Work

By Pastor Bruce

In the last week or so, I have replaced the garbage disposal and kitchen faucet in our townhome as well as the brakes, spark plugs, oil and filters on Susan’s car. And I’ve been reminded why I like to work with my hands.

After college and a degree in theology and biblical languages, I discerned through prayer and wise counsel that God considered me too young to go to seminary and that I should learn to work with my hands as all the rabbis of old used to do. Having no skills, I got a job cleaning disassembled engine parts for $2.50/hour. I also rolled my car on the way home from that first week at work and had to borrow an old Ford Cortina without 3^rd gear from a friend in the church I was attending in Westminster. I was penniless, but wisely my parents did not send me money to bail me out. I quickly learned as Paul wrote, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

Thankfully, I was able to pound the dents out of my car and returned the Cortina to my friend after installing a new 3^rd gear. I was learning self-sufficiency, because as Paul says, “Each one shall bear his own load.” I was also learning lifelong lessons in the garage where I worked.

In college if I got a “B” or a “C” on a paper, I moved on to the next assignment. I learned, however, when fixing cars that either it runs or it doesn’t. The only passing grade was an “A” because if the car wouldn’t start, I had to keep working on it until I figured out why and got it running again. Working on commission meant redoing the work on my own time until I got it right. Perseverance became a hard reality rather than just a Greek word favored by Paul in his writings.

I also gained a new respect for the men I worked with. Far from being con artists the way some people think of auto mechanics, they were smart, worked circles around me, and had a sixth sense of what was malfunctioning in an engine or transmission. As a college graduate with a facility for languages, I learned that “if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

In theology I was taught to “think God’s thoughts after him.” Fixing cars was an exercise in understanding why something was designed the way it was and how to make it work the way it was intended to work. By then I was a line mechanic at a VW dealership and was sent to factory training classes where I learned exactly why the engineers designed the cars the way they did. I learned to think their thoughts after them so I could make the correct repairs. I learned that whether it was figuring out an electrical wiring diagram or figuring out what a passage of Scripture meant, I had to leave my preconceptions behind and open my mind to learn what I didn’t know. As Isaiah wrote: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Finally, I learned the meaning of the Greek word diakonos which means servant. I learned the joy of serving others. I remember particularly one day when I was working on a family van and saw a bunch of kids and their mom and dad in the waiting room ready to go on vacation as soon as their van was fixed. I knew this family was counting on me to fix their van reliably and quickly so they could begin their vacation. Diakonos not only means Deacon but was also the word Paul always used to describe the ministry to which God had called him. I learned that later in life as a minister, I would derive the same joy in serving others as I currently did fixing people’s cars for them. As Paul wrote, “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy.”

And so far from being a waste of time, the years I spent fixing cars yielded cherished and lifelong lessons. God knew exactly what he was doing, and that’s why I still like to work with my hands.

Scripture passages: 2 Thessalonians 3:10, Galatians 6:3-5, Isaiah 55:9, 2 Corinthians 1:24