SERMON FOR LABOR SUNDAY

TEXT: Jeremiah 2: 4-13

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? They did not say, “Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?” I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.

Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

TITLE: Living Waters of Justice

PREACHED BY: The Rev. Caroline B. Edge on Sunday, September 2, 2007 at Carter Memorial United Methodist Church, Needham, MA.

God used the prophet to talk to the Hebrew people about what was wrong in their society. The prophet – especially Jeremiah – used vivid images to make his point. In today’s text he contrasts the living waters of a natural spring that bubbles up pure and cool to the staid water collected in cisterns built under the people’s homes in those days – cisterns that were cracked allowing the water to slowly leak away. God, Jeremiah says, is the living water. The people had turned away from the vibrant fountain to build for themselves cracked cisterns. They no longer depended upon God and had gone their own way. The living water – such as the community well – was to be shared. The cistern built under one’s home collected water which was hoarded. Those with no cisterns went thirsty.

On this Labor Sunday this vivid prophetic imagery fits today’s labor crisis. We are in a labor crisis in this country. Farmers in Colorado either did not plant their crops this year or can not harvest them because of the shortage of labor. ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement - has struck fear into the workers upon whom these farmers have depended for years. The process for guest workers is so expensive and convoluted that many farmers simply can not access it. Blueberry pickers in Maine struggle with the same issues as do purse makers in New Bedford.

This year the congress finally raised the minimum wage to $5.85. If it had been tied percentage wise to the increase in CEO’s income over the years, it would be $23.03 an hour. Our economy is based upon people buying things. Yet, we do not pay some of our workers enough to have a living wage.

In this global village in which we live, jobs get outsourced to countries where wages are lower. Are those workers getting fair wages for their work? In some cases yes. In other cases, No. Perhaps that old battle cry "Workers of the World, United" needs to be resurrected.

We in this congregation are pretty much on the upper end of this global food chain. We enjoy the comfortable life style that we have because of inexpensive products made in China, clothes sown in Central America, fruits picked by migrant farm workers. What is our responsibility to the laborers of the world?

Our United Methodist Social Principles states, "Every person has the right to a job at a living wage. We support social measures that ensure the physical and mental safety of workers, that provide for the equitable division of products and services, and that encourage an increasing freedom in the way individuals may use their leisure time. We believe that persons come before profits." (para. 163 B-C)

The prophet Jeremiah calls to us from long ago to come to the stream of living water that is available to all. Jesus picked up this theme as he talked to the Samaritan woman by the well and said to her, "The water that I will give will become in those who drink a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." (John 4: 14)

As we continue to enjoy this long weekend, let us reflect upon those in our country and in the world who struggle for a living wage. How can we share the fresh, bubbling water of God’s love and justice for all people? Amen.