September means Labor Day and the beginning of the new school year. At Emmanuel it also signals Rally Day, the beginning of the new Sunday School year. Sunday School attendance is expected to grow this year so we planning for another class.
The adults will be studying the great book of Romans, which clearly details God’s work of salvation. Rev. Dr. Norm Lund will be our teacher. On Wednesdays we will be studying the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector, called by Jesus to follow Him and then used by God to write the Gospel which illuminates the transition from the Old Testament to the new work of God in Christ in the New Testament.
On Labor Day Sunday I preached on the Biblical principles for Labor. The basis for these principles is in Genesis 2 where God takes the man He has created and puts him in the garden and instructs him to work and care for the garden. The fundamental principle taught here is that God’s purpose for our lives (beyond loving Him and glorifying Him) is fulfilled in the labor that we do.
This labor is the vocational work we do over our life span which provides food for our mouths, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads. But labor is not limited to vocation. The labor we do to serve our families, neighbors, friends, country and God also fulfills God’s plan for our lives.
Labor gives us a sense of fulfillment, which is God’s plan according to John 10. There Jesus teaches that He came to give us abundant life. This abundant life is experienced, among other ways, in the work which we do.
When we have completed a project we can be proud of that accomplishment. Near our home is a new land subdivision and new homes. It was my privilege to do that land subdivision work through my second job as a surveyor. When I see those new homes I feel satisfied by the work I did to help make that project a reality.
Sometimes our sense of fulfillment is robbed from us because of the people we work for or because of problems with the work that is done. That is the effect of sin or brokenness interfering with God’s plan.
It explains one reason why the Father sent His Son into this world. Jesus came that we might have abundant life, in this case He helps us reconnect to the sense of pride that is ours in serving God and others.
Labor Day is worth commemorating. Our labor, all our labor, is important to us and it is important to God.
Blessings to you in the labor you perform,
Pastor Tim Cartwright