Introduction

For decades devout believers have been praying for a move of God in Australia that will transform our nation. God tends to work where people are suffering the most in order to bring healing and breakthrough for his kingdom[1]. This is why I believe an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is most likely to commence in the workplace[2].  The catch cry of modern working life, “busy, busy, busy”, holds a key to God’s for our nation today.

After preaching last week I was approached by a rather miserable looking man who went on to describe the corporate culture of his workplace as “crazy”. My wife who teaches in a private school says there are times when the staff are walking around like exhausted zombies. I constantly hear from friends how the workplace pressure applied by the multinational mining companies places a constant strain on their lives.

The culture of high performance is toxic and is spilling out into society in ways that are deadly. When the CEO of a major firm comes home and tells his wife that her KPIs[3] in the marriage are not up to scratch we know we are heading for disaster. A partner in a city law firm shared how each Friday night the young lawyers go straight out on the town and get plastered; if I had to account for every 6 minutes of my time each working day I might be driven to binge drinking too! A letter appeared recently in newspapers across the nation headed Help Available for Anxiety Conditions. It begins with an alarming statistic, “I am writing this letter because I want to connect with the 2.5 million people in Australia who currently have anxiety symptoms …”[4]   This week a headline appeared on the front page of The West Australian newspaper, ‘NOT COPING’. I quote in part, “I’ve realised that our ‘busyness’ is not something that’s going to change and my staff have become increasingly stressed,”[5]. What has God have to say about such things?

In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught, “You cannot serve God and money”, then he promised freedom from the anxieties of life, ““do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?…. 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.^”” (Matthew 6:24-25, 32 – 33 ESV). It is a revelation of the righteous kingdom of God the Father which alone has the power to free people from the enslavements of the modern working environment. The tension between the demands of the powers of this world and the call of the kingdom of God is not new; it is first illustrated by the bondage of Israel in Egypt.

Israel: Bondage and Deliverance

Pharaoh set taskmasters over the Hebrews who afflicted them with heavy burdens and worked them ruthlessly to construct his cities (Ex 1:11-14)[6].  The only way out of the grip of Pharaonic rule was prayer; “the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning….God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” (Ex 2:23-25 ESV) “God knew” means that God’s heart was moved to act on behalf of the cries of his people[7]. So the LORD charged Moses, ““say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may worship me.”” (Ex 4:22-23). The king of Egypt wanted workers, God desired worshippers.

In retaliation Pharaoh commanded that the people perform the same building tasks, but had to gather their own straw themselves (Ex 5:6-8).  The ruling powers of the world tolerate no rivals to their pre-eminence, those who would seek to worship God first of all in the workplace will definitely be persecuted with greater burdens[8]. Through supernatural signs God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage and brought them to Sinai where he reiterated his overriding purpose;  ““if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”” (Exodus 19:4-6 ESV). God’s goal for his chosen people is always that they be a nation of kings and priests worshipping him first in all the dimensions of life and culture.

If they did this their lifestyle would have proclaimed good news to the nations enslaved by their merciless idols; then the surrounding peoples would proclaim, “‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”  (Deuteronomy 4:6-9 ESV). Tragically, instead of being a beacon of hope to the nations Israel lapsed more and more deeply into copying the ways of the Gentiles constantly seeking earthly prosperity (2 Ki 17:15; Neh 13:26; Ezek 20:32).

Even though the period of Babylonian captivity stripped Israel of her outward idolatry the nation remained poor and downtrodden. The people awaited the fulfilment of prophetic promises of a new day when the original purpose of God to reveal his wisdom and righteousness through his chosen people to the world. ““for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep silent , until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory…. and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”” (Isaiah 62:1-2, 12) This prophetic expectation became increasingly attached to the coming of a king whose reign will be filled with wisdom and righteousness  (Ps 72:1-2; Isa 11:1-4; 32:1; Jer 23:5). This is the Messiah, it is Jesus.

Jesus and the Kingdom of God

In announcing his priority to “fulfil all righteousness” Jesus set the tone of his mission to establish the kingdom of God on earth (Matt 3:15; cf. 21:32). Immediately after this he is tested by the devil in the wilderness about his commitment to worship God at whatever cost.

