Work presents complex issues
Scripture reading: Luke 10:1-11. Text: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. . . . Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.'” Luke 10:1-2 and 7. As we prepare to celebrate Labor Day may we have a closer look, a deeper insight and a better understanding of the issues related to our work. From a higher viewpoint, labor or work is more than a contract finally agreed upon and accepted for the next three or four years.
At the present time, the question should not be who is right or who is wrong (labor versus management), but will we be able to see the various sides and complicated aspects of employment, profession and a fair economical system.
In our text we read: “for the worker deserves his wages” so we are entitled to search what else is involved in a worker’s fair wages in modern times.
THE SMALLER COMPONENTS OF LABOR
What do we find included in the concept of our productive activities? Energy, strength and power; labor, work and service; progress, success and achievement; the fruits of our diligence, knowledge and talents.
We can add that the divine blessing, directly or indirectly, can enhance our endeavor: “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1. Although we can do so much and have achieved wondrous things, our power is still limited. Think about the great devastation wrought by a hurricane recently in Florida.
HOW DO VARIOUS PEOPLE SEE THE WORK TO BE DONE AND ACHIEVED?
The PHYSICISTS and engineers deal with energy and power. How much HP (horsepower) does your car’s engine possess? Don’t we like bigger cars (SUV) that run faster?
The ECONOMISTS emphasize the GDP (gross domestic product) and are interested in what the workers of the whole nations have produced.
The FINANCIERS (bankers, stockbrokers, financial advisors) deal with the profit of production or work how to invest it, and help entrepreneurs to start new businesses.
The MANAGERS or leaders of the company intend to keep the cost of the production low and its yield high. One of the solutions is automation, which in turn results in the loss of jobs.
The leaders of the LABOR UNIONS do their best to protect the wage earners, so they receive a decent paycheck, not lose their jobs, and are not exploited.
The EXPERTS and SPECIALISTS wish to be compensated according to their study, knowledge, and services that others cannot render. It is not enough to know WHAT to do but also HOW to do it. How long should a brain surgeon study before he/she can practice? A coal miner can be easily replaced but not a rocket scientist.
The ETHICISTS see the “working-earning” problem from a totally different viewpoint. How should people be paid, according to their talents and education or according to their needs? If somebody has a big family, should he/she receive a break? Should a disabled person be ignored and discarded like a broken part of a machine?
The “INSIGNIFICANT’ worker is seen as the one whose daily and routine job is taken for granted, a.k.a. the housewife. The husband comes home, the house is a mess and the dinner is not ready. He shockingly inquires: “Honey, what happened?” She demurely replies: “You like to ask: ‘What can you do during all day?’ Today, I just have not done it.”
And what can WE say, keeping JESUS’ TEACHING in mind?
To offer a job and be gainfully employed MEAN MORE than just to give and take, to offer and receive, job description and paycheck, overtime and fringe benefits and contract and production.
We feel these should be added: honesty and pride, responsibility and compassion, fairness and profit, a family’s needs as well as the global market.
You might be just a laborer or a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, yet you cannot take credit for your talent and intelligence, your health and providing parents who have reared you. So far, no one could design his/her genetic make-up or plan his/her own future before he/she was born.
How true the Bible is: “What do you have that you did not receive?” 1 Corinthians 4:7.
Jesus said: “for the worker deserves his wages” and let us be thankful for everything that is included in this short statement.
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The Rev. Alexander Jalso is a retired United Presbyterian minister living in Brownsville.