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[0:00] Slug and leaners. So I thought I was going to begin the sermon by saying Slug and leaners sounds like something you find in Harry Potter.! And then I asked something this week and they told me there was a character in Harry Potter called Professor Slughorn, who is the Professor of Potions. Great title, isn't it?

[0:19] But it is a lovely sounding word, isn't it? Slug and leaners. Someone who is lazy in their attitude to life. Now we are looking at the book of Proverbs and it's a book of wisdom.

[0:32] It is a book about how life works. And in Proverbs there is wisdom which is about going about life in a good and productive way. Going with the grain in life. The wise way.

[0:49] And then there is the opposite which is folly. Which is the opposite. And I'm probably, laziness is almost the definition of folly. And it comes back again and again and again and again. And part of the reason for that is that it was written to a very agricultural community.

[1:08] A farming economy. Where if you didn't work the crops fails and you have no food. It's not a very complicated thing. Laziness was just plain stupidity. You weren't going to have any food if you didn't work.

[1:23] But because there were people like that, in different ways, their slugging leaners showed in their lives. And so the book of Proverbs goes over and over again.

[1:35] And it uses, doesn't it, it's best bits of human. I love the bit about the slugger who's got his meal in front of him. And he reaches out but he's just too lazy to bring back his hand and feed himself.

[1:49] It's hyperbolic. It's exaggerated language. And it's making a point about the man and it does so in a funny way. Or the one who's complaining about the lion.

[2:00] There's a lion out there. There's a lion out there. There's not a lion at all. And some of the funniest Proverbs have got a very serious content. And they're quite sad, aren't they, when you come down to it.

[2:13] Because laziness is a tragedy as well as a comedy. So you've got the broken wall. And the vineyard. But the vines have been stripped.

[2:25] And they're not productive anymore. And it's a sad picture. And it's a sad picture because that unproductive vine is a consequence of laziness. But what about our context?

[2:40] Many of you as I look out are hyperactive. And you might think sluggerliness is really not my problem.

[2:51] I'm overworked and I'm underpaid. I'm overworked and I'm highly pressured. And actually it's getting worse and worse and worse. And there's huge stress, isn't there, in our city.

[3:02] And actually, if you want a picture of my life in the Bible, it's not a picture of a slugger from Proverbs. It's more like Exodus 5, isn't it? Where you're required to make more bricks and find your own straw.

[3:12] Isn't that what working life is like? And some of you feel busy and hassled and harassed. Whether you're a parent looking after kids at home. Or whether you're in the workplace.

[3:26] Or whether you're a schoolboy or a schoolgirl. The screws are being tightened. And so at this time of year, students in school and university, they face exams. There's an intensive period of revision.

[3:37] And then they took Red Bull. And then they have more intensive revision. And then a bit more last minute memorisation. And then some more Red Bull. And you hope that you'll get through the exam, don't you?

[3:47] Without even falling asleep. And some of you may think that a sermon of laziness at this time of year is just ironic. But as we're going to see, as I've seen quite surprisingly, sluggardliness, if I start saying it properly, is quite a varied problem.

[4:06] And it affects us all in quite varied ways. And as I've studied it, I've realised that the hyperactive, hyper-busy person suffers from sluggardliness.

[4:19] Just as much. Maybe not just as much. But they also suffer from it. Just like the more low-tempo lazy people do. It's not a joke either. And laziness is actually very pervasive and destructive.

[4:33] And we're going to see how pervasive and destructive it can be and how it can be transformed. But first of all, I want to start by taking a quick look at what does it mean to be wise in our work.

[4:45] Wisdom at work, which is diligence. And then we're going to look at foliar work, which is sluggardliness. And then look at the transformation at work. So the starting point, though, is the opposite.

[4:56] It is being wise in work. The opposite of sluggardliness. And the book of Proverbs places a high value on good, plain, old-fashioned hard work.

[5:09] It says that is the way of life. And that is where we all need to commit to working hard. And one of the keys, Proverbs says, that going with the grain of life is working hard and not being a slacker.

[5:26] So that you can have enough to live on. And not be a slacker. It's not terribly complicated. That's what the Bible says to us. Let's look at some verses which draw this out.

[5:37] I think all the verses are on your page. Look at chapter 14, verse 23. Chapter 14, verse 3. All hard work brings a profit.

[5:48] But mere talk leads only to poverty. So it's the contrast, is it, between working and chattering. And what it basically says to you, let me just use exams as an illustration, guys.

