Start:Stop - Why Work?

Office in a Small City - Edward Hopper, 1953

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, my name is Phillip Dawson. Under normal circumstances we would be repeating this short reflection in church every quarter of an hour; commuters on their way to work would drop in as they pass by, starting their day by stopping to reflect for a few minutes. For many, the journey to work at the moment is a somewhat shorter affair - and finding an appropriate environment in which to work may be more of a challenge than it was a few months ago! For those who have been furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic, there is an expectation that they won’t do much, if any work – at least not paid work for their employers.

In our reflection this morning we will be exploring our relationship with work. We begin with a short passage from scripture, to which the editors of the bible we use in church have chosen to add the rather ominous title “Warning Against Idleness.”

You can listen to a copy of this reflection here.

Bible Reading – 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labour we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Reflection

Over the past twenty-five years I’ve worked for three different firms of architects. For most of that time our office design projects have involved ripping out open-plan office cubicles – a style of furniture pioneered by the American firm Herman Miller in the 1960’s. The Christian faith of the company’s founder, Dirk Jan De Pree, had a profound influence on Herman Miller, which became renowned for opening every business meeting with a reading from the Bible by executives who used biblical language rather than management-speak, referring to their ‘stewardship’ of the company’s products and their ‘covenant’ with its employees.

According to Kathryn Lofton, Professor of Religious Studies at Yale, even the design of the now-loathed office cubicle is a manifestation of De Pree’s faith in the material world. Publicity brochures from the launch of the first cubicle range state it aimed to transform the workplace from a scene of “daily unfulfilled intentions and failed efforts” into a space which was open and transparent, that encouraged staff to feel wanted, needed and to be recognised “as part of a family of activity.”

The design of the cubicle – and the whole ethos of the Herman Miller company – sought to bring our relationship with work closer to that which existed before the Fall - when the work of human beings was an integral and fulfilling part of God’s creative act; before work – and all of creation - became tainted by the conflict, misunderstanding, unhappiness and fruitlessness of sin.

Today, office designers are replacing cubicles with ‘destinations’ to suit different tasks and styles of working - many larger offices now incorporate cafés, gyms and games areas. The impressive headquarters of Bloomberg, just opposite our church, is a good example. This approach is backed up by research which shows that making work seem less of a chore improves the wellbeing and productivity of workers. But critics say the table-tennis courts, latte machines and craft beer dispensers are simply a desperate attempt by business owners to maximise the profitability of a fickle, shallow millennial workforce by feeding their never-ending desire for consumption.

St Paul seems to have had a problem with millennials of a different sort. Some academics believe the passage of scripture we’ve just heard is a response to a group of millenarians within the early church who believed that Christ’s second coming had already begun – that Satan would be locked away for a thousand years before a final battle with God. Convinced that a new era of paradise had started to emerge, they gave up all their work, which meant that others in the church community were having to support them.

Using himself as an example, Paul reminds them that the ‘tradition’ that we have inherited is not one of idleness. Believers – the firstfruits of all God created – are called to work. “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat” he says; a verse used by both Republicans in the USA and by Lenin in Russia to justify very different economic and social policies. Paul reminds us that work is not a chore but fundamental to our relationship with God – if we want to taste the fruits of that relationship, we need to work - urging his readers, “not to be weary in doing what is right.”

But is all work – even mindless, repetitive work - ‘right’?

Dorothy Sayers says it depends on who we are working for and why. The observations in her essay ‘Why Work’ written during the Second World War, reveal striking parallels with our current situation. She remarks that in a short space of time, the economy had changed from one of consumption to one of conservation. As a consequence, work was valued not by the money and status it brought to the producer (which had no means of expression during the war) but by the worth of the thing that was made.

Sayers hoped this change of mindset would continue into peacetime. Instead of seeing work as a means of acquiring money and status, fuelling reciprocal transactions in a complex chain of consumption and waste, we would see our work in the same way that we view our hobbies and leisure interests – as something we are passionate about, worth doing for its own sake. She reminds us that our model of true passion is Christ; and that by following his example, we should work for work itself, because this is God’s will. Not to do so is a perversion of the Greatest Commandment – to put love of our neighbours (and ourselves) before our love of God.

However, in our sinful world, even this love for work can be abused. Researchers have found that ‘Passion Exploitation’ is commonplace, particularly in caring and creative roles; where those thought to be motivated at least in part by the ‘love’ of their job receive on average significantly lower pay and less favourable working conditions. No amount of Thursday-night clapping is going to change that, is it?

Whilst Dorothy Sayers points us to Christ as the model for the ultimate passionate endeavour, the theologian Miroslav Volf encourages us to see our work as the outpouring of gifts from the Holy Spirit; our lifelong calling to discern God’s will for how best to deploy these. Seeing work in this way can allow us to appreciate our contribution as stewards of God’s creation even when our ‘work’ may not look like ‘work’ to others; being furloughed doesn’t stop us from putting our gifts to good use.

During the lockdown we have become more aware of our relationships; to each other, to those who support and protect us, to the environment. Perhaps we might also look at our relationship with our work in a new light - asking ourselves who we are working for and why?

As St Paul reminds us, ‘Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Prayer

Lord, let us not be weary in doing what is right.

Help us to see the value in our work and the work of others; to remember that work is a gift and not a chore. Grant us patience when we feel frustrated or unfulfilled by our work. Guide us to discern the gifts you have given us and the grant us the courage to use them, even if this means taking risks and confronting change.

Lord, let us not be weary in doing what is right.

Give strength and wisdom to all working to bring the Coronavirus outbreak under control, especially those working to save life. Help us to find an end to passion exploitation to ensure all are paid fairly and valued for the work that they do.

Lord, let us not be weary in doing what is right.

Bring hope to all those without work or worried about their future employment. Help those who have been furloughed and are unable to work find ways to use their talents during the lockdown. Inspire those who develop new technologies and ways of working which help to release others from undertaking mindless or repetitive tasks.

Lord, let us not be weary in doing what is right.

Forgive us when we feel we have not performed as well as we could have in our work; when we are motivated not by serving you but by serving ourselves. Lord, help us all to learn from this time of lockdown. To reflect on our relationship with our work; what and who we work for.

Lord, let us not be weary in doing what is right.

Blessing

Let us proclaim the Gospel,

    Not just through words but through our work –

        through what we say,

        what we do,

        and who we are.

And may the blessing of God Almighty,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

be among us and remain with us this day

and always

Amen.

Links

‘The Spirit in the Cubicle. A Religious History of the American Office’ by Kathryn Lofton – Chapter 7 of ‘Sensational Religion’

Why Work? By Dorothy Sayers

Understanding Contemporary Forms of Exploitation: Attributions of Passion Serve to Legitimize the Poor Treatment of Workers