LABOR DAY MESSAGE
SEPTEMBER 6, 2015
If you think it was hard for you to get up and out the door this morning, I wanted to read to
you about the day Gregor Samsa had recently.
One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed
in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armor-like back, and if he lifted his head a
little, he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The
bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs,
pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
You’re welcome. I have taken you back to a high school literature class. These are the
opening lines from Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. Here is the short summary of
Metamorphosis: a man has been working long hours for a job he doesn’t really like because
his family is dependent upon him. He is beholding to this thankless job, but he also kind of
likes it, and he has a desire for material gains. He has been doing this job for years. One
morning, he wakes up to find that he has turned into a bug. He has quite literally lost his
humanity. The rest of the short story is about how Gregor and his family cope with this
thing that he has become. Then he dies. The end.
Fun story, huh? I recently reread Metamorphosis and I was shocked anew with this story. It
doesn’t spend anytime trying to explain this surreal transformation from man to vermin,
nor does the family spend anytime wondering how they can fix it. It just happens. Thus it is,
a man works through his adult years, losing joy and meaning along the way. He is stuck in
this job because he needs to earn a living, but he is also more insidiously stuck because he
is in a bit of a rat race. He is stuck in his job with no perceivable way out and finds he has
lost his humanity. Everyone is left to cope with this shell of a man.
Most of Kafka’s work is like this. It usually includes absurd or surreal premises that leave
people trapped in difficult circumstances. This theme is so persistent that an adjective has
become popular in the past few decades to call something Kafkaesque. Kafkaesque is
defined different ways by different people, but it is essentially senseless complexity that
seems to have no resolution.
Gregor Samsa was faced with the complex nature of work in a modern world, and it
changed him quite literally. Over time his motivations changed. I think after awhile, he
forgets why he does what he does, and it changed him. Gregor got up everyday with no rest
and no end in sight, and it changed him.
If we are honest here today, there is a little Gregor Samsa in all of us. Whether you work in
an office or at home. Whether you work on the road or all over town. Whether you work 40
hours or 80 hours. Whether you stay at home with kids or work outside of the home.
At one point or another, the idea of work, of labor, has become Kafkaesque. You look at the
endless loop you have fallen into and can hardly see a way out. It’s Kafkaesque because it is
complicated. We work for many reasons; this makes it complex because work is good. It is a
God-given idea that makes the world go round. It gives us meaning. It allows us to be
creative and to contribute, but it can also quickly become our everything. We can become
enslaved to it and if we aren’t careful, it can change us. Work gives us purpose, but it is not
our sole purpose. Work allows us to make money, but the desire for more and more can
drive us to work endlessly. Work allows us to be creative, but if we aren’t careful, we can
use all of our creative ability in our job and bring nothing home with us.
Work is Kafkaesque especially in this valley. You have to work a lot to keep pace with
everyone else. You have to work a lot to pay for the absurd cost of living. You have to work
hard because of the rate of change in this valley, if you stop for a moment, it could all pass
you by, and it can change you.
Work is good, but work can be Kafkaesque. As bizarre as it is to see a man turn into a bug
overnight, it is just as bizarre to see men and women competing with one another and
stepping on one another. It is bizarre to see someone work for 80 hours a week and yet
claim it is all to take care of their family whom they never see. It is bizarre to see someone
work their whole life for a mound of green paper only to have to pay 50% of it to the
government, then if there is any left, you have to give it away to someone who didn’t work
for it.
Here is what makes work really Kafkaesque, there is no easy solution. For most of us in this
room, you cannot simply not work. How can you live and contribute and find balance in this
valley? How can you work hard and add to society and culture without it changing you?
I want to take you to a few places today, but more than anything, I am hoping this Labor
Day weekend is unlike any you have had before.
Genesis 1: 27-2:3
God tells Adam and Eve to get to work, then he immediately takes a break. Does this sound
like a supervisor or a boss any of you might have? I don’t want to hear an, “Amen” from Bill
right here. God has been working. He invites humanity into the idea of work and he shows
them the most important part about work, rest. As I am sure you are well aware, God does
not need rest. This is modeling at it’s best. This is a theology of God that I hope you are well
aware of; he models what he expects of us. You see this most clearly in Jesus. He tells the
disciples to love one another, but only after he has just washed their dirty stinking feet.
