christ. There is no other response, no other structure can be built, except the one that lives to offer sacrifice to Him...the living sacrifice.

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