Labor, Not In Vain Labor Day Reflection 2013 Based on Genesis 2:2, Exodus 23:12, Matthew 11:28, Luke 12:27 By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD, Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy missionstsergius.org “Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.”(Exodus 23:12) “On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” (Genesis 2:2) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these”(Luke 12:27) All of the above passages refer to labor and/or the need for people to rest from their labors. On this Labor Day weekend, I felt compelled to examine how we look upon labor and what we consider important to labor for. At one time in my youth the only thing that people did on a Sunday was go to church and spend time with family and friends. That was before our society began the progression into materialism and greed that seems to permeate our society today. Today, even a national holiday that is supposed to honor all who labor and a holiday that at one time almost every store was closed to give the workers time off, we find the day turned over to Super Sales and enticements to go shopping. The papers are filled with ‘Labor Day Sales”. The holiday meant to give the average worker a day off, with pay, to enjoy their family has turned into a day where people are required to do the same old thing they do every day, work, work and more work. In Exodus 23:12 God directs people to take time off to rest, and in verse 16 God tells the Israelites “Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.” This is God’s instruction upon which the Labor Day Holiday was based. In other words, what we should be doing this entire weekend is turning toward God in order to give Him thanks for all that He has given to us including the ability to work. Work is a necessity and is often mentioned throughout the Old and New Testaments. When we work hard for something we appreciate it more than things that are handed to us, although we all appreciate unsolicited gifts. I recently was reading a story by a child psychiatrist who was commenting on how children today have little appreciation for the things they have because they have come to them easily and how, when they are lost or damaged they just assume that they will be replaced. I believe we have also gotten that way with the Gifts that God does provide to us. We have come to think that we deserve them even when we do not take care of them and we use them improperly. If they should be taken for us we complain and think that God is unfair. We would never consider that we have been unfair to God by taking Him for granted. I hear so many excuses as to why someone is unable to take time for God and go to church on Sunday or for that matter to even take time daily to pray. We can find time to watch television, listen to our I-Pod or talk on the cell phone about petty things but we cannot take 20 minutes out of our day for God or an hour on Sunday, the Sabbath day of rest, to gather together with our brothers and sisters in Christ and offer God honor, praise and our offerings to Him and receive in return God’s gift to us of the Bread of Life, The Eucharist. We spend so much time worrying about acquiring material things or how we can impress others by our wealth and power that we overlook the important things that we should be concerned about, our eternal salvation. We fail to reflect on what Luke 12:27 was trying to teach us; “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these” The lesson is that if we have faith and complete trust in God and if we acknowledge Him properly, He will provide us with the necessities of life we need just as He does the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and the flowers of the field. Labor Day is a day to take time off from work and to spend time with the greatest gifts God has given us, our family and friends and to take time acknowledging and giving thanks to God for those things we have been given. Labor Day should not be a day to spend, spend, spend and put ourselves further in debt but a time to take inventory of the heavenly treasure we are storing up for ourselves and to evaluate what we might have to do to increase that heavenly treasure. On this Labor Day we also want to pray for all those people who are unable to find work after being laid off from their previous employeer, and those who do not receive a fair living wage or are forced to work in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. We need to pray for those are physically unable to work because of illness or war or discrimination. We need to be thankful that we have jobs to go to and be thankful for the time off to enjoy our family and friends. I will close with two passages we might reflect on this Labor Day weekend, the first is from Psalms 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builder’s labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain” and the second is from 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” May Almighty God bless all who labor to sustain themselves and grant unto them just wages and fair, healthy and safe working conditions and may we come to know love and thank God for those gifts He has provided to us. AMEN
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 13:12:13 +0000
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