There Was Not A Needy Person Among Them
The Call For A Living Wage
Second Sunday in Easter, Year B
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WORSHIP AIDS Call to Worship Worker God, whose hands built the earth, molded our bodies, and sowed the stars across the skies, we gather in your presence this morning, grateful that we can participate in the work of creation. Jesus our Brother, whose hands shaped wood, healed the sick, and reached out to fishermen, laborers, and tax collectors, we gather today to follow your way of compassion and service. Spirit of Love, infusing our lives with energy and meaning, grounding us in grace, we seek your renewing presence. Remind us of the world we are called to create, the dream we see before us. We work with our hands and our hearts for a world where goods are shared, respect is offered to all, and justice rolls down like mighty streams. (from Workers Rights Sabbath resources, by Edith Rasell, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, 2003, www.ucc.org) Prayer of Confession We are workers, God, like you. But we confess that our work is not always done in a manner that affirms and honors each other. We confess that sometimes we blindly buy goods made by people who are paid too little or work in unsafe conditions. Creator God, help us build a new world out of the ashes of the old, a world where all workers are valued. We admit that we have failed to end an unjust system in which some workers have jobs with good wages, health insurance, sick leave, paid vacations, and pensions, while some do not make a livable wage or have no jobs at all. Help us build a world where those who clean houses are also able to buy houses to live in. Help us build a world where those who grow food can also afford to eat their fill, and where those who serve us are also served by us. O God, you offer grace and transformation. Give us the courage and strength to live out our faith in the marketplace as well as within walls of worship. We thank you that out of ashes, we can look for hope and new life. May your love be brought to life in the work of our hands as we labor for the common good. Amen. (adapted from Workers Rights Sabbath resources, by Edith Rasell, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, 2003, www.ucc.org, with additional material written by Denise Cumbee Long.) For the Grace of Work Loving God, we thank you for the grace of work. You create each one of us with particular talents and gifts and you call us to use them in the service of love and justice. You set before us a vision of your heaven to come to earth and you ask us to offer our work so that your vision may come to pass. You give us abundant resources so that our collective work will satisfy our individual material needs and the needs of the community to which we belong. Today, we give thanks for jobs that fulfill your intention for work. For jobs where we can use our hands to build houses of peace. For jobs where we can use our minds to explore the mysteries of the universe. For jobs where we can use our hearts to offer care to those in need. We confess, loving God, that many of us take our work for granted and turn a blind eye toward those without jobs, and those whose jobs do not pay enough for food and shelter for their families. We acknowledge our need to remember that your covenant of work assumes mutual responsibility between employee and employer so that all members of the community may be blessed and prosper. And so today, we pray for those who suffer the injustice of a job with wages insufficient to care for their family’s needs. We pray for workers who earn a salary condemning them to live below the poverty level. We pray for workers forced to take two low-paying jobs to survive. We pray for workers denied the dignity of earning a living wage, “a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.” Forgive us our negligence, and spur us to work for change. Remind us that in your heavenly realm the last will be first and first will be last. Let no one of us be satisfied until all our brothers and sisters earn a living wage. Move us to employ our gifts and talents so that each of us contributes to a world where all your children are paid a just and living wage for their daily work. Help Us to Hear Your Word Generous Lord, show us how to see your truth with the eyes of the prophets. Show us the way to speak for the needy among us as we stand with them in calling for a living wage. In your mercy, forgive us. In your grace, help us to hear your word. Isaiah said, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance, for truth stumbles in the public square.” (Isa 59:14) In your mercy, forgive us. In your grace, help us to hear your word. Jeremiah said, “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages.” (Jer 22:13) In your mercy, forgive us. In your grace, help us to hear your word. Amos said, “Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land saying, ‘we will practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweeping of the wheat.’” (Amos 8:4-6) In your mercy, forgive us. In your grace, help us to hear your word. Malachi said, “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me.” (Mal 3:1) In your mercy, forgive us. In your grace, help us to hear your word. Mary said, “The Lord has shown strength with his arm, and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.” (Luke 1:51) In your mercy, forgive us. In your grace, help us to hear your word. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he said, “Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-19, 21) In our hearing, God’s word will be fulfilled. (adapted from the Mennonite Central Committee www.mcc.org/us/washington/issues/econjustice/index.html)
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