We can approach this passage with two different lenses today: the lens of the law and the lens of grace. The lens of the law will see this passage as a description of how we become Christians; the lens of grace will see this passage as a description of how we should now live as Christians.
There's a big difference between the two. One operates out of fear and pride, while the other operates out of joy and freedom. One views ethics as a to-do list or a means to an end, while the other views ethics as an expression of worship.
I fear that many of us still approach God's word with our law-tinted glasses on, believing our time here on earth is a tryout for making it onto God's team. We believe that, to make it into heaven, we have to perform well in this life, and if we do more good than bad, then hopefully, he will allow us in.
But I'm here to tell you today that's not remotely close to what the Bible teaches. The Bible invites us to take off our law-tinted glasses and put on a new pair of glasses, the glasses of grace.
If our life were a tryout, we would all be left off God's team. If making it to heaven depended upon our ability to do more good than bad, we would all be left out. But, the Bible isn't a to-do list you must check off to make it to heaven. The Bible is a love story of God's loving pursuit of his bride. The Bible is a story of hope, rescue, grace, and redemption.
Yes, you've blown it. Yes, you've rebelled against God. Yes, you were running in the opposite direction of God. Yes, you deserve death and condemnation. But the beauty of the gospel is that God has pursued you and sent His Son to die on the cross for you. The beauty of the gospel is that through faith in Jesus, you can be adopted into the family of God. The beauty of the gospel is that grace, not works, is how we can become sons and daughters of God. Your salvation rests upon the shoulders of God's grace, not your works.
This is not a tryout. Ephesians 4 is not a list of things you must do to make it onto God's team. No. Ephesians 4 is simply a description of how one should live now that they are on God's team.
The proper approach to Christian ethics is to understand that the vertical shapes the horizontal. If you have encountered God's grace, love, and mercy, your life will never be the same. Grace should transform how we think, feel, and live. Our thoughts, desires, and affections will begin to be transformed, leading to a new way of life. The things we once loved, we will no longer love. The way we once thought, we will no longer think. The things we once did, we will no longer do. No corner of our heart, no shadow of our life, should go untouched by the bright light of God's grace, love, and mercy.
Today, we will look at how God's grace should impact the way we work. Where we once stole, we now give. Where we once lied, we're now honest. Where we were once lazy, we now work hard. As Christians, we seek to honor God with how we work and why we work.
So, let's dive in.
"Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need."
STOP STEALING
Here, we find transformational language being used once again. Someone's life, which was once built around thievery, is to put down stealing and pick up generosity. A believer should no longer take and hoard; they should labor and give.
As we walk through life, we will undoubtedly see things that will grab our attention. We will see things that don't belong to us that we want to belong to us. The thief will let his eyes lead his hands, giving himself to taking what doesn't belong to him. The thief is set on building his kingdom with the possessions of another. He couldn't care less about those around him as long as his wants and desires are being met.
But those whose faith resides in Jesus are called to take off their old way of stealing. Put simply, Christians should never take what doesn't belong to them.
Now, if I'm a betting man, I would bet that when we hear the words "thief" and "stealing," we likely don't lump ourselves into that category. When we hear thief, we think of someone breaking into a bank or a grocery store wearing a mask over their face. Therefore, we believe this is a distant concept for us.
But, I want to gently push back against that mindset for a moment. In Romans 2, while addressing the law-abiding Jews, Paul says, "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourselves? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law."
We must understand that it's possible to be guilty of the very thing we condemn. It's possible to be guilty of the very thing we turn our nose up at on the news. Therefore, we must be slow to disassociate ourselves from the sin described in the Bible.
Robbery isn't limited to holding someone up at gunpoint. A thief comes in various shapes and sizes, and none of us are exempt from fitting the mold of a thief. The thief is someone lying on their timesheet at work. The thief is someone who lies on his or her taxes. The thief is someone who borrows and never returns a company computer. The thief is someone who takes advantage of an ignorant customer, making them pay more than they should. The thief is someone who cheats on their homework.
Just because you've never been in handcuffs doesn't mean you're not guilty of stealing. Just because you don't have a mugshot online doesn't mean you're not a thief. We've all probably got a little more thievery in us than we would like to admit.
WORK HARD
But, once the thief encounters Jesus, something should begin to happen inside their heart and mind. The thief should set down the mask and the gun, and they should roll up their sleeves and get to work. Instead of stealing, they "labor, doing honest work, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need." This tells us that a Christian should work hard.
The word for labor implies one growing weary and tired from their work. In John 4, for example, Jesus is journeying from Judea to Galilee and, weary from the labor of his journey in the hot sun, he stops in Samaria (Jn. 4:6). The word "labor" paints the picture of work being hard and difficult.
