September 6th is LABOR SUNDAY and since its adoption at the Federation of Labor’s convention in 1909 has been designated as such on church calendars. Most folks think of Labor Day Monday (well the whole weekend for that matter) as a calendar marker heralding the end of summer, a day devoted to LEISURE, fun, family outings, trips to the beach, barbecues, picnics, and parties. It means school has begun again along with football season.
But Labor Sunday and Labor Day Monday deserve more than an identity with the end of summer and the beginning of school.
The very word LABOR has kept company with such precedents as “slave,” “cheap,” “day,” “hard,” and “difficult.” When coupled with the word “skilled,” it still refers to work that is not, customarily performed by the intelligencia--for pay anyway. Consequently, Labor in all of its incarnations has a tendency to be undervalued by society. But isn’t it also true that when we create something, or build something we are elated, triumphant, proclaiming proudly to all who will listen: “I made it with my own hands” or when we fix something: “I fixed it all by myself!” as if laboring with our hands and our bodies is a feat of great daring, worthy of applause, but only when we are not being paid to do it.
As a Nurse I spent most of my working years laboring at the bedside of my patients doing hands on nursing. In the intensive care unit I had two patients to care for and it was my job to care for them intensively-- in detail. As a matter of fact I came to refer to myself as a “patient detailer.” I saw to it that they were pain free, clean and comfortable in the best condition possible. When my shift was over at 7:30 in the morning I would look upon my two charges as if they were pieces of fine art and say: “Now those patients have been taken care of by ME!” It was a moment of satisfaction and pride, a moment I had earned through years of learning and honing my craft. Yet, a nurse would never be referred to as a “laborer”, or more pejoratively as a “working class stiff.”
We err when we define the word LABOR too narrowly. I think LABOR ought not to be about class distinctions. It is about investment—the investment of ourselves. The laborers in the vineyard of Matthew’s parable chapter 20:1-15, invested confidence in the owner of the vineyard that he would be true to his word to pay them for whatever effort they made. They invested their backs, their hands, and their hours in varied lengths performing the tasks assigned to them and at the end of the day they received what they had been promised by the vineyard owner. The metaphor of God’s vineyard/creation and our role as laborers in it really applies to anything and everything we commit to. In God’s vineyard we are not slave, cheap, or day laborers. We are the designated majordomos. That is, we are not only the laborers, but the stewards and responsible caretakers who have a stake in how well the vineyard does because we are privileged to partake of all that the vineyard yields. It doesn’t belong to us, nevertheless it requires our commitment.
ALL LABOR, THEN, IS ABOUT CARETAKING. We invest our ability to care in that which has been entrusted to us. Thus OUR LABOR is our willing investment in something to bring about the best outcome. The value of the outcome is not measured by the amount we are paid for our invested labor: skill, sweat, or time. Laboring, investing ourselves is what is valuable.
Perhaps we may celebrate LABOR SUNDAY best by acknowledging that we —humankind --are God’s Labor of love. Not one thing we do, not one decision we make in this life, affects only us. We are all laborers in God’s vineyard; no matter what our work is we are to be caretakers. When we think only of ourselves, how well we shall live, or what degree of opulence we deserve, we only do harm to the creation and each other. So let us let our lives be our labor of love to the glory of God. When we invest our best no matter what the labor(s): our families, our jobs, our relationships, our church, our intellect, our hobbies or our spirituality, we are being good stewards of what has been entrusted to our care.
The Preacher, the author of Ecclesiastes, writes in chapter 3 verse 12: “I know that there is nothing better for them [humankind] than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
Hope to see you in church on Labor Sunday. If you like, wear work clothes.
On LABOR DAY Monday indulge in lots of LEISURE, which was exactly the intention of the day when it was established over 100 years ago, because leisure 100 years go was something laborers had very little of.
Have a Leisurely Labor Day.
Blessings,
Rev, Amanda
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