Today’s Readings: Psalm 72; Jeremiah 22:13-22; Matthew 21:12-22; 1 Corinthians 2:1-9; Psalm 8
Featured Reading: Jeremiah 22:13-22
Yesterday morning I had the chance to attend a presentation titled “Wage Theft in America” by the Colorado chapter of Interfaith Worker Justice. The presenter – Kim Bobo – did an amazing job of spelling out a variety of ways some employers deny their workers the pay they have coming. Some of the ways include restaurants who fail to pass on the tips their customers include on their debit/credit card payments; car wash establishments who require their car washers to be on site for 12-14 hours a day yet force them to clock in only when they are actually washing cars (often reducing their paid time to 6-7 hours a day); and retailers who doctor their employees timecards after they are submitted in order to avoid paying overtime. Each of these shady practices represents attempts to deny individuals their fair share. So what’s that got to do with Scripture? Well, while many folks might not think Scripture specifically addresses such behavior, today’s reading from Jeremiah in fact addresses just such practices. “Doom to him,” Jeremiah notes, “who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, who cheats his workers and won’t pay them for their work” (Jeremiah 22:13-14 from The Message). Of course the prophet doesn’t just limit himself to business relationships; he applies those principles to the rest of our lives as well. “Your father got along fine, didn’t he?” Jeremiah pointed out, “He did what was right and treated people fairly” (Jeremiah 22:15 from The Message). Such language invites us all to think about the state of our relationships. Would people say we generally do what is right and treat people fairly, or would they say something else? The way we treat other people is often an important expression of our core values and beliefs. Til next time…
Featured Reading: Jeremiah 22:13-22
Yesterday morning I had the chance to attend a presentation titled “Wage Theft in America” by the Colorado chapter of Interfaith Worker Justice. The presenter – Kim Bobo – did an amazing job of spelling out a variety of ways some employers deny their workers the pay they have coming. Some of the ways include restaurants who fail to pass on the tips their customers include on their debit/credit card payments; car wash establishments who require their car washers to be on site for 12-14 hours a day yet force them to clock in only when they are actually washing cars (often reducing their paid time to 6-7 hours a day); and retailers who doctor their employees timecards after they are submitted in order to avoid paying overtime. Each of these shady practices represents attempts to deny individuals their fair share. So what’s that got to do with Scripture? Well, while many folks might not think Scripture specifically addresses such behavior, today’s reading from Jeremiah in fact addresses just such practices. “Doom to him,” Jeremiah notes, “who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, who cheats his workers and won’t pay them for their work” (Jeremiah 22:13-14 from The Message). Of course the prophet doesn’t just limit himself to business relationships; he applies those principles to the rest of our lives as well. “Your father got along fine, didn’t he?” Jeremiah pointed out, “He did what was right and treated people fairly” (Jeremiah 22:15 from The Message). Such language invites us all to think about the state of our relationships. Would people say we generally do what is right and treat people fairly, or would they say something else? The way we treat other people is often an important expression of our core values and beliefs. Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment