Scriptures: Epistle: I Corin.3:9-14; 58:18; Gospel: John 13:12-15; 34-35
A pastor once
invited some of his members from various professions to meet with him to dialog
about their work and the role of faith. The
group included an office worker, a corporate manager, a salesperson, a lawyer,
a teacher, and several in public service.
After a brief sharing of what each did for a living, he asked them this
question: “How does your faith impact what you do in your work?” That’s a profound
and insightful question. Here’s another
way to ask the question: “What does what we do on Sunday have to do with the
other six days of the week?” I think
that is a good question for us to consider on this Labor Day Weekend.
This federal
holiday that celebrates the economic and social contributions of
workers across our nation was first observed in 1894. Labor Day is always the first Monday of September and for most of us, provides
an opportunity for a three-day weekend. It is generally viewed as the
end of summer vacations and more leisurely activities. But Labor Day is more than observing a holiday. It also causes us to
focus on the word labor and what it means for our lives. I invite you to
consider the meaning of labor as addressed
in scriptures, and its implications for Christian living.
The word labor appears numerous times in
scriptures. The first is from Exodus in the Old Testament: "Six days you
shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest.” These words are among the most familiar
relating to labor because they are in the Ten Commandments. The term “hard labor”
is found numerous times in the books of the Old Testament and relate to what the
Israelites endured while in captivity. The
Psalmist wrote: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its
builders labor in vain.” (Ps.127)
But the word labor takes on new meaning in the New
Testament. In John’s gospel, we find these words spoken by Jesus to his
disciples: “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done
the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (4:38 NIV)
In the New
Testament, labor refers to not only tasks performed by slaves out of necessity
for wages, but more importantly as the work of
faith and acts of love. During
the final week of his ministry, Jesus y taking on the role of servant and
washing his disciples feet prior to the celebrating the Passover Meal offered
his disciples an example of servanthood. In so doing he offered them an example of servant
love in action in addressing the needs of others. Then he gave them a new commandment that
continues to challenge us who seek to be his disciples today: “Love one another as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are my
disciples.”
The
Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Church at
Thessalonica, “We continually remember before our God and Father your
work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance
inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Such words speak of faithfulness
to the mandates of discipleship.
Paul is known as the
chief missionary and theologian of the newly formed faith that centered in the life,
teachings and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In today’s epistle reading, he addresses the Christians in the community of faith in Corinth. The city of Corinth was one of moral
decay. Its people were greatly
influenced by many pagan philosophies and practices. Many lived by the popular concept of that
day, “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.” The quality of life
was an all-time low. Those first century Christians had so much to
learn about the newly formed faith in Christ as taught by Paul, and there were many voices of that day offering advice concerning religious practices and rituals. There was dissention and quarrelling among believes in the Corinth church because of
the differences sand divided loyalties. Some
believers were convinced that the end of time was near and they simply quit work and awaited the second coming. Others wanted to know more about God's requirements and expectations of them as followers of Jesus,
and sought to be obedient to the mandates of faith. And a few recognized that there was a connection between faith and works. It was sometime later that James wrote
in his letter “faith without works is dead.” He wanted to make a strong statement that what
one believes should impact how one lives.
But Paul offers even a deeper
insight for us on the meaning of labor and the implications for Christian
living in his writings to the Church in Corinth: “The man who plants
and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to
his own labor. (1Corin. 3:8 NIV) He also wrote these words of challenge to
them: “Therefore,
my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves
fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is
not in vain." (1Corin. 15:58 NIV)
From the beginning of Christianity, Christ's followers sought to understand the implications of their faith and beliefs faith upon daily life. Christianity was not just a ritual to be followed. Being Christian involved more than obedience to certain religious practices and faithful attendance at worship. Paul reminded them that to follow Christ involved a commitment to a
lifestyle of sacrificial love that covered all aspects of life, their work, or
leisure, every day of the week.
Christ through his
life and teachings offered a new interpretation to life, faith and work. And those who responded to his message were
transformed. Some, like Matthew, the tax
collector, even changed their occupations because of the requirements of
faithful disciple-ship. Others changed
their practices within their occupations because Christ’s way led to practice a
morality based on honesty, love and compassion for others. Unfortunately, in many cases today, religion is practiced only on Sunday
morning, if then. But our religion, the
core of our faith and beliefs, should inspire and drive us, inform and form who
we are and all that we do. Our faith should be present in the values we affirm
in our politics, in the activities we enter into in our spare time, in the ways
we spend our money, and, in all that we do. The challenge of faithful
living is to ask: “Can others see Christ at work in us?”
The challenges we face
today are many. We are living in a day in which work practices and the very
ethical fiber of our society are being challenged. Young people are often confused because adults
have failed to project stable moral and
ethical standards. One of the greatest challenges facing the Christian church
today is to make faith relevant in the work place. If Christianity is to
survive, it will not depend on what we do on Sunday in church, but on what we
do during the week outside the church. When what we profess in our creeds finds
expression in our deeds, more people will want what the Christian faith and church
have to offer.
Have you heard about
Change the World RVA? Let me tell
you a little about it, for it is a story about labors of love. It’s an organization I’m working with
that began a little more than a year ago as a part of Bon Air UMC’s mission ministry. Our mission is “to provide
unconditional nurture, support and hope to students in unstable housing situations
through transforming relationships, inspiring positive personal and societal
change.” The focus is on helping homeless high school students in Richmond to
become more self-sufficient. Their needs are many -- food, clothing, shelter, school
supplies, and transportation. The needs are over-whelming and ever-expanding. Even so, a small group of Christians are
respond-ing to make a difference in the lives of these students by volunteering
as mentors, tutors, drivers, and contributing financially. Almost a hundred persons from several partner churches
are now engaged in this unique ministry to make life better for these students.
Through Christ-like acts of loving kindness and caring relationships, needs are
being met and lives transformed, not only among the students helped, but in the
lives of those who offer themselves through labors of love.
George McLeod, a British
clergyman and founder of industrial chaplaincy in England, has written these
words: “I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the
center of the market place as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write
his title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek… at the kind of place where cynics talk
smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where he died. And that is what he died for. And that is what he died about. That
is where [the] church ought to be and what [the] church ought to be about."
Here we are, gathered on a Sunday morning, joined
together in a community of faith to share in Holy Communion. When our service
of worship is over, we will go our separate ways to live life guided by what we
profess and believe. The Apostle Paul
offers us a departing challenge: “Therefore, my dear
brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the
work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is
not in vain.” (1 Corin. 15:58) Indeed,
when all has been said and done, it is the labor performed through Christ-like
acts of love and kindness towards others that will last and live on forever.
So I leave you with the question that I raised at the
beginning of my message: “What does what we do on
Sunday have to do with the other six days of the week?” It’s up to you to answer that question as you
leave this place. May God help you find
an answer. Amen.
