Labor Day 2001

Labor Day is a secular holi-day (this oxymoron is just my point, you will see). Understandably, for what is more secular than organized labor (whose fight for justice the day commemorates) or even work itself? Yet work was created by God--in Eden already, before Sin. And Jesus worked (for a time). And think of all the apostolic instructions to Christians about the attitude toward work, boss, and pay that they should have. Work is secular, but not godless. For God made it, Christ did it, and his people are acting out his recovery of it from the dark domain of greed, workoholism, oppression, and sloth back to its original God-obeying, neighbor-serving dignity. In the spring issue, we enjoyed Ed Schroeder's crystal clear explanation of how and why holy people sanctify their work. In this issue we will have some words from Luther on the subject and even hear how a dear sister-in-Christ of yours and mine has done it.

• C-R-O-S is for Co-opting a Really Old Saint
  But first, speaking of Ed Schroeder, in that spring tributary issue, I called him a father of Crossings. That he is, but only in the sense of "Crossings" as our community (complete with its own language). In the broader sense of crossing, that is, diagnosing human situations and offering hope through the prognosis of the Christian Gospel--even Ed is not old enough to be a progenitor of that!

• S is for Show
  CS: It may have been that the Christians of Athanasius' day wondered whether a people as troubled and fearful and uncertain as they really could be loved by God and really could have a future. Many were attracted to the answer given by Arius, the pastor of a large congregation in Alexandria, and by other like-minded pastors and bishops, who assured them that Jesus Himself had been troubled and fearful and uncertain, yet the holy God had given Jesus the power to remain obedient and had called Him "Son." They held His example up to the people as an encouragement, for they, too, could be given this power and this reward.

• G-S is for Grace and Safety
  The person pictured here is a "crossing guard." Heh, heh; could a student of Bob Bertram resist the temptation to pun here? The job of a crossing guard is to get folks safely from here to there by accompanying them yet leading the way and putting oneself at the forefront of the risk. Does that sound like Someone you know?