I invite you to stand. You'll have a moment to sit again, but please stand for the reading of God's word. We do this to remind ourselves, not out of empty tradition, but to remind ourselves that this is God's word. This is not like any other book. This is God's word for us. We'll read 1 Peter 2, 18 through 21, before Ben comes up to preach. This is God's word. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. Well, my mic was off, so now it's on. It's a good thing that I didn't sing, because had I sing, you probably would have all heard that, but anyhow. You know, I am happy to be here with you all this morning. I really am, but I got to tell you, I'm tired. You know, I thought it was my age, maybe a lack of iron, maybe it's the air pollution, water pollution, maybe it was Splenda. I don't know, maybe it was all these different crazy diets I've been trying. Keto, Paleo, Atkins. Maybe it was my underarm odor. I don't know. There's a dozen other maladies that make you wonder if life is really worth living, but I think I finally figured it out. I'm tired because I'm overworked. The population of this country is 325 million people. 150 million are retired. That leaves 175 million to do the work. 100 million are in school. That leaves 75 million to do the work. Of this total, there are 35 million employed by the federal government. That leaves 40 million to do the work. There are 5 million in the armed forces, which leaves 35 million to do the work. Take from that the 15 million that are employed by state and local governments, and that leaves 20 million to do the work. Well, there's 15 million of us on vacation. That leaves 5 million to do the work. When there are 4.8 million in hospitals, that leaves 200,000 to do the work. There are 199,800 in prisons. That leaves just 200 people to do the work. You all and me. And you're sitting there listening to me preach. It's no wonder I'm so tired. Work is a hard deal. Whether you work behind a desk, at a kitchen sink, or a washing machine, it's hard. Whether you sit behind a wheel or a computer monitor, it's not easy. And often that difficulty is due to bad managers. The Reader's Digest has some pretty funny stories about awful bosses. Here are just a couple for you. My boss was notoriously cheap. So when he handed me a birthday card, I pleasantly surprised. I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you, I said. You're welcome, he replied. And when you get through reading it, could you take it down to Robin down the hall? It's her birthday today too. My boss really likes to save pennies. How much? I caught him in the break room retrieving paper cups from the trash can and shoving them back in the dispenser next to the water cooler. He didn't even bother wiping the lipstick off. As an employee representative, it was my unfortunate duty to do battle with our boss whenever he asked too much of his employees. You think you know everything, don't you? He yelled at me once. No, sir, I don't, I countered. But I do know what the law says, and the law says, the law, he roared, the law has absolutely nothing to do with this place. Suffering can be much darker than penny-pinching bosses and managers who yell at you. David intimately knew, King David intimately knew the trials of unjust suffering at the hands of an unjust boss. Just listen to this. This is from 1 Samuel chapter 18. As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, that is Goliath, the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, they have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands. And what more can he have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day on. The next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David evaded him twice. You know, you think it stinks when your boss tells you to stay late. At least he's not trying to kill you. David had it pretty rough. Today we continue our journey through Peter's first letter. These believers, we've been on page 1015 now for some time, we've learned a lot about these believers and the suffering of persecution under unjust government. And today we'll see that these slaves and servants are suffering unjust treatment from their masters. In chapter one, just to review, chapter one, Peter outlines the Christian's identity in Christ. Here in chapter two and following into chapter three, Peter outlines what we'll call a Christian ethic. a Christian standard of living. Verses one through 11 of chapter two gives us the foundation for that ethic. And then he demonstrates how that standard plays out in three spheres of life. We heard of one last week, which is our relationship to government. We're gonna talk about our relationship to our employers today. And then lastly, in chapter three, it'll be relationship to spouses. Our passage addresses servants working for unjust masters. But how does this apply to us today? Well, the first thing we need to do is state that by and large, slavery in antiquity when Peter was writing this letter, was not like what we are familiar with here prior to the Civil War. Slavery in America saw Africans treated as both mentally and morally inferior, where property ownership was outlawed and basic education, like reading and writing, were disallowed, and where physical and sexual abuse were common and accepted, where men, women, and children who were made in