A, Labor Day (Observed) A Labor Day Sermon

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 The Rev. Blake Hutson

Matt. 6:19-24

Prayer: In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Once, a fellow stopped at a rural gas station and, after filling his tank, he bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and he watched a couple of men working along the roadside.

One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along some distance behind him and filled in the hole. So, while the first man was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old. After watching for awhile, the traveler couldn’t take it any more. "Hold it, hold it," the fellow said to the men. "Can you tell me what's going on here with this digging?"

"Well, we work for the city government," one of the men said. "But one of you is digging a hole and the other is filling it up. You're not accomplishing anything. Aren't you wasting the county's money?" the man replied.

"You don't understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping sweat from his brow. "Normally there's three of us, me, Joe and Mike. I dig the hole, Joe sticks in the tree and Mike here puts the dirt back." "Now just because Joe is sick and not here to plant the tree, that doesn't mean we can't work, does it?"

Tomorrow is Labor Day, a national holiday. It is meant to be a national day of rest for America’s workers. Of course, tomorrow is technically a secular holiday, but when this day rolls around, we celebrate Labor Day at St. Philip’s every year. We do that today with our Collect, our Readings, our opening and closing hymn. This holiday reminds us something we all know: No matter what type of work we do, we give much of our time, we give our energy, and much of our lives to the work we do.

We remember this day liturgically because our work, or the work we’ve devoted our lives to doing, is important. Through our work we contribute to an organization, a company, a city and a community. Think of all the people you’ve known through your work over the years, the number of lives that have intersected with yours. We touch other people’s lives everyday with the work we do. The work we do connects to our Christian faith. What we do between Sundays, Monday thru Friday matters to God.

Many Christians may not have been taught or been trained to see their labor as holy—as something sacred or God given. If not, then that’s a shortcoming, a mistake on our part in the Church. The ministers of the Church aren’t just those who wear clerical collars. The ministers of the Church are all of us, all who follow Christ. What you do during the week is ministry. In fact…it’s your ministry. Whether you are retired or still working, whether you work inside or outside the home, God uses your labor; God works through you to make a positive difference. Each of us partner with God, so that we participate in doing God's work in the world. God is at work in each of us. God is at work in you and through you for the sake of this world that God loves so much.

We are privileged to have different types of work that we do. We work inside and outside the home, we may have a career or occupation with which we support our family; some work we do out of love (such as caring for children or family members or being involved in a ministry here at Church); some work we do out of choice, such as hobby which serves as an outlet for the other types of work we do. Hopefully on some level we enjoy and find fulfillment in the work we do and the work we have done in the past. For us, as Christians, work is an opportunity: an opportunity to put our God given talents and abilities to good use, a God given opportunity to serve others and a God given opportunity to provide for our families.

This Labor Day weekend, can also be a difficult holiday for some, especially those who want to be employed but are unable to find work. Later this week on Thursday night, President Obama will deliver a speech about his plans for spurring the economy and creating jobs. There has been much anticipation and build up to this speech, but all of our lawmakers in Washington have their work cut out for them. Nationally, the unemployment rate remains at just over 9% and the underemployment rate (those who are employed part time but would like to find full time employment) is over 16%. Economists say that officially we aren’t in a Recession, but much depends on our vantage point and how our family and our finances have been affected. As we know, countless numbers of Americans, many here in our own community, continue to be affected by the stubbornly slow economy. This Labor Day we remember those who find themselves in difficult circumstances and are out of work. We also remember those working in harsh conditions, underpaid, exploited, and those discriminated against. We remember them this Labor Day weekend, because God remembers them. God would have us work for them, toward justice and equality.

Though Labor Day is a celebration and recognition of our work and labor, the scriptures remind us that the God we serve is also at work: God is at work in our church, our community and in each of our lives. As Episcopalians, one approach for us is to look for how God is already at work in our everyday life and join in what God is already doing. We can pray for God to give us eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to sense what God is doing in this community and in what God is doing in our lives. The incarnation of Jesus Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit reveal that God is present any and every place that we Christians find ourselves. This means God is present in our workplace, present in our homes, present in this community in which we live and present in this place, our Church. A pastor once asked her church: "Where is the church on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m.?"  Answering her own question, she said, “The church will be wherever you are!”

Part of God’s work, God’s activity in our lives can also mean that from time to time we are led in new directions. Many of us change jobs; we go back to school for new training or another degree. We change or start new careers. The work we do and the roles we undertake can change over a lifetime as we learn new things and as God leads us in new directions.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages us not to ‘store up treasures for ourselves on earth, where moth and rust consume and thieves break in and steal,’ instead, he encourages us to store up ‘treasures in heaven.’ (Matthew 6:19-20). Let me encourage you this Labor Day weekend to think of the work you do in a new light. Let me suggest that God may have led you and (maybe) called you to do the work you are doing or have done in life. God may lead you in a new direction sometime soon, or God may have you doing that work for a particular reason.

When we have this perspective—that we are doing the work that God has led us to do; When we carry out that work mindful of God’s presence in the work we do, we aren’t working for a company, corporation or business. Rather, we are working with a higher purpose in mind. Looking for and being aware of God’s presence in our work allows God to work through us. When God is working in and through us, then we are doing what Jesus described--storing up for ourselves ‘Treasures in heaven.”

We allude to this in the beginning of our Eucharistic liturgy. In the portion called the Sanctus we recite words from Scripture: Gathered around the table, together we say: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (BCP, 362). Originally taken from Psalm 118 (vs. 26), these words were shouted by the crowd as they waved palm branches when Jesus entered Jerusalem (Mark 11:9, John 12:13). The crowds wanted to praise Jesus because they believed he was from God and doing God’s work. As we know, Jesus went on to do God’s redeeming work at the cross. We recite these words each week, remembering what Jesus did and also taking these words for our own. As we say these words, many of us make the sign of the cross over ourselves. We do this as a sign of blessing. We take these words for our own because we are part of God’s redeeming work. In addition, we believe that we are blessed …when we come in the name of the Lord. We are favored and commended by God when we look for God in our work and approach what we are doing in God’s name.

This Labor Day weekend, remember the work we do whether around our home or at the office, work volunteering at church or volunteering in the community; work helping a neighbor or being a good friend – our work matters to God and makes a difference in the world, a difference in the community and a difference in the lives of those we work with. God uses your efforts, your labor to make a positive difference.

This Labor Day weekend, take a moment and reflect on how God is working in your life and how God may want to work through you.

Enjoy your Labor Day holiday.

Amen.