Sermon for Labor Day, 2013
St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish,
Tucson, AZ
The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse,
September 1, 2013
Lectionary readings for the day,
click here.
Sermon based on Gospel According
to Matthew
6:19-24
May the words of my
mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable to You, our strength
and our redeemer. Amen
When I
was a child, Labor Day was a play day –
a time
to hang out with friends,
enjoy a
last summer swim, and
make homemade
ice cream.
It
sometimes coincided with my mother’s birthday,
so we thought
the holiday was for her.
As we
commemorate Labor Day in our worship, we explore how we offer our ‘labor’ to
bring about God’s kingdom – how God is calling us toward heavenly aspirations.
Labor
Day – this day of rest and respect –
actually
emerged out of conflict.
First
celebrated in Boston
in 1882 by the Central Labor Union, it became a federal holiday in 1894.
President
Cleveland signed it into law to reconcile
with the
labor movement following a deadly encounter
during
the Pullman strike –
a
confrontation between labor unions and railroads.[1]
That conflicting
labor movement,
often facilitated
by Christian leaders,
brought
about many of the benefits and rights
that we appreciate
today: vacations, holidays, health care,
workers
comp, days off, disability,
protection
from discrimination, fair pay, and
collective
bargaining.
This year
marks 100-years of the Dept of Labor,
established
in 1913 by President Taft, giving workers
a direct
seat in the President's Cabinet for the first time.[2]
In 1933,
Episcopalian Frances Perkins (the first woman appointed to the President’s
Cabinet) served as
secretary
of labor. She was the principal architect of
·
the
Social Security Act of 1935
·
maximum
hour laws
·
a
federal minimum wage
·
regulations
on child labor and
·
unemployment
insurance
(Incidentally,
she won the Golden Halo award this year
in the whimsical, online “Lent Madness” competition.[3])
Labor
Day is more than symbolic.
It reflects
a prophetic concern for justice of hard working people, the poor and the
vulnerable in work and in service.
The collect
for today asks God’s blessing on our linked lives,
and asks
for guidance in all work we do,
“…that
we may do it not for self alone,
but for
the common good and,
as we
seek a proper return for our own labor,
make us
mindful of the rightful aspirations of [all] workers…”
It is to
these “rightful aspirations” that we turn today
in the
gospel text, which occurs during Jesus’
“Sermon
On The Mount.”
During
this part of Jesus’ sermon, he is describing what community life is like in
God’s economy,
(as
opposed to the world’s economy).
This has
radical implications for the disciples.
Jesus confronts
cultural and economic norms
“Do not
store up treasures on earth…
store up
treasures in heaven.”
He sets
up a dualism between
earth
and heaven,
temporary
goods and permanent goods,
serving
things and serving God.
With classic
hyperbolic language,
Jesus points
to the “rightful aspirations” of the disciples.
Perhaps
in the midst of Jesus’ Sermon, he felt
the
disciples needed reminders
about why
they were serving to begin with.
Jesus shifts
the disciples’ orientation,
their “aspirations,”
away from
“what they got” as a result of their labor
to “whom are they serving.”
pause
In spite
of all the changes between then and now,
some
things remain the same.
I wonder
if we, too, need clarity of purpose–
reminders
of our aspirations?
Have you
ever wondered, like me,
if your labor,
your service, matters?
Or
thought,
Can I
trust that in serving God my needs will be met?
Jesus’
teachings has radical implications for us disciples.
For one
thing, it is really hard to take into account God’s will
in the
midst of a culture that revolves around economics,
the need
to have money, and a greed to have more.
It is
hard to give whole-heartedly in an employment culture that often shows lack of
concern for
the
conditions of workers.
Does it
strike you as ironic that stores offer Labor Day sales, even while the original
reason for Labor Day
was to offer
rest and respect for workers?
It seems
our culture’s Labor Day aspirations are to
“store
up for ourselves treasures on earth.”
As I
hear the text of the gospel today,
I hear Jesus
asking us to shift our orientation,
our
aspirations,
away
from “what we get” as a result of our labor
to “whom
we are serving.”
pause
When the
disciples make that shift, toward the grace of heaven, they find Jesus
sanctifies their kingdom labor.
