Bible and Newspaper #2

Recently, we have wrestled in various states surrounding Iowa, and now in our own state with the rights of workers. I watched the situation unfolding in Wisconsin over the last month and was appalled at how it has all turned out.

The United Methodist Church has had a long history of supporting labor reforms and the labor movement.  From advocating against child labor to supporting the improvement of working conditions for laborers to advocating passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act, we have been at the forefront of this issue from the very beginning.

Part of our support for all working people includes support for collective barganining.  This is our current position:

¶ 163 B) Collective Bargaining—We support the right of all public and private employees and employers to organize for collective bargaining into unions and other groups of their own choosing. Further, we support the right of both parties to protection in so doing and their responsibility to bargain in good faith within the framework of the public interest.


In order that the rights of all members of the society may be maintained and promoted, we support innovative bargaining procedures that include representatives of the public interest in negotiation and settlement of labor-management contracts, including some that may lead to forms of judicial resolution of issues.


We reject the use of violence by either party during collective bargaining or any labor/management disagreement. We likewise reject the permanent replacement of a worker who engages in a lawful strike. From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2008. Copyright 2008 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

Biblically, we come at our views of labor through a number of scriptures... beginning in the beginning. The creation of the Sabbath and the command to respect and honor the Sabbath was radical for its day - it was a counter to other nations that forced their laborers to work 7 days a week.  Time and space for rest, renewal and our spiritual relationships is a fundamental part of God's intention for creation and the people of God.

On Ash Wednesday last week, we read from Isaiah and remember that:

they also complain, 'Why do we fast and you don't look our way?  Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'

"Well, here's why: "The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won't get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:  a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face  and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting,  a fast day that I, God, would like?

"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:  to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. Isaiah 58:3-6, The Message

We have a parable where all people are paid what they need to survive that day, no matter how long or hard they have worked (Matthew 20:1-16) and we have numerous prophets and epistles and proverbs that talk about the relationship between the worker and their employer (1 Cor. 9:7-11, James 5:4, Deut. 24:14-15)

But there are also verses and sayings directed at the worker.  They must work hard, honestly, respecting those they work for and the task at hand (2 Thess. 3:10, Col. 3:23, Prov 12:11).

So how do we look at this situation in light of our tradition and our scriptures? 

I think my first response is that at times, workers have abused the system.  Sometimes workers have pushed to get more of what they want, rather than what they need. Yet, if we look at numbers and statistics being thrown around in Wisconsin.... well, there are so many numbers from so many sides that I don't even know what to believe.  Some talk about the burden on the tax payers, others talk about how all of the money that goes into the pensions and health benefits comes from the workers themselves in a salary deferrment agreement, and so it is actually budget neutral. 

Whatever the case, the public employee unions were in the end willing to compromise, lower their expectations, take the cuts to their benefits... but it didn't matter.  The collective bargaining was what the government wanted to strip.  And it did. As United Methodists, we clearly and unconditionally support the right of workers to organize and to bargain in good faith. That is now gone in the state of Wisconsin.

In Iowa, this issue is also before us. It has come up both in Governor Brandstad's Executive Order 69 which prohibits project labor agreements and in the House bill which limits the power of unions in layoff decisions.  These are slightly different ways of handling the problems of imbalance between the government and workers, but as we talk to our own legislators, and as we pray and think about these issues, keep the scriptures and our tradition in mind.  There are positive and negative implications for workers and for our lived reality together in both of these bills. 

At the core, we need to be mindful of the public interest, our debt load and budget - but balance that alongside the needs of the actual workers. If the PLA's cause our building projects inflate the costs, that is one thing, but if they ensure fair and good wages for the ones who are doing the work, that is another. Should they be mandated?  Should they be prohibited?  Should they be an option?  This is a conversation we need to have. Those who work, whether in the public or private sector, whether unionized or not, all contribute to our wellbeing.  Good wages help support the economy by putting more money in consumer's pockets. This is a balancing game... and our scriptures and tradition have some good advice about how we find the right balance.

Pray, read, and if you feel led, call your state representantive. As a citizen of this state, you have a voice... as a person of faith, you have something to say.

lectionary leanings

This Week's Lectionary

I'm in the midst of my "ABC's of Being the Church" series, and this week we are on "D."

After much back and forth, I finally found the inspiration I needed from Lindy Black's Sermon Nuggets and a thought somewhere on there about Daily Bread.