“And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”(Luke 4:5-8 ESV). Israel had hankered in the wilderness to return to the delights of Egypt[9], but Jesus was the faithful Priest and King for whom worldly advancements were of no interest. Consolidated in his commitment to God as first priority Christ began to preach with unique authority; ““The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””(Mark 1:15 ESV). The content of the kingdom is more fully announced in Jesus first recorded sermon.

““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”” (Luke 4:18-19 ESV)[10]. The just rule of God would be revealed in the teaching, healing and delivering ministry of Christ. As the King come in righteousness Jesus liberates men and women from all oppressive powers resulting in spontaneous praise and worship to God[11]. The vocation of God’s people to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation was being realised in the sight of all. The manifest presence of the kingdom of God, the revelation of his righteousness[12] is summarised in Jesus’ own words, ““the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.”” (Luke 7:22 ESV). The humble poor, the sick, the tax collector, prostitute, Samaritan and gentiles who had once felt forsaken by God became wonderfully aware of his presence in Jesus (cf. Matt 1:23). The kingdom of God however had many enemies.

Since the kingdom of God is a display of God’s righteous power the opponents of Jesus were the self righteous scribes and Pharisees, and the wealthy power brokers of the day, the Sadducees (Matt 9:9-13; 23:1-36; Luke 18:9-14). It was these men that engineered Christ’s crucifixion (Matt 26:3-4) and the charge laid before the Romans was a political one, “ “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”” (Luke 23:2 ESV). Then when Pilate sought to release Jesus “the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”….Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:12, 15). The presence of the kingdom of God in Jesus was renounced for the kingship of Caesar. Jesus goes to the cross to be crucified as a pretender to an earthly dominion. Placarded above his head was the charge for which he was executed, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19).

In Wangaratta Cathedral where I was ordained there is a large wooden Christus Rex, (Christ the King). Jesus is depicted on the cross with a crown on his head stating emphatically that he reigns in righteousness from the cross. Peter puts it like this, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18). Jesus brings us to God by taking away sin’s power to separate humanity from the divine presence (Isa 59:2). He does this by bearing in himself the totality of the human experience of the wrongfulness of evil suffered outside of the experience of divine justice. (Suffering does not keep people from God, it is suffering experienced as unjust that cause spiritual alienation.) The terrible cry, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34) is the cry of the enslaved, it is the cry of the sexually abused child, the battered wife, the scorned husband, the drug addict and those bullied and harassed in the workplace as if there were no final justice. Unlike other victims however, Jesus never abandons God. His suffering is the suffering of voluntary obedience and the true worship of a Priest and King. The resurrection is the vindication of the righteous rule of the kingdom of God which Jesus proclaimed by life and by death (Acts 17:31).

The one who has experienced the injustices of abandonment and righteousness of restoration comes to men and women in their daily experiences of injustice and god forsakenness to impart to them his own life, to turn them into a kingdom of priests, true worshippers who can testify to the truth of God’s promise ““I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” (Heb 13:5). They become what the prophet had promised, a people shining in righteousness amongst the nations, “A City Not Forsaken.” (Isa 62:12). This is the city to which Jesus leads all the lonely and lost and downtrodden of this age; only Jesus, no career promotion, no financial planner, can reveal that the End of all things is a “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:13). What are the implications of these truths for those who must return each Monday to the mayhem of the modern marketplace?

Marketplace Transformation

A.        The Enslavement

Christians of all persuasions need to come to terms with the fact that the workplace is an arena of intense spiritual conflict. The catch cry of modern working life “busy, busy, busy” indicates fearful enslavement to a enormous spiritual power (cf. Gal 4:3, 9 Col 2:8, 20). God’s kingdom brings “righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17) but the spirit of enslavement to this world robs people of the delight of being ruled by God (Ps 35:27; Rom 8:15-16). The spiritual drought over Australia will only break when there is a revelation of the righteousness of God that overpowers the lure of the present world system. At the height of the visions of the book of Revelation John beholds a marvel whose power still intoxicates today; “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” (Rev 17:3-6).

In John’s day Babylon was easily identified with Rome. To refuse to revere the rule of Rome and its Caesar ran the risk of social exclusion, unemployment through expulsion from membership in the trade guilds and even capital punishment. The Early Church experienced the reality of Jesus promise, ““Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”” (Matthew 5:10 ESV).

