Labor Day Weekend Worship Resources

    Are you a clergy or layperson who wants to help your congregation make the connection between faith and work? Your Labor Day weekend worship service is an ideal time to do this. Workers Interfaith Network and our national organization Interfaith Worker Justice have prepared a number of resources to help you plan your service.
    You can view a complete list of resources here, but I want to highlight a few things for you:

• Looking for a scripture for your sermon that relates to work and justice? See our list. If you can think of another good scripture to use, tell me in the comments section.
• Need a prayer or a responsive reading? Here are a collect and a responsive prayer you can use.
• City of Memphis workers are facing a crisis as the City has cut their pay, in violation of collective bargaining agreements the City already signed. Use our bulletin insert to share about their situation, and let members of your congregation know how they can help.
• Interfaith Worker Justice has a number of prayer and responsive readings about the unemployment crisis.
• If you'll be celebrating the eucharist on Labor Day weekend, you can use our Great Thanksgiving for Labor Sunday.

   Of course, if you're in the Memphis area, we hope you'll also be inviting members of your congregation to attend the Faith and Labor Picnic on Labor Day. The Faith and Labor Picnic is the best way to celebrate the true meaning of Labor Day with 450 other people who care about justice for workers.

   Do you plan to do something special in your worship service to connect faith and work? Let us know what your plans are in the comments section.

Partner with workers seeking justice: become a sponsor or buy tickets to WIN's Faith and Labor Picnic. Buying your tickets before the Picnic gets you a 15 percent discount!

Are We Truly Ready for Discipleship? A Reflection on the Gospel Lesson for Labor Sunday

          I’ve learned from some clergy friends who are very diligent in their sermon preparation that it’s never too early to start thinking about a sermon. So, I want to offer my reflections on the lectionary’s gospel text for Labor Day Sunday this year in case they may be helpful to you. For links to other Labor Day weekend worship resources for a variety of faith traditions, visit WIN’s website.

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus asks the throngs of people surrounding him to consider whether they are really ready to become his disciples. Can they give up the things that may be required? Jesus’ questions about whether they can hate their parents, siblings, or children must have rung harshly in their ears, as they do in ours today. Why would Jesus ask this? And what does this have to do with his final words that “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions”?

In Luke, Jesus’ message of justice for the poor and marginalized is often aimed at the wealthy and powerful. Perhaps in this passage, Jesus is warning some of those powerful people who believe they are ready to follow him, wanting them to know that they could lose much in becoming his disciple. The crowd may think they are ready to spread Jesus’ message that “blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” and “woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:20-26). But this could easily result in being disowned, or worse, by family members a person was deeply dependent on for wealth and for identity.

So Jesus urges those who think they are ready to follow to really consider the costs of discipleship. Are they really ready to obey God rather than their families if the two conflict? Is the gift of God’s kingdom more precious than the gift of earthly possessions and power they hold now? It is not that Jesus doesn’t want disciples. He is simply looking for those whose enthusiasm won’t be destroyed by rejection from loved ones, or by the stripping away of wealth.

Jesus’ advice to count the cost of discipleship reminds me of something in social justice movements called “inoculation.” Union organizers know that workers who speak up for a union can gain better wages, fair treatment, and decent benefits. But they also risk a lot. (In thirty percent of union organizing drives, at least one worker is illegally fired because of their support for the union.) So the organizer “inoculates” the worker by warning her of what she could face: being fired, harassed, demotions or harder work assignments, being forced to sit through hours of anti-union videos on work time, or being asked to inform on her friends and co-workers. Some workers will walk away after this, knowing they’re just not ready to take the risks involved. But those who remain know what they are risking for the cause of justice, and they become stronger with that knowledge.

Being a disciple of Jesus today still puts us at risk of condemnation, especially if we follow his path of seeking justice. Consider people of faith in Arizona who give rides to church to undocumented immigrants. They are indeed welcoming the immigrant as Christ himself (Matthew 25:35), but they are also now breaking the law in their state. I also think about members of WIN who believe their faith calls them to stand in solidarity with workers who haven’t been paid. Occasionally they have found that the result is trash being thrown at them or threats being made to their safety. Or what about Jesus’ warning about family? At one time or another, many of us have been tempted to keep the family peace by holding our tongues when a relative says something offensive about poor people or people of color. And of course, there are workers every day who risk – and lose – their livelihoods because they are no longer willing to tolerate the injustice and even abuse that they experience at work.

            For those of who have some privilege in this nation because of our skin color, our gender, our citizenship status, our wealth, or our professional standing, it’s hard not be frightened a bit by Jesus warnings about what we can lose as disciples.

            We have to remember his words in light of the gospel – the good news – that what we gain in return for this sacrifice is the kingdom of God. We get to welcome God’s reign, where the hungry are fed, where the lowly are lifted up and the powerful brought down, where we live in shalom as one family, where mourning and crying and pain are no more. Despite my fears and doubts at times, I know I want to be one of the disciples who follows Jesus to this place, even if the road there will be a rocky one. 

Working labor into our worship

It's hard to believe, but Labor Day is just a month away. For those of us who to help others understand the connection between faith and work, Labor Day weekend worship services are an ideal time to teach our fellow congregations members and help them to find ways to act for worker justice.
Congregations all across the country have found ways to work labor in their worship services. Here are some of the best ideas I've come across:

1) Encourage congregation members to wear their regular work clothes, and/or bring symbols of their work with them. If it's appropriate in your tradition, invite people to bring those symbols to the altar area as a symbol of offering their entire lives to God.

2) Use prayers and litanies that cry out for justice for workers. This year, WIN's national organization, Interfaith Worker Justice, has made a number of resources on both health care and wage theft available.

3) Offer a special adult education class that weekend that teaches what your faith tradition or denomination's contribution is to the struggle for worker justice. Not sure what that might be? Interfaith Worker Justice is another great place to find out. They have kits specific to Methodists, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Buddhists.

4) Educate your congregation about wage theft by including an insert in your bulletin. WIN has put a half page insert together that offers a reflection on one side, and action steps on the opposite side. I know some clergy just hate putting in inserts, but people need something to read when they get to worship early! The insert is available in a version appropriate for Christian congregations, and one for Jewish congregations.

5) Set up a letter writing table where people can write short, handwritten postcards or letters to their members of Congress. When you've helped people connect faith and work, they're going to want to do something about it (well, many of them are!) If you'd like a sample letter on wage theft or raising the minimum wage, contact me and I'll draft one for your congregations.

6) If you have low-wage workers in your congregation, Labor Day weekend is a good time to provide them with some education about their rights. WIN can provide resources in English and in Spanish, or we can schedule a speaker for your congregation. Contact my co-worker Alfredo Pena for more information.

7) If you have a mid-week study group or an adult education class looking for a topic, what about showing a film related to workers' rights? A good one is Made in LA, which tells the story of three immigrant women in the garment industry struggling for their rights. Organizers have even made up a special kit for people of faith who want to host screenings.

8) And don't forget to invite folks to come to WIN's Faith and Labor Picnic on Labor Day! It's a blast and if our one annual fundraiser for the organization.

I'd love to hear what other ideas you have too about how to help congregations make the faith and labor connection this year!