Labor for Love
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
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Blessings to you all this Labor Day weekend; while Americans enjoy this Federal Holiday recognizing the American labor movement, we can't forget that we still have a long way to go in curbing our desire for wealth at the cost of exploitative practices. For in our labor, we are called to pursue much more than money; we are called to chase after the life and love that flows from God. Of course, we know this isn't always the case, and we end up with individuals (maybe even ourselves) who choose vanity over love of life and creation.
It reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson asks (an even wealthier) Mr. Burns (due to exploiting his workers), "Does your money ever hug you when you come home at night?" To which Mr. Burns replies, "Why, no." Then, Homer asks, "And does it say 'I love you'?" To which Mr. Burns replies, "No, it doesn't." (The Simpsons, Season 3: Episode 10) As we gather this Labor Day weekend let us not forget to labor for love, not profit, labor for life and not death. That is the word placed on our hearts today as it comes to us from our reading.
We might wonder, "Who chooses to labor death over life? Who would choose adversity over prosperity?" Yet, if we believe the answer is simple, we will miss that the people God chose picked a golden calf over the God that liberated them from the bondage of slavery. And we would forget the times in our nation's history when we chose death and adversity over life and prosperity (removal of indigenous people from their lands, slavery, etc.). What God conveys in the reading for today through Moses reflects the ongoing choice presented in our lives, churches, communities, and nation. And when we choose to labor for means of death and adversity over the love of God, there are lasting consequences.
So how do we remedy the situation? How do we choose life and prosperity in our work as disciples of the living God? We hear in our reading three main components that form the foundation of discernment that guides our work as we labor and choose life: 1.) First, we are to love God. 2). Second, we are to walk in God's way / listen to God's voice. 3) And third, we are to cling to God. Each of these elements invites us to join in a deep relationship with God and comrades who also see that this work calls for something new. If, and it's a big if, we embrace these practices, the reward is great.
What does it mean for us to "love God?" Does it mean we say a prayer before we go to sleep or eat a meal? Does it mean tithing a portion of our income to mission work or outreach? So what does it look like to love God? Our hearts (as alluded to in the reading) play a role in how we love God. Our hearts embody our emotions, thoughts, and will; when we love God, our hearts turn towards God and reflect that source of life and love. It can be hard to love God, especially when our priorities are not aligned. Loving God takes effort and constant reflection as we labor on in love.
And this spiritual practice plays right into the second principle of listening to God and walking in God's ways. Again, love opens the door for our listening and practicing what God teaches. Now, I don't mean the type of listening and acting one does as a child, you know, when a parent tells their child to apologize and reluctantly walks over and says, "I'm sorry." I'm talking about deep listening, where we look within ourselves and our churches and listen to God's words. Perhaps we won't like what we hear or want to go where God is directing us, yet listening and walking with God means we set aside our pride or honor in order to trust in the covenantal relationship that calls attention to the places that need tending.
If we can love God, listen to God's words, and walk with God, then we should be able to cling to God. As God sets these guiding principles to govern our life with God, they are also critical to our lives with one another. They are identifying markers that set us apart from the values of all that would have us cling to death and adversity. Attributes that certainly would not align with the greed of a character like Mr. Burns (embodiment of corrupt capitalism), but instead traits that radiate our dedications to God and one another. Isn't that part of what we remember and celebrate this Labor Day weekend (choosing to look out for one another over profit)? We aim to arrive at a place where we can live out all these things with joy and happiness.
In the end, the choice is ours to make. And while Moses dangles the promise of prosperity, there is another reason we should choose to labor for love. As Parker Palmer (a writer, activist, and theologian) writes:
“Yes, we are created in and for community, to be there, in love, for one another. But community cuts both ways: when we reach the limits of our own capacity to love, community means trusting that someone else will be available to the person in need.”
So let us labor for love, for we know that there are people in our pews, in our town, and perhaps even ourselves who need love. Let labor for life and prosperity, setting aside the world's temptation that material wealth is the only measure of succession and something we must achieve at all cost. And let us labor on in our love of God, our obeying God's commands, and clinging to God so that our lives might be enriched with the promise that we are dedicating ourselves to something more. In our work, we may not always find that things go as planned (it certainly didn't for God's chosen people), but let us not allow fear of failure or difficulty to stop us from being the ones to set into motion something new by laboring for love. Amen