Our lectionary readings talk about the gift of manna in the wilderness, about the joy of fruitful labor, and about the undeserved pay for the workers who were chosen last.

I think I want to focus my sermon this week on how undeserving we are of the daily bread God gives us. We pray the Lord's prayer almost as if the daily bread were a right, and not a gift. We stand after a long days work and demand our wages, not remembering that it was a gift to be chosen for the task in the first place. We think the work we are called to is a means of getting somewhere else, instead of seeing the work itself as a blessing - our work every day for the Lord.

it's going to be a long week.

Even though this should be a short week, due to Labor Day, it has only just begun to be long.

I was at the church at 7:00 this morning to work on the church newsletter, which I had forgot I wouldn't have time to print on Monday since I would be relaxing at home.

And then the printer didn't work. So, the group that arrived at 8:30 to fold and mail them had nothing to do =( But they are so gracious and kind and suffer through my failings gently =)

It's also going to be a long week because we have had two deaths in our congregation over the weekend. I have a visitation tonight and funeral tomorrow and I am also meeting with another family this afternoon for a funeral at the end of this week.

Add to that a United Methodist Women's meeting, and Administrative Board, and you've got a doozy of a week.

Prayers for strength and endurance are needed! I'm hoping I don't die of compassion fatigue!

By the way... all of our charge conference forms came in - and there are piles and piles of paperwork to be done... why didn't anyone tell me how busy September would be?

having it all: proverbs 31 after women's lib

so, i've been thinking a lot about this "having it all" thing. Can we have the family and the kids and the job and the happy husband and STILL be happy ourselves.

In one of the church small groups this morning, we talked about the woman from proverbs 31.

Proverbs 31:10-31
10A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12She does him good, and not harm,a
ll the days of her life.
13She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.
15She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
16She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17She girds herself with strength,
and makes her arms strong.
18She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20She opens her hand to the poor,
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all her household are clothed in crimson.
22She makes herself coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23Her husband is known in the city gates,
taking his seat among the elders of the land.
24She makes linen garments and sells them;
she supplies the merchant with sashes.
25Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28Her children rise up and call her happy;
her husband too, and he praises her:
29“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.

She is the ideal woman - and for many thousands of years has been this image of what women should strive for.

What amazed me during this study this morning is how much better I started feeling about this passage of scripture! I always thought it was some rediculously idealistic picture of womanhood that no one could possibly live up to and it had to have been written by a man... who wanted his wife to be everything for him. whatever. But as we talked about it this morning, we talked about how enterprising this woman was. She was the breadwinner while her husband sat on his ass (okay, sure he was an elder in the community and sat at the gates of the city solving people's problems...) But still, she was the one out making business transactions, she was not only making goods, but selling them, "she perceives that her merchandise is profitable. her lamp does not go out at night." - which either means that she is burning the candle at both ends... OR that she is making enough money to support the family that they don't have to worry about putting the candle out at night and feel free to use that extra oil.

And then you get to the later verses. "Strength and dignity are her clothing... she opens her mouth with wisdom... the teaching of kindness is on her tongue... she does not eat the bread of idleness" I think that these are totally virtues that we can apply to our "do it all" lives today. We can do what we are called to in our jobs and have families as long as we keep these things in mind. We can be strong, be wise, and be kind and compassionate. we may not have a lot of time left, but we will be filling our lives up with good things. and we just might even be satisfied.

The last verse i love: " give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates." - notice her gifts and the fruit of what she is doing. We don't have to do it all... we just have to do what we love, what we have been blessed with, take that and be fruitful with it. In today's world, I don't have to make clothes and buy vineyards and get up before sunrise to make food for my family. I DO need to be faithful and a good steward of the gifts that God has given me. I need to take this gift of ministry and do something with it.

Like the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14-30. We need to fear (read: reverently awe) our God, by acknowledging the importance of what has been laid at our feet. And then we must do something with it! If this whole pastor thing is my calling... along with being a wife and someday a mother - then it's okay if I find the balance between those things... as long as we are being faithful. As long as we are not wasting our time with idle things.

The big trouble I have, in my own life, is with that idleness piece. I like to waste time. I like to procrastinate. I like to get on the grey's anatomy message boards and read what other people have to say about the show. I like to play wow with my husband. I like to watch top chef. and I am eating the bread of idleness.

more community. more support for one another. more deep and holy sabbath time (instead of wasted time). more done for God's glory.