Sermon Snippet – Ant Anthem
INTRODUCTION – Not too long after my father died, I had the privilege of preaching to hundreds of people in a large area church. I mentioned my dad as I closed the message and quoted something that he regularly said. After the service, a gentleman spoke to me, relayed that he had recently lost his dad, and thanked me for “honoring” (his word) my father. It is easy for me to fulfill the commandment of Ephesians 6:2a: “Honour thy father and mother”; they were always good to me (and my mother still is). As I think of my father, I remember him as a hard and gifted worker. I then lift my thoughts even higher and come to the words of Jesus in John 5:17: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” The Triune Godhead is ever at work. When we labor, we are following our Lord God’s exemplary example.
1. EVEN THE TINY ANT WORKS
Proverbs 6:6 is frank and forthright: “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” The language is strong, for a sluggard needs to be shocked out of his slothfulness. Verses 7-11 extend the imagery, pointing out the necessity of work and its positive results. “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings” is not a Bible verse, but the principle is Biblical (see, for example, I Timothy 5:13, 15). At the very least, work keeps us from rioting in the streets. At its best, work is emulative of God, personally meaningful, beneficial to society, and supportive of the family (I Timothy 5:8). Work is inherently valuable, for it is inherent in the character of God.
2. THE ANTS EVEN WORK TOGETHER
Proverbs 30:25 says, “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” An ant hill looks chaotic, but the energetic emmets are laboring diligently and together, with the common goal of survival. Teamwork is a Biblical concept. Psalm 133:1 reveals the appropriate attitude: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” The outcome of such “unity” will be like the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day; that labor probably resembled at times the seeming disorganization of an ant hill, but “the people had a mind to work” and “the wall was finished… in fifty and two days” (Nehemiah 4:6c; 6:15). That God would provide us such a detailed cataloging of this event reveals the high value He places upon our work.
CONCLUSION – Our work, of course, cannot match God’s. Especially we think of the work of God the Son, Jesus Christ: “I have glorified Thee [the Father] on earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4). Our Savior was speaking of His death on the Cross the very next day, where He would state, “It is finished” (John 19:30). This substitutionary atonement secured our salvation – that is, if each one of us chooses to trust fully and solely in Him. Then, we can work well. Like the Apostle Paul, we can finish that work (II Timothy 4:7), certain that “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10). May I close with my dad’s simple blessing upon each one of you: “May deep content and happiness bless everything you do. May God smile down on all the paths that lie ahead of you.”