Last Monday we observed Labor Day. I’m going to use the idea of labor and work as a kind of lens though which I will view today’s lectionary readings.
Have you ever admired watching someone else show their skill as their job? It’s not so much that they’re working and you aren’t. It’s more the sense that it’s an unsung pleasure to watch a skilled worker plying their craft..
The prophet Jeremiah watched a potter working with wet clay that was turning on the potter’s wheel. This artisan tried to make something useful out of the first lump of clay, but his initial efforts did not meet his standards. Rather than toss the clay aside, he reworked it into a much better vessel.
Then it came to Jeremiah — God works like that. God’s original plan can change, depending on how responsive people are to different divine messages. God, the Creator of all that exists, shows greater skill than any human craftsman. God’s ultimate purpose will come about, even when there’s a change of plans.
I’m going to make a non-Scriptural digression here, about how artisans work. They take raw material and attempt to shape it to match a vision they have. Artisans do not simply impose their will in the process. Instead, there is a dialogue between the substance being shaped and the form that resides in the mind/soul.
You probably guessed I’m talking about stained glass here, and you’re right. Glass is basically silica, a very common element found in sand. When sand is melted in a kiln, the millions of sand grains lose their separate identity and are fused together. The temperature is lowered, and a new solid emerges.
I recently read about a group of Japanese artists who composed a manifesto, including this phrase: “Fracture and breakage is simply the revenge of the material for being extracted from the earth.”
It’s as if the raw material is somewhat sentient and can communicate. When I cut my fingers on glass, the material is talking back to me. “Slow down, or our revenge is going be worse. We went through the fire. Work with us.” The Angelic Doctor, Thomas Aquinas, put it more eloquently when he wrote:
“Production of one thing spells destruction for another yet in such a manner that the supervening form keeps the endowment of the original material and has much more besides.”
Are the atoms of silica grateful for their transformation into a new beautiful form? At least for me, I endeavor to respect the material I work with, and honor it. So — that’s the end of this non-Scriptural digression. Let’s look at our second reading.
We’re familiar with the phrase, “working like a slave.” Our country’s history is deeply entangled with the oppressive reality of slavery and the struggle against it. Some people just won’t deal with what scholars call “America’s original sin.” They want to erase awareness of this tragic and painful legacy, and forget about it.
The New Testament is remarkably passive about the institution of slavery. It’s almost as if the sacred authors could not conceive of an economy of free consumers, and instead encouraged the status quo: “Slaves, obey your masters!”
The exception is our second reading, one of the shortest Biblical books, “Philemon.” Philemon is a slave owner, & Onesimus was his property, working for his owner. Paul says Onesimus has now been doing God’s work, and works for his freedom. Paul is not above using guilt to work for freedom for this slave.
Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother– especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord!
I’ve been using work as a lens through which to consider today’s readings, and this reading from Paul’s short and very personal letter shows him at work — not with material tools, but with the craft of rhetoric. Paul uses a blend of gracious complements along with a sense of Philemon’s obligations to Paul. A Bishop in the early church was named Onesimus, perhaps this freed slave. Paul’s rhetorical skills paid off — his literary work really hit its target.
I invite you to join with me as I conclude with the Collect for Labor Day; It’s found on page 261 in the Book of Common Prayer.
Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
