The cross in our labor

[Amelia]

The cross in our labor

Saturday, September 3, 2005

By Stephen Crotts

John Calvin said, "There is no work, however vile or sordid, that does not glisten before God."

This is the time we celebrate work and honor the laborers who teach our children, drive our buses, collect our garbage, lead our churches and cook our meals.

Work makes our city livable. It is the force and order of many talents that provide for us all a quality of life.

Most of our homes and public buildings have paneled doors. You've seen them. The carpenter Guildsmen of the medieval age first constructed them a thousand years ago.

These wise and skilled artisans used wood to make strong ribs in the door. And they used panels to add flair and meaning. Two small upper panels and two longer ones below formed the shape of a cross. And below it two more panels formed an open book.

The motto of the carpenter's guild was, "Jesus said, 'I am the door.' " And they built the cross and open Bible into their doors as a reminder their labor was holy to God and must serve people well.

Paneled doors are also a reminder when we pass from one room to another that Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross, His word in the Bible, is our doorway from earth to heaven.

There ought to be a cross and open Bible in our occupations today.

Because these are missing, we have our Enron scandals, stock market swindles and ball players making millions while school teachers make peanuts.

Paul urged Timothy, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed." (2 Timothy 2:15).

This Labor Day -- from physician to professor, housewife to farmer, shop clerk to taxi driver -- let's return to work as servants, making this a better place for all God's children.

The Rev. Stephen Crotts is teaching pastor at Adams Farm Community Church and campus minister for the Carolina Study Center in Burlington