TOPIC:"God's Supreme Labor Union"
TEXT:I Corinthians 3:1-9
"We work together as partners who belong to God" (I Corinthians 3:9, NLT).
Labor Day is different from all of the other holidays of the year. This day has nothing to do with war and conflicts like other holidays, but it is dedicated exclusively and totally to the achievements of the American worker. It is a yearly national tribute to the contribution workers have made to the strength and prosperity of our country.
But on this Labor Day Sunday I want to speak about a much higher labor union found anywhere. It is the blessed labor union which is composed of all of God's servants throughout the world who are working together in the expansion of His Kingdom on earth. The Apostle Paul wrote about this God-given labor in these words: "And God has given us the task of reconciling the world to Himself...We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you as though Christ Himself were here pleading with you, 'Be reconciled to God!' " (II Corinthians 5:18, 20).
An explanation of the text is in order here. Both the Authorized Version and the New International Version, miss the point, I believe, of what Paul is trying to get across to his readers. What he is telling us is this: Though we belong to God, we do not labor with God. We labor with each other as God's servants. Paul is here concerned with the sovereignty and priority of God over His servants and their service, and not trying to identify himself and others simultaneously with God.
That is why in this message I am using the rendering of the New Living Translation: "We work together as partners who belong to God." Let us now together take a closer look at these words of Paul.
Consider, to begin with, the SCARCITY of the laborers. Recall Paul's words: "We work" (v. 9). From those two words of Paul we behold two reasons for the lack of workers in the service of the Lord.
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