the image of God were treated like less than animals. It goes without saying, but we renounce that. There is not now, nor was there ever, any justification for that satanic institution. In antiquity, slavery, however, was a common practice, but it did not look like slavery in America. Slaves were often house servants, which is one of the reasons the ESV, if you're using that translation, the English Standard Version, it translates the word as servant. They were able to own property, pursue education, and even social advancement. They were enslaved either due to a debt, because they were born into it, or because they were prisoners of war, captured in the most recent battle. And it wasn't necessarily a lifelong status. A slave could buy or work his way to freedom. The relationship between servants and masters then most closely applies to our modern practice of employment. In our times, we work voluntarily for our employers. We are not enslaved. But at the same time, I think most of us need a job. We have bills to pay, expenses to cover, and hopefully some savings to accumulate for emergencies or for the day when we will no longer be able to trade our skills for money. I think it's best for us to think about this in our context, this passage, in the context of employee-employers. And so I've provided an outline that flows from that interpretation. And so first we're going to look at the meaning of work. Then in point two, the misery of work, where we're really gonna dig into the meat of today's passage. And finally, we'll look at verse 21, the master of work. But first, let's look at the meaning of work then. You know, it's tempting to spend the rest of the sermon talking about the meaning of work and building out, frankly, a philosophy of work, but that's just not the main point of this passage. So I'm just gonna give us a few minutes here to kind of anchor us on what the importance of meaning and work are. Beyond making ends meet and providing for loved ones, why do we work? If you had all of the money that you could ever need, should you still work? Well, let's see what the scriptures say. It means we go back to Genesis and the Garden of Eden and to the one who made the garden and made everything that we see. And there in Genesis 1 and 2, we see that God worked creating all of the heavens and the earth. But not only did God work, he put man in the garden to work as well. Genesis 2.15 says, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. Work has been around since the very beginning. And this next part is really important. I want you to hear this. It was a part of God's plan for our existence before the fall of man when Adam and Eve sinned. It's always been a part of God's plan for us. Work is not a result of the fall. Sadly, with Adam and Eve's sin, everything was impacted, including work. God cursed the ground which Adam was called to work, saying in Genesis 3, verses 16 and 17, in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life, thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. You shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. This side of the fall, it is easy to think of only the curse that God has put on our work. But before the fall, work was fruitful and without pain and struggle that so often characterizes our day-to-day. The Proverbs have much to say about work, but really, the most applicable to today's passage, I think, is Proverbs 16, 11. Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established. Paul, who wrote so many of the letters in the New Testament, had a lot to say about work. Ephesians 6, verses 5 through 8, Titus 9 and 10, Titus 2, 9 and 10, Colossians 3, verses 22 through 24, 1 Timothy 6, verses 1 and 2, they all address working unto the Lord, not to please man, not to be an eye-pleaser, it says, or to advance yourself, but for the Lord's sake, as unto Him. It's easy to see that working unto the Lord is super important to God, or He wouldn't put it in all those places. And then lastly, what about heaven? What about the new heavens and the new earth? Well, when we look at Revelation 22, where we see the city of God in the new heavens and the new earth, when we actually have our resurrected bodies, we find that we are called servants. Well, what does a servant do but work and serve? The work will look different for sure. If you work today as a nurse, a firefighter, a cop, An undertaker, you're going to need to find new work in heaven. That's not what you're going to be doing there for sure. But I think all who enter eternity with God will find that they have jobs to do. We'll have work for the Lord. Quite simply, it's that's because how God has made us. So before we press on, I have a footnote to two folks, two groups of people here, to young people who aren't working yet and to older folks who are done working. You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with me? Well, for the young people, let me just say this. You may not have experienced deep suffering at work yet, but let me assure you, at some point, you will. You can be sure that it will happen. This is the nature of our fallen world. So while you might not be able to fully grasp what it looks like, I asked you to make some notes today and think about, frankly, how to avoid bringing it on yourself and then what to do when it comes. As Peter, because