Throughout
the Gospel of Matthew,
Jesus
reminds the disciples
“the
kingdom of heaven has come near” –
in fact,
it was already arriving!
Jesus invited
the disciples
to view the
world
through God’s clear eye, with lightness.
to live in
God’s economy
with treasure in their heart
to find
meaning for their labor
outside themselves – in God’s kingdom.
In other
words, Jesus taught the disciples that
the
compensation for their labor,
is God’s
gracious, everlasting and faithful
heaven.
pause
It is
God’s desire to use our every day activities
to create a more just and vibrant world.
It is
God’s desire to sanctify your work and your service.
Author,
educator, and spiritual activist Parker Palmer says,
“The
power of a fully lived life
…comes
only as we let go of what we possess
and find
ourselves possessed
by a
truth greater than our own.”
And in
being possessed by that truth greater than our own, Palmer reminds us,
“Our
strongest gifts are usually those
we are barely aware of possessing.
They are a part of our God given nature,
with us from the moment we drew first breath,
and we are no more conscious of having them
than we are of breathing.”[4]
pause
Today, Jesus
reminds us that all gifts offered
in
service of God’s reign is sacred - the labor of
workers,
leaders, employers, blue-collar, white-collar, no-collar,
paid and
unpaid, employees and volunteers.
The
labor of
parents,
siblings, co-workers,
citizens,
educators, musicians,
knitters,
care-givers, pray-ers,
candlestick
polishers, chief executive officers, politicians,
lawyers,
students, farmers,
gardeners,
chefs, librarians,
architects,…
All
labor in God’s reign is sacred.
The
first reading today from 2nd century B.C. Ecclesiasticus,
emphasizes
this very idea:
“All
these rely on their hands, and
all are
skillful in their own work.
Without
them no city can be inhabited, and
wherever
they live, they will not go hungry.”
Which is
why today and tomorrow, we can thank people who labor for us. Take a moment to
thank folks for their service.
If you
ever thought that your small part
does not
matter, think again.
Brother
Lawrence,
who
served in a Carmelite Monastery in the 1600’s
became
known after his death
in a
short but profound memoir,
The
Practice of the Presence of God.[5]
Br
Lawrence worked in the monastery kitchen.
There, with
the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning
at the
constant demands of his superiors,
he
developed his rule of spirituality and work.
For
Brother Lawrence, “common business,”
was how
he found and experienced God’s presence.
He said,
“…the
sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less
than the motivation behind it.”
“…is it [not]
that we should have great things to do…
We can
do little things for God;
I turn
the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him,
and that
done, if there is nothing else to call me,
I
prostrate myself in worship before him,
who has
given me grace to work;
afterwards
I rise happier than a king.
It is
enough for me to pick up
but a
straw from the ground for the love of God."
Brother Lawrence knew for whom he served;
he felt that having a proper aspirations about tasks
made every detail of his possess surpassing value.[6]
He reminds us that
what you do matters –
no matter how big or small –
in service of God’s reign.
God sanctifies our work, our service, our labor.
God
links our lives to bring about God’s reign, God’s kingdom-come-near, which is that
place where, as our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says,
“where
no one goes hungry
because
everyone is invited to a seat at the groaning board,
…where
no one is sick or in prison because all sorts of disease have been healed,
…where
every human being has the capacity to use every good gift that God has given,
…where
no one enjoys abundance at the expense of another,
…where
all enjoy Sabbath rest in the conscious presence of God…”[7]
All labor
is sacred.
That’s
where our treasure is.
That’s
where our heart is.
May God bless
our heavenly labor.
Amen.
[1] Excerpt
From Bruce Epperly, “Seeking God’s shalom: Reflections on Labor Day,” at http://bit.ly/18pVI60 cited on August 30, 2013
[2] Excerpt
from Department of Labor’s centennial website, at http://1.usa.gov/15lEzj5 cited on August
30, 2013
[3] As noted
on http://bit.ly/18pYUyF cited on August
30, 2013
[4] Parker
Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the
Voice of Vocation. (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass., 2000) p. 52
[5] This short book can be found at bookstores
everywhere and online at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5657 cited
on August 30, 2013
[6] Bio of Brother Lawrence excerpt from http://bit.ly/195fqWV
on August 30, 2013
[7] Katharine Jefferts
Schori, 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States
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