WORK AS PRAYER IN THE LIFE OF THE KNIGHT

WORK AS PRAYER IN THE LIFE OF THE KNIGHT

By

Prof. Sylvester Idemudia Odia, KSP

Introduction

            Work can be defined as any legitimate thing we do to earn a living. Thus, work is a means of livelihood, a means of putting food on our tables and paying bills. Everyone needs work and there is dignity in labour. It is more honourable to earn a living than to live on charity.

            However, work for the Christian is more than just earning a living or paying bills. It is a continuation of God’s work of creation. When understood as a continuation of God’s work of creation, work becomes (i) prayer, (ii) a means of living out to the full one’s purpose in life and (iii) a sacred duty leading unto salvation. Thus, the goods and services rendered to others, when done for love of God and in accordance with one’s purpose in life, becomes a living sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God. Let us begin with the origin of work in the bible.

God as Worker

            The work of creation is often attributed to God the Father (Gen. 1: 1), through Jesus Christ (John 1: 3), and with the power of the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1: 2). This work of creation lasted for six days (Gen. 1) and, God “rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing.” (Gen. 2: 2) So, God worked for six days and rested on the seventh day. Work, in so far as it was something that God did, is absolutely dignifying, holy and salvific. And, as one created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1: 27), Adam was given some work to do by God. God settled Adam in the garden of Eden and his work was “to cultivate and take care of it.” (Gen. 2: 15) By implication, cultivating (in the sense of rendering better goods and services, or improving on the quality of goods and services rendered) and caring for one’s clients, patients, customers, pupils or students, etc. in line with one’s purpose in life (in such a way that they feel the presence of God in their lives through you) is prayer, dignifying, holy and salvific. Beginning with Adam, let us look at the challenges faced when we decide to bring God into our work and make it a prayer.

Adam’s Work

            Adam’s work was essentially to maintain the garden through cultivation and care for it. In addition, Adam was to name all the things that God has created (Gen. 2: 20). This work of naming was quite demanding. Adam was to give a unique name to each plant, animal and object. This work he did very well and it was his contribution to God’s work of creation.

            In Gen. 3 we have the record of the “fall” of Adam and Eve. With this fall work became suffering, hard labour and painful (Gen. 3: 17 – 19). From that time onward work became a blessing inbuilt with curse. As a blessing it is a continuation of God’s work of creation, a means to livelihood, and a fulfilment of one’s purpose in life. As a curse it goes with pain, hard labour, suffering, and possible deceit from other human persons. Work, in spite of the curse that goes with it, became an acceptable way of life to be endured and transformed into a prayer to God. This way of looking at work forms the Jewish idea of work.

Work in Jewish Culture

            In the Jewish culture, work is essential and the basis for livelihood. Everyone has a handwork and God is often sought after to bless the work of their hands. This idea of God as one who grants increase is best captured by psalm 127: 1 – 2, “If Yahweh does not build a house in vain do its builders toil. If Yahweh does not guard a city in vain does its guard keep watch. In vain you get up earlier, and put off going to bed, sweating to make a living, since it is he who provides for his beloved as they sleep.” Two Jews who made their work (in spite of the challenges that accompanied it due to human frailty) a prayer and found favour with God were Jacob and Joseph. They both are good examples of how to work for one’s boss or as a civil servant. They displayed faithfulness and fidelity in the face of betrayal and deceit.

Jacob

            Jacob worked conscientiously for his father-in-law, Laban for seven years so as to marry Rachel. Instead, Laban gave him Leah, Rachel’s elder sister. Jacob had to work for another seven years before he was given Rachel (Gen. 29: 15 – 30).  Also, while Jacob worked with all his might and with all his strength, he was tricked severally by Laban who changed his wages “ten times over” from spotted animal to striped animals here and there (Gen. 31: 6 – 7). Yet, for his dedication, faithfulness, and sincerity in working for Laban, Jacob’s work became prayer – a living fragrance acceptable to God. Thus, Yahweh blessed Jacob with whatever new wage Laban devised until he reclaimed all of Laban’s flock (Gen. 31: 8 – 9).

            One lesson we can learn from Jacob is that we should do our work conscientiously with all dedication and faithfulness. When we do so, our work becomes a prayer, dignifying, holy and salvific. Our boss, those in government, or the public we render goods and services to may be ungrateful, unworthy, miscreants or hooligans, below our status, illiterate or uneducated. These standards do not matter at all if we see work as a continuation of God’s work of caring for and sustaining creation. We should never forget that we were unworthy, sinful and enemies of God when Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, took our human nature to save and redeem us. We are called to do the same for all persons irrespective of race, culture, tribe, religion and social status.

