I have worked as a janitor. I spent one summer tipping garbage cans into the back of a compactor truck. I have assembled and delivered farm machinery. I once got paid for guiding a youth group on a backpack trip. I’ve worked in a commercial kitchen, doing everything from washing pots and pans to food preparation. One summer I worked in a huge commercial bakery. I’ve done a lot of different kinds of farm work, from driving tractor and truck to machinery repair. I’ve built fences and dug ditches by hand. I’ve done concrete work and helped frame buildings. I’ve pounded thousands of shingles by hand and a few with an air-driven nailer. I’ve worked in a library, at a radio station, and driven a school bus. I’ve mowed lawns, shoveled snow, and swept floors. I’ve repaired furniture and installed sound systems.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but one of the great gifts of my life is the simple fact that I have often been in a place where I needed to work at a variety of different jobs to make ends meet. Being a full time student always meant having a part time job for me, and I don’t regret a minute of it. In some ways the different jobs I had were as much a part of my education as the classes I attended and papers I wrote.

I sometimes say to people that I sit down for a living these days. It isn’t quite the way that it sounds. There is a fair amount of sitting at a computer in my current job. I answer emails, make phone calls and attend meetings in person and over Zoom. I teach classes and confer with team members. But I also get down on the floor to work floor puzzles with children, play games, sing songs, and lead time with children during worship. I check out area parks, go on walks, and rehearse with musical groups. There is a lot of variety in the work that I do.

Over the years, I have had an uneasy relationship with Labor Day. I am a retired member of the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners, which is not the same as the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers. I have a bit of experience as a member of organized labor. That experience, however, was three months of my life. For most of my life I have worked as a professional. I’ve done some hourly work, but most of my experience is with being a salaried employee. Labor Day isn’t really about the kind of work that I have done for most of my life.

My lack of ease with Labor Day, however, comes from a different perspective. We, in this country, don’t really have times when everyone takes a day off. We work around holidays, with some folks working on the holiday and others getting time off from work. Long weekends are extra time off for some, but extra hours of work for others. Labor Day would make more sense to me if it was a time when the convenience stores were closed because all of their employees had a holiday. It would make more sense if people who are working multiple jobs just to make rent and groceries were paid for time off.

From the earliest days of our tradition, our people have told stories about the need for regular rest. The creation stories of our Bible speak of God resting on the seventh day. The laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy outline specific rules for Sabbath rest. Jesus invited those who are weary to come to him for rest. We have all kinds of scriptural teaching about the need for rest. Often, however, we have used those rules and lessons as ways of justifying our need for time away from work without affording the same to others.

In our community, if you do not have a home, there is no day off from the daily struggle to find a safe place to sleep. We seem to have a variety of ways for people who don’t have money to get food to eat, but very few ways for those without funds to find a safe shelter. If you don’t have a safe place to sleep, there is no such thing as Sabbath for you.

In our heads we understand that everyone needs a time of rest. In our behavior, however, we expect the grocery store to be open when we need a half gallon of milk. We expect the big box hardware and lumber stores to be available when we want a tool or supplies for a hobby. We expect transportation and food services to be available whenever we want them. We engage in all kinds of activities on days off and holidays that depend on other people working.

I understand that leisure time needs to be staggered for firefighters and police officers, for doctors and nurses and cleaners and cooks. I know that there are jobs that must be done around the clock every day. But I also know that some of the people who do some of the most demanding work seldom receive the kind of rest that they deserve.

I had the benefit of regular sabbaticals that are common among ministers and university professors. I have read that executive sabbaticals are becoming more and more common. But I don’t know of any businesses that pay janitorial staff to take a few months off to rest and reset. There are no sabbaticals for restaurant workers or retail clerks. The folks who deliver packages on Saturdays and Sundays don’t have a long service leave in our country.

Our creation stories remind us that Sabbath is for everyone, not just for some. Giving rest to those who serve us is as important as taking rest for ourselves. I sometimes think that it would make sense for some of us who have had adequate time for rest in our lives to go to work so that those who rarely get a day off could have one.

So I recognize Labor Day, but I’m not sure I know how to celebrate it. Perhaps my sense of unease is part of being called to work for justice for others.