That same Jesus took rest often. He got away for some alone time often. We can over
spiritualize this and only see that he was praying, but don’t forget the idea of retreat, of
rest. This theme is repeated throughout the Bible. It is introduced here and then formalized
after the Exodus. Observing the Sabbath is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Sabbath
is an intentional day of worship and rest, and it is supposed to happen once a week. God
modeled it in Genesis and then formalized it in Exodus with the Ten Commandments.
Have you ever played the Sesame Street game - which one of these things is not like the
other? When you do a first glance through the Ten Commandments, they all seem of high
importance. No idols…no other gods…not taking the Lord’s name in in vain…no murder…no
stealing. These make a lot of sense, but then right in the middle of it all…make sure and
keep the Sabbath. Make sure and rest.
Why does this commandment make it into the top ten? There are over 600 laws in the
Pentateuch, so there was plenty of room for lower billing. Why did this one crack the top
ten? Maybe because God knew we would struggle with it mightily. He knew it would be a
tough one to swallow. He knew the Kafkaesque and nuanced world that he created, and he
knew the slippery slope of work in this world, so he gave it top billing.
Here is something I have never considered before. Think of the context of the Ten
Commandments. The Israelites have been enslaved for ten generations in a foreign land,
the land of Egypt. The values of Egypt were greatness and being prolific, creating
monuments and showing power. That means you have to work a lot. The Jews didn’t get a
day off. For ten generations all they knew was all work everyday. It was in the DNA of the
world most of them were born into. Everybody was churning forward towards being
prolific, towards power, towards glory and monuments, and they were cogs in that system.
I am guessing, you can take the Jews out of Egypt, but it was hard to take Egypt out of the
Jews. You would think they would all be ready for a big sigh of relief and the great exhale of
leaving behind work seven days a week. I am guessing that ethos slipped into their souls. It
was how Egypt worked. It was how their world worked and it’s how our world works,
so God says, “Rest,” or it will change you. Don’t agree with the idea of it, actually do it, or
else it will change you. It may not happen overnight, but you will wake up one day, look in
the mirror and be unable to recognize yourself.
Oliver Sacks was a prominent author and neurologist. He spent the majority of his life
explaining how the human brain works. Much of his work was groundbreaking and
because he mixed science with stories, his work was accessible to the everyday reader and
not just the scientific journals. This man spent a great deal of time explaining the human
brain, yet he was constantly learning new things about the way we are wired.
Two weeks before his death and, I am guessing, the last he thing he ever wrote was about
Sabbath. Mr. Sacks grew up as an Orthodox Jew, but a falling out with his family caused him
to leave it all behind at age 18 and vow to never return to Israel or its practices. Late in his
life, Mr. Sacks went back to Israel strictly to celebrate the 100th birthday of an aunt. While
he was there, he got caught up in the idea of Sabbath as he watched all who practiced it.
And he said this:
“The peace of the Sabbath, of a stopped world, a time outside time, was palpable, infused
everything.”
This man has spent a lifetime away from God and away from his family. He has studied the
brain and come to great answers on how it works, and yet something counterintuitive was
awakened in his soul. This idea of Sabbath rest resonated with his heart in ways that other
rules and observances never had.
Why is this fourth commandment so important? As I was looking at the Ten
Commandments, I noticed a couple things. 1) You have probably noticed that the first four
are connected to our relationship with God, and the last six are connected to our
relationship with one another. About half are about loving God, the other half about loving
others. 2) Eight of the commandments are about things to avoid (i.e. don’t take the Lord’s
name in vain, don’t have idols, don’t commit murder, don’t steal). Only two are about what
to pursue. 1) Honor your father and mother. This is a whole sermon unto itself, but this
isn’t just about saying nice things about your parents. Honoring them meant financially and
physically caring for them in their later years. This was a tangible expression of our
relationship to others. 2) Keep the Sabbath. Get your rest. This was and is a tangible
expression concerning our relationship to God.
When you rest, you are doing many things in your relationship to God. You are
acknowledging that he provides even when you aren’t at work. You are acknowledging he
is in control even when you aren’t active. You are acknowledging that he sees all even when
your eyes are closed. Rest is a moment of release and surrender. Rest is a theological
statement unto itself.