here's the thing, Peter will remind us when we get, whenever it is from now, number of weeks, in chapter four, verse 12, this letter, that we should not be surprised by the fiery trial. It is coming. whether at work or at home or in both places, relationships. For you folks who no longer work or who are retired, you may be asking how this applies to you as well. I would encourage you to reflect on your working lives. Most of you here worked, whether you were in the marketplace or as a teacher, a nurse or doctor, or you were a homemaker. I want you to reflect back and recall a time when things were hard on you, when you had a boss that didn't treat you well. What did you learn? And maybe more importantly, what could you have done differently? You might not be heading back to the workplace anytime soon, but let me tell you, the Lord, until the day that you go to be with him, he is not done conforming you into his image. So this applies to you as well. Okay, now that we've set the foundation of the importance of work, I wanna drill down into the heart of this passage, which is suffering through the misery of work. So point two in your outlines, then the misery of work. And I recognize this is a bit of a downer for an outline point, but just because work is important doesn't mean that it won't be miserable. In fact, God has promised that it will be hard and not in the good way either, but with toil and thistles and sweat, both figurative and real. Back in Ohio, I'm from Columbus, Ohio. Back in Ohio, one of my uncles is kind of a hobbyist farmer. At any one time, he might have 40 acres of corn or soybeans growing, and he's usually got 30 to 50 head of cattle that he just kind of keeps around. One time I was out in the barn with him, and kind of, frankly, tiptoeing around like a city kid, trying to not step in the cow patties, okay? I said, Uncle Dave, How do you avoid stepping in all this? He said quite matter of factly, you don't. The crap is just part of the work. But he didn't say crap. He used the more colorful version of that word. And the only reason I say that is that it seemed right that he did. He was calling a spade a spade. Work comes with that stuff and there's no way you can avoid stepping in it. It's just the deal. So let's see what Peter has to say. Verse 18, servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust, for this is a gracious thing. When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. I think this passage brings up a lot of questions. What does suffering at work look like? How can I know whether my suffering is my fault or if it's unjust? But first and foremost, why should I submit to my employer? Well, why should we be subject to our employers, both the just and the unjust? I'll give you a few reasons. First and foremost, God commands it. It says it right there, be subject to your masters with all respect. Number two, because it is for your growth in obedience. It's important that we learn obedience. Even Jesus had to learn obedience in a sense. Now he was always perfect, right? He was never sinful or disobedient. But as a human, he had to learn the full cost of obedience. That's why the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 5 verse 8, although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Number three, because of the faithful witness that it provides to a watching world. When we suffer well, when we suffer unjust treatment, the watching world sees and it provides such a great witness to the glory of who God is and how faithful he is to us. Paul wrote to Titus in chapter two, verse 10, that we want to adorn the gospel. And in first Timothy chapter six, verse one, that we submit so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. We want our workplace ethic. We want our workplace standard, the way we carry ourselves in the workplace to speak to the beauty of the good news. of Jesus' death and resurrection and of our new identity in Him. And the last reason I offer to you that we should submit to our employers is because God is sovereign and He has put you in this place with this boss over you. It is a great act of faith and belief in God that we actually trust Him when we submit to our employers, good and bad. So what does suffering look like then? I mean, you guys, I could probably ask you and have a hundred different examples very quickly, but let me just rattle off some that I've seen, not necessarily experienced myself, but some that I've seen. Unreasonable demands to work overtime, poor working conditions, demands to provide a work product for which you've not been given time or tools. Bosses taking credit for your work. Outrageous and unpredictable travel schedules. Office politics that are often referred to as chess make them sound like a game, but the reality is that if you aren't aligned with the right side, right, in air quotes, the right side, it can result in needing to find a new job. being overlooked time and again for a promotion. This is just a small sample, brothers and sisters, of the ways that employers can make it hard. Now, as a veteran of the Navy, I think of how hard, in almost every way, military service is. Long hours with no overtime or bonus. Lots of travel and time away from family. Almost a complete lack of control about where you're gonna be stationed next, where that next duty station