[6:01] You're not going to pass your exams by sitting around and drinking coffee, moaning around them. Or endlessly texting people about how stressed you are. At some point, you've just simply got to revise.

[6:14] And if you do, you'll benefit. If you don't, you will do worse than you might have done. Or worse than others. Look at chapter 12, verse 11. Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread.

[6:24] But he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. The fantasies. The imagined get-rich.

[6:35] Quick schemes. That always lie in someone's future. Or if they're bankrupting someone's past. The scripture says you don't get on like that. That is not how life works. Be realistic.

[6:46] There is no alternative to getting down and working hard. And receiving the just rewards for that. And chasing fantasies is just a foolish thing to do. I think that's different from dreaming dreams.

[7:00] And having a plan to implement that. If you want to know the difference between, I think, an unrealistic fantasy and dreaming a dream. I think tell the person next to you.

[7:14] Tell the person next to you what your dream is. And if they think you're barking mad, they should have the courage to tell you. But the fact that you're willing to voice it probably means that it's not a fantasy.

[7:26] Entrepreneurs are great. This isn't an entrepreneurial rant. But I think that every single entrepreneur that I've read about has got a huge amount of grunt work in too, haven't they?

[7:39] They never just got it by talking and fantasising. What about chapter 12 and verse 24? The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labour.

[7:54] What is it that brings about independence and control and responsibility? Even promotion within an organisation? It is being diligent. Being lazy results in the opposite.

[8:05] Being lazy results in losing control. It results in demotion. It would be below your potential and sideways moves. And all the frustration that that brings and means. Diligent hands will rule.

[8:17] But laziness ends up in false labour. And then there's a lovely example of what this looks like, isn't it? Look at chapter 27, verses 23 to 27. Now, Now, this is what is written to sheep farmers.

[9:03] It is not intended to say that we should all be sheep farmers. But there are principles at work there, aren't there? There are principles at work there that apply to every part of life and every kind of work.

[9:16] There's an awareness of the ecosystem, isn't it? The guy is in. There's an awareness of what works and what doesn't work. That when you do this and when you do that. There's an awareness of the seasons of the year and so on.

[9:28] Now, that has a particular meaning for farmers. But I do want to say that it speaks of a kind of professional awareness of the area of life that you work in. A level of understanding and expertise.

[9:40] What it means to apply yourself intellectually to understanding the world in which you work. There's a focus, engagement in it.

[9:51] That's right. In a more literal way there is. Make sure you really know the faces of your sheep. Understanding and being engaged with the issues before us.

[10:03] That is what a working life takes. A working life is not just a flash in the pan. It's not just performing well on one particular day. It's over a period of time understanding and being engaged with the issues before us.

[10:17] There's a wonderful sense in the book of prophets of taking responsibility. In the giving of careful attention and knowing certain conditions. And working life is about bearing certain responsibilities.

[10:30] Being a responsible adult in our workplace. Of course that applies outside of the workplace as well, doesn't it? In the home. If we're involved in a volunteer capacity and so on.

[10:42] But notice also the trust in God which is implied here. Verse 24 speaks very clearly of chapter 27. Of the way that things we have can disappear.

[10:54] Even if you have a crowd, it's not necessarily secure. Riches can evaporate away. Which means that each one of us, without getting over-anxious, needs to apply ourselves to providing for our future in a responsible way.

[11:13] But in doing so, we trust God. That's the beauty of farming life, isn't it? Of an agricultural life that none of us have had. Because you've got to rely on God, haven't you, for the right weather?

[11:26] That comes at different points of the year. Look at 25. Verse 25 of 27. He's anticipating, isn't he? The hay being removed and the new hay appearing. The grass from the hills being gathered in.

[11:38] Sighted. The agricultural process that means sheep and goats can be fed. And the results are there. But it all relies on God. As well as man's labour, there is God's nurture.

[11:52] And in every part of life, that is true, isn't it? We trust God in our working lives. And not simply, not just simply our own smartness.

[12:04] And our own professional training. Notice, at the end, the other part of diligence and wisdom at work is sharing the rewards. You'll have plenty of goats and objects for your food.

[12:18] To feed your family. And your household. And maintenance for your girls, your female servants. There's enough for the farmer. There's enough for his family. And the rest of Proverbs shows that we are to be people that share not only with our family.

[12:31] With our household. But with the wider community. Both through paying taxes and through giving. And for all of this to happen, it requires hard work.

[12:44] Now what has really, really thrilled me, actually, in studying this. Is actually, if you look at the history of this country. That the biblical teaching of this has been working hard as a virtue.

