Some of you may remember back in May on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, when I said that Memorial Day weekend wasn’t just a celebration of the kick-off of summer. That wasn’t about barbeques and beaches.
I said that the word holiday means “holy day.” And, on the holy day of Memorial Day, we were honoring and celebrating the brave men and women who died in service of our country.
And, some of you may remember back in July on the Sunday of July 4th weekend, when I said that it wasn’t about fireworks and picnics. I said it was “holy day” of honoring and celebrating our country’s freedoms.
Well, today, on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, I want to do the same thing. I want to remind you that this holiday weekend is not the unofficial end of summer. That’s it’s not about barbeques and beaches.
We are remembering that tomorrow is a holy day in our country when we are honoring and celebrating the American worker and the American Labor Movement.
More than 100 years ago, workers in United States did not have many rights. Many worked for low wages in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. There were no benefits or days off. There were even any Child Labor laws.
But after a protest in which more than 10,000 workers in New York City took to the streets, the American Labor Movement began. Unions started to be formed, and Laws and Protections were put into effect.
That is what we are celebrating this weekend. Labor Day is day is to lift up workers, to celebrate their contributions, and to support their struggles.
I was thinking about this when Dolly Parton passed a few weeks ago.
She wrote many songs about the American worker, most famously, the song, “9 to 5,” the lyrics, of which, say: “Barely getting by….just a step on the boss man’s ladder.”
But, if you remember in the movie, “9 to 5,” the women take over the office, and they introduce things like free childcare, paid vacation, and flexible hours, and it resulted in an increase in productivity.
Our denomination, The United Church of Christ, has been at the forefront of the American Labor movement for many decades now, and every year, on the Sunday before Labor Day, we in the UCC celebrate what we call “Labor Sunday,” a day to lift up and celebrate workers.
And, every year, we receive buttons from the UCC to give out on Labor Sunday.
The button you received this morning says: “Every Worker Deserves a Living Wage: So All God’s People May Thrive.”
A few years ago, the buttons we received for Labor Sunday said: “Jesus Was a Low-Wage Worker.”
And, that is the Truth. Jesus and his followers were low-wage workers.
Jesus’s followers weren’t businessmen and corporate tycoons. Jesus’s followers were wood-workers and farmers and fishermen and shepherds, people who worked with their hands.
And, that’s who we’re celebrating today on Labor Sunday: those, who like Jesus and his followers, work service jobs for low-wages.
Workers like house-hold aides, hotel housekeepers, custodians, and migrant farm workers.
It’s easy for many of us to ignore the low-wage worker: the person busing our table at a restaurant, or the person cleaning up for us at a hotel.
Often times, people make snap judgements about low-wage workers, saying things like: If only they would have stayed in school…if only they were more ambitious…OR…They should learn to speak English, or they shouldn’t have come to this country in the first place.
Our Christian calling, however, calls us to stand on the side of the marginalized, to lift up the lowly, and be a voice for the voiceless.
It’s Biblical!
In Luke 10:7, Jesus states that a worker deserves to be paid fairly for their labor.
In Colossians 4:1, employers are told to ‘provide your servants with what is right and fair.’
In Ephesians 6:9, bosses are instructed to stop mistreating their workers and to remember that God does not show favoritism to the rich or powerful.
And, James 5:4 warms against holding back or unfairly cutting the wages of workers who depend on that money.
Our “Old Testament” reading from today’s lectionary is from the Book of Exodus.
The word “Exodus” means “The Road Out.” In the Book of Exodus, God is calling Moses to lead the people out of exile and oppression, and put them on the road to freedom.
In Exodus 3:7, God says to Moses, “I have seen the oppression of my people. I have heard their cries of distress because of their task-masters. I know their suffering. And, I am calling you to rescue them.”
My friends, God is still calling. God is calling to us (just like to Moses) to rescue the people, to “set the captives free”….
…to lead from poverty and oppression to “the Land of Milk and Honey,” so that ALL people can live the rich, full life that God intends for all of us.
But, you may ask: “Well, what can I do?”
Well, that’s the same question Moses asked. We hear it a lot in the Bible. Whenever God calls someone (be it Moses or Jeremiah or Mary), the person often asks, “Who am I?”… “What can I do?”
Well, there’s a web address on your button which has an excellent list of resources for how we can lift up workers and support their struggles… things like working to raise the minimum wage and ensure health-care for all.
In the New Testament from today’s lectionary (from Romans 13), Paul says to the early Christians that all the commandments can be summed up in this one command: to “love your neighbor as yourself.”
My friends, if we are to truly to love our neighbor as our self, then we must want for them what we want for our self.
Because, the Truth of the matter is that all of us are One, regardless of the work that we do. We are all of equal value.
So, on this Labor Sunday, may God open our eyes and ears, so that we may see and hear the needs of the low-wage workers who are our neighbors.
And, may God open our hearts, so that we may love and care for everyone, especially “the least of these” in our midst. May it be so. Amen.
Here are three follow-up questions for reflection and/or journal writing:
- The sermon reminds us that Jesus and his followers were workers, and that every worker has equal value in God’s eyes. How might this change the way we see and treat people who work low-wage or service jobs?
- God tells Moses, “I have seen the oppression of my people. I have heard their cries.” Where do you see workers experiencing hardship, injustice, or oppression in our community today—and how might God be calling you to respond?
- Jesus calls us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” What is one concrete thing you could do this week to support, encourage, or advocate for a worker or workers in your community?