God Visits You at Your Work
God Visits You at Your Work
Imagine being at your work place and some stops by to give you a message. You are told that God is in town. I do not know how many of us will make haste to go and see him. Many of us do not associate our workplace as the place to meet God or be about his business. We have adopted the stance of “separation of God and work” as if it is written somewhere in a legal code. There is no such thing. It is as bogus as “separation of church and state”. You can not separate a person from his God while at work neither can you separate a state from the God of the people of that state. Today in Luke chapter 2, we read about shepherds at work whom God visited on the job.
Luke 2: 8-20:
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
We can make the following observations from this account.
1. Why did God choose to first announce the news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds? Keep in mind that probably before this time, the people who may know about Jesus coming to the earth are Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zacharias. I really do not know why God chose the shepherds. We can only speculate. However, I believe it is because of their lowly estate and the fact that God usually likes to surprise us. This makes you and me candidates for God’s visitation. God likes to use the nobodies. Watch out. Your job is important to God regardless of what you do.
2. The good news – “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people”. The Gospel has always been for all people. Luke wants the reader especially we gentiles to know and understand this fact. No one is excluded and we should not exclude anyone within our means from hearing the good news of salvation.
3. Notice that heaven was already rejoicing before Jesus came and the same angelic choir came down to earth to sing. “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men on whom his favor rest”. Notice that the peace of God is promised to those on whom the favor of God rests. We have been favored by God. We must be grateful to God for the favor bestowed on us.
4. The shepherds ran to see the God child – baby Jesus. Why did they run or as it is said “they hurried off” to see. It shows that they believed but also to satisfy their curiosity. We will probably do the same if we are visited by angels. The shepherds like most Jews had been waiting for a savior as promised in the Old Testament. They were looking for one who will save them from the harshness of the oppressions of the Roman government. God who knows best rather gave them a savior from the penalty of sin. God knows our real need.
5. The shepherds, I believe, were the first missionaries. It said, “They spread the word” of what they heard and seen. When we have a true encounter with Jesus, we cannot keep it to ourselves. Are you and I sharing the good news of Jesus as one who came to save us?
6. The shepherds returned to work praising God. Our Sundays should fuel our work week. We should return to work praise and glorifying God. People at work should see and know that we have encountered God by the joy on our faces and expressions of gratitude.
Expect God to show up at your workplace and never think that you can be separated from God while at work. How is God influencing and changing the way you work knowing that he is observing? Is it possible that God may not show up because we are sloppy at work and we would be an embarrassment to God among those whom we work with? May God help us be the best workers in our work places.
May we make haste to find and see God regardless of what we are doing. May we praise God at all times even at our work places. May God help us share the good news of the gospel of Christ. Amen.
Imagine being at your work place and some stops by to give you a message. You are told that God is in town. I do not know how many of us will make haste to go and see him. Many of us do not associate our workplace as the place to meet God or be about his business. We have adopted the stance of “separation of God and work” as if it is written somewhere in a legal code. There is no such thing. It is as bogus as “separation of church and state”. You can not separate a person from his God while at work neither can you separate a state from the God of the people of that state. Today in Luke chapter 2, we read about shepherds at work whom God visited on the job.
Luke 2: 8-20:
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
We can make the following observations from this account.
1. Why did God choose to first announce the news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds? Keep in mind that probably before this time, the people who may know about Jesus coming to the earth are Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zacharias. I really do not know why God chose the shepherds. We can only speculate. However, I believe it is because of their lowly estate and the fact that God usually likes to surprise us. This makes you and me candidates for God’s visitation. God likes to use the nobodies. Watch out. Your job is important to God regardless of what you do.
2. The good news – “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people”. The Gospel has always been for all people. Luke wants the reader especially we gentiles to know and understand this fact. No one is excluded and we should not exclude anyone within our means from hearing the good news of salvation.
3. Notice that heaven was already rejoicing before Jesus came and the same angelic choir came down to earth to sing. “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men on whom his favor rest”. Notice that the peace of God is promised to those on whom the favor of God rests. We have been favored by God. We must be grateful to God for the favor bestowed on us.
4. The shepherds ran to see the God child – baby Jesus. Why did they run or as it is said “they hurried off” to see. It shows that they believed but also to satisfy their curiosity. We will probably do the same if we are visited by angels. The shepherds like most Jews had been waiting for a savior as promised in the Old Testament. They were looking for one who will save them from the harshness of the oppressions of the Roman government. God who knows best rather gave them a savior from the penalty of sin. God knows our real need.
5. The shepherds, I believe, were the first missionaries. It said, “They spread the word” of what they heard and seen. When we have a true encounter with Jesus, we cannot keep it to ourselves. Are you and I sharing the good news of Jesus as one who came to save us?
6. The shepherds returned to work praising God. Our Sundays should fuel our work week. We should return to work praise and glorifying God. People at work should see and know that we have encountered God by the joy on our faces and expressions of gratitude.
Expect God to show up at your workplace and never think that you can be separated from God while at work. How is God influencing and changing the way you work knowing that he is observing? Is it possible that God may not show up because we are sloppy at work and we would be an embarrassment to God among those whom we work with? May God help us be the best workers in our work places.
May we make haste to find and see God regardless of what we are doing. May we praise God at all times even at our work places. May God help us share the good news of the gospel of Christ. Amen.
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