[12:59] The Protestant work ethic. Part of what the West has been built on is this work ethic. And that comes from the Bible.

[13:11] So, somebody I was talking to this week said to me, actually, you want to get hold of some stuff by Niall Ferguson. I've not heard of who Niall Ferguson was. But actually, he's done a series of programs on how the West was built.

[13:23] And I've only watched one of them. They're on Channel 4 On Demand. So, go home and watch one. The one I watched was on work. I think he's done seven. And let me quote to you from a Chinese professor from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

[13:41] I wrote it down. It's so good. This Chinese professor said this. We were asked to log into what accounted for the preeminence of the West over the rest of the world.

[13:55] At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next, we focused on your economic system.

[14:06] But in the last 20 years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion. Christianity. And that is why the West has been so powerful.

[14:18] The Christian moral foundation. And social and cultural life is what made possible the emergence of capitalism. And that successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this.

[14:29] That is a Chinese non-Christian academic. Analysing the preeminence of the West. If you want to use that phrase. But it's saying that at the heart of what we have enjoyed is a Christian worldview.

[14:48] And at the heart of a Christian worldview lies a commitment to hard work. Wisdom at work.

[14:59] Diligence. Well, secondly, sluggardliness. Folly at work. Folly at work. Proverbs creates this kind of caricature, isn't it? This cartoon character.

[15:10] The sluggard. Let's look at it. What the sluggard is like. What do we find out about the sluggard? Well, the sluggard is very bad at actually starting things.

[15:22] Proverbs chapter 6. And verse 9. Go to the aunt, O sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise without having any chief officer or ruler.

[15:34] She prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food at harvest. How long would you lie there, O sluggard? When would you arise from your sleep? A little sleep. A little slumber. A little folding of the hands to rest.

[15:47] I want to argue that I think it's quite clear that verse 10 is, there's dialogue. It's not the first speaker. So who have you got in verse 10? You've got Mr. Lazy Bones.

[15:59] You've got Mr. Wise asking the questions. And Mr. Lazy Bones responding. And what is he saying? He's saying, I just want to sleep a little bit longer. Now notice this.

[16:09] It is not an outright refusal. But this is procrastination, isn't it? What does the man in verse 10 do? He keeps hitting the snooze button.

[16:20] Again and again and again. And the opportunity simply slips away from him. So let me ask you tonight. What do you procrastinate about?

[16:34] So he doesn't begin things. Or he won't begin things. But actually he also won't finish them. So look at chapter 19 in verse 24. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

[16:48] That's an exaggeration. Of course it is. But it's making a point about people who starve things. Even making a meal. Even putting it in his hand out to get something to eat. But then doesn't finish it. And maybe you know these kind of people.

[17:01] And you're worthless. So one of the things I was reading this week is about annual reviews. Which may come up in the eldest meeting after tonight.

[17:13] So I don't know. But one of the profiles in an annual review I'm told is that of a completer finisher. People who instinctively like to get things nailed and completed.

[17:26] But let's be honest. Not all of us are completer finisher's are we? Some of us have other ways that we behave within teams. And it's good to understand that. And many of us we really have to work to finish things off.

[17:41] For many of us we find ourselves starting things and then failing to see things through. Agreeing to do something and then not doing it. And I want to say that.

[17:52] As I say that there are things out there in your mind as there are in my mind that immediately speak to me. That I've taken on at work or at home or even in church. And I've not seen them through to the end. Now what can you do about it?

[18:02] So the slugger doesn't begin things. He doesn't finish things. And he avoids things. Like chapter 22 verse 13. This is probably I think my favourite one.

[18:13] The slugger says there's a lion outside. I shall be killed in the streets. Of course that's just Mr. Lazy Bones talking isn't it? It's a cat. It's a cat. That's what it is.

[18:25] It's a cat. They are lions in our minds. But they're cats in reality. Now I think we know that. Don't we? We get anxious. So if you like to talk to.

[18:39] You. You. We have exaggerated fears. About the results of doing this or that. And we engage in what is called kind of avoidance behaviour.

[18:54] And some of us are always sure that things will work out badly. And we're always hyper cautious about things. We see lions. We see lions over every proposal.

[19:05] In family life. In church life. Or work life. And actually what's happened is we've lost touch with reality. And it may be that it's made us sluggedly. So let me ask you again.

[19:18] What sort of pussycats in your mind have become lions? Perhaps there's some area of spiritual service or activity. And it terrifies you to become a lion.

