Labor Day is a day set aside by the federal government as a legal holiday.
Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.
Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887. During 1887, four more states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday. Thank you Department of Labor for these facts.
God declared a “Labor Day” as well, the Sabbath. But his is a weekly event. Six days you shall labor, but the seventh is the Sabbath. Don’t do any work that day. Pretty simple. But then, it can get a little sticky, depending on how you define “work”. Jesus opened it up a little, and let us know that work doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, and some things need to be done when they need to be done. The Sabbath was made for humankind. Not the other way around.
Is it work to eat? Of course not. Well, unless you’re just eating whatever is lying about on the counter, someone has to prepare the food. Is that work? Kind of. But for some, it’s a labor of love. Some folks really enjoy cooking, and they like watching others enjoy their cooking! So is it really work then? I really don’t think my grandmother ever thought of the amazing meals she prepared for us as work. I could be wrong, but the smiles on her face didn’t look like someone who was working really hard. She enjoyed having the family at her table, and the more the better!! A labor of love!!
What about other labors of love? I’ve been known to come to the church on Sunday afternoon to cut grass, clean up, work on things that need repair, whatever. It’s kind of work, but it’s for the church, and I don’t mind doing it at all. So is it really work? If others come and join me, and we weed eat the graveyard, is that work? Well, we sweat a lot, but we look at our accomplishments when we are done, and we are happy that the church yard looks good. We are happy that if someone wants to visit a loved one who has passed away, they don’t have to walk through tall grass to get there. A labor of love for our church.
I also volunteer with the fire department, which may be a labor of love, or a sign of mental illness. The jury is still out on that one… but I go on calls when they happen. I don’t get to pick when someone has an emergency. So I go, on Sundays too. Because someone needs help. Sometimes we have training on Sundays, because that’s when the most people are available to attend. Or we perform hose testing then, again, because that’s when the most hands are available. And maybe traffic won’t be too bad. A labor of love.
Jesus was known to work on the Sabbath too. He healed people on that day, and on any day that someone called him to. He still does that today. But is that really work? When he loves us so very much, loves us enough to lay down his own life for us? When that is why God sent him to us? A labor of love.
God wants us to take time to rest, and gave our ancestors instructions to do so. And so we should follow suit. But maybe that rest comes in different ways, or at different times for each of us. Maybe what we do for rest is different for each of us as well. Some love the company of family, and put on wonderous meals for them to enjoy. Some realize the hardships of others, and volunteer in various ways to help, perhaps assisting in a homeless shelter, or working in a food bank. Some go to visit with shut-ins from their church or community, or those who have been hospitalized. Labors of love.
When I was a kid, I used to go to an elderly ladies house to cut her grass. She always wanted to pay me, but I wouldn’t take much money from her. She was a widow, and didn’t have any family near, so I just thought it was my job to help her. There was another widow, who lived down the street from us. Many of the kids in the neighborhood loved to go to her house. She would ALWAYS have some cookies available, and some Kool-Aid. All we had to do was ask her to read us some Bible lessons. Her husband had been a minister, and she loved these opportunities to carry on his work. And I think she liked the company too. Labors of love.
Some have been called by God into ministry, and one of their most important days of work is on the Sabbath. That’s when their largest groups of God’s children gather to hear His word. So they prepare during the week for this very important job to be carried out. Labors of love.
I remember back in my youth, when it seemed that most of the world was closed on Sunday. You had better have filled up the car on Saturday if you were planning on driving anywhere. And meals were probably going to be eaten at home, as most restaurants were closed. And forget going to the store to pick up anything. There might be a pharmacy open somewhere, but even there, you were only allowed to buy things that were considered necessities. We were more of a 6 day a week world then. But now things run 24, 7, 365. In order to keep up with demand, businesses and factories have to keep running. So those folks have to work different schedules, and take different days off. Which makes the other businesses need to operate 7 days a week, to support those workers.
So, for some, maybe their personal Sabbath is on a Wednesday. Or maybe it rotates on a constantly changing schedule God understands the needs of our lives, and how others needs also affect us. So perhaps our “Seventh Day” is whenever we can personally take time. But we all need to remember to take that time. To rest, relax, thank God for all we have. God worked for 6 days to create this world, and continues to work inside and around each of us, every day, to provide for what we need.
He also expects us to help. We are a part of his creation, and have a responsibility to it. We are told to love our neighbor as ourselves. So that means that maybe we need to help our neighbor with whatever they might need. At least, whatever we have the ability to help with. We don’t all have all the same skills or abilities, but there are things each of us can do to help our neighbor. We may not always know who that neighbor is, or where. But God calls us all to the cause, each in our own way. And maybe that task is performed on the Sabbath, because that’s when our neighbor needs us most. But it is a labor of love.
Whenever your Labor Day is, your Sabbath, take the time to thank God for all he gives us, and make it Holy.
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