As many of you know, we have three children under our roof from 6 months to four years.
During certain seasons of life, rest has been hard to come by. One thing is certain, we get
less than we used to. Here is what I have been reminded of, kids actually sleep a lot. At this
young age, they play hard and then they sleep for 12 hours or so. Now we don’t need 12
hours of sleep as adults, but as we grow up, we shed rest from our calendar. We do it less.
We talk and joke about it more, but we do it less. Worry keeps us up late. Worry makes us
go in to the office on Saturday. Worry causes us to do one more chore.
Rest requires faith. That is why the Sabbath is the fourth commandment. That is why
resting is a theological statement, not only to yourself, but to a watching world. When they
see someone actively pursuing not to work it seems odd. Some people might see rest and
think of laziness, but most will be desirous of what you have. There is great appeal and
freedom when you see people rest.
We live in the age where we can order something from Amazon and it comes the very next
morning. We live in a world of 24-hour shops. So seeing someone at rest is a theological
statement because you see the freedom of that person, the faith that it isn’t all dependent
upon them. The faith that someone else is in control and it is okay to let go and take a
break.
The most heartbreaking thing about the modern world we live in is the price of instant
orders and 24-hour service. Someone somewhere is not resting. That is definitely the case
with Amazon. There was a shocking article recently about the corporate culture of Amazon
with absurdly long workweeks and a toxic job culture. If you are going to be that prolific
and that profitable, someone has to pay the price, and that price is rest. The price of losing
your rest is that it changes you. You undergo a metamorphosis into something else.
The Jews were given the gift of Sabbath rest and they do what all of humanity is prone to
do, they somehow turned rest into work. Jesus is walking with his disciples in Mark 2 and
they pick up some food to eat on the Sabbath, and they are exhorted for their blasphemous
work by the Pharisees. The Pharisees turned Sabbath rest into a tax. You had to work hard
at not working, and it became a list of rules to observe. One more cog in the Kafkaesque
world that had no end in sight.
So Jesus says this groundbreaking statement, “Sabbath was created for man, man was not
created for the Sabbath. Sabbath was created for you. It is a gift to you. It is a moment to
recharge your body and recharge your soul, and rest alone does it. It obviously charges up
your body because your muscles have time to relax and rebuild. But it also charges up your
soul because you are making a statement before yourself and an onlooking world that you
are relinquishing control. You are relinquishing the unending quest to be prolific and
successful. You are tangibly expressing the presence of a Maker and a Sustainer.”
Jesus had three years on this earth and he did a lot of work. He healed a lot of people and
fed a lot of people and taught a lot of people, and yet many did not get fed. Many did not get
healed. Many were not taught. Why, because he rested. Even in matters as important as
healing and hunger and spiritual teaching, Jesus punched his timecard and took a rest.
Whether it is making widgets or saving souls, we all need to rest. If Jesus trusted God
enough to rest, then you should too. Rest is tangible. Rest is theological.
I won’t even try to give you parameters on what this means. For some of you, it is a lazy day
by the pool. For some of you, it is a strenuous hike on a mountain trail. For some of you, it is
a book. For some of you, it is a movie. You know what rest feels like and you know what
work feels like, so take a day and set aside the thing that gives you a paycheck. Set aside
chores. Set aside stress. Do that for yourself and do that for one another. If you’re married,
help your spouse carve out time for themselves. Rest for them might mean some work for
you. Model rest for a watching world and see what happens.
This is the rhythm of our faith. It is woven throughout the Bible. God calls for rest every
seventh day. He calls for rest every seventh year for the land. There is a time for work and a
time to slow down, a time to get up and a time to lie down.
In another of his most famous books, The Trial, Franz Kafka wrote these words, "It's often
safer to be in chains than to be free.” Rest requires faith. Work does not. That is why God
commands rest. Resting is a tangible expression of trust in God. That he is present and
presiding over this world. That your finances can withstand you not going into the office.
That your kids will turn out fine without having endless activities and tutors lined up for
them. That people will come to know God even when you slow down in ministry.
I don’t want you to wake up ten, twenty or thirty years from now and not recognize
yourself in the mirror. I don’t want you to wake up and find this world has changed you.
Rest in him this week and be transformed more and more into the likeness of his Son.