[19:30] But actually it's a pussycat. Let me tell you. In light. There are very, very, very few real lions. And if you believe in Jesus.

[19:43] He's got a chain gap. And to a bottom ground. And it leads to an unhappy existence. What happened to the sluggard? He is left unsatisfied.

[19:54] He is restless with unsatisfied desires. Somebody says. Chapter 13. Verse 4. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing. The sluggard's appetite is never filled.

[20:08] But the desires of the diligent. The soul of the diligent is richly supplied. You see he retains normal appetites to the sluggard. But he can't do the things that satisfy them.

[20:20] So there is a restless. Unsatisfied feeling that he has. And it is horrible. And it leaves him helpless. Poverty comes upon him. In the picture of the sluggard from chapter 24.

[20:31] The vineyard disintegrates. And the slow process of it happening. And then suddenly he realises. And I think that is the meaning of the thief.

[20:42] And the scarcity of that man in that image. Suddenly he realises. It's all gone. It's not there. So the walls that were needed to keep the animals out.

[20:54] And then the animals came in. And it's all gone. And it leaves the sluggard helpless. And it also leaves us kind of socially exasperated. Look at chapter 10 verse 26.

[21:07] Like vinegar to the teeth. And smoke to the eyes. So is the sluggard to those who send him. And the send them.

[21:19] There implies somebody being sent as a messenger. Or some kind of agent. And that's vitally. It was vitally important in the ancient world. What's the modern equivalent?

[21:32] The modern equivalent is having an unreliable internet connection. Now nobody has ever here got really really mad about having an unreliable internet connection. Have you? You've never done that.

[21:43] Nobody has ever thought that was like drinking vinegar. Or having someone who blows smoke in your eyes. Well that is what the sluggard is like to people. Who are relying on them.

[21:55] The person has to be reminded again and again and again and again. To perform some duty that's on the core of their job. Something they've agreed to take on. And again and again you have to say to them.

[22:06] Have you done this? And after a while do you know what it feels like? Drinking vinegar. Yeah. And that is what we like to other people. And so we live in our worlds.

[22:18] And we're ever so frightened of the lions out there. And we start something that we can't finish. Or we don't even start it. And we're focused in a very selfish way on ourselves. And our fears.

[22:29] And our self-protectedness. And actually for other people it's like having smoke blown in their eyes. Because we're so unreliable. In contrast to the diligent person who plans and gets on with things.

[22:42] And finishes them and reaps the reward. Diligence. And sluggardiness. Where are you on that scale? Now it seems to me.

[22:56] As I said at the beginning. That many, many of us are very, very busy. And we are very committed people. And there is a great danger in this just making us feel guilty.

[23:07] Or perhaps slightly angry. At the thought of being asked to work even harder. But I want to put something to you. That I found in a book by Bill Hylons. Now I don't normally read Bill Hylons.

[23:19] I'm not a huge fan. Of some of Bill Hylons theology. And yet I think this bit of products he's brilliant on. This book is Making Life Work. And what I think he really helps us see.

[23:32] Is that we are all of us. Selectively sluggardly. That we have a problem with selective. Not generalized sluggardliness. So there are parts of our lives.

[23:45] In which we are sluggardly. And there are parts of our lives in which we're not. And actually the picture of the sluggard in Proverbs. Really helps us. Because it's meant to be a caricature.

[23:57] An extreme example. Rather than describing an actual person. Heidel says this. Many of us.

[24:08] On the surface. Look like models of industry. And diligence. Are suffering from a hidden disease. Called selective sluggardliness. A disease characterized.

[24:20] By carefully constructed compartments. Where sluggardliness reigns. These little pockets. Of laziness or inactivity. Though seemingly insignificant.

[24:32] And nearly always unseen. By others. Will ultimately bring pain and heartache. And even ruin into our lives. And I thought. In fact that's me.

[24:44] A lot of us suffer. From selected. Sluggardliness at work. Part of the reason. Maybe that you work too hard at times.

[24:55] Is because we work inefficiently. And it's quite possible. To have these pockets. Of selected sluggardliness. That are hidden. And at the same time. Give the impression.

[25:06] Of being frantically busy. So everyone would say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They are really. Really. Really busy. Overwork. Can be generated.

[25:17] By lots. Of kind of selective sluggardliness. Not planning. Not prioritizing. Not delegating.

[25:29] Not concentrating on one task. But flitting backwards. And forwards. And modern technology. Is an absolute killer on this. Isn't it? So the internet.

[25:42] Mobiles. PCs. And laptops. And technology. Does have some really great games. But if we're not careful.

