A Thought For The Week Of September 2

"You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning." (Leviticus 19:13) I don't very often go into Leviticus, to be honest. I have nothing against the Book of Leviticus. It's just that it's a book that's so heavy on law and little else, and as Christians we're supposed to be no longer under the law. That doesn't make the law meaningless to us, but it's far too easy to take snippets of law from a book like Leviticus and turn them into hard and fast rules for Christian behaviour - which is, of course, the antithesis of what Christian faith and a Christian life is supposed to be about. I believe the law (as recorded in the Torah, including Leviticus) is still valuable for Christians, but more as a way of establishing ethical principles that should guide us than giving us absolute laws we must follow. After all, so much of the law is culturally based that it would be meaningless if we were to do or not do all the things listed. The verse I quote above speaks of honesty in our relationships with our neighbours, our friends and with those who labour for us. It seemed relevant on Labour Day. It seems to me that workers are becoming very much undervalued by our society today, and that employers too often are willing to find ways out of paying honest wages and treating workers fairly and justly - and some of them will be loudly proclaiming their Christian faith while doing so. Part-time employment; the almost demonization of trade unions by some; employers being paid with debit cards that actually charge a fee every time they're used (I saw that one in the news recently.) It all seems to be a casual dismissal of the important of labour; the importance of workers on the ground who do the necessary work to keep our society functioning. As a matter of principle, it seems to me that the Law requires just treatment of labour by employers - not employers who try to find a way around treating labour justly, or who are at least as stingy as possible in the just treatment they dole out. We need to value each other's contributions to society, whatever our role or position or job. We need to honour Christ in how we act and in how we treat others. It seemed a good day to be reminded of that. Have a great week!