Listen, work is good. It was created by God to give mankind fulfillment and joy! We see in Genesis 2:15 that before sin entered the world, God created humans to have and enjoy work! Yet, because of sin, we now have a clouded view of work. Because we now live in a sinful world, work doesn't always feel like a good thing.
After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, we see God say in Genesis 3, "…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." So, when sin entered the world, the relationship between God and man was fractured, which affected everything we do and experience on earth. So, although work is still good, it has now become harsh, strenuous, and (at times) unpleasant for humans. Just as the plants of the ground became tarnished with thorns and thistles, so also has work—"by the sweat of our face, we will eat bread." And since work is now difficult, we are tempted to avoid work and become lazy.
But, we see here that Christian workers don't take the easy way out; instead, they embrace the labor of hard work. It honors God when we honor our boss by being diligent workers. It honors God when we show up on time to our job. It honors God when we put down our phones at work. It honors God when we take time to think and carefully plan out how we can be better employees. It honors God when we come home tired from our job.
BE HONEST
God cares about how we work! A strong work ethic is God-honoring. We ought to be workers who work hard for our bosses, and we ought to be workers who work honestly for our bosses. God delights in honest, non-deceptive work. A Christian should be an honest worker— “doing honest work with his hands.”
The word for honest here is to be good, upright, honorable, and beneficial. It's the opposite of stealing. It's a commitment to being above reproach, having nothing to hide from others when it comes to work.
This tells us that God cares about how you make your money. God cares about the type of worker you are, and he cares about the kind of work you do. A full bank account is not a surefire sign of God's blessing. It's possible to be making a lot of money outside of the will of God, and it's possible to be making not a lot of money inside the will of God. Proverbs 16:8 says, "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice." So, it is better to make less money doing honest work than it is to make a lot of money doing dishonest work.
Honesty may be costly. Doing the right thing may require sacrifice. You might make less money doing the right thing. But, doing the right thing will always be worth it— "Better is a little with righteousness." Honesty may be hard, but honesty is always worth it.
Now, our sinful hearts are programmed to doubt the reliability of honesty. We're all tempted to think, "This company isn't paying me enough. If I don't lie on my paycheck, then my children won't eat," or "If I don't cut this corner, then I'm going to lose my job, and if I lose my job, we will lose our home and my family won't make it."
The enemy wants us to believe the lie that sin is the only way to a better life. He wants honesty to seem like a death wish. But, when you read the Scriptures, God dismantles the lie that so many of us believe! Immediately following the call to do honest work in Proverbs 10, we read, "The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked."
So, yes, doing the right thing may lead to loss. But it will never lead to despair. In your pursuit of righteousness, you will never lose your provider, and you will never lose your protector! The creator and sustainer of all things promises to care for you. Your employees may mock you when you pursue honest work. They may abandon you when you do the right thing. But God will never leave you nor forsake you! God will always take care of you in your pursuit of doing what's right.
Those who do what is right will never go hungry. But, the cravings of the wicked will be thwarted. To "not go hungry" is to be satisfied and content, but "craving" is rooted in hunger. Craving is rooted in a desire to be satisfied. So, in using the language of Ephesians, the thief will never be satisfied.
Some will cut corners to gain more wealth because they think more money will provide more security. Yet, they will find out that there's never enough money in their savings account. Others will cut corners to gain more wealth because they think more money will provide more joy and happiness. Yet, when they cash their checks in, they still feel empty.
Choosing sin over righteousness is like choosing a plate full of air over a steak. After every bite you take, you think you will be satisfied, but you will only find yourself becoming more hungry. Sin never satisfies. Unjust gain will never satisfy the hunger of our soul. So, may we be honest workers who are content with the fruit of righteousness.
SHARE THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOR
Why do we stop stealing? Why do we work hard? Why do we work honestly? The answer is simply: so that we can honor God by living generously. Paul says, "So that he may have something to share with anyone in need."
"Sharing" is a term of generosity. It's a term of giving. It's the same word used by Jesus in Luke 3 when he says, in regard to bearing good fruit, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." So, Christians work hard so that, with the fruit of their labor, they might better care for the needs of those around them.
Notice the transformation of motives here from the start of this verse to the end of this verse. The verse starts with a thief corruptly taking from his neighbor to build his own kingdom, and it ends with the thief emptying his kingdom to give to his neighbor. A fundamental element of the Christian faith is sharing the fruits of our labor. God hasn't blessed you with money and possessions so that you can feel safe and secure by them. He has blessed you with these things so that you can meet the needs of those around you.
Jesus demonstrated the greatest act of generosity in history. Jesus left all riches and became poor so we could become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." So, as recipients of God's rich grace, we should seek to live graciously and generously. Generosity is what we are called to as believers. And when we embrace a generous life, we are choosing to imitate Jesus in the way we live. So, we give generously because God has given generously to us.