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Eve & the Sacrifice of Work
Posted on July 31st, 2013 No comments“The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the Lord; it was paid to the workmen, who used it to repair the temple. They did not require any accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty.”
2 Kings 12:13-15
I went to a performance of “Before: An Evening of Original Monologues”, produced by the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (www.girls-gems.org). They told the story of what happened before a 14 year old girl, Eve, became a commercially sexually exploited child. It illustrated how circumstances can combine to put a young girl in danger of being recruited by a pimp.
The young female writers were quite thoughtful, explaining that while they didn’t want to make anyone the “bad guy”, they wanted to show that different professionals had a chance to go “above & beyond” to help Eve – but didn’t. The police officer who investigated domestic violence reports at Eve’s house was angry because Eve’s mom wouldn’t prosecute Eve’s dad. She could have given Eve’s mom a referral, but didn’t. Eve’s schoolteacher was concerned enough to call social services when Eve started skipping school, but never took Eve aside to ask her what was going on or offer help. The social services caseworker who investigated Eve’s home closed the case prematurely because she was underpaid, overworked, had clients who were “worse. Also, she didn’t think it was important to investigate further just because a straight-A student suddenly started missing days from school. She could have done a more thorough investigation, but didn’t. Eve & her mom were mandated to see a therapist, who had a gut feeling that Eve was raped; but the therapist was angry because Eve & her mom never returned for more services. She thought they were uncooperative and didn’t want services. She could have interviewed Eve separately to see if she would open up, but didn’t.
God convicted me through Before, because I work in human services. I’m neither a therapist nor child abuse investigator, but I relate. I saw Before at the end of a frustrating work-week that left me thinking about how disrespectful, indifferent, ungrateful and needy my clients are. I was looking forward to formally closing their cases. I was reminded that my job is not about me, but about honoring Him and serving His creation. If I do my work as a sacrifice to the Lord, He’ll compensate me.
“Stay in that house,
eating and drinking whatever they give you,
for the worker deserves his wages.”
Luke 10:7