will be. dangerous training evolutions to prepare for the real thing, and of course the very real possibility of making the ultimate sacrifice. It is a very difficult calling, but thankfully it is a very high calling and a very rewarding one. As Bentley preached some weeks ago, if we could kind of sum up what suffering looks like, Brent Bentley said this a number of weeks ago. Suffering doesn't always show up in the most obvious ways or always look severe. It comes in the forms of sorrows, pain, grief, annoyance, and affliction. So how can it happen? How do we come into suffering? Well, frankly, sometimes it's due to our own failures. And sometimes it is actually due to unjust bosses and employers. Now, I just want to quickly address those situations where we've brought the suffering on ourselves. Maybe it's bad decisions, who knows what. There are many ways that we can bring suffering on ourselves, but having been in the workplace for 20 years now, there's a few things to me that stand out. The first is laziness. This one is insidious and easy to justify. I mean, what's a few extra minutes at the water cooler or at lunch? I mean, after all, I really cranked it out yesterday. But what if your self-assessment doesn't align with your boss's? That's gonna be problematic for you. And ultimately, when it comes to laziness in the workplace, you're taking what's not yours. The trade that you're making with your employer is I'll come in, I'll work hard for you, and in exchange for that, you'll pay me. When you don't put out, you're taking away from what your employer, that deal that you've effectively made with your employer. Number two, I've seen a lot of bad attitudes, a lot of bad attitudes. Are you difficult to manage? Do you challenge everything your boss says? Maybe, here's the thing, maybe your boss is wrong, but most likely not. My suggestion to you is to choose self-control. Keep your opinions to yourself. Earn the right to speak through the quality of your work and through your service to your coworkers, through your servant leadership. When asked for your input, offer it in a spirit of cooperation and constructive criticism, not critique. And now if you've become cynical, and I don't mean just in the sort of normal course, a little bit of cynicism to kind of get you through the day, but if this is your modus operandi to get through the day, it's probably time to find another place to work. And it's probably time to repent as well. Lastly, speech. Do you speak poorly of your supervisors or other co-workers? As a plebe at the Naval Academy, I was required to memorize certain laws of the Navy. These are kind of like Navy proverbs. I only remember two, there were about 20 of them, but I only remember two now. And one of the ones that sticks in my mind goes like this. Take heed what you say of your seniors. Let your words be spoken softly or plain. Lest a bird of the air hear the matter, and so shall you hear it again. There just isn't any benefit in talking behind people's back. It's unconstructive. It's not helpful. And frankly, moreover, as a disciple of Jesus and a commission, one of his commissioned emissaries, to go out on his behalf, it's not how we act. Now, I want to give you grace if you're feeling a little convicted right now, okay? I want to give you grace. We are not perfect and the Lord knows this. That's not what I'm targeting here. I'm not talking about momentary lapses. What I'm talking about is when we demonstrate a pattern of these behaviors. As believers, we must not be defined by these things lest they sully the name of the Lord Jesus. If you find yourself in this place right now, reading this passage, it may feel hopeless. But I want to give you hope. The God who comforts those who are suffering unjustly is also the God who comforts those who've brought suffering on themselves. While it's not a gracious thing in God's eyes, He is not going to leave you alone. He is with you. Use this suffering to recognize your sin and to begin to break those patterns. And the first way to do that is to bear up under the suffering without complaining. But what about when our suffering is unjust? Bosses are not always fair, righteous, honorable, or act with integrity. In verse 18, Peter calls them unjust. It's interesting, the Greek word here for this is scholios, which is, you may already be thinking, it's the same base word from which we get the word to describe a crooked spine, scholiosis. There are crooked, perverse, wicked, unfair, surly, and unjust employers. Now, some of us have been shielded from this, or perhaps we have too rosy of a worldview, but the fact is people act unscrupulously, especially when money, career, and reputation are on the line. We always want to assume the best of others as believers. I think that's what the Lord calls us to, but we must also be wise. and shrewd about the condition of the human heart and what that means people are capable of. I'm not saying walk around in paranoia, but we do need to be wise. The good news is that God sees those who suffer unjustly with great favor. In fact, the phrase, this is a gracious thing begins and ends verses 19 and 20. It's what they call an inclusio. The NASB says finds favor. The New King James Version says, and the NIV both say, it is commendable. The New Living Translation says that God is pleased with