Whatever happened to Labor Day?

It’s Labor Day Weekend. The one day a year where we honor our national labor force by giving them the day off.

Well, not all of them. We still want to be able to shop those end-of-season retail sales and rush over to WalMart to grab some extra beer or hotdogs if we need them for the BBQ. Of course, a lot of weekend warriors will find themselves at Home Depot or Lowes on Monday, and most restaraunts will be open.  

Now that I think I about, not a lot will be closed.

I suppose that Labor Day is more of a White Collar holiday than a Blue Collar one.

I would guess that the workers on the lowest rungs of the corporate ladders here in the United States are used to the situation: working weekends and holidays, even the holiday that specifically honors them.

I’ve preached a number of Labor Day sermons over the years.

As a pastor, you kind of end up submitting to the National Holiday calendar. If you can’t bet ‘em, join ‘em.

I didn’t look, but I am pretty sure that almost every single Labor Day sermon that I have ever preached ended up talking about the importance of work, working hard, and/or working in a way that honors God.

I’m guessing that more than one of them were based around Colossians 3:23 — “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

It’s a pretty good verse.

But, it’s also not really telling us to work harder.

It was written to slaves, encouraging them to remember that they were ultimately serving God and not their masters.

It was saying to slaves, be known for the quality of your work… not necessarily the quantity. And don’t do it for the master, do it for God. 

And while none of us are slaves, let’s be honest, I imagine that those people who are forced to work the Labor Day holiday—that is designed to celebrate their efforts—see little difference between the indentured servitude of biblical times and the expectations placed on them as workers in USAmerica.

Why do they endure it? So they can survive, of course.

We are a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, “work hard”, “live the American dream” kind of people.

We call this the “Protestant Work Ethic.” 

The Protestant Work Ethic

The Protestant Work Ethic (sometimes called the Puritan or Calvinist Work Ethic) is the view that a person’s duty is to achieve success through hard work and self-denial, which in so doing will prove the validity of one’s salvation.

In effect, work harder = be more holy

Oliver Burkeman reminds us that:

“The Protestant work ethic, as every first-year sociology student knows, is what made western capitalism so (for want of a better word) great. When it comes to accumulating profit, what could be more perfect than hard work, self-denial, plus the threat of eternal damnation for the lazy? [Just like the Puritans who], when Europe got too comfortable, left for America to work even harder and self-deny more vigorously, culminating triumphantly in the corporate culture that brought you the Furby, aerosol cheese, and Crocs… you almost certainly share some vestige of this moralism and use it to chastise yourself.”1

Or your boss uses it to chastise you.

Or your pastor.

And, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry if I’ve ever preached a sermon that told you to work harder and leveraged God in order to support that directive. I’m really sorry.

I’m tired y’all. Are you tired?

I’m tired of living in a global pandemic. I’m tired of working seven days a week without sabbath. I’m tired of working harder, only to fall further and further behind. I’m tired of seeing my wife have to work so hard in order to support our family. 

I feel like John Coffey in The Green Mile when he said: “I’m tired, boss.”

This year, on this Labor Day Weekend, I’m thinking about “rest.”

Why doesn’t the church talk more about “rest”?

Am I right?

I mean, shouldn’t Christians be known more for their rest than for their work?

Yeah, I said it.

Why can’t we be known for our “Protestant REST Ethic” rather than a Protestant Work Ethic?

Why are Americans so hell-bent on working themselves to death?

Perhaps it’s because of capitalism? Perhaps it’s because the Puritans came here because they felt like torturous, thankless work brought them closer to God?

I mean, sure the Puritans had a strong work ethic, yes …but they also burned women at the stake because they thought they were witches….

We need new role models, y’all.

We are in DIRE need of better role models.

Why don’t we start with Jesus.

The guy who famously said,

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Put My yoke upon your shoulders—it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]

Weary. Burdened. Weighed down under pressure.

We’ve learned a lot of new words over the last 18 months of the pandemic, but one of the most important ones was: “essential workers.”

In the beginning, essential workers were heroes. Doctors and nurses, teachers and truck drivers, checkout clerks and cable internet technicians. They kept us alive, both literally and figuratively, giving us hope in humanity.

And for a season, most of us rested.

Until we were told, rather abruptly, by Presidents, politicians, and employers: “Get Back To Work.”

And then that Protestant work ethic which is woven into the DNA of every red-blooded American kicked back in full force.

We stopped caring that our “back to business as usual” ways put our essential workers in harms way.

We started calling doctors liars as the COVID numbers went up. We told teachers that they dare not suggest little Timmy wear a mask in their classroom and to “deal with it” because we certainly weren’t going to keep Timmy home any longer …we had to get back to work. 

We HAD to get back to work.

And those unemployment benefits… no more of those. Don’t make us say it again: “it’s time to get back to work!”

