Mark 7’s gospel for the weekend before Labor Day shows a cultural conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. They had the luxury of maintaining the most exacting of religious guidelines and wanted to know why Jesus and his followers refused to comply with these laws. Some very clear reasons were that the disciples and other working-class people did not have slaves or servants to bring them water for washing at the required times as the elite did. And, as a practical matter, they were often too far from a water source to find any. Jesus’ failure to adhere to religious cleanliness laws recognized the realities of workers’ everyday lives.
On Labor Day weekend, we give thanks for and reflect on our various occupations and honor the labor of all who work. With joy, we thank God for the rich variety of vocations to which, as a priesthood of believers, we are called. We rejoice in the knowledge that all labor is valued in the eyes of God.
This message is excerpted from “Labor Day, now and then” by Sue A. Larson in the September 2015 Gather magazine. Today is the 15th Sunday after Pentecost.
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