Genesis 2.4-17; Ephesians 2.1-10
Just whistle while you work
And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place
So hum a merry tune
It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace
And as you sweep the room
Imagine that the broom is someone that you love
And soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune
When hearts are high the time will fly so whistle while you work.
But, then there’s this:
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I remember my first job … 6th grade or so - a local bicycle shop … I swept the floor and puttered around; loved the smell of grease, an old work bench, all those tools …
The next job, delivering newspapers - two large sacks of papers, a sack slung crossways on each shoulder … off I’d go - from the distribution center, up the hill, to my route … one afternoon, as I was carrying the heavy sacks, an adult asked, “Got a match?”
I worked for my Dad in a food warehouse in 9th grade … in a huge freezer, frozen food … I remember huge tins of Michigan frozen cherries.
I had job gardening at large estate … I bagged groceries … I worked in a greenhouse during easter and Christmas, putting up orders of Easter Lillies and Christmas poinsettias …
I worked in an auto parts factory, controlling huge racks of parts that needed to be dipped into an acid bath, to be cleaned of extrusion oil, and then dipped again to rinse.
The best job - for five summers in a row during college - Spartan Warehouse, Grand Rapids, Michigan - I was a Teamster, made good wages, lots of overtime, worked the second shift; sometimes the graveyard … they only hired a dozen students for the summer; I was fortunate enough to be one of them … the envy of my classmates … I still have my union card … as they say, “Once a Teamster, always a Teamster” …
During the winter months, on Saturdays, I often worked for a friend’s father who owned a produce warehouse … I remember unloading trucks full of potatoes … and bananas.
My next job: seminary … preaching!
And that’s what I’ve been doing to this very day … as they say, “Once a preacher, always a preacher!”
And to God be the glory.
I’ve been fortunate to work … I knew people who helped me get those early jobs … friends of my parents, parents of my friends; friends of friends …
When the Rev. Wendy Tajima called late last year, she said, “We have a clergy couple retiring at the end of January. Would you consider some interim work?”
I said Yes! … and the rest is history …
The Tower still stands - it’s worth my effort, and I’ll say, with confidence, it’s worth your effort, too.
It’s Labor Day weekend … with a little pluck and a little luck, you just might find a great deal on a new mattress … or better yet, a new recipe for grilling burgers, served with homemade potato salad.
Labor Day, a remarkable history …
September 5, 1882, it began when members of New York’s Central Labor Union marched in protest of unsafe work conditions, but also to honor the benefits of the union. 10,000 workers marched from City Hall to 42nd Street in New York City.
It took three more years for Labor Day celebrations to spread to other metropolitan areas.
23 more states recognized Labor Day by 1894. That same year, President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law, officially declaring the first Monday of every September the national holiday we know it to be today.
Work is very much who we are …
Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God!
We work to make a living; we work to make a life.
Six days we work to make a living … one day we set aside for soul-work, to make a life.
In the past, we had Sabbath laws, blue laws … folks put on their Sunday Best and went to church … but let’s not look back as if the past had been an easier time of it; it really wasn’t … let’s remember that we tend to remember selectively … whatever we’re about, it’s not about recovering the past, longing for long-gone days, but creating the future.
We work because our Creator is a God of work …
We work to make a living …
We work to make a life.
Six days for bread and butter … one day for the soul.
The soul doesn’t ask for much … but it does ask for something … one day out of seven … to be mindful of the higher things of life - from whence we came, who we are, and why we’re here.
To work for a living is one thing; to work only for a living is another.
We work to make a living, we work to make a life …
Yes, whistle while you work … it’s good for the body, it’s good for the soul … whistle for others who cannot whistle because they owe their soul to the company store … whistle for the hope of a better world … whistle for the kingdom of God … whistle for justice and peace … whistle for all things good.
Just whistle while you work
And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place
So hum a merry tune
It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace.
Hallelujah and Amen!
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