We treated the most important parts of labor force with contempt, then blamed them when they didn’t immediately rush back to work. 

“They’re lazy,” we said.

“Everyone wants a handout,” we said.

Or maybe, they were tired of being taken advantage of.

Or maybe, they were tired of being called lazy, after having spent years doing the hardest, most thankless, dirtiest jobs imaginable.

Or maybe, they just needed more…. rest.

I don’t really believe in the Protestant Work Ethic anymore.

I believe in working hard, but I believe in resting harder. At least, I’m trying to.

(You can take the boy out of Puritanical theologies, but it is much harder to take the Puritanism out of the boy.)

A Theology of Rest

I believe that instead of a Protestant Work Ethic, our faith would be better served by a Theology of Rest.

Our lives are often so cluttered with all of the things that we SHOULD do, that we never really discover or pursue things that we were MEANT to do.

I mean, think about, Jesus was ALWAYS resting. 

Sure, he worked hard, but we’ve kind of ignored all of the data on his rest habits.

Jesus took time off to rest between major ministry cycles.

Jesus took time off after heavy periods of ministry.

Jesus took time off when he had an intimidating task coming up.

Jesus took time off when he was weary.

Jesus took time off, when he had had enough of people. (And all God’s people said?!)

No wonder he invites us to come to him when we need rest. “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” [Matthew 11:28]

I really think that this is one of the keys to understanding Jesus, and because we’ve missed it, not only do we not understand Jesus, but we end up buying into this Protestant Work Ethic hogwash.

I mean, God has been trying to teach us about this since the beginning.

Since the VERY beginning.

“On the 7th day, God rested” [Gen.2:2]

God rested. God sabbathed.

God. Paused.

It didn’t mean God was tired. It didn’t mean he needed rest.

It meant that he knew the value of a pause.

And he knew that we would need to see an example of it, because we are driven people.

I might even say that drivenness at a level that pushes past sabbaths and pauses in life is sinful. It’s evil.

To not rest is wrong.

And God continued to model, reinforce, and shout the command of sabbath rest over, and over, and over, again and thoughout the Bible, regularly, from beginning to end.

If I may speak freely

This Labor Day, the data conclusively shows that the worst states be a laborer in America, the states with the worst pay inequities, worst benefits, worst worker protections, worst wages, and worst accommodations for laborers… the worst states, are also the most religious states.2

Jesus said that “a laborer is deserving of his wages.” [Lk.10:7]

From the Bible’s perspective, a worker deserves fair pair, fair treatment, and a fair amount of rest.

This is not the American way. But it is God’s way.

And the fact that the worst states for workers also profess to be the most Godly means that we Christians are on the wrong side of this thing.

A recent study shows that American workers want: “Pay that is at or above average for my job” (33%), workers ranked “Remote Work” (17%), a “Short Commute” (18%), and “Generous Vacation Time” (14%). This is what they consider part of an “ideal work environment” today. 3

Do you see what is happening here?

The American Worker realized during Covid that time away from work was valuable and that they weren’t being paid enough to sacrifice their precious time away from the job for a boss or system that used and abused them.

This isn’t laziness. This is wisdom.

You might say, “This is anti-American!”   

Well you know what, the Bible often is.

The Covid experience has led us to re-evaluate our careers, reassess the value of work, and left us open to change. 

Even though the naysayers are currently saying that the American workers are lazy, don’t want to work, and that living off the Government and other taxpayers are why so many jobs are unfilled, the data doesn’t actually say that at all.

Imagine that, people saying things that aren’t true. 🤷🏻‍♂️

The data shows that we are all working as much as we used to, if not more. 

So this whole, “No one wants to work” business?

Not true. Not true at all.  

The opposite in fact.

It is more likely that a lot of people decided they didn’t want to be taken advantage of by low pay, bad bosses, and no benefits.

People didn’t want to give their lives to something that never gave them life.

Imagine that.

So this Labor Day—a day which has unfortunately become just a vacation day without meaning—instead of calling us to reflect on how we aren’t working hard enough, THIS Labor Day, let’s give thanks for those who sacrificed to improve workers’ lives in an extraordinarily oppressive economic system. Let’s stop blindly spewing false political rhetoric and work to give health, wealth, and rest to all of our workforce… to all people.

I mean, isn’t that the Christian way?  

The Christian way is not forcing every human into indentured servitude.
The Christian way is NOT “work harder.” 

The Christian way IS “pay people for their worth.”
The Christian way IS, people have inherent value beyond what they “do.”
The Christian way IS compassion and kindness and help, especially for the “least of these.”

Everyone deserves to pursue happiness, not just the Middle Class. 

Everyone deserves rest, not just those who can afford a day off, and the minimum wages workers ESPECIALLY deserve rest.

And don’t even get me started about Christians and their stand on minimum wage. 🙄

This Labor Day, let’s celebrate our essential workers, and treat others like Jesus asked us to.