holidays

Prayer For All Who Labor

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

Lord, as we recognize Labor Day this week, we lift up prayers of thanks and blessing for all who work diligently to impact the lives of others.

We honor all who seek to perform their work well and in doing so honor You through their vocations.

In all our faithful work, we seek to reflect Your nature as the God who makes, creates, and sustains all things and whose every work points to Your glory and greatness.

Our many vocations and our diverse array of callings can all be places of holy service where You are met and glorified.

We pray that all who labor will find both strength for their work and the satisfaction of rest that come from a life-giving relationship with You.

We pray for the parents and grandparents who give themselves day by day to the raising of our community’s children.

For the mothers who bring forth each generation in the sacrifice of labor and pain that keeps all life moving forward.

For the fathers who hold down jobs to lift up their children and provide not only the physical needs of their families but serve as role models of affection and support.

We pray for the servants who bless our communities by offering their constant work for our safety, health, and protection.

For the law enforcement officers who leave home each morning to face difficult, uncertain days, we give thanks.

For the doctors, nurses, healthcare, and EMS workers whose very labor is to preserve and sustain life for those in crisis, we offer a special measure of gratitude.

For public officials who seek to serve and bless those who have entrusted them with their positions of leadership, we lift up our thanks.

For the farming families who face the coming harvest, the perils of weather, and the impact global markets, we ask a measure of safety and strength.

For the factory and transportation workers who keep our country and our world fed, clothed, and growing, we pray for blessing in this busy season.

For the restaurant workers and retail employees who work long, taxing hours and still seek to respond to employers and customers with grace, we extend a blessing.

For the teachers and school staff who not only teach needed life skills but also inspire and encourage the most vulnerable among us, we offer our thanks.

For all who own, manage, and are employed by small businesses in changing economic times, we ask Your gracious encouragement and assurance.

For the many in our local communities who volunteer their time and talents, and thereby sustain and support those in need in essential ways, we offer thanks.

For the ministers, youth ministers, church staff, and those that give themselves to hospital chaplaincy, hospice counseling, jail ministry, and working with troubled youth, we lift up their work and their hearts today. May You grant to all of these men and women a special measure of grace and peace.

Lord, help us to give thanks for the blessing of work.

Help to faithfully honor the work of others.

Give us the ability to acknowledge and appreciate the unfinished tasks You have graciously placed before each of us.

May You be the motivation for all our daily work and the inspiration for all the good we seek to do and become in Your name.

In the name of the great Worker of Nazareth, we pray, amen.

Why Memorials Still Matter

/ Will N. / Leave a comment

As Memorial Day arrives this weekend, we remember the sacrifices made by those who have given their lives in service to our country.

Different than Veterans Day or the Fourth of July, Memorial Day is intentionally set aside as a day to remember those who “gave the last full measure of devotion” to uphold our freedoms.

It is ironic that a day intended to provide a national pause for reflection is often seen by many as the kickoff to the increased busyness of the summer season.

While not the first society to set aside times of remembrance, we are living in a time and culture which deeply needs memorial pauses in the midst of our hectic lives.

Scripture is full of memorials and monuments that were recognized and celebrated by God’s people. These holidays/places were established both so that the people could remember the great moments in their shared history and so they could use those memories as a means to teach the next generation.

Scripture speaks about both times for remembrance (Passover; Purim) as well as special places dedicated as memorials. Abraham’s one land purchase in Canaan was a dedicated burial ground. In later centuries, the tabernacle/temple centered the holidays and sacrifices around a visible reminder of God’s presence. While these holy places were expensively furnished and elaborately decorated, most memorials lacked any such finery- their value was tied to an event in the people’s collective memory.

In Joshua 4, God’s people piled up rocks at the Jordan River as they crossed over on dry land. One set of stones was placed in the midst of the riverbed and another on the shore where the people camped after crossing over. Each memorial contained a symbolic number of stones (12) and was given with the specific purpose of providing a prompt for witnesses as they recounted the miracle to their children.

In a land full of finely-carved idols, these rough stones served to remind the people that their own craftsmanship and skill could provide nothing to compare with the power of the one true God. The stones were to offer an answer from the past to the future question, “what do these stones mean to you?”

In the coming years, the older generation could point at the stones and say, “I will never forget that day- the river was at flood stage and far beyond its banks, but as the priests stepped forward, the LORD stacked up the waters in a heap, and the whole nation, thousands upon thousands of us, walked across on dry land just as our parents had crossed the Red Sea. When we moved forward, the LORD opened the way for us. And, at His word, we gathered up and placed these stones so that we might never, ever forget our deliverance.”

It would be wonderful to say the people of God always took the time to remember and reflect on God’s provision and power, but sadly, neither the Old Testament believers or New Testament saints perfected the ability to keep such memories fresh in their minds.

In each generation, as people forgot the past or commercialized the faith, new voices (such as Elijah, Josiah, John the Baptist) were needed to remind God’s people of the past in order to equip them for the present and prepare them for the future.

We are no different.

In a world that always seems to be moving faster, we need to take the time to pause and to remember.

As God’s people, we need the reminders of past blessing and the strength such memories provide to build up hope in the present.

As we reflect on those who sacrificed for our country in the coming days, may we remember and give thanks. May we likewise remember the blessings experienced in the life of faith, and seek to faithfully pass this legacy forward to the next generation.