you. I think Sam Storm summarizes it well. Peter is stating that favor and blessing from God come to those who cherish and treasure Him above earthly vindication or respect. It's interesting, isn't it? Comes to those who cherish and treasure him above earthly vindication or respect. So suffering can come from our own failures and bad decisions and sinful patterns. Suffering quite honestly and quite frankly, and I should say quite frequently rather, comes from bad bosses. So how do we suffer well at work? I want to give you some tools in your kit. to suffer well at work when things are not going well. And I'm going to give you a number of tools. And what I've personally found in my own life, not just in this particular situation, but just in general, Just like when you're working on a project, you need the right tool for the right job. And that's why you got a tool belt. There's a lot of different tools, right? And so I'm going to give you a bunch of different tools that are going to fit for different scenarios and hopefully help you in those scenarios. So the first one is this. Let's go back to verse 13 of chapter 2 in 1 Peter. And what do we see there? It's actually kind of the anchor, quite frankly. This is the anchor for our submission. Verse 13, it says, be subject, what? For the Lord's sake. You want to be subject for the Lord's sake. If we go back even farther to chapter 1 and remember who we are, we are the blood-bought, ransomed people of God, exiles from our true country, that is, heaven, children of the Most High God, whom we approach with reverent fear and awe. In fact, it was for our sake that Jesus has been made manifest. Thus, when we see back in verse 13 of chapter 2 here that we are submit for the Lord's sake, we say, yes, Lord. I am yours. You hold it all, including my life. You are in control. And for your glory and in obedience to you, I submit to this awful boss. So first for the Lord's sake, second, that we ought to be mindful of God. Verse 19 tells us that when suffering unjustly, we should be mindful of God, literally on account of conscience toward God. This ties back to, for the Lord's sake, just above, and also to Colossians 3, chapter three, verse 23. We ought to be working as unto the Lord, not unto men. And I alluded to this earlier, but I'll say it again here. In the most difficult situations, there may be no greater act of belief in God than to submit to the unjust employer he has put over you. John MacArthur said it like this, it is ultimately far more important to God that believers demonstrate their submission to his sovereignty in every area of life than that they protest against problems at their workplace. Number three, do not repay evil for evil. 1 Peter 3 9, we'll see here in a few weeks, echoes Jesus' command in the Sermon on the Mount to turn the other cheek. Peter writes, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you have been called. Sam Storms again says, bearing up under unjust suffering, shines a bright and breathtaking light on the grace, glory, and value of God, such that people who by nature seek their own justice, are happy to wait and let God sort it out. Number four, remember that you are not alone in your suffering. 1 Peter 5, verse nine says this, resist him, speaking of the devil, resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. That's why we pray for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for Jesus' sake. You also know that when you're suffering at work or in the workplace under an unjust boss, you are not the only one who's ever gone through that, nor will you be the last, and that there are many brothers and sisters like you who are going through that at the same time. And number five, if we cheat just a little bit and look ahead at verse 21, We are to remember that it is our calling. He says for to this you have been called. It is inevitable. It's going to happen. I alluded to this earlier. First Peter Chapter 4 verse 12 the fiery trial. Don't be surprised. Paul says it this way in his second letter to Timothy Chapter 3 verse 12 Indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. So we've seen the meaning of our work, we've seen misery at work, but what about the master of our work? What is Jesus? Where does Jesus fit into all of this? In his concluding thoughts on suffering, Peter points to the master, to Jesus, as the example. par excellence for our suffering at work. Now I think so often when we hear about suffering, our minds typically go right to the cross. And we think about Jesus on the cross. We think about even the 24 hours leading up to the cross where he was beaten and mocked and scorned. We think about him hanging on the cross. But Jesus' suffering didn't start at the cross. It began when he entered humanity. Philippians 2 tells us about his suffering. If you want to, you can flip over to Philippians 2, verses 5 through 8. This is, I'm sure, a passage that will be familiar to many of you. I think it's very appropriate for this morning. in keeping for us to understand about Jesus' suffering and why he is the best example for us to follow. Verse five, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to hold on to. So he set that aside by taking on the form of a servant, a common worker, even a carpenter. He followed in his earthly father's footsteps into carpentry. And