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Resources - Meditations
July 2000
Trowel - Building
Well Done !
John Ter Horst
I remember, and it was not that long ago, receiving a weekly pay packet
with cash in it. We would line up in a row, sign for it, and take it
home. Those ‘good old days’ are now a distant memory. The methods
utilized to pay employees went through a transformation. All of a sudden
the cash transaction disappeared from the paymaster’s arena. It was
considered an unnecessary risk to move large amounts of cash around,
even if armoured trucks were used. The weekly pay packet now came in the
form of a cheque. Not as exciting to open, but a lot safer, especially
for security guards. These days I do not even see a cheque. The money is
automatically transferred from one bank account to the other. Much more
efficient, just a little impersonal. Money comes into the account, and
it disappears just as quickly and efficiently.
There is one thing I look forward to more than a weekly pay packet, or
that day of the month when money is automatically transferred into our
account. It is the day I hear these words, “Well done, good and faithful
servant! … Come and share your Master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21). I
will not hear those words because I serve the Reformed, oops, Christian
Reformed Church of Australia as a minister of the Word and Sacrament. If
I had been able to stay in my initial profession as a Fitter and Turner
I would still look forward to hearing those words.
Those words are not reserved for ministers, or missionaries. Those words
are not reserved for the spiritual elite, even if there were such a
group. A lot more people than the ‘Billy Grahams’ of this world will
hear those words: “Well done, good and faithful servant! … Come and
share your Master’s happiness!” These words are for people, irrespective
of their position in life. These words are for Christian C.E.O.’s [chief
executive officers] and for Christians whose work is rarely noticed by
more than a handful of people. Christian mums will hear these words,
even if they have never collected a pay packet in their lives. It is not
about the nature of the work, it is about how we do it! For too long
Christians have elevated certain ‘jobs’ above others. I do not believe
that is particularly valid when it comes to the final, “Well done!”
Work is a gift from God, whether you are self-employed, or you work at
the supermarket. I was enjoying my work as a Fitter and Turner. It is an
occupation I can no longer work at with any degree of efficiency. God
has (is) equipping me for other work. The work of ministry within our
denomination. Both jobs, and the ones I held in between these two, are
gifts from God. God equips for that to which He calls. What God expects
is faithfulness. Nothing but my best was acceptable while on the factory
floor. Nothing but my best is acceptable to Him when I step into the
pulpit. Let me say again, it is not about the nature of the work; it is
about how we do it!
“Well done, good and faithful servant! … Come and share your Master’s
happiness!” They are words I am longing to hear. And I will! One day, in
glory, they will be words spoken by the “Ancient of Days” to me. How can
I be so confident? Am I so full of pride and blind to my own weaknesses?
No, not by any stretch of the imagination! God has surrounded me with
enough godly and sensible people not to let that happen. So where does
the confidence come from? From the Word of God Himself. Not only am I
saved by grace; I do my work by grace. It is only God’s good,
unconditional grace that the work of our hands are blessed. I can be
confident of hearing these words not because of who I am, or what I do,
but because of who God is, and what He has accomplished in the saving
work of Jesus Christ, His Son. I am confident, not in John Ter Horst,
but in the faithful Father of my Saviour, Jesus Christ.
To what work has God called you? In some ways it doesn’t matter. The
pertinent question is; can you say about your work, “I can do everything
through Him who gives me strength.”
A Prayer: Father, help me to recognise I can only do my work in your
strength, and as such will hear your words, ‘Well done!’ Amen.
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