Spiritually things are just as deadly. Numerous  Christians are intoxicated by the beauty of Babylon- the lifestyle of houses, cars, cruises, investment properties and sufficient superannuation to keep us in the manner to which we have become accustomed have strangled the revelation of the righteousness of God through the Church in the marketplace. To be spiritually joined to the prostitute of this world’s economic system may mean promotion and monetary advance, but it also means enslavement to the selfish ambition of a demonic wisdom (1 Cor 6:16; James 3:14-16). The cost of a Babylonian lifestyle is enormous, as Paul puts it, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (1 Tim 6:10).

The Church of Jesus Christ once produced great social Reformers, William Wilberforce, Lord Shaftesbury, Florence Nightingale, Martin Luther King. Today the Western Church often produces motivational speakers who can give you a formula for monetary, marital and family “success”.  Revivalist Leonard Ravenhill rebukes popular Christianity by saying, “If John Knox (who brought the Protestant religion to Scotland) had prayed “Give me success!” we would have never heard of him; but he prayed a self-purged prayer­ – “Give me Scotland, or I die!”….“Prayer does business with God.”” There are many seminars out there telling you how as a Christian you can make money in the marketplace, but few speak with authority about the restoration of the presence of the righteousness of God at work. How can the glory of Christ be restored in the midst of our culture?

B.        Deliverance in Christ

Jesus demands on his disciples were overwhelming, “any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33 ESV); but his promises  were empowering ““Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:28-30 ESV). If we would experience the promise of the empowerment we must put Jesus before every earthly advancement.  No one can claim to be a disciple of Jesus who is not willing to accept demotion in the workplace for the sake of the kingdom of God. The call of Christ to follow him must immeasurably supersede any contract made with earthly powers.

Paul prays that the Church be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11 ESV). This is a picture of every believer as a king and priest worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in truth. When believers live uncompromised lives for the sake of a heavenly kingdom (John 18:36) the presence of God’s peace and joy will be infectious in a super stressed world (Rom 14:17). This is plain bible teaching, but something is lacking? After a period of emptiness I believe the Lord led me to one of his beatitudes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6 ESV). Only if we long for the justice of God’s kingdom will we experience its liberating presence.

C.        Seeing the End

Multitudes of Australians have a deep sense that something is wrong with the workplace culture of today; what they sense is injustice, but they have no power or wisdom to live  another way. They desperately need a revelation of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven in the midst of their daily lives.

The book of Revelation describes those who triumph over Babylon as a kingdom and priests who reign on the earth (1:6; 5:10; 20:6). They are the Bride of the Lamb whose spotless love for Christ at great personal cost have refused to compromise with the harlotry of this present world system (Rev 12:11; 14:4 cf. 2 Cor 11:2). They are true worshippers of God the character of whose spiritual overcoming is spelled out like this, “his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (19:8). The triumph of Christ over all evil must be made visible in the workplace by the blameless lives of the people of God who refuse to submit to the temptations of material prosperity which enslave us.

Conclusion

Jesus promised freedom from worldly anxieties, but first he warned, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matt 6:24). The wonderful assurance, ““I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” is prefaced by, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have” (Heb 13:5). Only he/she who “seeks first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” can possibly believe that God will provide (Matt 6:33) and be freed from the fear of man (Heb 13:6) which is at the root of all earthly worries.

The New Testament was not written to men and women who lived in the corporate world of today, but it was written to a time when life was short[13], brutal and unjust, and around 20% of the population were slaves. The early Christians were never taught that it was humanly possible to live above the stresses of life, they were taught that it was superhumanly possible to live above strains of life in this world as those seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3; 2:6). “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:1-3 ESV) is an exhortation for our time.

If devout believers are not to be overwhelmed by the work place pressures of today there must be a foundational shift in the spiritual realm.  I have become convinced that the present day obsession with entertainment, like TV watching, and much of the music/preaching style of contemporary Western Christianity are both temporary  soporifics, pain dulling agents providing temporary relief from the stresses of modern life. It is time for the people of God to turn away from these impotent remedies (Jer 8:11) and join as one with all of those who have cried to the LORD and experienced his delivering power, “the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. …God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” (Ex 2:23, 25). Ultimately we are supernaturally empowered to cry out for the revelation of the righteousness of God because we are united with Jesus who cried out on the cross against every injustice and was answered by the power of the resurrection.  Revival in the marketplace can only be a revival of the gospel[14].

 

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