then he set his side as tools. And he taught about the kingdom of God. And he healed the lame. And he healed the blind. And he healed the sick. All the while, he was accused of being demon possessed. Of breaking God's law. Jesus suffered at the hands of unjust leaders. The people who should have recognized him first. were the first to reject him. Of all the tools I offer you to suffer well at work, this is the greatest one. We have a master who can sympathize with our weaknesses and our sufferings, and at the same time is also Lord over them all. He holds it all, every last bit. But thankfully, Jesus' suffering wasn't just an example. I mean, in fact, providing an example, that wasn't his primary mission. So he humbled himself even further by becoming obedient to the point of death. Obedient to who, you might ask? God the Father. He trusted God so completely that he was obedient to suffer an unjust death at the hands of evil leaders. And what was the result of his suffering? Well, let's look at verses nine through 11. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus' suffering far exceeded anything we will ever experience, and yet we are called to follow in his footsteps. But before we can even follow Jesus, we must submit to him as Lord and master of not just our work, but of our lives. If we only look to Jesus as our example of how to suffer well, we've actually missed the whole point. His suffering on the cross brings forgiveness of sins. It removes the great divide between us and God. And it gives us His own righteousness so that we can stand before God as if we had never sinned. It gives us, as Peter says, a living hope. that we are His own people, His own possession, the sheep of His pasture. His death and resurrection assures us that when we suffer trials at work and we give them up to Him, God also looks upon them with great favor, just like He did His exalted Son. But in order to gain that living hope, We must die to ourselves, repent of our sin, take up our cross, and follow him. Reformer John Calvin, I think, summarizes it well. In order to live with him, we must previously die with him. I wanna wrap up this morning with a story about a person who's probably a lot like a lot of us. this morning in this room and maybe even listening later online. Her name's Gaia Clark. Gaia was planning to retire early from her nursing career. In fact, she spent most of her nursing career, this may resonate with some of you, she spent most of her nursing career praying and planning to leave it. Then her husband died during an open-heart surgery and thoughts of early retirement and a full-time job of homemaking vanished. People comforted her to think of life without her husband as the new normal. She called it the not my plan plan. Instead of seeing the lives she was impacting at the hospital, she thought of the 12 hour shifts that hurt her back and feet. Her children's tears when she dropped them off at daycare. The school volunteer sign up sheets that she had to let go by. and the women's Bible studies that she could not attend. Those were the things that she saw. She relates the following story. Once, a younger nurse approached me and said, I'd like to ask an older nurse a question. I raised an eyebrow, when you find one, ask her. The younger nurse hung her head and started to walk away. I sighed, hold on, hold on, what do you need? We walked into a patient's room and battled a troublesome IV, held his hand, and laughed at his jokes. I looked up, blinked back tears, and smiled. She frowned. What's wrong? I said, it's just the first time I've laughed at work in a long time. Thank you. In helping this young nurse, Gaia turned a corner and endeavored to find the light in her work, even in the difficulty. She invested in younger nurses. She began to see that some of the very rules and policies that she railed against actually made good sense. She stayed long enough to see many of her mistakes turn into object lessons that the hospital then turned into policy. She began to see that all things work together for good. Even an unplanned death and the ensuing heartbreak. That God had been with her all along. She embraced the saying, the sorrows of this calling make the nurse. And I don't wonder if it's the same for some of us in our respective callings. The sorrows, the sufferings, make us who we are. With the birth of her granddaughter, she stepped down from her job to move closer. And in the end, she said this about her 30 year career as a nurse. Work is not a call to meaning and significance, so much as a call to die to self on behalf of others. Christ did this for us. Are we not to follow in his steps? Please stand with me as we pray. Father, we thank you so much for these words, your word from Peter this morning, where we know that some of these words may have been hard to hear this morning, Lord, but I pray that we would see that as you pruning us, you bringing us more into the image of your son, Jesus. And Lord, as we think of Jesus, we think of wanting to follow in his footsteps, to follow his example, to trace his letters and do as he does. So we look to the cross, not only as an example of suffering father, but we look to it for our salvation. And we're thankful for the salvation that you have given us in your son, Jesus. Lord bless us now as we go forth in your name. Amen.