[25:53] Doesn't it? It has major efficiency losses. So we become like grasshoppers. Dr. Moebert. From here. There. And everywhere. So I watched. An American minister.

[26:04] The other day. Speak about how he prepares his sermons. And he says he has two screens. He has one screen. Where he works on a sermon. And it's different places than that. And then his other screen. He has Facebook and Twitter up.

[26:17] So he can keep up to date. With what is going on in the world. That is the worst advice. Any human being gives. Oh no. To prepare a sermon. Because you just. You're constantly flitting. Aren't you?

[26:27] And I think it can be a great help. But it can be a massive. Example of how we can use. Selected slaininess. So we can be excessively last minute.

[26:41] Excessively perfectionist. Where it's all or nothing. And like the man with the lion outside. The imaginary lion. Failing to deal well with the things. That we get anxious about at work. And not dealing well with your anxieties.

[26:54] Not realising what they are. Well that is incredibly energy sounding. Isn't it? And it can feel like. Maybe it feels like for you.

[27:05] It's like you are working incredibly hard. Just to keep your head above water. About the things that you're anxious about. It's an incredible paradox that I've found. That inefficiencies about those kind of things.

[27:18] In working life. Make me feel like I'm working hard. And we're exhausted. And we're stressed. And all the rest of it. But we are suffering. From being selectively sliverly.

[27:31] And that we don't take a grip. Of our work in ourselves. And make it better. Now there are other kinds of selective. Sliverlyness out there. In terms of our physical well being. And our health.

[27:43] Proverbs sometimes says. That relates to sleeping. Proverbs has a basic philosophy. In which overindulgence in sleep. Is folly. You do need to think. Am I sleeping too much?

[27:54] Or too little? It's not simply sleep is it? There's also the issue of poor care of our bodies. Being sluggardly about our diet. And our attitude to exercise.

[28:07] Sluggardly. Simply accessing the wonderful health care in this country. When we know that our body is telling us something wrong. Yet we shy away from making use of the health care.

[28:20] I can think of a man who was a very very effective Christian leader. Very very very generous man. Who worked hard. And a very fruitful minister. And yet he neglected his physical health.

[28:31] And he abused his body. And the result was that he died a lot sooner than he needs to. But the result was that his children's children will never know their grandfather. And his wife has been a widow for about 20 years.

[28:44] There's financial sluggliness. People are just too busy to think about life insurance. Or pension prevention. Or budgets. Bill Hydel's comments. Those who spend more money than they have.

[28:56] And say tomorrow they're going to go on a budget. But tomorrow never comes. There's sluggliness in relationships. Sluggliness is a refusal to be properly engaged empathetically with other people.

[29:11] To be committed to them. Sometimes it goes with a hyperactive life doesn't it? So Bill Hydel's talking about the father. Who sets sales records at work. He's got a full handicap on the golf course.

[29:23] But he fails miserably to respond to the emotional needs of his wife and children. He says sluggliness becomes highly individualistic. It retreats into its own little world.

[29:36] And it indulges in a kind of indifference to other people. And it denies that we are members of the society that God has placed us in. With responsibilities and obligations to each other.

[29:48] And it hides the fact that we only become truly human when we love and serve one another. And it leads us to this kind of lethargic indifference.

[30:00] We abdicate responsibility for the needs of others. First of all let me try and speak to those questions.

[30:16] I don't know if I'm far too much material. So we're going to be here until about half of each of them. Cut some of those. So one of the ways I think that for us in our hyperactive society.

[30:28] But sluggardliness is a problem. It is in being active in everything. That we're active in everything. But the nurture of our relationship with God himself.

[30:43] Sometimes we start the Christian life. And things go well. And we get used to it. But then we go off the boil. We cattle off. We become the spiritual equivalent of the couch potato.

[30:54] We become a church. We sit on the chairs. We go to house school. We sit on the sofas. But we're couch potato is watching other people. And there are particular ways that that shows.

[31:05] Isn't it? Evangelistic sluggardliness. Sluggardliness in prayer. Or Bible reading. Or just in love. Sluggardliness in putting relationships right. Or being tolerant towards other people in the church.

[31:20] Bill Heidel writes again. If a mother or father can put themselves out at work or at home. But continually neglect their relationship with God. And they wonder why spiritually speaking. The walls fall down.

[31:30] And there's no grapes on the vine. And for you. If you're not a Christian. There can be a kind of sluggardliness. That is the most serious issue in your life.

