The Value of Work

Dear Trekker,

Earlier this month we celebrated Labor Day. An interesting national holiday! Made so in 1894, it neither highlights the feats of a person nor commemorates a historical event in the life of our nation. As declared by the Central Labor Union in 1882 and celebrated in New York City for the first time that year, it was simply a day to honor the ‘working man’, a day of rest from the daily routine of manual labor.

It has endured on the nation’s calendar, known symbolically as the end of summer. I learned as a kid in a house full of women, ‘white’ is not worn after Labor Day. And for many years now, Jerry Lewis has raised millions for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Labor Day weekend! And this year, on Labor Day, a hotel heiress leaves 10 million to her lap dog ‘Trouble’. What a doggone dumb thing to do with the results of your labor in a hurting world! Oh my!

On a more reflective note, the holiday can call attention to how we view work. Bane or blessing? Is work a positive, creative endeavor we do out of choice, or is it a necessary evil in life? The Apostle Paul certainly approved of work, writing to the Thessalonians, “If a man doesn’t work, he should not eat.”

Historically, work gets a mixed review. You know of my affinity with the Greek culture, having lived in Greece for five years. The ancient Greeks saw manual work as evil, or as we would say today, low‐life. To be bound to physical necessity made man little more than an animal. Humans were called to noble pursuits, the contemplative, the life of the mind. Such a mind set welcomed slavery not only to the Greeks but to the Romans as well. Such a view was still prevalent in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance and the Reformation seemed to right the scale. Work was seen as a productive activity in league with God as creator and sustainer of the universe. Artists flourished in this period, as art forms were seen as a blending of the mind and the hand.

Out of this period came to life the ‘Protestant work ethic’. Such thinking harkened back to Biblical teaching in Genesis concerning creation. “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule… over all the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) The concept of ruling or co-creating or ‘stewarding’ what God has instituted and brought into being suggests management or work. So Adam was placed in the garden “to work it and take care of it”. (Genesis 2:15) It would seem, based on the Biblical record, that work should be seen as an aspect of good in creating and regulating a viable society.

When God came into this world as a man, he chose to come as a working man in a working class home. Till age thirty, Jesus was a carpenter only. Interestingly, when he became an itinerant preacher, he continued to reference his calling as work, “My Father is always at His work, to this very day, and I, too, am working.” This broad definition of work is inclusive of spiritual calling! No wonder Jesus at twelve said, “Don’t you now, I must be about my Father’s business.” For sure, Jesus worked because it was his calling from God, a compulsion if you will. We truly live out God’s purposes when our attitude toward work reflects God’s intention for creating us in His image.

Work, all work, should surely be seen as responsibility and opportunity to render appropriate service to God. There is no place for undervaluing work or overvaluing work in this or any day. Both extremes should be avoided. Who wants to model their life after a workaholic? I surely don’t want to ever hear an abusive retort, “Get a life Meredith” because I were living such an unbalanced life. Clearly, one cannot fully celebrate life without work, rest and appropriate leisure. Workaholism is too often brought on by the need to feed the appetite of pride, lust and greed. Consumerism truly can be an elixir to feed the ‘just a little bit more’ attitude in ‘how much is enough’? A twisted view of work inevitably erodes one’s relationship with God and fellow man…always!

As one might expect, Jesus the Lifegiver is the Model for us. As He lived His life, so are we to live. Jesus set the tone: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (John 17:14) I like the prayer of the Psalmist, ‘establish the works of my hands, yes, establish the works of our hands.” How do we respond to the Lord’s example and the Psalmist’s prayer? “Whatsoever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you’ll receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col 3:23, 24) Just the other day one of my dearest friends who does everything first class, ‘heartily as unto the Lord”, as brother Paul tells the Corinthians, said to me… “just good enough” is never good enough for the Lord. To this day I am haunted by a phrase from my past which I know I have voiced many times… “good enough for government work”. Or an old Hoosier phrase also haunts me… “just give it a lick and a promise”.

I learned a phrase this year I didn’t know, “labor omnia vincit”. This Latin phrase means “labor conquers all things”. It is the state motto of Oklahoma, as you Sooner trekkers know! Also I learned that the word for labor and worship is the same thing, “anodah”. Interesting indeed!

Labor Day just may be a good thing. The God of creation rested one day after his labors! We can too, particularly if our attitude toward work is as His!

Staying the course, your fellow trekker,

Jim Meredith