Dear Peace Members and Friends of Peace,
It’s Labor Day weekend (more about Labor Day in a moment) and I’m looking forward to worship this Sunday. Pastor Joe will conclude his sermon series on, “The Good Life” with a message on “joy.” I’ll have a children’s message, and we will celebrate God’s grace around the table with others in Holy Communion.
A reminder: Gathering Sunday, the day that begins a full slate of ministry at Peace (including Sunday School), is next Sunday, September 10th. Mark it on your calendar!
Yes, it is Labor Day weekend and on Monday the United States celebrates Labor Day. The very first Labor Day event took place in 1882. There’s some disagreement about who came up with the idea first; according to the U.S. Department of Labor, it was a man named Maguire, but sources differ on whether it was Peter Maguire, a union leader in the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, or Matthew Maguire, a machinist.
Either way, it was the Central Labor Union in New York City that organized that first event: a parade and a picnic featuring speeches by union leaders. It was intended to celebrate labor unions and to recognize the achievements of the American worker. On that first Labor Day, 20,000 workers crowded the streets in a parade up Broadway. They carried banners that said, “Labor creates all wealth” and “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for recreation!” After the parade, people held picnics all over the city. They ate Irish stew, homemade bread, and apple pie. When it got dark, fireworks went off over the skyline. The celebrations became more popular across the country in the next 10 years. In 1894, Congress made Labor Day a national holiday.
How might we as Christians think about Labor Day? About our work? For one, our work matters to God. Martin Luther said: “The baker, the farmer, in work, it’s God in disguise. These are the masks of God. God is loving you and distributing his gifts through work. Therefore, you are really in the place of God…..When you marry and bear children, that’s a calling of God. That’s God’s way of bringing life into the world. You are God in disguise. When you work. When you bake. When you dig a ditch. When you build a bridge. When you write a play. This is God distributing his gifts. God giving people what they need to flourish through the work of other people.” Not only does our work matter to God; God matters to our work. God in Christ shapes and affect our motivation, our way of dealing with other people, and, very often, the way in which you do our work.
So, our Labor Day prayer could be taken right out of the 90th Psalm. The Psalmist prays to God: “Prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!” (90:17). We pray with the Psalmist that God will take all of our human efforts, human and imperfect as they are, and will somehow weave them into God’s great, eternal purposes. A good Labor Day to you all!
See you Sunday!
Mark