Joseph

             After Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites traders who were on their way to Egypt to trade (Gen. 37: 12 – 28), Joseph was later sold to Potiphar “one of Pharaoh’s officials and commander of the guard.” (Gen. 37: 36) Yahweh blessed Joseph with success in all his undertaking in Potiphar’s house, and for this Potiphar “put him in charge of his household, entrusting him with all his possessions.” (Gen. 39: 5)

            However, pain, suffering and serious challenges came to Joseph from Potiphar’s wife (who allowed herself to be the agent of curse upon Joseph) who attempted to seduce him but failed. Her failure led to hatred for Joseph and she was determined to destroy him by lying against him. She accused him of attempted rape and got him imprisoned by Potiphar (Gen. 39: 7 – 20). I am sure while in prison Joseph would have felt abandoned by God. He might have wondered why Yahweh did not give him wisdom and eloquence with which he could have defended himself from the falsehood of Potiphar’s wife. But his unflinching royalty to Potiphar, his master, paid off. God’s blessing abided with him even onto prison where he found favour with the controller of the prison and he was put “in charge of all the prisoners in the gaol, making him responsible for everything done there.” (Gen. 39: 22)

            Apart from being put in charge of the prisoners, Joseph’s gift of interpreting dreams did not depart from him. Yahweh sustained this gift in him and, without malice or bitterness in his mind, he interpreted the dreams of prisoners. From interpreting the dreams of fellow prisoners, he eventually interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh; his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams led to his promotion by Pharaoh to the position of governor of Egypt, a position subject to pharaoh alone (Gen. 40: 40 – 43).

            One lesson we can also learn from Joseph is that we should not let the temptations or obstacles placed on our way by wicked or evil persons prevent us from using our gifts and talents for the service of humanity. Once we realize that our work is prayer and it is done for the love of God, it will be easier for us to persevere in the face of different trials and temptations.

            The idea of work as a continuation of God’s work of creation and as a means of livelihood in the Jewish culture was adopted and modified by Christianity. Let us now look at Christian work ethics.

Christian Work Ethics

            One of the major modifications of Christianity to the Jewish idea of work is that in Christianity work and life are interwoven to the extent that work defines us; work tells who we are and our purpose in life. Our eternal salvation depends upon it. And from the teaching of Jesus Christ, especially as can be deduced from the parable of the labourers (Matt. 20: 1 – 16), one can deduce two principles or rights: (1) the right to work (all those who needed work were employed for the day even at the eleventh hour), and (2) the right to a living wage (all the workers were paid the same amount of one denarius each including those who came to work at the eleventh hour). Thus, we should learn the necessity of providing jobs for everyone who can work and make sure that minimum wage is actually a living wage.

            Furthermore, Christian ethics teaches that our work tests and reveals our character and it is what we will give account of on the day of judgment. We should earn our pay. To earn our pay, we should do the following: (a) the worker should be punctual (and punctuality is the significant mark of a knight), (b) the worker should not exceed the time for break, and should not use work time for gossips, idling away with the phone, or putting little or no zeal on the work. The argument that our salaries or monthly pay are not commensurate to our work description and, as such, we should not take our work too serious, is not tenable for a Christian. Granted that our pay or salaries may not be proportional to the work we do, the main fact that we agreed to do the work is enough for us to do it conscientiously with all sense of dedication and faithfulness until we find a better work. For those who have learnt how to make their work a prayer, dignifying, holy and salvific, they need not fear giving a worthy account of their work on the day of judgment.

            In addition, our work is a contribution owned to the community. We are communal beings. Do not try to do everything. Do your little best, encourage others to do theirs, and work in unison towards a more humane society or community.

            Lastly, we must constantly work with the Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the giver of life” who constantly renews the face of the earth. With the Holy Spirit as our helper, we can live our lives to the full, improve on the goods and services we render to others, improve on our skills and talents, and help others live for others. By so doing we can help in curbing the sin of selfishness and greed that has destroyed our fatherland.

Conclusion

            Our work is a continuation of God’s work of creation. It is a prayer, dignifying, holy and salvific. We should work conscientiously and work towards providing jobs for many for we all have a right to work and earn a living wage.

            We should always remember that knights and knighted ladies of St. Paul will be judged by their work. We should be good examples to others of how work should be done. When we face challenges or temptations, we should persevere in making our work a prayer and never forget that we are working with God who alone will reward us handsomely in this world and with eternal life in the world to come.             May St. Paul, our patron Saint, who earned a living through tent making (so as not to be a burden to the community of Christ’s faithful – Acts 18: 1 – 3) intercede for us and obtain God’s abundant blessings upon the work of our hands. Amen.