Holy Labor, Holy Rest

Ecclesiastes is my favourite book of the Bible. In it the writer, who only names themselves as “The Teacher, son of David, king of Israel,” probes the difficult questions. This person looks at dreams, hopes, riches, poverty, health, sickness, wisdom, folly and work. Some find this writing to be depressing. It is surprising in its candor, but I think the conclusions are insightful and hopeful.

The two sections that I’m going to read are specifically about work. The word used in this translation is toil. These are the sections where I see hope. Because this book is so dense, I think it helps to begin seeing some of the Teacher’s conclusions, otherwise it is easy to become overwhelmed.

Ecc 2:22 – 24 What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity. There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from God who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

Ecc 3:9 – 15 What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. God has made everything suitable for its time; and moreover has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

There’s a song that I think speaks to this. It’s from the musical, “Godspell.”



We plow the fields and scatter
the good seed on the land..
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand.
God sends us snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain
The breezes and the sunshine,
and soft refreshing rain

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all this love.

We thank thee then, O Father,
for all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest,
our life our health our food,
No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts
But that which thou desirest,
our humble thankful hearts!

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above..
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all this love.

I have been listening to this song a lot lately. It captures the simplicity of praise for our basic human needs. It mirrors the exhortation from The Teacher who said, “I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”

The Teacher also acknowledges that we mortals toil and strain, that our days are full of pain and that our work is a vexation. The Teacher knows that even at night our minds do not rest. This is counted as vanity. This kind of vanity indicates an emptiness … that these things are like a vapor or a chasing after the wind. There’s nothing concrete to it. There’s a lacking in substance. The substance comes in partaking of God’s gifts – eating, drinking, and taking pleasure in what we do.

There may be some of you who have had experiences like me. I have had some pretty rotten jobs. Enjoying the toil with which I toil under the sun is easy now, especially compared to other times in my life. There were times I felt like all I was doing was striving after the wind and living in a vapor. Praising God for the good gifts in my life did not come easy. If it was not for that sense of past and future that The Teacher says God puts in our minds, I would have been hard pressed to praise at all. Knowing that what I was going through at some point would be the past and holding on to hope for a better future gave me some courage and strength to praise God.

Along with that, I found I could lift my voice and my life as a praise to God with my understanding of this teaching, “they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” On the one hand it might feel like a negative thing that we cannot find out. But on the other hand, it opens up the mystery of God. We can not predict God. We do not know the beginning and we cannot know the end. We can only live in now. While we are in “now,” where is our praise?

If you are someone who has a lot, praise might come easily. Or it might be easy to forget to praise. If you are someone who has nothing, praise might be difficult. Or it might be easy to see the gifts of God because up against the rest of life they are easy to spot. Regardless of where you are in life, according to Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This… is from the hand of God; for apart from God who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

Monday we celebrate a national holiday, Labor Day. It began as a holiday for the working-person; for those people who did not get regular vacations and days off. Now it seems that many people are required to work on this holiday, people who could probably really use the day off. People need days off. We need to have a regular Sabbath. Just like our toil is given to us from God, so is our rest. In Ecclesiastes 8:15 The Teacher writes, “So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.“

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. It doesn’t matter how you make your money. It doesn’t matter if you spend most of your time looking for a job, taking care of kids, wrestling with a disease, being CEO of a company, or digging ditches … we all need a Sabbath. It is a gift from God.

Every moment of every day is precious. Gifts of God are holy gifts. Our toil is holy. Our rest is holy. We come to church to draw near to God as a community. The time we spend here is sacred and important. Our communal worship is an opportunity to lean on one another, to pray together, to remember that we are not alone in our life and in our faith. It is also a time where we can actively let go of our toil and shrug off that which is heavy and painful.

However, it is important for us to understand that the rest of life is holy and sacred. How you live your life makes a difference. How you work and how you rest can glorify God or not. How you speak to your friends, what you post on Facebook, how you drive, the way you look at people wherever you go can honor the gifts that God has given you or not.

Your work is holy. Your rest is holy. When we come together to worship, to share this communion meal, to pray and to praise we are gathering together all the gifts that God has given us. You are a gift to this community. This community is a gift to you. God is present in every moment of every day. Open up your awareness of the holiness that surrounds you. Remind each other that God is present. When you work, remember that if it is possible, it is a good thing to find enjoyment in your toil. When you rest, remember that God has given this to you as a gift as well.

We live in the mystery of God’s presence. God's gifts to us are simple; that all should eat, drink, take pleasure in all their toil, and enjoy themselves.