Thought for Today
Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. . . . 18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner."
Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work
1 Corinthians 3:8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
1 Thessalonians 1:2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United States.” (en.wikipedia.org)
Despite what might seem apparent, today is not a holiday lobbied for and created for the hot dog industry, the popcorn industry or the manufacturers of beach umbrellas. Today is a celebration of labor. Labor is not often thought of as a religious holiday, but rather it is considered a purely secular holiday.
Hopefully, it will surprise no one that I consider Labor Day to also be a religious holiday. The God who created Creation established as part of Creation the basic rhythm of life. As far as I know, every nation and society today is organized around a 12 month year, a 24 hour day and a cycle of workdays separated by designated rest days. Some have different names for the months and days. Some, like the Islamic nations and Israel have a lunar calendar, at least for organizing their holidays. But, if for no other reason than international commerce, humanity shares that same rhythm of life.
Our ancestors-in-the-faith recognized very early in our faith history that work, labor, is an integral aspect of the creation of humanity. Men and women were created to till and keep the garden of Eden. The original garden has been lost in the dusty halls of history, but humanity’s basic raison d’etre is to work. Today we toil in various fields, some literally dedicated to growing crops, others to growing wealth, others for various and sundry purposes. That’s why we are here.
Irrespective or whether or not the justification for creating a federal holiday on the first Monday of September, today we are honoring our Creator God. God labored 6 days in creating Creation and rested on the seventh day. Certainly, some today do have different work/rest cycles, different days for rest and recreation. Ministers even work (?) on Sunday. But in the very labor humanity performs, we honor the One who created Creation.
I do find a special irony that today is a federal holiday in the country whose Constitution includes the often-cited Establishment Clause of that Constitution. “The Establishment Clause is a limitation placed upon the United States Congress preventing it from passing legislation establishing an official religion, and by interpretation making it illegal for the government to promote theocracy or promote a specific religion with taxes.” (en.wikipedia.org)
Imagine what might happen were someone to point out that honoring labor is in essence an honoring of the Judeo/Christian God and initiating a lawsuit in federal court challenging the creation of Labor Day on the basis of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Progressive or conservative, irrespective of political party, I would not recommend doing so. It might be interesting to see how any judge at any level would rule on such a case. How would the labor union movement react? In this election year, which side would candidates take? Can you imagine anyone seriously opposing Labor Day?
Today, at the beach, at a National Park or a state park, at sporting events or simply at home, take a minute to think about how today is really a day to honor the labor of our Creator God and a day to acknowledge that we were created to till and keep the garden God created. Say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for his labor and our own.
Stay safe, enjoy each day, trust God,
Pastor Ray