[31:44] And it's one of the major issues. Isn't it? Why people don't become Christians. It's not that they're strongly opposed to Christianity. It's just that they're apathetic about it. It's a kind of spiritual lethargy.

[31:56] Oh it's okay for her. But I just can't be bothered to think through the issues of faith and God. It is possible to be really enthusiastic isn't it?

[32:08] About career. Bank balance. House. Children. Studies. And yet have a lethargy about God. And I wonder if that's you.

[32:20] And maybe you sense something of the reality about God. Maybe that's why you're here. But when you feel God coming a little bit too close.

[32:32] You bang the snooze button. And you say just let me sleep spiritually a little bit longer. And there are terrible results to that.

[32:44] It is your spiritual ruin. The spiritually non-existent harvest that follows. Because in the end each one of us is accountable. I have to meet almighty God face to face.

[32:57] To show what I have done in response to the messages and invitations that he's given us. We will have to meet God. And if we put him on the shelf.

[33:10] And if we've hit the snooze button when he's come calling. What is his response going to be? Slug and lean us is just as much rebellion against God as pride or lust or anger.

[33:22] And it will be punished everlastingly. Just as much as they will be. And of heart. Actually all kinds of slug and lean us are a symptom of a spiritual disease.

[33:33] Are they a heart problem? Of hearts that are not resting in God. And fully give know who God is. So let's go to Matthew 11.

[33:44] Let's go to Jesus. Jesus. Jesus said come to me all you who labour. And are heavy laden.

[33:55] And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[34:06] Weariness. The soul wearies. The soul wearies. And so many people that have been affected by slug and lean us have that inability to move.

[34:22] They are worn out. And Jesus says come to me if you have that. Come to me with whatever area of slug and lean us that you have.

[34:34] And find. Do you see it? A real rest. A proper rest. Rest for your souls. How does that come? How does rest kind of come through the death of the Lord Jesus and his resurrection.

[34:51] From which he did not shrink back. So the Lord Jesus was totally committed to the mission that he was given. Was he? The Lord Jesus began his mission. And the Lord Jesus saw his mission through.

[35:03] And the Lord Jesus was the most completer finisher you can ever imagine. He allowed himself. He gave himself up willingly to be nailed to the cross.

[35:14] And he was able to say it is finished. He finished it. And then he was raised to the dead to complete his work. And as he died.

[35:27] He did so to pay for all of your sins. Including the sin of our sluggishness. And our lethargy.

[35:39] And our indifference towards other people. Including the ways we press the snooze button when God has come calling. All of those things which have offended God.

[35:50] And hurt other people. He died for them all. So that we are free from the guilt. We are free from the guilt. And we are released. To a better way of living. Through this risen active Lord Jesus Christ.

[36:04] And so as we rest in him. As we are new creations. In Christ Jesus. We find a new way of living. What is the new way of living? Is it a yoke?

[36:15] Yes it is a yoke. Is it a burden? Yes it is a burden. But to live for Christ is an easy yoke. And it is a light burden.

[36:26] Because it is Jesus who in the power of the spirit is urging us on. And so to be a new creation in Christ. Leads to a reordering of priorities.

[36:40] So that we don't feel responsible for everything in the world. We are enabled to trust what we can't do unto him. And it leads to a retelling of the story.

[36:52] Of why we are at work. Which makes it easy to set up boundaries. To stand up for ourselves when we need to. And when we are faced with over work. And an over demanding boss.

[37:04] It pops the bubble of those anxieties. Because it insists that there are very very few lions out there. And every single one of them he has got chained down. And in dozens of other ways.

[37:17] This encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Ineables us to shake off. The sluggardliness. And to engage in life with a real sense of meaning and purpose.

[37:29] Let me give you two quotes as I close. Os Guinness said this. You if you are in Christ tonight. Have been personally summoned by the creator of the universe.

[37:40] We are given meaning in what we do. We do which flames out over every second and inch of our lives. Challenged. Against the most sluggish temptation to feel who cares, who cares.

[38:22] God's calling is the supreme motivation. It is the ultimate why God has called you. And we are never more fully ourselves than when we are stretched in answering.

[38:35] There is no yawning in response to God's call. In the 17th century, the poet George Herbert detected sluggishness out there in the England of his day.

[38:50] And he wrote this. O England, full of sin, but most of sloth, spit out thy phlegm and fill thy breast with glory.

[39:04] What an image of it, isn't it? Spit out thy phlegm and fill thy breast with glory. And I would want to argue that is what Jesus calls you to do.

[39:20]  That's right.